Waratahs V Brumbies @ Homebush

[Slim 293]

The biggest shock from this game was.......

McCabe missing a tackle?!?!!?

 

[Scarfman]

If you are meaning Speight's try, the pass beat him, he was lucky to get hands on him

I was at the ground so feel that I saw the lead up to AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)'s approach to the tackle. As it was developing, I thought that AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) would shut it down pretty comfortably, but for some reason he ran out in entirely the wrong line and made it impossible for himself to make the tackle. Basically, he got his positioning wrong on an occasion I would have expected him to handle it fine.

Anyway, I've only seen it live so maybe I'm wrong, but I'm calling it a howler.

 

[Paradox]

Speight is super strong on his feet and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was running across. I think you're being harsh Scarfman..thought AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was good last night.

I really thought the Tahs would attack from everything. The Tahs need to start pre-season early and get the ball rolling for 2013. Their annus horribilis needs to be wiped from memory.

 

[mjw]

I was with the Brumbies group behind the northern goalposts, throw the ball to me you gimps, I assure you I'll catch the bloody thing. And to rub salt into my wounds my companion was a Brumbies supporter from Tumbarumba! Bit difficult to give cheek when she's 6'1" and makes outstanding wine.

I think we might have some mutual friends, Lindo.

 

[Paradox]

That was shite from the Brumbies but defense was good. Dropped too much pill and turned it over.

 

[Sully]

Biggest thing from this game was how crap both teams played.

 

[Scarfman]

Yeah, I agree. You can kind of forgive the Tahs for being lacklustre but the Brumbies? Myabe they thought they could win without trying too hard? Maybe they were right?

And the "hustle" from the Tahs (chasing kicks, getting to rucks) was zero.

 

[Slim 293]

From the Oz article:

“We haven’t won here for a long time. At the end of the day we probably didn’t play our best rugby. We were probably a bit nervous,” Brumbies coach Jake White said.

“It looked like we got the jitters during the day. It looked like we got a bit scared. It’s natural. Playing against eleven Wallabies at a ground we haven’t won for a while. It wasn’t great to play the way we did, but at the same time to grind out a win and obviously get the result.

“One interesting thing is in nine games in a row no team has scored in the last 20 minutes against us. All credit to our conditioning staff. It’s easy for me as head coach to sit here and take all the accolades, but there is obviously something happening in the program we are running.

“To go nine games and not concede any points in the last 20 minutes is obviously telling you something about the way we play.”

The Waratahs out-scored the Brumbies two tries to one and dominated possession 61 per cent to 39 per cent, but they made too many errors in their seventh consecutive loss.

 

[Mr Doug]

If the reds win against that tahs with a bonus point (unlikely) that takes them to 58.

If the Brumbies lose to the blues (unlikely) without any bonus points that leaves them on 58 points.

Then it comes down to win loss ratio and not points difference and the reds will top the conference.

*edit* ^^^ sheesh, I type too slow.

I didn't know that, however, it "ain't gunna happen", is it?

 

[Paradox]

Yeah, I agree. You can kind of forgive the Tahs for being lacklustre but the Brumbies? Myabe they thought they could win without trying too hard? Maybe they were right?

And the "hustle" from the Tahs (chasing kicks, getting to rucks) was zero.

Thought the Tahs would have a few points to prove and play with gay abandon

 

[cyclopath]

Speight is super strong on his feet and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was running across. I think you're being harsh Scarfman..thought AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was good last night.

I really thought the Tahs would attack from everything. The Tahs need to start pre-season early and get the ball rolling for 2013. Their annus horribilis needs to be wiped from memory.

They tried (small credit for effort), but were shown up by their lack of combination and any cohesion in the backs. A couple of nice breaks and half-breaks more down to individual effort than performance as a unit.
The Brumbies played a safer game, with countless White box-kicks which were generally well chased and made very useful territorial gains.
If they can lock in a planned backline of McKibbon / Hart, Foley, Barnes, Horne, Turner, Mitchell, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and find someone to groom them as a unit, and get some combination happening, they could go alright.
I agree, they need to get this happening early in pre-season.

 

[fatprop]

I was at the ground so feel that I saw the lead up to AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)'s approach to the tackle. As it was developing, I thought that AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) would shut it down pretty comfortably, but for some reason he ran out in entirely the wrong line and made it impossible for himself to make the tackle. Basically, he got his positioning wrong on an occasion I would have expected him to handle it fine.

