Waratahs vs Sharks - RD5 2012

[No4918]

Big question is obviously whether the Tahs can get up for this. Don't know how they can to be honest, morale will be low and with Tom Carter the only inclusion to the run-on side i don't see them winning this week.

Prediction: Sharks smell blood and go into a frenzy, Tahs forwards are going to get swept away if they are anything near last weeks intensity. Battleship bags a double. Sharks 10+

 

[mjw]

Prediction: Sharks smell blood and go into a frenzy, Tahs forwards are going to get swept away if they are anything near last weeks intensity. Battleship bags a double. Sharks 10+

This will depend how Sharks injuries have progressed.

 

[Braveheart81]

I predict they will bounce back strongly.*

Adding Carter and Palu will add some real starch to the team and they will come out firing.*

I think everyone in the squad will be hungry to make up for the debacle against the Force and they will play with a new lease of life.*


* touch wood.

 

[rugbysmartarse]

that's more wood touching than in an english public schoolboy changeroom there Braveheart

but I agree that the tahs will use last week as inspiration to lift.

Also, isn't there one of those freaky statistics that the sharks have not won their first game on an Aussie/Kiwi tour? or is it the last game?

 

[Troy]

I agree with Braveheart there, not saying they'll be outright winners, but it will be a better performance. Last week will have been a big wakeup call and you'd at least expect them to turn things around.

The played well last weekend, I wouldn't say they've been on fire and only just got over the Reds with all their injuries.

It will depend on how they've traveled ...

 

[No4918]

Think that may be the last game. Remember the Reds getting over them in a massive upset on their last tour game a few years ago, have a feeling they were on top of the table at the time.

 

[qwerty51]

2008 semi performance this weekend from the boys. That means a big game from Rob Horne!

 

[fatprop]

I predict they will bounce back strongly.*

Adding Carter and Palu will add some real starch to the team and they will come out firing.*

I think everyone in the squad will be hungry to make up for the debacle against the Force and they will play with a new lease of life.*


* touch wood.

I expect Mumm to be benched as well so

1 Robinson
2 Nau
3 Kepu
4 Douglas
5 S Timani
6 Dennis
7 Alcock
8 Palu
9 Pretorious
10 Baarnes
11 AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
12 Carter
13 Horne
14 Kingston
15 Foley

16 Uluga
17 Ryan
18 Mumm
19 L Timani
20 Jenkins
21 McKibbon
22 Hangers

 

[I like to watch]

A 5/2 split on the bench, what happens if we lose 2 10's?

 

[fatprop]

2 10s?

Barnes
Foley
Hangers

 

[RedsHappy]

I predict they will bounce back strongly.*

Adding Carter and Palu will add some real starch to the team and they will come out firing.*

I think everyone in the squad will be hungry to make up for the debacle against the Force and they will play with a new lease of life.* * touch wood.

FWIW, I think you're right, and I want to see the mighty Tahs vanquish the highly disappointing Reds' loss.

The SA media and our happy band of Saffers here have rapidly created a mythical notion that the Sharks 'attained a truly magnificent performance against the champs'.

Credit to any winning team, but it was no such thing with an objective gaze. The Reds in 1H should give the Tahs plenty of big hints as to where the Sharks' weaknesses lie and precisely how to play an effective, wide attacking plan against them to win. That must be kept up for 50-60 mins though. Diggers' reckless tackle, his absence for 10, then Lucas and Harris both off for 30 with the silly Reds mistake of having poor Genia kick for goal when Morahan and Taps were better qualified conspired to leave us 5 points (note 5, not 15) short. Maybe with Lucas surviving for 80 the Sharks may still have won, be it would have been a truly knife-edge affair and he would have made those 2 not-tough Genia missed kicks. Plus the Tahs' defence (overall) has been better than the Reds this year, you would likely have not made the bad defensive alignment errors that let in at least 1 extra (and arguably 2) Sharks' tries on Saturday.

The Tahs must play like they did ANZ v Reds with that (then) new-found, overpowering cohesion across the whole team, just a bit better (for 81 mins ) , and with a different captain and BB at 10, and a new mindset, you can and should win!

 

[emuarse]

The problem for the 'tahs is that if they don't bounce back they are looking down the double barrels of a shotgun as regards the finals playoffs,with both the Reds & Brumbies already 5 points in front, and the Rebels just 2 points behind.
If (and I know that's a big word vis a vis if my aunty had balls she'd be my uncle) the Rebels had won against the Cheetahs, then the 'tahs would have been lounging in second last position, three points ahead of the Force, who just beat them.
And this concerns me for the Waratahs are a side that seems to panic under pressure, so unfortunately I can't see them winning this weekend.
I hope I'm wrong.

 

[PaarlBok]

Sharks will be the form team for this clash. Waratahs aint near where they suppose to be. They have already dropped two home matches against teams in their conferense and cant afford another one.

