Waratahs vs Sharks - RD5 2012

[Jnor]

Looks like it'll be BB 10 and TC 12 with Hangers on the bench then.

Good on you Robbo!

 

[Lee Grant]

Also interesting and deserved Fat Cat captain

I must admit I missed that item of interest in my cut and paste. Yes it would mean that the incumbent captain, Hangers, will be dropped from the starting team.

I hope that Cat sets a good example in the penalty count and not reach over to grab the opposing scrummie at a ruck as he did, again, against the Force. Sometimes these guys must think that the laws have been changed overnight.

 

[Waylon]

The Africans are traditionally bad on their first hit out of an Australasian tour

The tahs will have been flogged this week

The pride was stung

Here we are at week 5 and it's almost season over if they lose

They will be up for this.

The coach ordered cattle prods this week and they will all be electrocuted on the @ss as they run out from the changerooms

They'll be like a bucking bull coming out of the shoot

Tahs by 15 with a BP

 

[Nusadan]

News reel in this morning's TV saying that Hangers has been dropped.

 

[fatprop]

Former skipper backs stuttering line-up to still come good this season

March 22, 2012

THE last time the Waratahs started a season this badly, a beef producer from Gunnedah was captain, they frequently trained in the headlights of the squad's parked cars and no one ever booed them on Concord Oval.
It didn't end well. The Waratahs failed to qualify for the finals and finished ninth in the then 12-team table. But the team didn't ditch their captain.
At this point in 1997, with three losses and just one win after four rounds, No. 8 Tim Gavin stayed at the helm, strung a couple of wins together and finished the season.
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Daniel Halangahu was not afforded the same loyalty yesterday. Coach Michael Foley dumped his stand-in five eighth and handed the reins to vice-captain and Test prop Benn Robinson.
Halangahu is not even a certainty to start against the Sharks at Allianz Stadium on Saturday after the Waratahs named a 24-man squad from which they will select a starting XV after training today.
Disrupted by injury niggles and visa issues, the coaching staff will wait to the last minute to see if Wycliff Palu, Berrick Barnes, Lopeti Timani and Sarel Pretorius are fit to play.
Gavin, a 47-Test cap forward who retired after the 1997 season, said Palu's presence in the Waratahs' back row would be crucial for the side's season.
''Cliffy is certainly needed there, you can tell that intensity drops off without him and their thrust as a forward pack drops off when they stop playing,'' he said.
''[Breakaway Pat] McCutcheon got injured and [Chris] Alcock's developing and he needs time to develop. They were playing against a world-class player on the weekend and it makes it difficult. But you've got to get around those obstacles.''
The fitness of Palu and Timani will determine whether the Waratahs go for a 4-3 or 5-2 forward split on the bench. Wingers Peter Betham and Brackin Karauria-Henry have also been included in the group of 24.
Fifteen years ago, Gavin managed to rally his troops to back-to-back wins after a disastrous two-game tour of South Africa.
''Going on tour is a pretty good thing for NSW, we always get away and pull together and we got a lot out of that tour to South Africa,'' he said.
The side had lost to the Lions 36-27 at Ellis Park then went down by five points to Natal a week later.
''They were very close games and I thought they could have gone either way. We sort of rallied coming back home after that and learnt a lot and went on from there,'' Gavin said.
Just like the current crop of Waratahs, the 1997 side faced a South African team at Sydney Football Stadium in their fifth game.
They trounced Northern Transvaal 43-29 and disposed of Orange Free State 36-11 the next week, before a loss at home to the Reds brought the good times to an end.
''These competitions are all about momentum,'' Gavin said.
''You need momentum going into games and NSW have been a bit unlucky at times, they did get outplayed [against the Force] on the weekend but they could have got away with it, too.''
Gavin said he was certain the Waratahs could come back and make the finals, unlike his squad.
''Definitely they can, that's a good squad with some great experience in there, we just need to toughen up mentally a bit and the games are tight, so silly penalties have hurt us,'' he said.
''It's still a work in progress, there's no doubt about that, but it's a long season, they've got enough momentum at the moment - very narrow losses - and they've just got to believe in themselves and follow it through, stick with their plan and play their best team.''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/former-skipper-backs-stuttering-lineup-to-still-come-good-this-season-20120321-1vkbz.html#ixzz1pnNGwL70

 

[Braveheart81]

The Cumnock Kid.

My childhood hero.

