Waratahs vs Force - Super Rugby R2 Sunday 23 February 2014

[barbarian]

But see you are comparing the Chiefs/Brumbies/Sharks of round 15 last year with the Tahs of round 1 this year. Because I can tell you the sides you listed weren't very impressive either last week- no-one was, it is round 1 and that's the way it always has been.

I don't think now is the time to make outlandish prognostications about our fortunes, as there is so much of the season left to unfold. But I thought that was a pretty good effort for round 1, with far more positives than negatives.
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[I like to watch]

Well upon further investigation it may actually be a deliberate tactic. Apparently it was revealed after I left the press box.

Bizarre if true. And pathetic.
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Says a lot about about what they are forecasting their crowds to be like.

 

[Bessa]

But the skill and accuracy was way down and that's what you want to see first up. We can add the kamikaze power later.

Isn't it usually the other way around? I always throught the skill and accuracy can as the the team gelled during the season.....

I agree with BH81, I thought compared to the other matches, the Tah's were actually one of the better teams.

 

[Braveheart81]

I also thought the Tahs accuracy at the breakdown was significantly better than pretty much anything we saw last year.

ESPNscrum stats is showing that we won 91/96 of our rucks for 94.8% which supports this.

 

[Badger]

Well upon further investigation it may actually be a deliberate tactic. Apparently it was revealed after I left the press box.

Bizarre if true. And pathetic.
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Iain Payten tweeted a clarification that the Tahs will continue to release crowd figures, but not on game day due to different data sources that need to be collated.

 

[boyo]

No, but we want/need to be top two and this is not how top two plays. Chiefs, Crusaders, Brumbies, Sharks and Reds will all beat us unless we improve markedly. We have the following match sequence: Reds (H), bye, Brumbies (A), Rebels (H), Sharks (A), Stormers (A). On what I saw, you couldn't chalk up one certain win out of the next six weeks - lose three of them and I don't think we can make top two.

I have seen us believe in our own hype too many times before. The first half of our season is much harder than the second and we need to play well early or slip off the pace and be done before we reach half way. You have to set high standards and Sunday we didn't!

 

[Quick Hands]

Yesterday's game was at the very least a pass for the Waratahs. Every super game had the same sorts of errors that the Waratahs made, so I think some are being a little harsh.

I came away from the match feeling optimistic for the first time for quite a few years.

That doesn't mean I think we're certainties to hold up the trophy, but we're going to be up there. I'm looking forward to this week and apart from wanting a Waratahs win, I'm really hoping against all precedent that the Reds and Waratahs put on a high quality, high intensity game of rugby.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Yeh. Maybe it's new then?

Shiggins, I spent parts of last winter running the line in age comps all over Sydney and I heard the refs say every week scrum or line out in just these circumstances.
But I guess you'll just say that means its a Sydney only law.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

In the forwards, Douglas and Palu were immense, popping up everywhere and making the big hits and runs.
I do think that Rohan Hoffman has improved quite a bit recently, but I think he needs to work on his positioning a bit more

Totally agree re Douglas - I reckon he has put on 2 yards in pace. Funny - blokes at work reckoned his work rate was poor - i was impressed and I'm no long term fan.
Reserved on Palu but i did prefer what I thought was a slightly tighter role.
Hoffman's a shocker - at one point in the 2nd half under the Tahs sticks he was getting in the way of both teams and actually stood between the Force half and 1st receiver giving the half no chance of getting the pass away. Cant remember seeing worse positioning at this level.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

If you'd seen Crawford play the curtain raiser you wouldn't be calling for him to come straight back in. He is short of a run and doesn't look ready to oust Alofa or Betham even if he does have a long kick.

I didn't see him but if he isn't ready to take over from Betham he must be way off a gallop.

 

[Quick Hands]

Hoffman's a shocker - at one point in the 2nd half under the Tahs sticks he was getting in the way of both teams and actually stood between the Force half and 1st receiver giving the half no chance of getting the pass away. Cant remember seeing worse positioning at this level.

You're right about the Hoff, misses so much both ways and is mostly out of position. This may lead fanatical supporters of the losing side to allege a plot, as it's hard to believe some of the missed calls. He did get the lineout option right though.

