Waratahs Blues Sunday 24th March, SFS
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AngrySeahorse
Peter Sullivan (51)
Both teams made bad errors & had a tendency to switch off the intensity in patches. However, I was impressed with the Tahs getting back up there at the end to win it given the recent history of them dropping off at the back end of matches. Has to be a positive for the team & the Tahs fans.
I actually found the game to be entertaining, some good passages of play & a close game.
Congrats Tahs. Blues won't be happy & it will be good to see how they respond against the Chiefs.
I actually found the game to be entertaining, some good passages of play & a close game.
Congrats Tahs. Blues won't be happy & it will be good to see how they respond against the Chiefs.
Hugh Jarse
Rocky Elsom (76)
Haven't had ther benefit of any TV replays.
How good is afternoon footy? So Family friendly. Disappointing crowd at 16300 ish for such a good day.
Was this game advertised at all? The Tahs advertising budget seems to match the ARU community grass roots budget - defined in fractions of fractions of Sweet Fanny Adams.
Too many runners in their pods were taking the ball stationary, not hitting the ball with pace. (both sides)
Kicking was aimless at times with no effective kick chase to put pressure on the opponents (both sides)
Ball hogging in the centres. Why do certain people and forwards dummy? They are never going to pass so what sort of deception are they trying to execute with their dummys. There is no doubt in the minds of the defenders of where the Gilbert is going to end up.
When Israel Folou dots the ball down for a 22 restart, a wag in the crowd near us yells out "Why 'ja do that for Folou?, That's 6 more for the Blues".
McKibbon did not have a good game and was replaced at 22 minutes ish. Was he playing injured or get injured?
Timani seemed to have his mind elsewhere and lacked concentration in places.
Excellent defensive pressure from the Blues had the Tahs attack doubting their ability to get meat even when they made a half break. It seemed that the attack was lacking in confidence, and instead of backing themselves and pinning their ears back, they seemed to be always looking for a support player to finish it off.
Happy for the Tahs victory. It really was a make or break game for them, and it should do their confidence good to come back and end up with a "lucky" victory, particularly when there were periods on the middle of this match when I got the feeling that this was going to be another Bruce Stadium performance from the Tahs.
How good is afternoon footy? So Family friendly. Disappointing crowd at 16300 ish for such a good day.
Was this game advertised at all? The Tahs advertising budget seems to match the ARU community grass roots budget - defined in fractions of fractions of Sweet Fanny Adams.
Too many runners in their pods were taking the ball stationary, not hitting the ball with pace. (both sides)
Kicking was aimless at times with no effective kick chase to put pressure on the opponents (both sides)
Ball hogging in the centres. Why do certain people and forwards dummy? They are never going to pass so what sort of deception are they trying to execute with their dummys. There is no doubt in the minds of the defenders of where the Gilbert is going to end up.
When Israel Folou dots the ball down for a 22 restart, a wag in the crowd near us yells out "Why 'ja do that for Folou?, That's 6 more for the Blues".
McKibbon did not have a good game and was replaced at 22 minutes ish. Was he playing injured or get injured?
Timani seemed to have his mind elsewhere and lacked concentration in places.
Excellent defensive pressure from the Blues had the Tahs attack doubting their ability to get meat even when they made a half break. It seemed that the attack was lacking in confidence, and instead of backing themselves and pinning their ears back, they seemed to be always looking for a support player to finish it off.
Happy for the Tahs victory. It really was a make or break game for them, and it should do their confidence good to come back and end up with a "lucky" victory, particularly when there were periods on the middle of this match when I got the feeling that this was going to be another Bruce Stadium performance from the Tahs.
mark_s
Chilla Wilson (44)
I thought the tahs played well for 50-60mins of the game, but had some poor errors in between. The tahs also bombed a few opportunities by either not enough support or the runner not taking the right option. On top of gifting the blues two tries in the first half, it could have been a convincing win for the tahs. Still plenty of improvement needed, but it feel like small steps are being made and it was great to see them come home with a wet sail.
Good crowd involvement, once again the noise felt like much more than we're actually there. All in all, one of the better outings to the tahs for a few years.
Foley a deserved mom, but folau, Dennis and hooper were also good. Timani seemed to have one of his better games,
Good crowd involvement, once again the noise felt like much more than we're actually there. All in all, one of the better outings to the tahs for a few years.
