Well that was quite the round. Three wins from three games for the Aussie teams. For the first time since SANZAR expanded the Super 12 competition into the Super 14 competition in 2006, all Australian teams playing on the weekend won. Surely you can’t be serious? I am serious and don’t ca….well….you should know the rest. On the face of it, it seems an amazing stat. In reality though? Well in reality the Reds have sucked since then, and the Force haven’t been too crash hot either. But that was then! This…this is now!
It really was an interesting round. The Reds somehow beat the Chiefs after having three tries run up against them pretty damn quick. The Chiefs had just returned from South Africa, sure, but it was a rarely seen never-say-die attitude that won the day for the Reds. Reaction to wins by the Brumbies and Waratahs was less effusive. In fact fans of both teams were not overly impressed. The Tahs copped most of the flack, as their supporters are want to do, whilst the problem at the Brumbies seems to be the non-form of the likes of Mortlock and Giteau in particular.
But enough of who wasn’t performing. This is about who was performing, and let’s get right to it.
Team of the Round
15 Adam Ashley-Cooper (BRUMBIES) 
14 Pat McCabe (BRUMBIES)
13 Morgan Turinui (REDS)
12 Anthony Faingaa (REDS)
11 Francis Fainifo (BRUMBIES)
10 Quade Cooper (REDS)
9 Will Genia (REDS)
8 Stephen Hoiles (BRUMBIES)
7 George Smith (BRUMBIES)
6 Scott Higginbotham (REDS)
5 Mark Chisholm (BRUMBIES)
4 Van Humphries (REDS)
3 Laurie Weeks (REDS)
2 Tatafu Polata-Nau (WARATAHS)
1 Ben Daley (REDS)
Eight Reds, six Brumbies and a lone Tah. Fair enough? Christian Lealiifano probably came closest to forcing his way in at 12, whilst Daniel Halangahu was solid and more consistent than Cooper, but no where near as brilliant as Quade was on occasions. Daniel Braid is not there solely as this is for Aussie players only, but he had a superb game on Friday night with many key plays. Al Baxter continues to keep himself busy both at scrum time and around the field, but the two QLD props were excellent against the Chiefs. One again there are a few question marks around the 13 jersey and this must be a real area of concern for Coach Deans.
Player of the Round
Poor old Daniel Braid. Puts in an enormous performance for the Reds but STILL unable to be recognised formally by G&GR due to his place of birth. Yet another burden a kiwi must bare. So who were the Australian Players of the Round? I feel a bit like a broken record but that man Will Genia must again be a leading candidate and marshalled his players exceptionally in Waikato. For the Tahs it was a one man show with Tatafu Polata-Nau scarily good. The power in his run leading up to his try would’ve been enough to power a small village. For the Brumbies it is the more unheralded name of Pat McCabe who leads the way. McCabe outshone his more famous team mates looking dangerous every time he touched the ball. So who is your pick?
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Try of the Round:
The first option this week was a nice little interplay between Josh Valentine and Stephen Hoiles which would finally see Christian Lealiifano go over for the Brumbies in their match against the Lions. The second option finished with the beautiful little no-look pass by Quade Cooper in setting up the Reds’ first try to Will Chambers.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N84vlDR-GjE[/youtube]
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Moment of the Round
Well it has been discussed around the globe (well, perhaps just down the southern bit of it) and has been dissected by our very own Gagger, so it must be the Kurtley Beale match winning/attempted intercept/intentional slap down/yellow card/penalty try deserving effort at the end of the Tahs v Sharks match. I won’t go in to anymore detail as to what I thought happened suffice to say, the match pretty much came down to that play.
