Round 10 was bittersweet for Australian rugby, with gutsy wins by the Reds and Force tempered with hard-fought losses to the Rebels and Waratahs. The Reds have established themselves as genuine contenders, while the Waratahs have shown they are worlds away from the side that swept all before them in the early rounds. The Force, Rebels and Brumbies have settled down to fight it out for the bronze.
Team of the Round:
15 Cameron Shepherd – FORCE
14 Paddy Dellit – FORCE
13 Anthony Faingaa – REDS
12 James O’Connor – FORCE
11 Digby Ioane – REDS
10 Quade Cooper – REDS
9 Will Genia – REDS
8 Gareth Delve – REBELS
7 Beau Robinson – REDS
6 Richard Brown – FORCE
5 Dean Mumm – WARATAHS
4 James Horwill – REDS
3 Sekope Kepu – WARATAHS
2 Ged Robinson – REBELS
1 Benn Robinson – WARATAHS
A bit of a mixed bag this week, with the Reds providing six players, the Force four, Tahs three and the Rebels two. The front row features the Waratah props, Benn Robinson and Sekope Kepu, and the Rebels hooker Ged Robinson. Robinson (Benn) and Kepu were easily the Tahs best in my eyes, with a dominant scrum performance matched by a great workrate around the park. Ben Daley and Rodney Blake also impressed. Robinson (Ged) was his usual busy self, getting through a mountain of work in tight for the Rebs. Tatafu Polota-Nau was close, but I felt he was little bit off the pace this week.
Horwill and Mumm take the second row spots after standing out in a grinding physical game in Brisbane. Horwill gets extra points for brilliant leadership on the Reds’ line in the second half. The back row is Richard Brown, Beau Robinson and Gareth Delve. Brown was everywhere against the Bulls, and had his best game for the season. Beau was his usual self in the tight, making a bucketload of tackles and being a general pest. Delve provided a workmanlike performance with flashes of brilliance — his setup of Mitchell’s try was mercurial.
Genia and Cooper are the halves yet again. Quade made a few kicking errors but his individual try was ultimately the difference between the two sides. James O’Connor was the standout inside centre, with his usual fleet-footed attack complemented by rock solid defence and arrow-straight kicking. Ant Faingaa takes 13 after another good week, demolishing Ryan Cross at Suncorp.
The back three is Digby Ioane, Paddy Dellit and Cameron Shepherd. Ioane didn’t have his greatest game but was still good enough to make the team of the week. Dellit had a cracking match at outside centre for the Force, and made numerous scything runs in midfield. As there were no real outstanding wingers this week he shifts out and takes the 14 jersey. Shep scored the clincher for the Force and had an all-round good game at the back.
Player of the Week:
The votes from the forum have been tallied and the nominees announced. The first is Gareth Delve, who was a clear standout in the Rebels’ losing effort on Friday night. The Reds have put forward James Horwill, who won in a whisker from Will Genia. Cooper, Robinson and Simmons also polled votes.
From the losing side on Saturday we have Sekope Kepu, who was an easy winner from Benn Robinson. The Force candidate is James O’Connor who won from Richard Brown and Nathan Sharpe.
Try of the Week:
There weren’t many to choose from this week, but in the end I have gone with Quade Cooper’s effort on Saturday night. In the end it was the difference between the two sides, and it showed why Quade will be so valuable come World Cup time — although he can be shithouse a lot of the time, he can always produce that one flash of brilliance that takes the game away from the opposition. Plus the celebration was pretty good too. Check it out for yourself:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HXW27mn4Uc[/youtube]
Moment of the Week:
There were plenty of big moments this round, and most of them came from Suncorp. The clear standout for mine was the moment of the week for all the wrong reasons. They say that an international side needs at least five ‘World XV’ players before it can even think about winning a World Cup. Drew Mitchell was our only undisputed World XV player, and the Wallaby tilt will be seriously hampered because of his abscence. Our thoughts are with you Drewster, and we look forward to seeing you recover for the 2012 season.
What was your moment of the week?
