One week further along the season and things are getting way more interesting at the top of the ladder.
The Waratahs had a hard fought loss to the Crusaders, snagging a bonus point along the way. As a result the Tahs have slipped from first to third, whilst the Cru jump up one spot to second. It can only get worse, it would seem, for the Tahs as they have the bye this week and there are three teams that can somewhat feasibly leap over the top of them.
The Brumbies, on the other hand, smashed the Hapless Cheetahs (as they seem to have been rebranded these days). Along the way the Brumbies FINALLY scored a four try bonus point! HURRAH! So they’ve climbed from 7th up to 6th and take on the 9th place Hurricanes on Friday in Canberra. The Reds, meanwhile, smashed the Hapless Lions (they’re sponsored by the same company, it seems) and wrapped up their four try bonus point in about 25 minutes. It had no real impact on the ladder though as they remain in 5th.
Down the other end of the log, the Force are continue to skyrocket and have leaped into 12th spot (above the aforementioned Hapless teams). And it is a well deserved leap too as the boys from the West have endured some tough injury-laden times and are now back close to full strength and playing some good footy. They even have players making an impact from the bench.
So another very positive round for the Aussie teams. Which of course makes it difficult to pick the standouts. But let’s give a try shall we?
Team of the Round:
15 James O’Connor (FORCE)
14 Rodney Davies (REDS)
13 Rob Horne (WARATAHS)
12 Ryan Cross (FORCE)
11 Cameron Shepherd (FORCE)
10 Quade Cooper (REDS)
9 Patrick Phibbs (BRUMBIES)
8 Stephen Hoiles (BRUMBIES)
7 Phil Waugh (WARATAHS)
6 Rocky Elsom (BRUMBIES)
5 Nathan Sharpe (FORCE)
4 Rob Simmons (REDS)
3 Tim Fairbrother (FORCE)
2 Tatafu Polata-Nau (WARATAHS)
1 Ben Alexander (BRUMBIES)
A nice little spread there with the Force having five reps, the Reds with three, the Tahs with three and the Brumbies with four. Wow. So the Force outrank the others? That’s a first. Let’s break it down a little as there were plenty in contention.
Fullback could have gone to any of O’Connor, Beale or Hynes. Each were actually quite brilliant. In the end I think JOC had the better all round game and more moments of magic too. I reckon the wingers are fairly undisputed, although Adam Ashley-Cooper was solid. Will Chambers and Tyrone Smith both did some good things in their respective matches, so Horne’s selection was tight.
Anthony Faingaa had a brilliant opening quarter to the Reds game, whilst Berrick and Gits were both more involved than previously. But I think Crossy just played such an important role in his team’s win this week and he’s forming a handy little combo with David Hill at flyhalf.
Speaking of flyhalf, none of the tens were in Cooper’s class this week. A spot further in, though, was fairly tough to pick. Genia is still producing the goods whilst Chris O’Young was busy for the Force. Twas a nice little cameo from Justin Turner from the bench too!
Phil Waugh was the standout forward this week and is pretty much unopposed. On the other side of the scrum, though, both Hodgson and Higginbotham had their usual high standard games. But Rocky was excellent. Hoiles was probably only really pushed by the late Cliffy Palu for his spot. Simmons’s spot could have gone to his Reds locking partner Van Humphries or indeed Brumbies replacement Mark Chisholm, but Simmo had a high energy game showing plenty of muscle..
Up front? Well I reckon the Tight Head Prop performances were all fairly below par. No one really stepped up, and in fact some stepped down. On the other side of the scrum, Benny Alexander and another two excellent prop tries sees him a sure thing.
Player of the Round.
Oh wow. So many to choose from. For the Reds, it was Quade Cooper, doing magical stuff with the ball but also, shock horror, making try saving tackles. And dominant ones! As mentioned above, Phil Waugh was IMMENSE for the Waratahs and outplayed Richie McCaw by some way. Rocky Elsom was similarly impressive and involved for the Brumbies, whilst James O’Connor was in everything for the Force with one of the best kicking games we’ve seen for a while. Who’s your tip?
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Try of the Round.
Well, as you would expect, there’s a few to choose from. You don’t have to watch too much of the Reds’ game to find their best. It was scored (and started by) Rodney Davies and happened from the kick off. It did feature some of the weakest tackling on earth however. I liked the opportunistic component of James O’Connor’s try for the Force against the Highlanders too.
The rest are all Brumbies tries. You’ve got Matty Toomua’s slicing run from the set piece move. Then you’ve got Rocky’s effort involving end to end rugby and beautiful interchange of play, and then you’ve got the Huia Edmonds inspired try by Alfi Mafi. Brilliant.
Moment of the Round.
It can be only one. The moment that may have the biggest impact on the title hopes of Australia’s highest ranked team – Wycliff Palu’s injury. We’ve been discussing the implications in terms of Wallaby selections from all angles (links), but for the Waratahs its borderline catastrophic. How the team copes with his loss is season defining. We can all but watch. And hope.