I can understand the frustration that Force fans feel, but they're only into the second season of the win (lose) ugly style of rugby. We Waratah supporters had years of it and while the team have clearly adopted a great style of rugby, yesterday's crowd of 15,000 compared to the pre Hickey/Foley crowds of 30,000 plus suggests that rugby in this state is still suffering.

How this mode of play is going to win over supporters in an AFL heartland like Perth is a complete mystery. Wait till they serve up 6 minutes of collapsed scrums instead of going for a try.

 

[Shiggins]

Shiggins, I spent parts of last winter running the line in age comps all over Sydney and I heard the refs say every week scrum or line out in just these circumstances.
But I guess you'll just say that means its a Sydney only law.

Must be a Sydney only law

 

[Shiggins]

Shiggins, I spent parts of last winter running the line in age comps all over Sydney and I heard the refs say every week scrum or line out in just these circumstances.
But I guess you'll just say that means its a Sydney only law.

lol but seriously I've never seen it or seen a team choose a line out from it. It's always been a scrum.
I've seen players argue the point at test level last season.

 

[ChargerWA]

I've sen the option offered a dozen times. I can't actually believe this conversation is still going.

 

[cyclopath]

I've sen the option offered a dozen times. I can't actually believe this conversation is still going.

Really? I can.

 

[Forcefield]

I can understand the frustration that Force fans feel, but they're only into the second season of the win (lose) ugly style of rugby. We Waratah supporters had years of it and while the team have clearly adopted a great style of rugby, yesterday's crowd of 15,000 compared to the pre Hickey/Foley crowds of 30,000 plus suggests that rugby in this state is still suffering.

Hah! You obviously didn't watch us under the two years of Richard Graham.

I don't feel frustrated by Foley. At the end of the season, if we haven't shown signs of improvement, I would just say don't renew his contract at the end of 2015. I also won't judge him after just one game this season. Fact of the matter is that we were playing a shit-hot team at their home ground after their far superior pre-season preparation. We were under the pump for most of the game. Quality attack is hard to pull off under that kind of pressure.

Foley is putting faith in local players, which is more than can be said of any of his predecessors. As somebody said elsewhere, how the fuck did Richard Graham let Jake Ball go? Especially given the locks we have now. Foley might not be a short term, results focused coach, but I think we will benefit in the long term with some of his initiatives.

 

[caymantim]

Many of Mathewson's scrum-feeds were into the Force second row.

So were Phipps.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Hah! You obviously didn't watch us under the two years of Richard Graham.

I don't feel frustrated by Foley. At the end of the season, if we haven't shown signs of improvement, I would just say don't renew his contract at the end of 2015. I also won't judge him after just one game this season. Fact of the matter is that we were playing a shit-hot team at their home ground after their far superior pre-season preparation. We were under the pump for most of the game. Quality attack is hard to pull off under that kind of pressure.

Foley is putting faith in local players, which is more than can be said of any of his predecessors. As somebody said elsewhere, how the fuck did Richard Graham let Jake Ball go? Especially given the locks we have now. Foley might not be a short term, results focused coach, but I think we will benefit in the long term with some of his initiatives.

Why do you say that Tahs had a better pre season? If it's true why isn't that a reason to point the finger at Foley?
He had some crap pre-seasons over here: and one when they were completely underdone IIRC because he caved to a player request for less work.

 

[Scoey]

Why is it so important that Force fans hate Foley as much as Tah fans? If they are happy with him, why can't that be enough? Fair enough hate Foley for what he did at the Tahs but get over it and move on.


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[Quick Hands]

Interesting concept that a poor preparation has nothing to do with the coach.

It's not that the Force lost the game, it's the way they went about it. If Force supporters and administrators are happy with that style of game and think it will help promote the code in the west, go for it. I speak as one of the many who stopped going during the Hickey/Foley era, the moment when my then 7 year old rugby fanatic asked to go home one night 10m mins before half time because it was boring, sort of said it all. Didn't go back until last season, but judging by the 15,000 crowd there are plenty who still haven't come back.