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Waratahs 2020

molman

Peter Johnson (47)
Dempsey had the one cracker in the final Bledislode in 2017 but I can't remember too many since his return from injury that have been anything more than serviceable. Increasingly it seems like that game was a massive outlier.

General problem with Australian Rugby in recent years, more outliers than trends (well at least positive ones), which makes it all the more frustrating as you see what the potential is, what good can actually look like and then the glimpse is gone. Sometimes all in the space of a game.
 
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Bobby Sands

Guest
When's Hanigan back, for all the drama he got given at Test level he puts some shifts in at Super Rugby, Get Tafa in at bench lock, Harris in for bench Backrow

The game Hanigan played against the Reds last year was Herculean. He played like Owen Finnegan. Then he never did it again.

I agree though, he’s a bloody handy Super player.
 

molman

Peter Johnson (47)
The game Hanigan played against the Reds last year was Herculean. He played like Owen Finnegan. Then he never did it again.

I agree though, he’s a bloody handy Super player.

He's had a number of good performances. I thought he was pretty good in the opening game of the 2018 season against the Stormers. Got over for the winning try in pretty good fashion. He's put in a number of good shifts over the last couple of years. Gold just always looked like too much of a step up though I could always appreciate what Cheika was going for.
 

Silverado

Dick Tooth (41)
Dempsey's best games have all been in Gold. He's never hit his stride for the Tahs.
He's missed a lot of games for the Tahs with his long string of injuries. He hasn't impressed in Gold for a while either for the same reason. He needs to get back to his pre-injury form or he'll be swamped by the next group coming through at both State and International level. I'm totally non plussed with him this year
 

Tomikin

Simon Poidevin (60)
The game Hanigan played against the Reds last year was Herculean. He played like Owen Finnegan. Then he never did it again.

I agree though, he’s a bloody handy Super player.

His only 24 I think as well, hopefully through the next few years he gets some real hardness about his game as usually comes with age, once that happens look out his going to be something special.
 
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Bobby Sands

Guest
His only 24 I think as well, hopefully through the next few years he gets some real hardness about his game as usually comes with age, once that happens look out his going to be something special.

Let’s hope so, the Wallabies need more bushies.
 

Running_rugby_1954

Dave Cowper (27)
Dempsey had the one cracker in the final Bledislode in 2017 but I can't remember too many since his return from injury that have been anything more than serviceable. Increasingly it seems like that game was a massive outlier.

He was incredible in that game. We need blokes stepping up like that consistently. Sadly the horrific hamstring injury in the barbarians game that followed has taken that extra yard of pace off him since.
 

Blackadder

Desmond Connor (43)
Watching the Tahs A game I think Tafa and Gamble should get a run in Super. Tafa ran hard and defended well. Gamble ran hard, defended well and loved the pilfers
Harris went well too. Good hard running and played smart football.
I think Tepai is improving. Will make a great hard running 12 soon and was great at defending the ruck.
Short had a good game while Ramm and Walton played well. The set piece again went well

I think Mason was ok. Not going to lead the side around and won't take the game by the scruff of the neck which is a problem.
Beanpole was good at the lineout but still nothing else. No go forward.
I think Clark had some shocking moments. Had a good run and scored the last try but overall kept making too many errors.

Still good to watch the players coming through.
 

Silverado

Dick Tooth (41)
Watching the Tahs A game I think Tafa and Gamble should get a run in Super. Tafa ran hard and defended well. Gamble ran hard, defended well and loved the pilfers
Harris went well too. Good hard running and played smart football.
I think Tepai is improving. Will make a great hard running 12 soon and was great at defending the ruck.
Short had a good game while Ramm and Walton played well. The set piece again went well

I think Mason was ok. Not going to lead the side around and won't take the game by the scruff of the neck which is a problem.
Beanpole was good at the lineout but still nothing else. No go forward.
I think Clark had some shocking moments. Had a good run and scored the last try but overall kept making too many errors.

Still good to watch the players coming through.
My thoughts..I think Gamble could come in for Swinton. Tafa will put pressure on Dempsey if he doesn't step up, but if Hanigan returns soon he might have to wait. Mason was servicable but didn't stand out. I like Clark for his defense and Tepai deserves a shot.
 

Brumby Runner

David Wilson (68)
Just much too good for a disappointing Runners side. Aggressive defense and work at the breakdown, dominant set piece; so un-Tahs like.
 