Anyway, I've only seen it live so maybe I'm wrong, but I'm calling it a howler.

yeah it was in front of me as well, it looked as if AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was covering the inside line as well, the passer kept his attention, kept AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) on his heels and the pass gave Speight the space to use his pace around the edge

 

[Jiggles]

So does this mean that the Brumbies are a better team than Wales?

 

[Scotty]

Thought the Tahs would have a few points to prove and play with gay abandon

I think that was them playing with gay abandon.

Once again proves you can't go well in this competition without a good and experienced half and flyhalf combination to both guide a team and create opportunities. Those two might become that but the tahs really lacked direction in attack which mostly could be laid at their feet. Special mention to Barnes' poor contribution in this aspect as well - passes over the man and poor cross kicks galore.

 

[cyclopath]

Brumbies are going OK without a well-established combination. Must be an exception.

 

[Bruce Ross]

. . . TPN is a show pony going for the starry stuff all the time. . . . he seems mentally all over the shop. . . . I'm not criticising him personally . . .
The Brumbies were bashed by the Tahs tonight.

Interesting 2:49 AM contribution.

This complete bullshit about strength and conditioning is laughable. How did the Waratahs players manage to last 80 minutes in the Wallaby jersey? What the hell is in the Waratah jersey? Kryptonite.

Someone else has already made the point that most of the Waratahs players in the Tests didn't "manage to last 80 minutes in the Wallaby jersey". They were subbed off during the games. But we need to take this issue a little further.

I have been the person most responsible for "this complete bullshit about strength and conditioning" so I suppose it falls to me to attempt to rebut numbertwo's devastating and cogently argued middle-of-the-night attack. For the past couple of years I have argued that the Wallabies have been losing games, particularly against the All Blacks, because of inadequate physical preparation. The strongest evidence for this proposition was the fact that in 9 successive Trans-Tasman Tests the Wallabies lost after being outscored in the second half. They were not conditioned to compete for the full 80 minutes.

Recently I have made a similar criticism of the 2012 Waratahs' performance, focussing on the fact that they have scored more than their opponents in the second half just twice this season. So how did the poorly performing Waratahs players suddenly become key figures in a superbly conditioned Wallabies team?

There were only two Waratahs players in the squad for the mid-weeker against Scotland so presumably numbertwo is not referring to that game. So let's take a look at just how superbly conditioned the Wallabies were for the three Tests against Wales. In the first of these the visitors, having come half way around the world and experiencing extreme jet lag, might have been expected to really suffer fatigue toward the end of the match. So what happened? The Wallabies led by 7 points at half-time (10-3), then won the second half by just 1 point (17-16) to win the game 27-19.

In the Second Test we led by 6 points in the first half (13-7), then lost the second half by 4 points (12-16) to win the game 25-23. Similarly, in the Third Test we led by 3 points in the first half (12-9), then lost the second half by 2 points (8-10) to win the game 20-19. In both games we barely fell over the line because of our inability to sustain intensity for 80 minutes, and if the results had been measured on second half scores we would have lost the series 1-2.

There is one point on which I think number two and I can find common ground - one of us knows nothing about strength and conditioning.
.

 

[I like to watch]

Biggest thing from this game was how crap both teams played.

Especially if you were lucky enough to watch the Kiwi game before it.We seriously look a grade below them.
Why are the all Oz games such a crap standard,?
Conversely I think the Kiwi teams play the best against each other.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

I got the feeling that the 'Saders v Chiefs and The Clan vs Reds were played at a much higher intensity and pace than we saw last night at Homebush between the Ponies and 'Tahs.

 

[Scarfman]

Nothing beats the spectacle of 2 Kiwi SuperRugby sides throwing everything at each other. But you can see why the Crusaders keep beating sides like the Canes, Blues and Chiefs. Sometimes all that spectacle lacks the discipline of a test-level encounter. And since this is a Tahs thread, I'm not surprised to see so many Tahs in the Wobs becuase they play test-match style football, but without the brains of the 'Saders.

They might have been confusing. I'll make a matrix:

<table>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>TEST STYLE</td>
<td>SPIN IT WIDE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>GOOD AT IT</td>
<td>Crusaders</td>
<td>Chiefs</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>NOT</td>
<td>Waratahs</td>
<td>Lions</td>
</tr>
</table>

Edit: I'll leave that for someone versed in the dark internet arts to fix.

 

[FrankLind]

A rather funny remark I read on the Fern (sorry Tahs supporters)

"The Tahs are like a black hole sucking all the excitement out of any game they play. "