Waratahs v Blues. Sydney.
- Thread starter Lee Grant
- Start date
- Status
waratahjesus
Greg Davis (50)
moses and sage are dogging it but gtt will still be there, think we might be pub crawling down the hill towards central afterwoulds, maybe excelsior, might drop in for one or two though
TheRiddler
Dave Cowper (27)
Sorry boys - just got home from the game. Got another ocean swim in the morning so no late night drinking for me today. Think I did enough last night and today on the harbour.
Will post thoughts on the game tomorrow but a much improved performance apart from the start of the second half when the injuries caused confusion. Very disappointing crowd though - what happened to WJs Bondi Kiwis? I think they will struggle to get 14,000 next week despite the win. Easter weekend and the Cheetahs do not a good combination make.
Will post thoughts on the game tomorrow but a much improved performance apart from the start of the second half when the injuries caused confusion. Very disappointing crowd though - what happened to WJs Bondi Kiwis? I think they will struggle to get 14,000 next week despite the win. Easter weekend and the Cheetahs do not a good combination make.
S
Spook
Guest
The Blues outplayed the Tahs and blew about 4 tries. Lucky night again. 14 point turn around with the intercept. I thouht the Tahs were rubbish generally. Still always good to beat the Keewees.
Just back from the game, soft tries all round all night.
Tahs kept punching through the middle too easily whilst the Blues continually had overlaps against the tahs compressed defence.
The Blues big backs would get tackled, but just kept popping passes to support runners. The Tahs backs just weren't big enough to close off the ball in the tackle.
Still we were less rubbish than the Blues were up front
Tahs kept punching through the middle too easily whilst the Blues continually had overlaps against the tahs compressed defence.
The Blues big backs would get tackled, but just kept popping passes to support runners. The Tahs backs just weren't big enough to close off the ball in the tackle.
Still we were less rubbish than the Blues were up front
C
chief
Guest
Crowd tonight was 20413. Yes, I think next weeks Tahs crowd will be a relatively small one, but fingers crossed, for something about 15k
topo
Cyril Towers (30)
I was at the game and didn't think it was all rubbish, although 10mins before half time and 20mins after were a bit ordinary.
Positives:ct
Set piece was very dominant, esp scrum, but lineout was best for weeks
TPN!
Hangers!
Dean Mumm's running
Dave Dennis in tight. Apart from scrum time him and Mumm should swap numbers.
KB (Kurtley Beale) did a lot of good things especially early on and looked threatening with the ball, which is more than Anesi has managed.
KB (Kurtley Beale) made a good tackle in the last line of defence!
Horne was solid and defended well.
Tom Carter's direct running at the end
Ducka's big hit!
Kiwi's got beat
But the most pleasing thing was that when things went to shit and the 'tahs were awful early in the 2nd half, they fought their way back. It was a hot and humid night and both teams struggled at times, but the 'tahs were better at lifting hemselves out of the mire.
Positives:ct
Set piece was very dominant, esp scrum, but lineout was best for weeks
TPN!
Hangers!
Dean Mumm's running
Dave Dennis in tight. Apart from scrum time him and Mumm should swap numbers.
KB (Kurtley Beale) did a lot of good things especially early on and looked threatening with the ball, which is more than Anesi has managed.
KB (Kurtley Beale) made a good tackle in the last line of defence!
Horne was solid and defended well.
Tom Carter's direct running at the end
Ducka's big hit!
Kiwi's got beat
But the most pleasing thing was that when things went to shit and the 'tahs were awful early in the 2nd half, they fought their way back. It was a hot and humid night and both teams struggled at times, but the 'tahs were better at lifting hemselves out of the mire.
Hawko
Tony Shaw (54)
Who invented the gameplan that said "lets kick it to the Blues backline". Every time we did it, we let the Blues backs get up to speed and they ran all over us. God help us if we do it against the Crusaders or the Chiefs, we won't be so lucky twice. While we were committing this lunacy, we did not use the pick and drive or the close passing in the forwards nearly enough (unlike the Blues who did it really well). All the commentary out of the Tahs camp seems very positive but truly Foley has to have a stand-up fight with Hickey and get agreement for the forwards to play to their strengths and not kick good ball away. Hickey's gameplan tonight was playing to the Blues strengths (add your own expletives please).
The game was played with big intensity by both teams. The Blues played well tonight but we did some good things too, and found a way to win. The TPN try was brilliant. But against a smarter team (ie Crusaders) we won't win the way we played.
