The newTahs juggernaut just keeps on rollin'. Another gutsy, and intelligent, display from these wonderful warriors.
By far the most notable point of this victory was the single-mindedness of the 22 players in blue while they were playing musical chairs, they all sang from the same song-sheet. Count 'em: Crawford before kickoff, Douglas after one minute, TPN in the first half, Horne didn't do much after getting a poke in the eye early on, 9/10/12 started as McKibbin/Foley/Horne and seamlessly changed to Lucas/Foley/Barnes. Every sub slotted into the team without a stutter. It seems most of the Tahs' squad are getting on board Cheika's ship, they're grasping his philosophy and are now playing well with the ball in hand. That's apart from the massive improvement in individual skills; their work at the breakdown is much better after a poor start this year and the Tahs' scrum is proving to be highly effective. How many times have teams shunted the scrum early in a match only to bossed around later in the game? How good is it to watch players run on to a ball passed in front of them? The Brumbies and Reds may lead them on the table (and deservedly so) but the tide's surely running with the Tahs right now.
I won't go into comments about individual players at depth, just a few observations. Foley must've taken my advice from last week and carefully examined his Stormers' performance, his game management was much better this week. Or was it Barnes next to him directing the traffic? Or better passes from Lucas? Never mind, Bernard looked like a bloke in charge when it mattered on Saturday. How good was that pass to Peter Betham? Quade'd be proud of that one. Another player I'd like to single out is Folau. I was sitting up in that corner where he gathered those To'omua grubber kicks late in the second half, and it was pleasing to see Izzy wasn't caught out of position once when the pressure was on. He kicked a few back (nice to see from a fullback) and passed to Barnes for another. The last player I'd like to highlight is Hooper. I've commented elsewhere I reckon Smith's the better player when his team doesn't have the ball (so's Gill) while Hooper's better with ball in hand. And so it was on Saturday night, especially when Michael scored that lovely try while seagulling out on the left wing. If I could be so bold as to give the Oz coaches some advice: Hooper might be the incumbent but, for Gawd's sake, start with Gill.
After contemplating the result of this vital match I can't help thinking Cheika out-coached White. This was a very good Australian win against a limited "Saffer" team; when the Ponies were in front, and when the chips were down, they didn't/couldn't score points through the backs. Does this tell us something about Larkham's place in the Ponies' stable? TBH I think White would be worried after that loss, his charges fired their best shots in the first half and got in front, a la a front-running Saffer side. Field position is everything to them when they should occasionally think otherwise. But they didn't have the wherewithal to withstand the well-thought out Tahs' reply as the match progressed.
newTahs, please put on a good show for me in Melbourne this weekend, 'cos I'll be there.
By far the most notable point of this victory was the single-mindedness of the 22 players in blue while they were playing musical chairs, they all sang from the same song-sheet. Count 'em: Crawford before kickoff, Douglas after one minute, TPN in the first half, Horne didn't do much after getting a poke in the eye early on, 9/10/12 started as McKibbin/Foley/Horne and seamlessly changed to Lucas/Foley/Barnes. Every sub slotted into the team without a stutter. It seems most of the Tahs' squad are getting on board Cheika's ship, they're grasping his philosophy and are now playing well with the ball in hand. That's apart from the massive improvement in individual skills; their work at the breakdown is much better after a poor start this year and the Tahs' scrum is proving to be highly effective. How many times have teams shunted the scrum early in a match only to bossed around later in the game? How good is it to watch players run on to a ball passed in front of them? The Brumbies and Reds may lead them on the table (and deservedly so) but the tide's surely running with the Tahs right now.
I won't go into comments about individual players at depth, just a few observations. Foley must've taken my advice from last week and carefully examined his Stormers' performance, his game management was much better this week. Or was it Barnes next to him directing the traffic? Or better passes from Lucas? Never mind, Bernard looked like a bloke in charge when it mattered on Saturday. How good was that pass to Peter Betham? Quade'd be proud of that one. Another player I'd like to single out is Folau. I was sitting up in that corner where he gathered those To'omua grubber kicks late in the second half, and it was pleasing to see Izzy wasn't caught out of position once when the pressure was on. He kicked a few back (nice to see from a fullback) and passed to Barnes for another. The last player I'd like to highlight is Hooper. I've commented elsewhere I reckon Smith's the better player when his team doesn't have the ball (so's Gill) while Hooper's better with ball in hand. And so it was on Saturday night, especially when Michael scored that lovely try while seagulling out on the left wing. If I could be so bold as to give the Oz coaches some advice: Hooper might be the incumbent but, for Gawd's sake, start with Gill.
After contemplating the result of this vital match I can't help thinking Cheika out-coached White. This was a very good Australian win against a limited "Saffer" team; when the Ponies were in front, and when the chips were down, they didn't/couldn't score points through the backs. Does this tell us something about Larkham's place in the Ponies' stable? TBH I think White would be worried after that loss, his charges fired their best shots in the first half and got in front, a la a front-running Saffer side. Field position is everything to them when they should occasionally think otherwise. But they didn't have the wherewithal to withstand the well-thought out Tahs' reply as the match progressed.
newTahs, please put on a good show for me in Melbourne this weekend, 'cos I'll be there.
