Junior Waratahs 19 - Brumby Runners 17
This was a dreadful exhibition of rugby skills from both sides and not a patch on the same game at the same ground last year when Huxley made his comeback. About 30 minutes of light rain during the match didn't help but it would be drawing a long bow to say it was the cause of so much ineptness.
The game picked up a bit in the 2nd half when the rain stopped and the Tahs were parked in the Runners half a lot – but it didn't make a lot of difference on the scoreboard.
Runners: 15. S,Warra; 14. A. Smith; 13. E.Stubbs; 12. T. Smith; 11. P. Fou; 10. N.White; 9. N.Stirzacker; 8. J.Turner; 7. T.Tapara; 6. T.Boidon; 5. L.Winton; 4. S.Carter; 3. J.Owen; 2. A.Hegarty; 1. J.Yanuyanutawa Reserves: 16. L.Hunting; 7. E.Levi; 17. M.Hooper;18. C.Neville; 19. T.Alexander; 20. R.Iona; 21. V.Iongi; 22. J.Mogg; 24. T.Metcher
Junior Waratahs: as per Tahs website:
http://www.waratahs.com.au/Waratahs/News/NewsArticle/tabid/157/ArticleID/1640/Default.aspx
plus 26. M.McCaffrey; 27. N.Seymour; 28. E.Bredenhan; 30. T.Tomlinson.
Some notes about some of the players, just to justify using a bit of petrol to get to and from the ground.
Runners
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10. Nick White. This was the first time I had seen the 20 y.o. play flyhalf and he played bloody well – better than Hangers for the Juniors. His goal kicking was good too. Half way through the 2nd half the Runners got a penalty on an all too seldom visit in the Juniors red zone. Whilst the Juniors were discussing their 2012 contracts White tapped the ball and strolled over.
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9. Stirzacker – the first time I had seen Zacker play senior rugby and he went more than OK dishing the ball out and once cleared the ball a long way standing in for the fullback.
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7. Hooper lifted the Runners when he came on after oranges. He looked like a Super Rugby player playing in the local park sometimes, which is not far from the fact.
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3. Owen aimed himself at a gap early in the game and got the pass from Zacker right on the money for a long break. I was looking for more of it but he was hurt in the tackle and didn't get back on the park.
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4/5 Neville didn't get much time but he was like a blowfly at the window pane at ruck time.
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11. Fou looks like a very handy smooth running player; executed a nice long backhand QC (Quade Cooper) pass in one move too.
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14. A.Smith looked classy but didn't get enough opportunities.
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15. Wara had one good run I remember but looked like a lost soul for most of the game; had a few clumsy moments too.
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13. Stubbs had an unhappy game. Some of his handling was poor - and he was in great pain as he went off after he popped his shoulder.
Juniors.
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9. McKibbin looked like one of the few players in the 1st half who looked like he had played the game before. He had some nice snipes, or threatened to before passing, which made it better for the receiver.
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10. Halangahu had a unimpressive game.
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10. Ben Seymour did well and his combination with 9. Holmes after oranges was better than the halves combo in the first half and the backs outside them got a better shake.
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8. Lopeti Timani was probably the Juniors best – though that is faint praise. He did some big hits and covering tackles, and once he showed his aplomb by taking a high ball under pressure, took the tackle but was able to pass to a support from the floor to launch a good break.
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3. Ryan had the wood on 1. Jerry Y for the Runners in the scrums IMO when he came on in the 2nd half, and did better than Tilse playing there in the 1st. He'll have to improve his handling: he dropped two passes by my count and lost the pill once in a tackle. He's a physical presence in the ruck though.
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1. Faulkner scrummaged well but he wasn't against the experienced Owen for much of the game because the Runners THP went off early.
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2. Ulugia had another dodgy throwing game though some of the lifting could have made them look dodgy.