I thought Barnes was very poor tonight and appears to have lost confidence completely. Needs to go back to 15 for a couple of weeks to re-establish himself or maybe if he's injured have a couple of weeks off. Beale made mistakes defensively but did some good things too - I think he needs game time to re-establish his confidence, particularly against the Cheetahs next week.
Hangers played very well as did Mumm, TPN, Horne and Turner. Despite the penalties, one of which was harsh I thought Caldwell had an impact when he came on. He hasn't had enough game time under the new rulings to properly adapt. Mowen will probably get a go at 7 if Waugh's quad strain blows up. Quad strains are generally a couple of weeks minimum, hope he's back for the Crusaders game. Palu can have a week off next week but we need him against the Crusaders. Next week against the Cheetahs will be the last chance to give McCaffrey and McKibbin game time before the finals - bet they don't even figure on the team sheet.
The Blues backs were excellent tonight and it was heart-in-mouth stuff every time they had the ball. I think they can roll the Bulls next week, and I hope the Stormers the week following. They will be desperate - lose one of those and their season is almost over, as their last three games are in SA, one of which is the Sharks. But they are not playing like the Blues of the last two years, and are still a good chance for the top four. The next two games will determine that, tonight was one that got away.
The game was played with big intensity by both teams. The Blues played well tonight but we did some good things too, and found a way to win. The TPN try was brilliant. But against a smarter team (ie Crusaders) we won't win the way we played.
I thought Barnes was very poor tonight and appears to have lost confidence completely. Needs to go back to 15 for a couple of weeks to re-establish himself or maybe if he's injured have a couple of weeks off. Beale made mistakes defensively but did some good things too - I think he needs game time to re-establish his confidence, particularly against the Cheetahs next week.
Hangers played very well as did Mumm, TPN, Horne and Turner. Despite the penalties, one of which was harsh I thought Caldwell had an impact when he came on. He hasn't had enough game time under the new rulings to properly adapt. Mowen will probably get a go at 7 if Waugh's quad strain blows up. Quad strains are generally a couple of weeks minimum, hope he's back for the Crusaders game. Palu can have a week off next week but we need him against the Crusaders. Next week against the Cheetahs will be the last chance to give McCaffrey and McKibbin game time before the finals - bet they don't even figure on the team sheet.
The Blues backs were excellent tonight and it was heart-in-mouth stuff every time they had the ball. I think they can roll the Bulls next week, and I hope the Stormers the week following. They will be desperate - lose one of those and their season is almost over, as their last three games are in SA, one of which is the Sharks. But they are not playing like the Blues of the last two years, and are still a good chance for the top four. The next two games will determine that, tonight was one that got away.
mark_s
Chilla Wilson (44)
The turner try was a 14 point turn around, but the blues earlie try should have eben disallowed as Barnes was taken out and he was almost certain to tackle the blues player (Afoa?).
I was very happy with the game and result. Not a perfect performance from the tahs by any means but it was a physical game and I thought we came home the strongest and thus the win. The 2008 game against the blues was a key game and the turning point for the tahs season. Fingers crossed its the same this year.
We let the blues back in the game to be frank. The blues need posession and space to score points and we freely gave away both from the 25min mark to the 60th min. but we were very tight before and afterwards and I would be screaming blue murder (or tah murder?) about the reffing if we had of lost.
I saw the boys walk into the stadium tonight and they looked switched on. I saw a few of them afterwards and they looked like it was a tough physical game and all the players I saw had ice packs somewhere or other. Ity may have looked like a loose game but I think that the big hits left holes that weren't easily filled by bruised bodies.
Best for us were Hangers, Mumm and TPN but plenty of other honourable mentions. Beale did well at full back but the bench was used well by the tahs and Carter in particular was very solid when he came on (1.95 Carter score for him!)
I was very happy with the game and result. Not a perfect performance from the tahs by any means but it was a physical game and I thought we came home the strongest and thus the win. The 2008 game against the blues was a key game and the turning point for the tahs season. Fingers crossed its the same this year.
We let the blues back in the game to be frank. The blues need posession and space to score points and we freely gave away both from the 25min mark to the 60th min. but we were very tight before and afterwards and I would be screaming blue murder (or tah murder?) about the reffing if we had of lost.