Foley a deserved mom, but folau, Dennis and hooper were also good. Timani seemed to have one of his better games,
T
tranquility
Guest
Good stuff Tahs. Very happy to see you get the win.
Richo
John Thornett (49)
Frustrating periods of inanity aside, that was a solid win. It wasn't perfect but the Blues are bloody good and we never let the game get away, even after going down by two converted tries. Matt Lucas certainly had a rough start, gifting the Blues a try, but fought back and played well. His pass is certainly better than McKibbin's and Foley's goal kicking was great, so Lucas should see a fair bit more time. Strong games from Folau and Mitchell, Dennis played his only decent footy of the season in the second. I really liked that the team stuck on there and fought for a victory.
Six tries and a game that goes down to the wire -- that's some great stuff for the crowd, I reckon.
Six tries and a game that goes down to the wire -- that's some great stuff for the crowd, I reckon.
rugbysmartarse
Alan Cameron (40)
A great arvo at the rugby, and am happy with the spirited fight back. Will leave comments until after I've watched a relay, but the blues seemed to take an impromptu quarter time break that changed the momentum of the game. They did look to be struggling with the heat. Maybe that can be our advantage - play the kiwis in the arvo early in the season. The opposite of how they au is late in winter at night in Dunedin
Dave Beat
Paul McLean (56)
Tuff win, good win, tried hard, guys it was an ugly win.
Phase play, well last year it was 2 - 3 phases, we re now stringing more together which is good, but we now need to do it with purpose passed the ad line. Our ball at the rucks was slow, due to poor ref, but also not bending the ad line - if the ad line was bent with purpose quick ball would flow. This part of our game may also impact;
Why don't our outside backs have space to run like the brumbies, I think it comes down to the phase play purpose.
Izzy, I was concerned with his defensive reads tonight. However ball in hand he did well - more game time will improve this.
Kicking, it was 2 halves - atrocious in the first, didn't Kick as much in the second so a lot better.
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), I think Andrew Smith has been the form Australian 13 this year. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) just played a game, nothing great, and a terrible kick.
Foley another solid game which means this is only a wish, I'd like to see how Volavola goes at 10.
Phase play, well last year it was 2 - 3 phases, we re now stringing more together which is good, but we now need to do it with purpose passed the ad line. Our ball at the rucks was slow, due to poor ref, but also not bending the ad line - if the ad line was bent with purpose quick ball would flow. This part of our game may also impact;
Why don't our outside backs have space to run like the brumbies, I think it comes down to the phase play purpose.
Izzy, I was concerned with his defensive reads tonight. However ball in hand he did well - more game time will improve this.
Kicking, it was 2 halves - atrocious in the first, didn't Kick as much in the second so a lot better.
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), I think Andrew Smith has been the form Australian 13 this year. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) just played a game, nothing great, and a terrible kick.
Foley another solid game which means this is only a wish, I'd like to see how Volavola goes at 10.
I thought Horne was good at 12, strong defence, ran good lines and distributed well
Dennis lifted as a captain, he did a lot of work and in those last 15 lifted again
There is more to that story. Both teams were asked before the game if they wanted a drinks break, Tahs said 'no'. They were of the understanding there would be no break. At the 22 minute mark the ref calls the break, citing 'the doctors' who said they needed one. Dennis was unhappy at the time, and Cheika was unhappy at the post-game presser. Clearly affected the Tahs momentum, but it wasn't a real game changer IMO.
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Interesting to hear people's thoughts on the ref. I had the sports ears in, and I have never heard a ref talk so little, both to the players and to his TJs. The language barrier also looked to be an issue- at one point the touchie called 'four white offside' and the ref blew up a forward pass ('four white' = forward I think). Instead of a Tahs penalty, it was a Blues scrum.
I didn't think he had a great game decision-wise either. Too lenient at ruck time, too slow with the cards. Missed key things that lead to tries- Rene Ranger's steal before Piutau's try was clearly illegal, and Lucas' pass to Folau was clearly forward.
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I didn't think he had a great game decision-wise either. Too lenient at ruck time, too slow with the cards. Missed key things that lead to tries- Rene Ranger's steal before Piutau's try was clearly illegal, and Lucas' pass to Folau was clearly forward.
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How can someone be the 'form 13' when he hasn't played for the last two weeks, I thought he was dropped/replaced by Kuridrani? Edit, injured versus Tahs
On AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), apart from the kick, he was pretty solid, great work to straighten up for the first try
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