S15 Rd 1 - Brumbies v Reds, Friday 13th February

[couldabeen]

The Hunt shoulder was shit. Fainga'a going over the ruck when there was no ruck formed, Horwill off side when the ball was thrown to him, again no ruck formed, reds off feet when under pressure when the brums had gone off their feet first and tackled the player on the ground. I didn't say I thought the Reds were robbed, I just thought it was poorly refereed.



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I didn't hear you complaining, and from the couch at our place we agreed with all the above. In the Fainga'a case, loudly! Bloody halfbacks being treated like Koalas!

 

[TSR]

No one has mentioned the refereeing. I don't think it contributed to the result because the Reds were terrible but I think they were harshly treated on a fair few dubious decisions and it tended to ruin the contest.


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Unfortunately I can't agree. There will a always be 50/50 calls in rugby but too many of the calls against the Reds were clear. They were also horrible lazy to realign in defence and passive at the breakdown.
For all the criticism of Graham, (and I'm not saying it isn't warranted) these things are 100% the responsibility of the players.
The lack of discipline was incredibly disappointing.
I have always been a huge Horwill fan, but I felt his performance was a disgrace. To watch him blatantly give away penalty after penalty without any regard for the pressure he was putting the team under just makes me shake my head. If your kid played that selfishly you'd kick his arse.

 

[Scoey]

Fuck.
I'd like to say back to square one but i think we have a way to go before we even get there.
RG has some big calls to make before next week. Who plays 10, how to improve every facet of the Reds play in one week but the biggest call he must make is to drop Horwill. I'm so fucking disappointed in him. He should've actually been red carded some time before he eventually did. The worst thing for me though is that often when he was penalised he laughed about it! Pull your fucking head in James.

 

[Scoey]

To add to my post, I don't care if our starting locks are Ed and Kotze with some guy from clubland on the bench. RG must send a clear message to the group. The shit Kev served up tonight, should never be tolerated.

 

[gel]

You gave me hope @Scoey with your article this week.

And I trusted you, man. I trusted you.

That's my biggest disappointment of the evening.

 

[Scoey]

I have no words @Gel.

 

[Scoey]

I'm trying to go to sleep but I can't. I'm too wound up. Here's another thing that struck me tonight. We don't even look strong enough to compete! It was like men against boys out there tonight.
Fuck!

 

[Moono75]

Its not like you haven't got good players. It's how they are used....coaching plays a role.

 

[qwerty51]

The weirdest thing for me (whilst a trial) was the week's before score vs the Crusaders. How? ???

 

[Marcelo]

The worst start for us.

Hunt isn't a fly-half, Duncan should play at 10 and we need Thomson & JOC (James O'Connor), especially the Kiwi

 

[Brumby Runner]

The worst start for us.

Hunt isn't a fly-half, Duncan should play at 10 and we need Thomson & JOC (James O'Connor), especially the Kiwi

Think Duncan may have been concussed. If so, probably won't be available for next week.

Any news on other injuries? Reds or Brumbies?

 

[Brumby Jack]

Wow, the stats are so embarrassing for the Reds.

The time in opposition 22 was ridiculous. Brumbies nearly 9 minutes compared to just under 3.
92 Rucks and mauls to 43.
112 runs to 49
570 run metres to 246
8 linebreaks to 0
17 penalties to 8

 

[brokendown]

Fuck.
I'd like to say back to square one but i think we have a way to go before we even get there.
RG has some big calls to make before next week. Who plays 10, how to improve every facet of the Reds play in one week but the biggest call he must make is to drop Horwill. I'm so fucking disappointed in him. He should've actually been red carded some time before he eventually did. The worst thing for me though is that often when he was penalised he laughed about it! Pull your fucking head in James.

wont have to drop him--a red card equates to a weeks holiday,doesn't it?

 

[Scoey]

Not sure. I think a red means a visit to the judiciary. In any case, RG must give him a week off on top of anything dished out by the judiciary.