I saw the boys walk into the stadium tonight and they looked switched on. I saw a few of them afterwards and they looked like it was a tough physical game and all the players I saw had ice packs somewhere or other. Ity may have looked like a loose game but I think that the big hits left holes that weren't easily filled by bruised bodies.
Best for us were Hangers, Mumm and TPN but plenty of other honourable mentions. Beale did well at full back but the bench was used well by the tahs and Carter in particular was very solid when he came on (1.95 Carter score for him!)
S
Spook
Guest
Biffo said:
Ahh, why mention the Brumbies in this this thread? Lose the chip pls. Tahs performances against the Reds, Blues, Sharks, Force and Stormers would suggest you're talking through your hole. Do you really think the Tahs outplayed the Blues? :nta:
mark_s
Chilla Wilson (44)
PS I was very concerned when P Waugh came off about who would lead the team around the park. There was even a penalty where no tah wanted to own up to being the captain. While I thought Wauigh had one of his best games of the year before he was injured, it was also very promising to see players step up in his absence.
At the game we discussed the likelihood of the Brumbies usual suspects bagging that performance - good to come home and see it is so. It's nice to be able to rely on something. I thought it was not too bad.
Blues were very strong with ball in hand, and managed time and again to draw the extra man to make (or expand) an overlap - the Tahs backs did not number up well at times. That said, there was some huge defence one on one at times.
The Tahs scrum dished it up to the AB front row (well, a version of it) and looked weaker once Fuse went off. I know that will disappoint Spook immensely, but it seemed pretty clear at the game.
TPN did everything well, including his dodgy lineout throws which all (bar one) hit the mark tonight.
Barnes may be injured, but he is just crap at the moment.
Beale showed promise at 15, although he drifted to 12 a lot (thanks WJ for pointing that out after the match) and tackled pretty well, although he does the Cooper thing of coming in too hard at times and not making meaningful contact which just doesn't work against the Blues damaging ball runners.
Problems? The intensity fell right off from 25-65 minutes, and the Blues stupidity at times kept the Tahs in it. Kicking at times was greedy - general play kicks going for 2 feet from the corner and ending up dead, but penalty kicks going 30m into the crowd???
A good game to win - could easily have been lost, but wasn't, and the BP helps too.
Blues were very strong with ball in hand, and managed time and again to draw the extra man to make (or expand) an overlap - the Tahs backs did not number up well at times. That said, there was some huge defence one on one at times.
The Tahs scrum dished it up to the AB front row (well, a version of it) and looked weaker once Fuse went off. I know that will disappoint Spook immensely, but it seemed pretty clear at the game.
TPN did everything well, including his dodgy lineout throws which all (bar one) hit the mark tonight.
Barnes may be injured, but he is just crap at the moment.
Beale showed promise at 15, although he drifted to 12 a lot (thanks WJ for pointing that out after the match) and tackled pretty well, although he does the Cooper thing of coming in too hard at times and not making meaningful contact which just doesn't work against the Blues damaging ball runners.
Problems? The intensity fell right off from 25-65 minutes, and the Blues stupidity at times kept the Tahs in it. Kicking at times was greedy - general play kicks going for 2 feet from the corner and ending up dead, but penalty kicks going 30m into the crowd???
A good game to win - could easily have been lost, but wasn't, and the BP helps too.
Reddy!
Bob Davidson (42)
Hangers is starting to become one of those players you can just rely on week in week out. He doesn't have the X-factor, but as a result isn't as flakey as your Coopers or Mitchells.
I like how he goes about his footy; it helps his forwards are giving him a tremendous platform to work off.
I like how he goes about his footy; it helps his forwards are giving him a tremendous platform to work off.
waratahjesus
Greg Davis (50)
fantastic talk.
the tahs are the only team in the country that can win a game with a bonus point and still get bagged. the game was good, boys lost momentum in the middle a bit but as said above pulled themselves together and overcame it.
turner told me with fifteen to go we were going to win, i told him to score a try, he did, we won. game over, tahs were the better team.
if qld came out with that performance the whole of brisbane would need new dacks tomorrow, honestly, credit were its due.
the tahs are the only team in the country that can win a game with a bonus point and still get bagged. the game was good, boys lost momentum in the middle a bit but as said above pulled themselves together and overcame it.
turner told me with fifteen to go we were going to win, i told him to score a try, he did, we won. game over, tahs were the better team.
if qld came out with that performance the whole of brisbane would need new dacks tomorrow, honestly, credit were its due.
- Status