7137

Alex Ross (28)
Short looked good at 9. Good passing and clearance kicks. And he moved with urgency. I still see a lot of walking and jogging around the team. General look of laziness in the tight 5.

Short lacks Gordon’s running game but he looks like a more complete 9. With Gordon off his game I think Short should start with Gordon off the bench to inject something at the end. Both need to be a little more aware of potential blindside opportunities and be ready to take them.
 

molman

Peter Johnson (47)
My thoughts on the Tahs A vs Rebels A game:

Postives:

* The set piece was great. Scrum won penalties, line out was pretty good too.

The forwards:
* Tafa was excellent. Ran hard, made metres, defended well at his new position of lock. Hope he gets a run soon.
* Beanpole did well at the lineout
* Gamble, Tizzano and Harris played well. I wouldn't mind seeing Gamble on the bench as he can cover 6,7,8. Harris was great running both wide and up the guts and Tizzano plays like he is 120kg. Hits hard and defends harder.

Agree with most of what you said.

I think you might be over selling Gamble a little. Loved him in the NRC but not enough in this game for me to declare him a starter though he had some nice moments. Tizzano on the other hand is the real deal and considering his age so much potential. His footwork into contact, power as seen in his leg drive to score and technical detail of how he generally enters the ruck was all very impressive. Harris I thought had a good game as you mentioned and I was watching him closely in defence where I thought he stood up well. Tafa was fantastic. I'd love to see him given a run in a Super Rugby match to see if he can step up when its a big South African or Polynesian Kiwi defending but on that performance he's sending all the right signals to the coaches. Just hope he's not another Jed Holloway who looked dynamite running around in NRC for the Rams but hasn't translated that into the next level.



My thoughts on the Tahs A vs Rebels A game:

The backs:
*Ramm played well. Ran well and broke tackles.
*Tepai ran and defended fairly well but still a work in progress. Ran like a wide running forward and made great metres. Definitely a future 12 once skills and fitness are ready. He even cleared the ruck well.
*Lisala ran hard and had great skills.

Agree re: Ramm, some real nice footwork. I also thought the winger, Riley?, had some real gas. Nice little play with McDonald to setup a try. Tepai was disappointing for me. On this performance I'm not sure he's going to be the Waratahs solution in the short term. Lisala looks dynamic. With a little more time in the squad I can see him being a good impact player. i think you might have been a little hard on Donaldson. It wasn't a commanding performance and Deegan without a doubt looked a lot better playing the conditions with his kicking game, but I think he did some things well. He scrambled back nicely in defence to collect a little chip over the top and seemed to read the game reasonably well. More games like this is what he really needs as he hasn't had a lot of recent game time at 10 running around at 15 in the NRC more oft than not.

My thoughts on the Tahs A vs Rebels A game:
Negatives:
* Too many players like in the main game were getting isolated.
* Poor defence of the ruck. Too many pilfers against the Tahs. Even Tepai had to clear by himself.
* I thought Ben Donaldson was pretty average. Not great decision making but I believe he will be better fir the run.

Overall a good game to watch. More fun than the main team.

Totally agree. The supporting players at the ruck are just not good enough. Aside from the handling errors (which were really poor irrespective of the conditions), it just killed momentum time and time again. The Waratahs also need a better tactical kicking game. They had a solid set piece. I feel they just need to learn to play field position better. Especially in a game where your opposition is dropping the ball every other phase and you have such a dominate scrum.

I know the scrum coach will be happy with the amount of practice the boys got that game.

For the Rebels, the performance was a little concerning. It highlights a real drop off from their first run team. I'd be concerned about their depth as the season progresses. On the flip-side I think the Waratahs have reasonable talent throughout the squad with some nice depth and potential in a lot of positions. We just need our marque players and experienced talent to start performing.

Now to catch up on the game against the Brumbies.

What is the go with these A squad games? Is there a schedule for these or is this just the clubs organising a bunch of one off games? either way I think it's fantastic to be able to see where players are at.
 

molman

Peter Johnson (47)
Watching the Tahs A game I think Tafa and Gamble should get a run in Super. Tafa ran hard and defended well. Gamble ran hard, defended well and loved the pilfers
Harris went well too. Good hard running and played smart football.
I think Tepai is improving. Will make a great hard running 12 soon and was great at defending the ruck.
Short had a good game while Ramm and Walton played well. The set piece again went well

I think Mason was ok. Not going to lead the side around and won't take the game by the scruff of the neck which is a problem.
Beanpole was good at the lineout but still nothing else. No go forward.
I think Clark had some shocking moments. Had a good run and scored the last try but overall kept making too many errors.

