Waratahs v Clan

[naza]

Chris Hickey was scathing of how they weren't taking care of the ball against the Chiefs. Tahu and TPN were prime culprits, blindly throwing the ball out the back when they got tackled. Coach has to put his foot down and make a statement that such rubbish won't be tolerated.

Here come the Tom Carter bashers again. I thought he'd proved himself last year ? He seems to be disliked on here due to aesthetics rather than effectiveness.

Edit -> Oh, and I'm not bashing Tahu. For mine, inside centre is the hardest rugby position to play.

 

[Lee Grant]

I didn't read about, that but if that's the case full marks to Hickey for putting his foot down. One thing we wanted from a new coach was a lack of baggage of prior opinions.

I didn't notice Tahu doing that at the ground but I couldn't bear to watch my recording and deleted it, but I did notice TPN doing it - and not for the first time either. Well done Hickey.

Meantime, I hear that Cowan and MacIntosh will be out of the match against the Tahs and the big prop will be out for 6 weeks.

Too bad.

 

[Moses]

There may be a few chip kicks too.

and why not, we do have the best chip kicker in the competition. 4 tries have come from Kurtley's chips in the last three super rugby games..

 

[Rugby Rat]

Highlanders by some great defence and some nice attack. Ummm.. 12 points in fact.

 

[mark_s]

It will be interesting to see how Carter plays this year under Hickey . Last year his primary job was to be Kurtley's protector both in attack and defence. This was obviously right up Tom's alley and suited Ewen's game plan. He did this job reasonably well in 2008, although I was measuring him up against crazy Grey who exceled at this role.

 

[fatprop]

The Clan:
Israel Dagg; Ben Smith, Jason Shoemark (captain), Johnny Leota, Fetu'u Vainikolo; Daniel Bowden, Sean Romans; Steven Setephano, Alando Soakai, Adam Thomson; Hayden Triggs, Josh Bekhuis; Clint Newland, David Hall, Chris King.

Replacements: Jason Rutledge, Anthony Perenise, George Naoupu, Tim Boys, Scott Cowan, Mathew Berquist, Kendrick Lynn.

 

[formeropenside]

The Tahs have really done a deal with the devil to get the dreamrun they have had so far this season. Referees and injuries have conspired to save them from themselves.

 

[Lee Grant]

Yeah we won't have Dickinson to get us home in this one, but if I see Leckie in the parking lot on Friday night I'll tell him that I know where he parked his car.

 

[PhucNgo]

Highlanders by some great defence and some nice attack. Ummm.. 12 points in fact.

Could be right. Waratahs have a long history of underachievement against the Highlanders. Tahs always seem to play down to the Highlanders level which makes for a scrappy game. The big Highlanders pack will be a worry and a test for the Tah's front row. We might see a bit of rotation with Tilse and Palmer getting some game time.

If you're at all superstitious having Matt Burke back on the field is not a good omen. I still have bad memories of THAT game a few years back where, as captain and with a head swaddled in bandages (getting the similarity here) he almost took a goalpost out of the ground in the process of missing a sitter from in front - which would have won the game. So much for kickers not losing games. Anyway, I digress.

12 points, well... I'm thinking it'll be a bit closer than that if the Tahs still can't string some passes together. Maybe a dog fight.

 

[Scarfman]

If you're at all superstitious having Matt Burke back on the field is not a good omen. I still have bad memories of THAT game a few years back where, as captain and with a head swaddled in bandages (getting the similarity here) he almost took a goalpost out of the ground in the process of missing a sitter from in front - which would have won the game. So much for kickers not losing games. Anyway, I digress.

You must be choking!

 

[cyclopath]

If you're at all superstitious having Matt Burke back on the field is not a good omen. I still have bad memories of THAT game a few years back where, as captain and with a head swaddled in bandages (getting the similarity here) he almost took a goalpost out of the ground in the process of missing a sitter from in front - which would have won the game. So much for kickers not losing games. Anyway, I digress.

You must be choking!

Ohhh, Scarfy!! : Front-runner for TYS shocking pun of the year.

 

[cyclopath]

Well, I'll get in early, since I was denied the opportunity to go and watched at home.
A bit scratchy from the Tahs.
Scrum a bit dusty - I got the feeling there were some shenanigans from the Clan front row (and good luck to them if so) at play here.
Lineout - OK but went off a bit with TPN who seemed to go back to his old ways with the throws.
Front row - see above, no-one really stood out
Locks - Mumm and Caldwell industrious without being obvious
Palu - stormer of a game, lots of yards, good try. My MOM
Waugh / Mowen - good try to Mowen, Waugh pretty good in general.
Burgess - OK apart from right foot kicking. Seemed to dish it pretty well.
Beale - quite good I thought. Lovely try made for Tuqiri and kicked well I thought, including goals. The almost try for Carter also deserves mention.
Carter / Horne - solid, but unspectacular
Tuqiri / Turner - I thought Lote had a good game, scored a good try, got involved and tackled well, 1 brain fart with a hospital pass to Sheehan; Turner few opportunities.
SNK - good again. Kicked well, injected himself well, esp for the 2nd try. Again, shame to see him go - needs to realise he's a 15, not so much a 10.
Another non-pretty win, but 5 points is 5 points.

