It seems like a long time since I have been able to say it’s been a good round for the Aussie sides. And sadly this week I still cannot utter those words, as the Reds, Tahs and Rebels all went down. On the bright side the Brumbies and Force recorded long-awaited wins, and took obvious pleasure in showing up some of their critics.
Team of the Week:
15. Kurtley Beale – WARATAHS
14. David Smith – FORCE
13. Anthony Faingaa – REDS
12. Matt Giteau – BRUMBIES
11. Digby Ioane – REDS
10. James Stannard – FORCE
9. Patrick Phibbs – BRUMBIES
8. Ita Vaea – BRUMBIES
7. David Pocock – FORCE
6. Matt Hodgson – FORCE
5. Nathan Sharpe – FORCE
4. Mark Chisolm – BRUMBIES
3. James Slipper – REDS
2. Stephen Moore – BRUMBIES
1. Jerry Yanuyanutawa – BRUMBIES
This week’s team is dominated by Brumbies for the first time this season. Well, maybe not dominated, but they do have the most players with 6, followed by the Force with 5 and the Reds with 3. KB at the back is the only Waratah.
For once we have a few non-Waratah faces in the front row—mainly because every Waratah front-rower is now injured. This week we have Jerry Yanuyanutawa, Steve Moore and James Slipper. Each had a huge impact in both tight and loose, with Steve Moore being particularly outstanding. Ben Daley, Kieran Longbottom and Tatafu Polota-Nau are all unlucky to miss out.
Sharpe and Chis are in the second row after both turned back the clock with great efforts. Sitaleki Timani came close. David Pocock and Matt Hodgson were their usual productive selves, while Ita Vaea was at his wrecking-ball best on Saturday. Ben McCalman and Jarrod Saffy continued their fine seasons but just fell short.
A couple of surprises in the halves, with Patrick Phibbs and James Stannard outperforming their highly fancied counterparts to take the jersey. As no inside centre really put their hand up, the weekly selectors have made a tactical switch and moved Matt Giteau to 12 after yet another great display. Ant Faingaa was the Reds’ best back, and was desperately unlucky to pick up a late injury.
David Smith pops up for the second week in a row, and the Force must be ruing the fact that they were unable to sign him for 2012. Digby Ioane put in 50 great minutes, while Kurtley Beale went one better and shone for the full 80.
Player of the Week:
The Force fans had plenty to smile about on Friday night, and clearly nominated Matt Hodgson as their man of the match, with David Pocock, Nathan Sharpe and David Smith all polling votes. The same couldn’t be said for the Rebels fans sadly, but nonetheless they put forward Jarrod Saffy, who won by a mile from Hugh Pyle and Mark Gerrard.
The Waratahs supporters didn’t have too hard a decision, with Kurtley Beale coming out a clear winner from TPN and Sita Timani. Lastly our two nominees from Saturday night were Anthony Faingaa and Steven Moore, with Digby Ioane, James Slipper, Rob Simmons, Patrick Phibbs, Mark Chisolm and Matt Giteau all polling high numbers.
Try of the Week:
Not a lot of tries to choose from this week, and in my eyes there is one clear winner. The Force were down by a point with seven minutes left, and looked like falling short yet again. Then David Smith got the ball in the centre of halfway, beat three defenders and dotted the ball down in the left-hand corner. Game over, and the Force record an Aussie team’s first win of the season in NZ. Yes, the matchwinner was scored by a Kiwi, but that’s just a technical footnote. Have a look for yourself:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-7_GzPa0_E[/youtube]
Moment of the Week:
A couple of contentious decisions dominated discussions this week. Matt Giteau’s decision to deny the Reds a bonus point after the buzzer was important, but when Pat O’Connor was red-carded a huge blow was dealt to the Waratahs’ finals aspirations. They had worked their arses off to get back in the game, despite a huge injury toll and a vocal Bulls crowd. But sadly they came up short, and the officials can take a fair portion of the blame for that. The Tahs now face an uphill struggle to make the finals, and with injuries now at an unprecedented level it is one I fear they will not be able to accomplish.
Whom would you pick in your team of the week?
