Waratahs vs Chiefs - 2011R07

[qwerty51]

If TPN got subbed we would've lost by 15.

 

[barbarian]

Rubbish. Did you watch him in defence? Very little impact. A few good efforts with ball in hand, but he was really flagging in the last 20.

 

[Sandpit Fan]

If TPN got subbed we would've lost by 15.

The problem is that by not subbing him you may not have him fit to play next week. Bit of a catch-22 I guess, but leaving him on the field because he is inspirational isn't the brightest decision Hickey has ever made. By that logic he may as well have left Waugh on there as well. Good work for the win, although if I were a tahs supporter I would be worried about what the force loosies are going to do next week.

 

[qwerty51]

Rubbish. Did you watch him in defence? Very little impact. A few good efforts with ball in hand, but he was really flagging in the last 20.

Still had dominant tackles would slowed the ball down. His set piece is solid and his carries get over the ad. line. Fitzpatrick is no where near TPN in terms of impact. We've seen what happens when TPN goes off. Crusaders from 20 mins onwards, Cheetahs game etc.

 

[qwerty51]

Good work for the win, although if I were a tahs supporter I would be worried about what the force loosies are going to do next week.

Force should be more worried about where their points will come from.

 

[barbarian]

Still had dominant tackles would slowed the ball down. His set piece is solid and his carries get over the ad. line. Fitzpatrick is no where near TPN in terms of impact. We've seen what happens when TPN goes off. Crusaders from 20 mins onwards, Cheetahs game etc.

He was pretty good last week against the Brumbies. Plus a fresh Fitzy beats a flagging and limping TPN any day, especially when the Chiefs were spinning it wide every phase...

 

[Sandpit Fan]

Still had dominant tackles would slowed the ball down. His set piece is solid and his carries get over the ad. line. Fitzpatrick is no where near TPN in terms of impact. We've seen what happens when TPN goes off. Crusaders from 20 mins onwards, Cheetahs game etc.

Not disputing that mate, but if he keeps getting run into the ground like he was today, you will lose him for weeks, not 20-30 minutes in a single game.

 

[ChargerWA]

Where is the Tahs fitness? They were blown like a fat horse 20 minutes from home.

And Hickey need's turn his brain on and protect TPN. He clearly will not do it himself, so Hickey needs to do it for him.

 

[fatprop]

Nau was stuffed, but he kept pushing himself and doing very special things continually.

Whenever the Tahs needed that something special he would drop in a serious tackle, run or clean out

I was amazed how well the scrum went, in the last scrum before Robinson was replaced one of the chiefs props was lifted in the air off the hit!

 

[Bruce Ross]

Here’s a sample of what passes for rugby journalism in this town:

But that didn't mean the moans and groans at Boohiss Stadium stopped. The Waratahs earned a reprieve from their unforgiving crowd, until the final minutes when they chanted ''don't kick the ball''. But they didn't miss South African referee Jaco Peyper in the first half. The crowd jeered Peyper and understandably so. He turned the scrum contest into the most exasperating of affairs, with endless minutes wasted as he constantly demanded that scrums be reset, after chastising front-rowers for having their left big toe in the wrong spot, then wagging his fingers at others who wanted to resemble ostriches and burrow themselves head first into the turf. He then demanded they do this over and over again.

With Peyper the most fastidious of directors, who instead of screaming ''cut'' repeatedly chanted ''crouch, touch, pause, engage'' until it sent everyone to the funny farm, one scrum during the first half took almost as long as sitting through the 1975 Robert Redford movie The Great Waldo Pepper.

Can someone please tell referees they are not hypnotists and crowds do not come to matches to be sent into a deep sleep? At least some of the smarter ones in the terraces, when they saw a scrum about to be set, immediately headed to the exits, knowing they had the time to stroll to the nearby Captain Cook Hotel, sip their way through a schooner, and still get back in time to miss absolutely nothing.

The defining moment came during the set-piece snooze-athon that occurred between the 21st and 26th minutes, when following 6292 scrum resets, Peyper sent Chiefs tight-head prop Nathan White to the sin bin for his unimpressive Ossie Ostrich impersonation, and then awarded the Waratahs a penalty try when yet another scrum disintegrated.

