Waratahs vs Reds - Round 1 - 2012R01

This sort of analysis is helpful but needs to be added to if it is to be complete. I'll take just one example of many to illustrate my point. Everyone, me included, thinks Taps has huge potential and could be another Tim Horan. But.. in matching up to Tom Carter he is playing against a 12 who has not been bested by anyone in Super Rugby and he has played against Nonu, SBW and de Villiers who would be three of the very best. I think that although Carter's attacking flair may not equal Taps that their battle on Saturday night may well end up with neither in the ascendancy.

I would point out that it will be Daley vs Kepu and Robinson vs Slipper when they pack down. In scrummaging at least this puts the whole Tah front row as superior to the Reds, though around the park it will be more even. I also expect that Douglas at TH lock might be at least scrummaging equal to Horwill, though Horwill is clearly superior around the park.

My main concern with the Tahs is that our top three wingers are out and we are going to replace them with two young, inexperienced players who are actually not wingers but who mainly play at 13. This weakness is so glaring that I'd actually play Trist this weekend with BKH on the bench, because Trist is more rugby mature and has played wing far more often, so he naturally knows where to stand in defence and where to run lines in attack without losing the half seconds they'll take to think it through.

I also think the Reds bench is significantly stronger in a number of key positions.

That said, if the Tahs forwards get on top, which I think they might, then the Reds will struggle no matter how much better their backs are. Few backlines operate well on back-foot ball. If it was not for the one piece of Cooper magic, the Brisbane game last year would have been a Tah win and a Red loss.

But it wasn't I am afraid - and it is getting very tiring.

If it wasn't for a Palu run you would have lost. etc etc

See how nauseating it is?

Very well thought out prose other than that.

Mind you I'm just too fucking lazy to write up my reasoning behind those comparisons
I'm thinking Digby and Morahan will have a field day if they get space out wide against the two inexperienced Tahs wingers. Carter and Horne will really need to shut down Taps and Harris early.

My point was obviously not clear.. However well the Reds defended in Brisbane last year, you would have to say the Tah forwards got on top, especially in the second half. They just couldn't finish off. But the team whose forwards get on top is usually the one that wins on the scoreboard. That it didn't turn out that way was down to one piece of extrordinary Cooper magic. That is unlikely to be repeated this time, though someone else like Ioane may pull it off. But the match in my opinion is very likely to rest on the forward battle, both in the tight and at the breakdown. That's where I think the Tahs will get on top, though its not one I have any certainty about. I think the result is on a knife-edge and the bookies odds are bollocks but I lean slightly towards the Tahs forwards getting the better of the battle.

I could not agree in more earnest that it will be up to the forwards to determine who wins this game. I am just hoping that the experience of long international seasons on players like Slipper, Simmonds, Higginbum, Saia (if he plays) and even Horwill for that matter will have improved our pack from last season. Not in terms of body positions or positioning, but rather fair dinkum footy nous, physicality and composure. Should be a belter.

The Reds tight forwards have had a lot more game time in the past 12 months in comparison to the Tahs. I can guarentee it will be alot more even then previous encounters.
My only major concern is Daley and Hanson's scrummaging, I really hope they have improved since last season because I feel Slipper mayaswell have been a one man army at scrum time last year.

Tahs by 20

The Cooperless Queenslanders will stutter and splutter

The tah lineup looks pretty tasty. The tahs historically start well, get their fans in a lather after 5 rounds and then the wheels fall off

Spot on, Hawko. In this sense Carter is almost certainly the most consistent of all the Australian Super Rugby players. Whatever people's opinion of him, in terms of matching up to his opposite number, he "has not been bested by anyone in Super Rugby" over the four seasons since he made his debut in 2008, a period during which he has hardly missed a game. That's why it is so totally incomprehensible that he has never been selected in an Australian A squad, let only in a Wallabies squad.

Huh????

isn't he struggling to shake off a few niggles and hasn't really trained much?

Not that I know of but... let me strangle a few birdies and see if I can make them sing...

http://www.sportal.com.au/rugby-union-news-display/star-tahs-will-play-162324

Barnes, Kingston and Ashley-Cooper have sat out training but still will play.

Maybe referring to the injury he has had all career. You know the one that restricts movement in his left shoulder which means he can't pass, it did help with the strength in his right side though that makes that fend so good. Still, can't help but wonder how good he could have been without it.

Just a tad disappointing, tigerland12, that you start a thread very similar to 'Reds vs Waratahs - the war before the war', creating confusion for members with two almost identical threads.
Freedom of speech should always be encouraged, but not so cronyism

This thread was for those who wanted to rationally discuss how the game might go. The other thread was primarily designed to allow supporters to vent at the supposed inadequacies of the other team.

Some interesting comments from the Tahs coaching staff regarding Pretorius' defensive frailties. Feel free to chalk them up to pre-match diversionary tactics if you will, but food for thought nonetheless.

I'm seeing a lot of inside balls to digby.

Not JUST Digby either.

Who doesn't? It so predictable these days. Palu will smash anyone who goes near Pretorius.