There has been a lot said about this match and I’m not going to go over it again. The top of the Australian conference going head-to-head, it was the Festival of Hate and the next game in the Tahs’ double slam mission… wait, I did start. Sorry, it was that sort of game.
Honestly though, the biggest questions waiting to be answered were whether Tatafu Polota-Nau would run out with a slick new hair cut after his Two Blues got up over Warringah this afternoon in Sydney, and would that mean he ‘d lose his powers like Samson? But he still had his fro. And his powers?
There were plenty of big hits in the opening of the match, and the first points, from a Quade Cooper penalty goal, did little settle things down, with a stink happening shortly after.
The Waratahs hit back when they earned a penalty in front of the goals. They took the scrum and when they were awarded a penalty from that, they elected to go for the posts. Kurtley duly put it over. They hit the lead when they earned another shot, this one from 45 metres out.
Then I lost my dinner when I saw Drew Mitchell’s foot pointing the wrong way. He was stretchered off to applause from the crowd. This saw a reshuffle in the Tahs’ backline with Lachie Turner going to the wing, Kurtley dropping to fullback and Daniel Halangahu coming in to fly-half.
The next points went to the Tahs: another penalty goal to Kurtley, this one for offside play. Ben Daley was subbed after a massive head knock that had him out cold. It was beginning to look like a last-man-standing contest; no one was holding back.
Another penalty was slotted, this time by the Reds, with Quade doing the business. There was a brief exchange between Walsh and Waugh here, with Walsh accusing the Tahs captain of cynical play.
The Reds then scored a fine try. Genia cleared the ball from a midfield scrum. Quade dummied past Ryan Cross, setting up a one-on-one with Kurtley. Quade’s step trumped KB’s defence and he ran it in behind the sticks. He followed the touchdown with a cartwheel, a backflip and a conversion.
The only other score in the half was a Cooper drop goal. A minute or so after the hooter, the Reds were hard on attack deep in Waratahs territory. Quade appeared to get bored going nowhere, so took the easy shot from in front to make it 16–9.
The second half started with a change in referee, Steve Walsh succumbing to a calf injury and Ian Smith going from Assistant Referee to centre stage.
The Waratahs scored the first points of the second half, with Kurtley kicking a penalty from 40-odd metres out.
We then got a bit of scrum battle. With the Tahs hard on attack five metres out, the Reds collapsed and conceded penalty after penalty. There were substitutions, with both hookers being changed in the middle and a break as the new ref warned Kevvie that the next penalty would come with a card. It didn’t… The Tahs ended up winning a scrappy one, but no points came from it.
Some people may say that this was a dour period of the game, but I saw it as a great period of tight, grinding forward tussle. The Tahs were forcing the Reds to play on their terms, and dominated thoroughly, but they came away without any points to show for it. I think it shows that the Reds forwards have matured and this Reds team has now the ability to play many different ways.
Eventually the Tahs crossed the line once (from a maul drive that started with a line-out) and the decision was sent upstairs, but they were denied. They had no reward for 20 minutes of total dominance in the red zone. They must have realised they weren’t going to get a break from this ref and when they were awarded a penalty in front, Kurtley took the shot. It made the difference just one point but it looked like a backdown.
The next phase in the battle of the forwards was a truce, Guy Shepherdson going off with a hurt knee — and with Ben Daley unable to come back, the Reds called uncontested scrums.
Shortly after, with two minutes left to play, the Reds were awarded a penalty 45 metres out. Quade killed a bit of time then kicked the goal, giving the Reds a four-point buffer with only 30 seconds to go. The Tahs came up with the ball from the restart and tried to launch an attack as the hooter went off, but it ended messily over the sideline — and the Reds had broken the Tahs’ run.
The Reds will feel more comfortable having got that monkey off their back, but they rode some luck as good teams are able to.
EDIT: The Reds were presented with the Templeton Cup. With the 2011 record being one game a piece, should they have won it? Shouldn’t they need to decisively win it back, a la the Bledisloe?
EDIT 2: Word is they are playing for it every match. Anyway, doesn’t seem right to me.
Reds 19 (Try: Cooper Con: Cooper Pen: Cooper (3) DGoal: Cooper) def Waratahs 15 (Pen: Beale (5))
