Waratahs Blues Sunday 24th March, SFS

[Inside Shoulder]

Scrums have become a blight on the game unfortunately. The new scrum laws can improve things, but the refs need to get the packs together quickly. In the French Top 14 the calls are much quicker and there are virtually no resets as the refs calls are quicker and they almost always penalise the first infringement and get on with the game. Unfortunately some of our refs are still with the old timings, just using different words and we get the same result. I've been to the IRB website about this; there is no requirement in the laws for the packs to be stationary before the ref calls 'set'. The touch is to establish a distance and the ref should call 'set' when the teams are 'ready' not 'stationary'.

The pace of scrum setting in the second half was ridiculous.

 

[Hawko]

AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) would have been my MOTM.

Yeah, right. Chip kicks in the opponents 22 instead of taking the tackle or looking for an off-load. That was absolutely criminal. A grubber would have been a bit less worse, but not by much. When I saw what he did I was screaming at the TV that Foley should replace him immediately just to make a point. Yes, that is an irrational response but it was butchery of the very worst kind.

MOTM my arse. He needed to score four tries to make up for that.

 

[Richo]

The pace of scrum setting in the second half was ridiculous.

Possibly the language barrier did not help on that score.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Possibly the language barrier did not help on that score.

Every game I've seen of that bloke reffing deteriorates at the scrum and breakdown.
I wonder how many resets there were on Sunday: must be a connection.
His breakdown reffing on Sunday was appalling.
If either the pace of scrums or the clearing up of the breakdown had been policed Tahs would have won by 10.
Someone should tell sir John Kirwan not to wear runners with a suit. This isn't a kiwi wedding!


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[Rob42]

I think this is pretty shit. It wouldn't be tolerated if he did this to a ref or an AR - why should it be OK to do to the match doctor?

Was he going off at the doctor? All the Fox footage seemed to show was him blowing up at some guy in a Tahs polo shirt, who I assume would not have been the doctor.

 

[Braveheart81]

At the end of the day, I'm pretty sure the match doctor doesn't care about who is on a roll, who is winning or thinking about how they can have an impact on the game. Their concern is simply for the health and safety of the players.

Imagine if something happened to a player because the doctor didn't take appropriate action and you were later to find out that he was more worried about interrupting the momentum a team had?

If the doctor thought the temperature/humidity warranted a drinks break he could have made that decision prior to the game starting and insisted on it then.

Nothing changed in terms of weather conditions in the first 20 minutes.

It's not like in-depth analysis of the players' conditions after 20 minutes was done to determine that a drinks break was necessary.

 

[Rob42]

It wouldn't be hard to have a standard reference for the weather conditions that would mandate a drinks break, taking into account temperature, humidity and amount of sun on the pitch. Agree that there's no reason why the decision on the break shouldn't have been made clear to both teams well prior to kick-off.

 

[Froggy]

Bullrush you've missed my point.
By all means give the decision to the doctor, but don't go to the coaches and ask them what they want, simply tell them 'the doctor will make the decision!!!'
Why ask them what they want, and then ignore it? As BH said, nothing had changed.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Did FoxTel need a break to run a few ads?

In the AFL, the unpires can not restart the game after a goal until a certain light has gone out. This light is controlled by the TV producer, and remains lit when they while they are showing ads.

 

[#1 Tah]

Was he going off at the doctor? All the Fox footage seemed to show was him blowing up at some guy in a Tahs polo shirt, who I assume would not have been the doctor.

I was sitting nearby, and it seemed to be a heated discussion with Sam Cashman, the Waratahs manager.

 

[#1 Tah]

And on the subject of Match Day things, the youngest of the Junior Jarses was most disappointed with the quality of the Tah's "flags" that were given out as a freebie.

The plastic bit was too weak for vigourous waving, and the stitching came undone far too easily.

I explained that you get what you pay for, and what was he expecting for nothing?

Pretty shrewd, and cynical for someone new to their teenage years.

Typical cynical Waratahs fan. What the hell can we do to change the terrible mindset we all seem to have?

 

[Braveheart81]

Typical cynical Waratahs fan. What the hell can we do to change the terrible mindset we all seem to have?

On Sunday as I walked down Driver Avenue on my way home, I felt like hugging random Waratahs fans and shouting to the rooftops.

That win was the greatest feeling. At least as good as the win against the Sharks last year. Leaving the game that happy has been few and far between in the last couple of years.

 

[mjw]

I was sitting nearby, and it seemed to be a heated discussion with Sam Cashman, the Waratahs manager.

Cheika came down, spoke to Cashman who pointed to a bloke in the Waratahs polo sitting with medical staff on the sideline. It was this guy who got the spray. I assumed from reports he was the match day doctor.

 

[fatprop]

Cheika came down, spoke to Cashman who pointed to a bloke in the Waratahs polo sitting with medical staff on the sideline. It was this guy who got the spray. I assumed from reports he was the match day doctor.

Here is Cheika in the press conference talking about it

http://www.foxsports.com.au/Rugby/w...604547293?subcat=1111112039622&site=FoxSports

 

[qwerty51]

Did FoxTel need a break to run a few ads?

In the AFL, the unpires can not restart the game after a goal until a certain light has gone out. This light is controlled by the TV producer, and remains lit when they while they are showing ads.

Im guessing you don't have Fox because every game is ad free.

 

[Braveheart81]

Im guessing you don't have Fox because every game is ad free.

What HJ said about the AFL is true though. They do have a light at the ground which goes off when the ad break is over and the umpire is allowed to bounce the ball.

The break is minimal and is usually only a couple of seconds longer than it would take to have a reset with no artificial impediments.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

What HJ said about the AFL is true though. They do have a light at the ground which goes off when the ad break is over and the umpire is allowed to bounce the ball.

The break is minimal and is usually only a couple of seconds longer than it would take to have a reset with no artificial impediments.

They need another light that goes on just before something interesting happens so I know to look

 

[Quick Hands]

The pace of scrum setting in the second half was ridiculous.

In his press conference, Cheika agrees with us.

 

[Quick Hands]

Here is Cheika in the press conference talking about it

http://www.foxsports.com.au/Rugby/w...604547293?subcat=1111112039622&site=FoxSports

What he said about scrums was spot on. IMO the refs are stuffing this up. We need to get the packs together and get on with the game. 99% of the time - no resets give a penalty and get on with it. I suspect the reason the refs are not giving penalties is because many of these collapses are their fault. The set process is far too long. The new laws were meant to speed it up, but the super refs seem to have decided to maintain last year's process with different words.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Possibly the language barrier did not help on that score.

sorry?
the blues and the tahs both speak english