 

[Braveheart81]

15. Bernard Foley (Sydney University)
14. Tom Kingston (Sydney University)
13. Rob Horne (Southern Districts)
12. Tom Carter (Sydney University)
11. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Northern Suburbs)
10. Berrick Barnes (Sydney University)
9. Brendan McKibbin (Eastern Suburbs)
8. Wycliff Palu (Manly)
7. Chris Alcock (Eastwood)
6. Dave Dennis (Sydney University)
5. Kane Douglas (Southern Districts)
4. Dean Mumm (Sydney University)
3. Sekope Kepu (Randwick)
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau (Parramatta)
1. Benn Robinson (Eastwood), captain

Replacements
16. John Ulugia (Southern Districts)
17. Paddy Ryan (Sydney University)
18. Sitaleki Timani (Southern Districts)
19. Lopeti Timani (Southern Districts)
20. Jono Jenkins (Sydney University)
21. Sarel Pretorius (Gordon)
22. Daniel Halangahu (Sydney University)
23. Peter Betham (Sydney University)
24. Brackin Kauraria-Henry (Southern Districts)

 

[barbarian]

Good looking side, obviously Foley read my blog article. Or read one of the torrent of abusive text messages I sent him after (and during) the game.

 

[Bowside]

Strong looking side. I expect the tahs to win this one. The sharks are very beatable.

 

[Lee Grant]

A final decision on reserves will be made later. I haven't seen the Tahs train this week; so no doubt the niggles are problematic.

It's likely the last two named will be omitted though they could exclude one of Jenkins or Lopeti and have a 4/3 bench.

You wouldn't want one of the back 3 injured with a 5/2 though Sarel used to have some form on the wing (and I remember Hangers playing scrumhalf in trials in his younger days and not being the worst - and can play fullback.)

 

[mjw]

It will be interesting for me to see how McKibbin goes in the starting side. I don't think he has impressed me yet outside of Shute Shield. I really want to be proven wrong on this.

 

[RedsHappy]

Strong looking side. I expect the tahs to win this one. The sharks are very beatable.

The Tahs team as such is not for me the key variable for Saturday.

Rather, can the excellent team mindset, spirit and enjoyment of play that the Tahs so clearly showed in Rnd 1 - and that contributed to the powerful cohesiveness of their play that even I admired on that day - be rediscovered...or restarted?

It's one of the many mysteries of the modern Tahs: why does their inner spirit and mindset often start the season so well, and then, quite soon, so badly fall away. As if passion and the justified joy of their prowess is soon replaced with anxiety and almost a form of withdrawal.

If they can't go back to the very best 'inner soul of the Tahs', and thus play happy, IMO all the shrewd selections in the world won't make them winners (v the best teams) again.

 

[Bowside]

I think they will bounce back after a bad defeat - especially considering the quality they have in their squad.

Reds also laid a pretty sound blueprint of how to beat the sharks in the first 30 minutes on the weekend. They also laid a blueprint on how to lose to the sharks.

The Tahs just need to be smart and learn from the success and mistakes of others.

 

[fatprop]

The bench is starting to have some threat, always a good sign

 

[kiap]

22 March 2012 (11:07) - Sharks coach John Plumtree has stuck with the side that that showed guts and heart last week in selecting his team to play the Waratahs on Saturday, with just one enforced change in the second row.

Jandre Marais (pictured) who made his debut last week - and scored a try with his first touch of the ball at Vodacom Super Rugby level – replaces Steven Sykes at lock. Sykes has fortunately been passed fit to play after leaving the field early in the match against the Reds and has been named on the bench.

Nick Schonert, who flew out to join up with the squad later, has been thrown into the team, selected in the number 17 jersey to provide cover at tighthead prop.

With JP Pietersen sitting out another week, Marius Joubert will play off the bench along with other backline replacements Fred Michalak and Louis Ludik.

The match kicks off at 6.35am South African time.

The Sharks

1. Dale Chadwick
2. Bismarck du Plessis
3. Jannie du Plessis
4. Anton Bresler
5. Jandre Marais
6. Marcell Coetzee
7. Willem Alberts
8. Keegan Daniel (Captain)

9. Charl McLeod
10. Patrick Lambie
11. Lwazi Mvovo
12. Meyer Bosman
13. Tim Whitehead
14. Odwa Ndungane
15. Riaan Viljoen

Replacements
16. Craig Burden
17. Nick Schonert
18. Steven Sykes
19. Jacques Botes
20. Frederic Michalak
21. Marius Joubert
22. Louis Ludik

 

[PaarlBok]

Cant understand why the Tahs benched Super Sarel? There are some experience on the Sharks bench. IF they can get over their Tah babelaas they may get an upset here.

 

[cyclopath]

He has a bit of a niggle, so they're keeping him in cotton wool a bit. Otherwise he'd start I reckon.

 

[PaarlBok]

He has a bit of a niggle, so they're keeping him in cotton wool a bit. Otherwise he'd start I reckon.

Pretty sure he'd love to catch up with his brother in crime, Riaan Viljoen. They come a long way.

 

[#1 Tah]

I rekkon it's McKibben's boot that benched Sarel.

 

[Torn Hammy]

I would like to see John Ulugia come on early, particularly if TPN stuffs up the throw-ins again.