 

[Scarfman]

Good summary, but not quite enough applause for the Tahs scrum. We've now scalped the Rosbifs and the Landers, which now puts us in pretty good company. Bring on the Argies and the Lions; the Fuse will tear you a new one.

Well, pretty much.

Everything was better this week, and Tahu won't be rushed back. I was thoroughly sick of the Hobbit but then when TPN comes on he immediately chucks a pie. :

Beale's goal kicking was freakish tonight. He stuttered in and chipped it and they all went over. Maybe he's just got to back himself and not listen to anything Burke tells him.

 

[RugbyReg]

Good win. Palu was superb. Thought Burgo and Beale were good too. SNK and Caldwell standouts too.

Another bonus point win. Must be happy with that.

 

[Sully]

Think you're marking the Tahs pretty harshly after that one. I thought it was very entertaining.

 

[cyclopath]

Good summary, but not quite enough applause for the Tahs scrum. We've now scalped the Rosbifs and the Landers, which now puts us in pretty good company. Bring on the Argies and the Lions; the Fuse will tear you a new one.

Well, pretty much.

Everything was better this week, and Tahu won't be rushed back. I was thoroughly sick of the Hobbit but then when TPN comes on he immediately chucks a pie. :

Beale's goal kicking was freakish tonight. He stuttered in and chipped it and they all went over. Maybe he's just got to back himself and not listen to anything Burke tells him.

Disagree about the scrum, Scarfy - they were too messy to claim a moral victory, although as I said, I think the Clan were cunning and pulled a few tricks. Robbo got suckered a bit I think and gave up a few FKs, one of which looked a bit harsh. Not saying they were poor but hard to " see" the advantage they had last week.
Sully, I was entertained alright, but still some rough spots ; different league to last weeks debacle no doubt.
I am happy for one that the Tahs are winning a bit ugly anyway. Solid defence and some sparkle in patches - good signs for me.
Oh, and I know it's OT but good onya Marcus North!!!

 

[fatprop]

Scrum was fine until Palmer came on a LHP, he failed to survive the hit a few times. Newland just played with him

The Tahs were solid again and scored tries.

 

[Lee Grant]

Just back from the game.

Was worthwhile to get to the SFS just to see Mowen's try before half-time - a great rugby try - but apart from good sustained defence during the game it was a sporadic effort.

The Tahs didn't give the Clan enough respect in the 1st half I reckon and found themselves deservedly behind on the scoreboard.

Then when they scored after oranges the Clan started to play their best rugby and the Tahs were back to where they were against the Canes in Rd 1 - not being able to get out of their half nor to hold onto the ball for long.

The Clan scored a try and I thought they would start a run for another close finish but they just lacked a bit of class in their players to put points on the more experienced Tahs who were chock full of internationals compared to one for the Highlanders.

Beale was MOTM and played well but I thought Palu was the best player on the park. This bloke is getting into his work now after missing all the trials and was hard to stop most of the time.

The set pieces weren't as good as last week. Leckie got Robbo for boring in time after time and after he limped off Palmer played LHP (instead of swapping with Baxter, as I expected) and fell over in just about every scrum. Lucky for him that the big boofhead Clan THP Newland limped off later too.

Caldwell had another top game and I told his mum near me that he was the most improved Tah this year and she was rapt - but it's an honest assessment IMO.

All Tahs fans should pray for the well being of Benn Robinson otherwise the scrum fairytale could be over.

 

[fatprop]

he Tahs didn't give the Clan enough respect in the 1st half I reckon and found themselves deservedly behind on the scoreboard

They did the same last week IMHO and stopped doing the base work.

 

[mark_s]

THere was one good scrum with Palmer when the tahs were uydner pressure in our own 22 late in the game, but otherwise he looked like he had the wrong studs in.

Was such a vast improvement over last weeks game I am not inclined to be too critical. We were surprised with BEale's choice as MoM over Palu, but by the time I got home I could remember all the good things including his very clinical goal kicking so fair enough.

The highlanders were very willing but seemed to lack size to me, they moved the ball very nicely in the backline and the tahs defence had to be good to stop them scoring. I thought the tahs always had them covered.

The ref was an absolute shocker though, highly pedantic over stupid things like taking quick taps exactly on the mark. He robbed the highlanders of a try with a forward pass call. I hope we dont see him again, I shudder to think what the game against the chiefs would have been like if he had of been in charge