Waratahs v Highlanders - Super Rugby R4 2016
- Thread starter Braveheart81
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I'm not sure how you think that was a decision made by the Waratahs. Hegarty was signed because they were unable to retain Lance who not surprisingly left for better opportunity because he was sitting behind current Wallabies in the three positions he has regularly played during his career (10, 15, and 12).
Lance signed a contract to go elsewhere for opportunity which he wasn't able to get at the Waratahs (in May 2015 as Qwerty's next post indicates).
Hegarty was released by the Rebels and then signed with the Tahs in January 2016.
Should the Waratahs have let Foley, Beale or Folau go in order to keep Lance?
I can't believe we let Chris Whitaker go and signed Sarel Pretorius instead. What a stupid decision by the Waratahs. 
Froggy
John Solomon (38)
Totally agree with BH and others re Lance, however I do question us letting Alalatoa go and signing Taavao.
Surely Mike A could see the opportunity that presented itself with Kepu leaving, and as many have said, Ta'avao hardly covered himself in glory with the Blues. I suppose there were other issues behind it that I am not aware of, but on the surface it looks like a poor decision.
Surely Mike A could see the opportunity that presented itself with Kepu leaving, and as many have said, Ta'avao hardly covered himself in glory with the Blues. I suppose there were other issues behind it that I am not aware of, but on the surface it looks like a poor decision.
It is 100% correct that the Tahs have planned very poorly for the departure of Kepu and the tapering of Benn Robinson's career.
That seems to be the one glaring recruitment problem but I tend to think it is going to play out most this year and will improve from next year onwards.
I think Tom Robertson is going to figure more and more this season and looks like he could be a good player going forward.
I really like Matt Sandell but he is too small at the moment. He's a good rugby player though and hopefully he can put on a substantial amount of bulk without sacrificing too much mobility. His scrummaging skills seem good but he just isn't big enough at this point.
Cameron Orr looks like a really good young player and again I think he has the potential to be a strong long term option for the Tahs. Again, he's young and needs to bulk up and fill out some more.
That seems to be the one glaring recruitment problem but I tend to think it is going to play out most this year and will improve from next year onwards.
I think Tom Robertson is going to figure more and more this season and looks like he could be a good player going forward.
I really like Matt Sandell but he is too small at the moment. He's a good rugby player though and hopefully he can put on a substantial amount of bulk without sacrificing too much mobility. His scrummaging skills seem good but he just isn't big enough at this point.
Cameron Orr looks like a really good young player and again I think he has the potential to be a strong long term option for the Tahs. Again, he's young and needs to bulk up and fill out some more.
Marcelo
Ken Catchpole (46)
Telegraphs has the answer about the awful first half. The only player who played in his real position was Palu, the others players played in any position. How the hell can you win a scrum with Folau at LHP and Horne as THP? Guildford is too short to play at the second row. Kurtley Beale can't tackle his grandmother and he has played as blindside flanker! And what about Paddy Ryan at 15???! He's sooo fat to play there. At the second half Gibson put the players in their true positions and the team improved.
Groucho
Greg Davis (50)
It's easy to blame the Tahs for poor planning, especially given our past, but where are those replacement props going to come from? We don't have automatic dibs on the best players unfortunately.
The development props just haven't worked out. At the planning stage, a few years ago, it was perfectly reasonable to expect Paddy Ryan (in particular) to progress, but he hasn't. And Taavao isn't working out yet as a filler.
We could've recruited a better overseas player, but who? There isn't exactly a steady stream of unsigned test-quality props on the market, and there never was. There was a flow of Australian fatties to Europe, but they were never going to come to the Tahs and sit on the bench for a couple of years.
The Tahs propping issue isn't really one of recruitment, but development, and in part that's due to the success of Kepu and Robinson. The good young props elsewhere were able to be thrown into the cauldron at a young age, and their teams suffered to indignity of them being turned inside out on a regular basis. Now we have to go through that.
Mike Ala'alatoa could have been given more opportunity last year and might have stayed.
Sam Talakai could have been brought into the fold at some point and tested.
There have been players they've missed and some of that is potentially down to being too reliant on the starters and not testing the backups enough to make sure they are up to it.
I agree that it was reasonable to think that Paddy Ryan would have improved his scrummaging to a competitive level by now.
As I said, I think it will be a glaring problem this year and will improve next year. If Robbo comes back in and stays healthy for most of the season it may help paper over a lot of the cracks.
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