Ash
Michael Lynagh (62)
I thought the Reds had a better first half. The Palu try felt a bit against the run of play, thanks to a completely woeful non-clearance from around 4 Reds backs. The Reds backs looked off in the first half compared to last year, but they looked world beaters compared to the Tahs backs, who couldn't even get it wide without throwing at least two poor loopy passes behind the man. From memory, outside of a short run from Kingston, I don't think the Tahs backs would like to see any of that half of football again. Despite some good counter rucking from the forwards, it felt like the Reds had more territory and possession, and I thought the Reds looked more likely to score a try, despite Palu scoring the only try for the Tahs.
First half tactics looked interesting - Reds held onto the ball a lot more, and the Tahs seemed more content to kick.
Then came half time, 10 minutes of roughly even football and then from about the 50th minute, it seems like the Reds had had enough and went to sleep until they decided to score the 80th minute winner. Reds seemed suddenly content to kick away decent ball (like a woeful Genia one that went straight up off a wonderful maul), and the Tahs got better field position and kicked less. As a Reds supporter, a Tahs victory felt inevitable by about the 60th minute as the Reds players had collectively clocked off, and the Tahs forwards had decided to step up a gear and showed some fantastic aggression at the breakdown. Then a 79th minute brain snap, some lazy defending from Horne and Alcock and Shipperley ran 60 metres to score a fantastic but lucky try. Incidentally, I thought Shipperley had a woeful, woeful game until that last try.
Even as a Reds fan, I will freely admit it was a damn lucky escape, as only one team looked the victor for the last 20 minutes. But it does make up for that first game in 2010, a little bit.
Both teams looked rusty. Reds need to work on their breakdown, their body height was too high and they got pushed off the ball all too easily. Their numbers weren't too bad, but they got pushed around by a hungrier side. Genia looked very underdone, and the connection to Harris needs more work. Harris could do with watching a few videos of Cooper controlling the Reds backline from last year, particularly the way he bossed his forwards. I wonder if Harris can throw a long ball? It was nice to see an improved scrum from the Reds, as well. Really, the Reds came out similar to last year, looking a week or two behind in their ruck work and forward play around the park, one maul aside.
The Tahs backline just didn't click. Halangahu didn't seem to connect with his centres, and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) seemed uninterested. In particular, the Tahs probably needed their Wallabies in Horne and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) to step up with their depleted backline to provide some guidance, and neither did, but hopefully they will get better after a few games in. The good parts were Pretorious, the aggression at the breakdown, and how they played a little smarter and seemed to give away less penalties in the second half. They will get better when Barnes returns.
First half tactics looked interesting - Reds held onto the ball a lot more, and the Tahs seemed more content to kick.
Then came half time, 10 minutes of roughly even football and then from about the 50th minute, it seems like the Reds had had enough and went to sleep until they decided to score the 80th minute winner. Reds seemed suddenly content to kick away decent ball (like a woeful Genia one that went straight up off a wonderful maul), and the Tahs got better field position and kicked less. As a Reds supporter, a Tahs victory felt inevitable by about the 60th minute as the Reds players had collectively clocked off, and the Tahs forwards had decided to step up a gear and showed some fantastic aggression at the breakdown. Then a 79th minute brain snap, some lazy defending from Horne and Alcock and Shipperley ran 60 metres to score a fantastic but lucky try. Incidentally, I thought Shipperley had a woeful, woeful game until that last try.
Even as a Reds fan, I will freely admit it was a damn lucky escape, as only one team looked the victor for the last 20 minutes. But it does make up for that first game in 2010, a little bit.
Both teams looked rusty. Reds need to work on their breakdown, their body height was too high and they got pushed off the ball all too easily. Their numbers weren't too bad, but they got pushed around by a hungrier side. Genia looked very underdone, and the connection to Harris needs more work. Harris could do with watching a few videos of Cooper controlling the Reds backline from last year, particularly the way he bossed his forwards. I wonder if Harris can throw a long ball? It was nice to see an improved scrum from the Reds, as well. Really, the Reds came out similar to last year, looking a week or two behind in their ruck work and forward play around the park, one maul aside.
The Tahs backline just didn't click. Halangahu didn't seem to connect with his centres, and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) seemed uninterested. In particular, the Tahs probably needed their Wallabies in Horne and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) to step up with their depleted backline to provide some guidance, and neither did, but hopefully they will get better after a few games in. The good parts were Pretorious, the aggression at the breakdown, and how they played a little smarter and seemed to give away less penalties in the second half. They will get better when Barnes returns.