This is fully half of the 600 words Greg Growden wrote on last night’s game.

“Boohiss Stadium” How funny is that? If I was 13 I’d have cacked myself.

I wasn’t overly impressed by the Waratahs’ scrummaging. The failure to maintain shape and inability to stop the scrum wheeling erratically on their own feed meant the backs almost never received front foot ball from what should have been a very stable platform.

 

[cyclopath]

Bruce, when I was watching that debacle of the multiple resets, I was hoping for a view of the opposite side, which was where the penalties were arising, as I was not entirely convinced it was any "superior" technique from the Tahs as the scrums were all skewing. They were lucky a few times that Palu is pretty handy at flipping the ball out of an unstable scrum, as Burgess seems to not like actually pulling the ball out himself.

 

[Gagger]

The first 10 minutes of every Tahs performance is always the fastest, most powerful rugby you'll see.

Then there'll be something to upset it, and it'll go to shit from there. (if it doesnt they'll score 40 points)

What does that say?

 

[#1 Tah]

“Boohiss Stadium” How funny is that? If I was 13 I’d have cacked myself.

Nope. Not even.

 

[Bruce Ross]

Bruce, when I was watching that debacle of the multiple resets, I was hoping for a view of the opposite side, which was where the penalties were arising, as I was not entirely convinced it was any "superior" technique from the Tahs as the scrums were all skewing. They were lucky a few times that Palu is pretty handy at flipping the ball out of an unstable scrum, as Burgess seems to not like actually pulling the ball out himself.

Like you, cyclo, I was worried about whether the Chiefs were getting a fair go. I was watching the scrums through binoculars, and when Waldrom was sent off someone asked me whether it was justified. I had to say I didn't know as all the problems were occurring on the opposite side. Waldrom was not a happy camper when he trudged off.

 

[Scarfman]

I reckon it was just one of those games where the boys decide that a win is enough. A better side might have kept the foot on the accelerator and got the bonus points, but it's a long season. I reckon the Crusaders have shown us that it's all about form in the last 3 - 4 weeks, so let's hope they're pacing themselves. I still reckon they are the most solid-looking Australian team.

Having said that, they might have dropped the wrong lock. What does Dean Mumm do?

 

[whatty]

Fairly enjoyable game especially the last 20 mins for the Neutrals and having the Tahs at 13 under. Tahs still look like a Pirelli Tyre with a slow leak in it.

Kiwi media are all over this game as to the ref been crap and the Chiefs even worse. Typical BS except maybe the chiefs in trying to play basketball footy even at the risk of loosing.

 

[Stands]

Is Turner injured or just not strong enough?
Around the 8 minute mark he got the ball at speed, he was tackled about 10 mtrs out and was stopped dead where the tackler hit him. Then about 40 sec later same thing, he got hit about 3 mtrs out and was stopped dead in his tracks. It happened later in the first half again has a run but when he gets tackled there is no forward movement. In the second half when the Chiefs scored it was Williams who dived through Turner to score.

 

[cyclopath]

Fairly enjoyable game especially the last 20 mins for the Neutrals and having the Tahs at 13 under. Tahs still look like a Pirelli Tyre with a slow leak in it.

Kiwi media are all over this game as to the ref been crap and the Chiefs even worse. Typical BS except maybe the chiefs in trying to play basketball footy even at the risk of loosing.

I think he was a little out of his depth, but not bad - I thought the scrums were not managed as well as they might have been, and he had a noticeably slower cadence on his engagement calls than some other refs have been using, which might have contributed a lot to that. Essentially the Chiefs were just more dire than the Tahs. I don't think the outcome was affected by him.

 

[ACT Crusader]

After the game last night I agreed with baabaa's 2nd half assessment of TPN who really looked to be struggling after a superb 1st 40. So I watched the 2nd half again focussing on the 'fro. This is by no means a slight on TPN as a player and his importance to both Tah and Wallaby rugga, more to prove that qwerty must have had both eye patches on when watching the 2nd half....

