I think the last line of Bowsides post sums it up. It's a loss I can cop, losing two playmakers against a quality side was always going to be tough. Credit to the Sharks, someone eluded to it before, but we lost that game in the last 5 mins of the first half.
Also does anyone actually know the extent of Harris' and Lucas' injuries? One of them didn't look too bad (cant remember due to being half sleep).
Digby has been cited for foul play and I suspect he might be slapped with a 1 game ban.
Which leaves us without 9 available backs in the squad, and I 100% don't want Radike on the wing. What's Toua, Fainga'a and F'Sautia's injury status? They might need to be flown over.
tl12: always like yours and Bowside's work, but a comment or two:
- yes, the loss of two 10s had a massive impact on the Reds' game. Not an excuse but a hard fact is that if Lucas had stayed on, he looked great, and the score would have been much closer as he would have made 1 or both of Genia's missed kicks and we not have had an ersatz 10 in poor Genia fumbling around in the role....and Genia's last (high) bad pass to Taps (then Taps loss of the ball from his upper body via a good tackle, then any last scoring chance gone) summed up his problems as the match progressed. Losing a 10 and a 12 (who can be a 10) at key match points (and the two anointed good kickers) in one match is rare, and an absolute game-turner.
- let's not
ever get into the zone of numerous Tahs' fanatics and bias our comments to the comfort of the 'unlucky loss' scenario (meaning we under-analyse the flaws sitting silently under the 'unlucky' part). We made many errors, and Bb has a point re the potential risks of 5-2 bench (though debatable). Look at the turnover stats, wasn't it 9 conceded Reds to 4 Sharks. Look at the poor ball security yielding turnovers in bad places (for us) and backline dropsies,
this flaw has been there every single 2012 game and was a significant contributor to the tries scored against us last night. Also, there was defensive 'dreaminess' and lapses in at least 2 of the Sharks tries, not totally dissimilar to v Force. I have referenced Genia's kicking under pressure, I think it's a 2/10 reward-to-risk ploy and is often badly executed by him. Morahan: Link is now over-indulging his generally mediocre form. We let a massive lead to zero totally slip away and we added only 5 more points the whole game. Our forwards' intensity at the breakdown seemed to fall off as 2H evolved (unlike the typical 2011 Reds). S Finger's not straight throw at the very last line out was unjustlifiably poor (and not untypical of him under the pump)...we just
might have made something out of line out possession there. Feel for Diggers, but, as a senior seasoned player that he knows we rely on, that tackle was reckless and risky, those can be win-killing errors and his absence in the opening of 2H was a serious problem for the team. IMO, Genia should not at all have been place kicker, I'd have thought Morahan or Taps would have much better place kicking pedigrees from their Club days.
Bottom line IMO: many 2012 S15 teams are on impressive skills, game control, and intensity improvements curves over 2011. E.g. Chiefs, Sharks, Highlanders, Brumbies, Rebels, and the Stormers are undefeated so far. This cannot be said (yet) of our 2012 Reds, and, in some respects, we're pedalling subtly backwards.
Like the look of that team and at $2.50 worth the punt..