Sharks injuries not that bad
Sport24

Sykes boost for Sharks

2012-03-19 14:06
Email | Print

Steven Sykes (Gallo)
Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer

Cape Town – The touring Sharks have received a lift with the news that injured lock Steven Sykes has been cleared by a specialist and flies out to Sydney on Monday to join up with his squad-mates.
Sykes stayed behind when the party left on Sunday, for a four-match Super Rugby itinerary in Australasia, starting with a fixture against the Waratahs on Saturday.
One of their most senior second-rowers, he left the field on the buggy in the 28th minute of the 27-22 victory over the Reds in Durban at the weekend, but the meniscus injury to a knee has been found to be not serious.
In further good news for the Sharks, who have now won two matches on the trot after losing their first two, their official website has reported that Jannie du Plessis has also recovered from a calf strain and ought to be in the mix against the Waratahs, who were upset at home by the Force on Saturday.
The seasoned Springbok being fit is particularly encouraging because the other tighthead in their ranks, Wiehahn Herbst, who picked up a mild knee ligament injury – it forced uncontested scrums toward the end of the Reds game – may only be ready for the meeting with Jake White’s Brumbies a week later.
JP Pietersen, the Bok wing who has been finding his feet quite nicely in midfield this season but pulled up with a quad strain in the warm-ups ahead of the fixture against the Reds, is also expected to be ready for combat when the Sharks move on to Canberra.
Their remaining tour matches are against the Hurricanes and Blues in New Zealand.

Waratahs by 3. They usually plays well against the Babana Boere. This year dunno.

 

[waratahjesus]

The problem for the 'tahs is that if they don't bounce back they are looking down the double barrels of a shotgun as regards the finals playoffs,with both the Reds & Brumbies already 5 points in front, and the Rebels just 2 points behind.
If (and I know that's a big word vis a vis if my aunty had balls she'd be my uncle) the Rebels had won against the Cheetahs, then the 'tahs would have been lounging in second last position, three points ahead of the Force, who just beat them.
And this concerns me for the Waratahs are a side that seems to panic under pressure, so unfortunately I can't see them winning this weekend.
I hope I'm wrong.

Tahs have been consistently pretty good under pressure for a number of years. They havnt win the big one but the consistency of there performances is what makes games against the force and cheetahs(last year) stand out and so troubling.

Tahs had 35% possession and lost by 1, it was a bad loss but if they can get there possession sorted I have no doubt they can win and win convincingly

 

[Grandmaster Flash]

Apparently Pretorius will come from the bench due to a knee strain and McKibbin will start and take shots at goal due to Barnes carrying a groin strain.

 

[Lee Grant]

Tahs have named a 24 man squad for the game, listed in alphabetical order.

**********

Palu back as HSBC Waratahs fire up for Sharks encounter

Wounded by last weekend’s loss to the Force, the HSBC Waratahs are banking on the return to the squad of warrior Wycliff Palu to fire up the team as they look to get their season back on track with a win over the Sharks on Saturday.

Palu is today named in a 24-man squad, with Head Coach Michael Foley confirming the starting team tomorrow morning, pending a report from the from the Waratahs Rugby medical team that will confirm the fitness of several players, including Lopeti Timani.

It will be the first time that the Allianz Stadium, formerly the Sydney Football Stadium, has hosted an afternoon match since 2006, when the HSBC Waratahs led by Chris Whitaker, beat the Sharks 31-16.

HSBC WARATAHS squad to play the Sharks
FxPro Super Rugby round 5 Saturday March 24, 2012

Allianz Stadium, kick off 3.35pm

Chris Alcock (Eastwood)
Adam Ashley-Cooper (Northern Suburbs)
Berrick Barnes (Sydney University)
Peter Betham (Sydney University)
Tom Carter (Sydney University)
Dave Dennis (Sydney University)
Kane Douglas (Southern Districts)
Bernard Foley (Sydney University)
Daniel Halangahu (Sydney University)
Rob Horne (Southern Districts)
Jono Jenkins (Sydney University)
Sekope Kepu (Randwick)
Brackin Kauraria-Henry (Southern Districts)
Tom Kingston (Sydney University)
Brendan McKibbin (Eastern Suburbs)
Dean Mumm (Sydney University)
Wycliff Palu (Manly)
Tatafu Polota-Nau (Parramatta)
Sarel Pretorius (Gordon)
Benn Robinson (Eastwood), captain
Paddy Ryan (Sydney University)
Sitaleki Timani (Southern Districts)
Lopeti Timani (Southern Districts)
John Ulugia (Southern Districts)

**********

Apart from Tilse and Peterson, that's all their fit contracted players, plus Lopeti from the EPS, plus Jenkins and Betham from the WTG.

The only items of interests are:

- Betham has been named in front of Trist from the EPS, who nominally outranks him.
- Sarel Pretorious has been nominated as a Gordon player (well, it will be of interest at Chatswood Oval.)

 

[Lee Grant]

Tahs had 35% possession and lost by 1, it was a bad loss but if they can get there possession sorted I have no doubt they can win and win convincingly

The week before they had 33% according to one of the statmeisters and they also lost by 1 point.

In both games part of that was losing their own lineouts, and part of it was losing their own ruck ball because of opponents getting to rucks earlier and flooding those Tahs rucks that were floodable. The only good thing about the 2nd of those games was that it was an Oz team doing the flooding.

There's a trend here which I can't put my finger on at the minute, but I hope that the Tahs can, come Saturday afternoon.

 

[rugbysmartarse]

In both games part of that was losing their own lineouts, and part of it was losing their own ruck ball.

and the remainder was from box kicks

 

[mjw]

Tahs have named a 24 man squad for the game, listed in alphabetical order.
Benn Robinson (Eastwood), captain

Also interesting and deserved Fat Cat captain

 

[p.Tah]

- Sarel Pretorious has been nominated as a Gordon player

Perhaps he thought the Stag closely resembled the Springbok