40:20 - dives in on a loose ball but he is slow to get up and looks hurt
40:50 - good 5m burst/run and offload
41-42 - walking around
42:40 - runs on the wing to chase a Tahs kick, has no effect in the play/counter
43:05 - Tahs LO throw, TPN nails it
43-44:30 - stays on wing and slowly drifts in
44:45 - runs with Pakalani on LW, Paka offloads but goes forward
46 - scrum midfield, Tahs penalty for obstruction
46-47 - stays on wing
47:30 - dies on loose ball out wide and offloads
(48:25 - Waugh limps off)
49 - cleaned out by Chiefs on the right wing. Chiefs spread wide but come back to right, TPN remains out wide
49:47 - cleaned out again by Chiefs on right wing (Benn Robbo gets TO in the play)
50:30 - TPN LO throw not straight on right side. Chiefs swing it wide after scrum, and TPN remains on right wing
53 - Chiefs forward pass on left wing and scrum. After scrum TPN remains out on LW. At this point I noticed that Kepu really covers some ground.
54:05 - LO throw on left side, nails it and joins the maul after a couple of pushes. Maul disintegrates
54:15-56 - stays out on the left wing and makes a tackle "assist"
56-57 - attack goes to the right and TPN stays on left wing and slowly drifts in but not involved
57:05 - attack comes back to the right and TPN is driven off the ball and Chiefs score try
58:00 - restart, out on left wing and stays there
59:20 - Horan makes comment that Chiefs need to attack that side because its TPN over there
60:00 - Scrum to Tahs and a bit of a delay. Tahs give away possession shortly after
60:42 - Chiefs attack, TPN leans on a ruck
61:00 - misses a tackle on Leonard and Leonard makes good yards. Stays out wide after that
62:30 - LO Chiefs on the left side, TPN remains out wide
63:55 - Tahs 22 restart
64 - TPN chases up the middle and makes takle. good play
64:30 - walking around the midfield, not involved. Tahs attack and kick deflected off Chiefs.
65:00 - Tahs LO and TPN throws short and gets the ball back and makes a burst down left wing. Shortly after a Tah lock makes a run down left wing also and TPN helps in the clean out
65:30-67 - Chiefs attacking and TPN stays out on left wing, not involved
67:55 - Tahs 22 restart
68 - TPN part of a chase and tackles in midfield
68:20-70 drifts out to left wing and stays out there
70:57 - Chiefs attacking and he gets ankles of TNW on left wing
71:54 - after Tahs get ball and clear clearing kick, Masaga runs ball back down the right side and the Chiefs swing in to the left thereafter. N still out left and he makes a tackle assist on the left wing
72:20 - Penalty t0 Chiefs and TPN is crouched over and looks wasted
73:35 - Tahs restart and Chiefs attack down right side. TPN out on left wing and stays there
74:20 - Chiefs bring attack to the left and Latimer waltzes past TPN
74:45 - whistle blows and TPN is not involved in play but he crouches down and looks hurt/spent
75:35 - scrum midfield and collapses twice. eats plenty of time
77 - Mitchell kicks awary after scrum. Chiefs attack
77:40 - TPN is shrugged off on left side by Kerr-Barlow. Chiefs wing it to the right and Messam knocks on
78:20 - scrum and Tahs drive after scrum, TPN not involved and there is a penalty and game over

So watching him closely I think he spent extraordinary amounts of time on the wings. Did some good things but overall looked spent very early on and stayed out of the play as a result. I'd be leaning more towards the thinking that he probably should have gone around the 65-70 mark because his presence "around the park" was limited to alot of time out wide

 

[barbarian]

Is Turner injured or just not strong enough?
Around the 8 minute mark he got the ball at speed, he was tackled about 10 mtrs out and was stopped dead where the tackler hit him. Then about 40 sec later same thing, he got hit about 3 mtrs out and was stopped dead in his tracks. It happened later in the first half again has a run but when he gets tackled there is no forward movement. In the second half when the Chiefs scored it was Williams who dived through Turner to score.

Injured. Was carrying an arm infection into the game and was on antibiotics. Came off holding said arm, so it was obviously troubling him.

That said he has been quiet this year.