Still good to watch the players coming through.

Gamble looked really solid in this game and showed a lot more than in the Rebels game. Some great pilfers though I think the Brumbies ruck work was rather poor. It was great to see some of his NRC form flow into this next level. Tafa had a less dominate performance than the Rebels game but still was looking good. It was a shame he was subbed off at around 30min mark, though he did reappear towards the end of the game. I would have liked to have seen more of him. I actually thought Hugh-Sinclair had a decent game too. Helped setup some very solid mauls. I don't think he's necessarily Super Rugby level yet but fairly solid.


Tepai still not the finished product for me. I can see the potential but you can see he's having to think too much about things and is a little off the pace for it. A few opportunities to offload that I thought went begging. I kind of wish he'd have had a season of NRC before the Super Rugby started just to get up to speed because hes got the right physical shape to make an impact.


Short was great, very solid performance from him. Walton is a mixed bag for me, some nice hands and supporting lines at times and then a few really poor kicks through or dropped balls. He was similar in the Rebels game dropping way too much ball. Ramm likewise was really good but needs to work on some aspects. His left to right passing out to Clark was really poor early in the game and probably lost the Tah's two early opportunities to score. I think you are being a little hard on Clark as he wasn't always on the end of quality ball. Similar for Lisala.

Agree, Mason ok. I like that he's got some different aspects to his game like those pass kicks but some of his general play needs work and you're right, he's no maestro yet but I think that's a byproduct of his lack of game time over the last couple of years.

I think Wil Harris continues to impress as does Tizzano who I think the commentators were calling as de Crespigny at points in the the game. I'm liking Triston Reilly's pace. It was great to see a player really chasing the kicks and he generally looked good out on the fringes.

The set piece is looking good and the forwards are obviously operating well as a unit which is really encouraging. That said, there were a few sequences on the Brumbies line where we just didn't seem able to get over. I'm not sure why we don't employ techniques like latching more rather than this one out pick and drives that fall short.

As you said, overall just great to see how the players are going and to have another data point for who might be ready to step up. Wonder when the next game will be?
 

Up the Guts

Steve Williams (59)

Blackadder

Desmond Connor (43)
Gamble looked really solid in this game and showed a lot more than in the Rebels game. Some great pilfers though I think the Brumbies ruck work was rather poor. It was great to see some of his NRC form flow into this next level. Tafa had a less dominate performance than the Rebels game but still was looking good. It was a shame he was subbed off at around 30min mark, though he did reappear towards the end of the game. I would have liked to have seen more of him. I actually thought Hugh-Sinclair had a decent game too. Helped setup some very solid mauls. I don't think he's necessarily Super Rugby level yet but fairly solid.




Tepai still not the finished product for me. I can see the potential but you can see he's having to think too much about things and is a little off the pace for it. A few opportunities to offload that I thought went begging. I kind of wish he'd have had a season of NRC before the Super Rugby started just to get up to speed because hes got the right physical shape to make an impact.




Short was great, very solid performance from him. Walton is a mixed bag for me, some nice hands and supporting lines at times and then a few really poor kicks through or dropped balls. He was similar in the Rebels game dropping way too much ball. Ramm likewise was really good but needs to work on some aspects. His left to right passing out to Clark was really poor early in the game and probably lost the Tah's two early opportunities to score. I think you are being a little hard on Clark as he wasn't always on the end of quality ball. Similar for Lisala.



Agree, Mason ok. I like that he's got some different aspects to his game like those pass kicks but some of his general play needs work and you're right, he's no maestro yet but I think that's a byproduct of his lack of game time over the last couple of years.



I think Wil Harris continues to impress as does Tizzano who I think the commentators were calling as de Crespigny at points in the the game. I'm liking Triston Reilly's pace. It was great to see a player really chasing the kicks and he generally looked good out on the fringes.



The set piece is looking good and the forwards are obviously operating well as a unit which is really encouraging. That said, there were a few sequences on the Brumbies line where we just didn't seem able to get over. I'm not sure why we don't employ techniques like latching more rather than this one out pick and drives that fall short.



As you said, overall just great to see how the players are going and to have another data point for who might be ready to step up. Wonder when the next game will be?

Tafa went off injured. He was clutching his arm as he came off.
 
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