 

[Ash]

seriously - you need to give up on your khunt hate as there were waaaaay more important failings with the reds:

1. poor forward pack (slippers runs excepted)
2. poor contact
3. poor distribution from the base of the ruck - genia must be the only 1/2 in australia who can NOT pass from the base of the ruck
4. poor discipline

People are so willing to give Hunt a skip in criticism, he was just as bad as the pack in creating pressure on our own players in attack. When the pack on decent ball needs to run 5m - 10m backwards and 25m across field because your flyhalf is so deep and just shovels it on, it just makes it so much worse.

I have three major problems:
1. Ruck work and accuracy, this results and turnovers, poor ball and penalties
2. Hunt was too deep, meaning we ended up so far behind the advantage frequently we either lost a turnover or kicked it away
3. Woeful passive compressed defence

Then there was poor maul defence, giving away stupid penalties, and poor kicking to a team happily running it back and holding onto the ball.

Even with parity in the pack, the Reds would have lost it comfortably due to the lack of attack, most of which stemmed from Hunt. He surely cannot be 10 next week.

There's been a bit of criticism of Genia, who was poor, but Hunt was worse. Guess I am just responding to the hype.

 

[ChargerWA]

wont have to drop him--a red card equates to a weeks holiday,doesn't it?

Hope not, we play them next week.

The Reds are such an enigma. They still have the heart and soul of their championship team there, but there is absolutely zero belief. Successful coaches make their team believe in something. Link did it, Cheika did it, White did it at the Brumbies. But they obviously have none at the moment. To capitulate like that in the first game of season says scary things about their current head space. Hunt must be wondering what he has gotten himself into. But I expect them to improve when OConnor and Thompson get on the field. They will drag the rest along by pure skill to a certain degree.

The Brumbies on the other hand were bouncing out of their skin. They were given a fairly easy start, but the Larkham stamp is truly visible on their game now.

I also liked Coleman at 15. I wouldn't be rushing Mogg back into the team. Mogg might look like an athlete with a cannon boot, but Coleman adds zip and fire Mogg could only dream of.

Also glad to see nearly zero up and unders in the game. Wondering if the NRC is going to impact on the way Australian teams play Rugby more than we thought this soon.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Whoever called the 8 try's earlier may have been on the money, just a pity none are ours..

Guilty as charged, but the tryfest was predicted to be shared, not one way traffic.
Tipped CruSadists and Reds & Played the Joker on the Reds in Footy tipping. Not a good start for the season.

 

[the sabanator]

The biggest positive, as a Reds fan, was the return of David Pocock's excellence. Nic White I thought looked good too, seems to have cut down on the unnecessary kicks to drive one mad.

Samu Kerevi looks like the sort of strong ball runner Australian rugby needs to see more often, picking up where he left off in the NRC.

Richard Graham's seat must be getting pretty damn hot. Missing Quade and some of the big name recruits obviously didn't help, but are a few missing players worth 44 points? No way. Defense was atrocious, missed tackles galore, no line speed, absolutely f***ing stupid breakdown penalties that usually get weeded out at a Schoolboy level.

Studs of the game were Pocock, White, the Brumbies breakdown workout and the Brumbies outside backs.

Duds included every Reds player not named Slipper or Kerevi, James Horwill and Matt To'omua's braids.

 

[Slim 293]

Duds included every Reds player not named Slipper or Kerevi, James Horwill and Matt To'omua's braids.

Slipper was completely outplayed by his opposite and hooked early into the second half though..........

The funny thing is, before the match I was thinking - KHunt will be captain if something happens to Slipper........... and then Graham went and pulled Slipper around 50 mins in............

 

[Moono75]

The time in opposition 22 was ridiculous. Brumbies nearly 9 minutes compared to just under 3.
92 Rucks and mauls to 43.
112 runs to 49
570 run metres to 246
8 linebreaks to 0
17 penalties to 8

I thought the most compelling stat was the Brumbies scored 47 points to the Reds 3. I'm no Einstein...but I think most weeks that will win the game for you