Video: Sitaleki Timani v. Wales

Hugh Cavill June 25, 2012 44

Since his selection caused a bit of controversy I thought I’d have a closer look at the performance of Sitaleki Timani against the Welsh.

I gave him a 6 in my player ratings, and after going through his efforts with a fine-tooth comb I probably stand by that. He played a solid second-rower’s game: made his tackles, took a few hit-ups, threw a couple of nice offloads (one of which created a linebreak for KB). According to the stats on ESPN Scrum, Timani had six runs for eight metres gained, 10 tackles at 100 per cent success rate (although SMH stats says he missed two and I think he missed one) and three offloads in 70 minutes. Interestingly, he was never used in the lineout.

I think it proves he is probably up to international level, and could be a good long-term prospect. It wasn’t a rampaging performance that grabbed the headlines, but at the same time his workrate was good and his effort was virtually error-free. I would like to see him make a few more hit-ups coming onto the ball at pace and use that big frame of his. But that will come with confidence, I think. I would also like to see some lineout involvement, which should be a lock’s bread and butter.

Would Pyle or Simmons have done better? Maybe. Hypotheticals are wonderful things (and frankly I expect the comments thread to be full of them). All I will say is if either turned in the performance of Timani I would have said the same thing — a solid game for a young international lock, with plenty of room for improvement.

So have a look for yourself. Here is every contribution he made to the game (except a couple of cleanouts, which I omitted as they were pretty standard and I wanted to keep the video under three minutes).

What do you think?

www.simplesharebuttons.comShare the goodness

TAGS » slide, Video Analysis

POSTED IN » Wallabies

About the author: Hugh Cavill View all posts by Hugh Cavill

The artist formerly known as Barbarian, but now using my real name. A pretty average writer and an even worse player. Subbies struggler and Tahs fan. I know I've said it before, but 2013 will be our year. Trust me.

Discussion »

JimmyC

Really seemed to pick up in the second half.
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/ Matt Rowley

Good honest rock shifter and defender with an offload. Nice.

I do like a pick and go as well
mattyinred

Hard part of all of this you see the”debutants” we are blooding and you go “eh – solid game”, and I count Timani as one of those. You compare it to what has happened with some of the Saffa and Kiwi guys e.g. Elisabeth and Cane and Romano and it puts it perspective. Lets face it there was comments of Richie move over for Cane.

Overall I think Timani did a good job but when are we going to have a rookie where we go “my gods this guy has the goods”.

Maybe when we have a third tier competition to blood them?
- Jason
  
  Haven’t we said “my god this guy has the goods” about Genia, Beale, O’Connor and Pocock? Not every debutant has to be an instant success.
  
  Agree with everything else that’s been said – I reckon Timani could be really solid if he takes a few angry pills. BIg unit and he can only improve from here.
- Hooper for 12
  
  I think you will shortly be adding Hooper’s name to this list.
  - Packy
    
    Hooper for 12! you have shocked a nation with your wild thinking.
    keep it up
    I like the way he takes on anyone trying to tackle him
  - easts
    
    Nope I don’t see it. When Gilly gets his shot for the wallabies you will see how he lives up to the hype.
- Patrick
  
  Jason is right about the backs, but it is true we have had less impressive forward debutants since Pocock (who was our Sam Cane, surely, just better?) Horwill before him was perhaps in that league.
  
  But shout it from the rooftops: We said it about Dan Palmer but he got dropped!!!
  
  I agree we might say it about Hooper soon and indeed Caderyn Neville.
Andy

Would like to see him put on some monster hits and intimidate the opposition. He’s got the frame to do it but for a guy his size he seems a bit soft. needs more TPN in him
- johnny-boy
  
  About spot on Andy. Big guy but nowhere near hard enough. Teddy bear islander. Body height way too high. Lovely offload to Kurtley tho.
  - jimmy
    
    Yes you are right…but…I think a little bit more playing time and he will get a lot better. He looked like he was deliberately playing conservatively on the weekend. Given he has 2 losses from his other 2 starts I think that was justified. He probably deserves a few more games – it would be great to get a rampaging, tough, second rower in the squad.
- Greg
  
  Isn’t he as big as any other decent sized lock?
Nipper

Was great in the loose, but wasn’t as damaging a ballcarrier as you’d like (or think he’d be), but did have some pretty good offloads. He’s a lock that doesn’t look out of place standing in the midfield to have a run when it’s required.

He was quick to the breakdown and was accurate and pretty effective in his cleanout – he actually moved bodies and produced quick ball, rather than just “leaning on it”.

Don’t want to make this about Simmons, but if it’s a choice of Simmons vs. Timani, I think it’s pretty clear. Simmons is more effective in the lineout (presumably, since Timani didn’t get any thrown to him), but Timani is hands-down better in the other 90% of the game – ball running, handling/offloading, breakdown, defense.
- Mart
  
  Well said. Timani is much more effective everywhere else
- NTA
  
  +1 Nipper.
  
  Simmons is a ball-watcher, and lazy with it. Doesn’t do nearly enough grunt work for a giraffe, at any level, and lives on the hard work of his pack.
  
  The man who is going to be the OMG Wallaby is Hugh Pyle – hugely impressive for the Rebels, and will do the gold jersey proud, once Robbie gets past his little list of favourites and starts picking the right blokes to do the job.
  - ooaahh
    
    don’t hold your breath for that. We’ve been waiting 4 years for the right blokes to be selected.
James

Decidedly undecided. Watching the game as it happened I thought he was pretty invisible, obviously more involvements than I saw going by the video.

Having said that though, he is supposed to be the big whore option of a lock and if not being used in the set piece I think you expect more than 6 runs for 8m?
AJ

I d love to see a comparison of the Australian SR locks so far. To me one that has really stood out has been Caderyn Neville. 21 meters 10 tackles made against Brumbies, 35 mtrs 6 tackles against Crusaders. To me this guy knows how to hit it up. Apart from being pretty fresh why isn’t anyone taking notice of this guy? I know he’s in the squad but wonder when they’ll give him a crack. Maybe against the Argies
- Patrick
  
  And he can step!
  
  I agree he should have come off the bench in one of these games and if he isn’t considered for the RC should be a starter in a couple autumn tour matches.
- Barbarian
  
  I like Neville too but it is worth considering he only made his Super Rugby debut halfway through this season. I’d be very hesitant to throw him into international footy just yet, and I think being around the squad will hopefully be a good thing for his development. I’d expect him to get some time on the EOYT if he keeps his form up.
  - Patrick
    
    Yep that’s fair enough – I just would have liked to see him get a run against, say, Scotland in the last 20. Not that that worked out the way it was supposed to!
Joe Blow

He is a big strong bloke with athletic ability not unlike that of Samo.
If the coaching staff can have him be effective at the set piece then I am sure the rest of his game will develop nicely.
He needs to focus on his defence and carrying the ball up the middle.
It looks as though he had a pretty good game.
Cutter

He hit the rucks with power. The Welsh would have felt that and the rucks moved when he hit them as well. That allows quick(er) ball. I like this side of his game.

He’s obviously a pretty good athlete. I’d hope his ball running will become a little more dynamic. That will probably come with fitness (don’t forget he’s been injured for a large part of the season) and getting used to the pace of test rugby.

Surprised he wasn’t used in the lineouts. He is usually good for some safe ball for the Tahs.

Offloads are great. They can break open defence.

I’m not disappointed with that contribution at all.

Cadeyrn Neville is promising and I hope to see him get some time as well. Simmons greatest attribute is that he’s there or thereabout (albeit a little bit soft) and he knows the Wallaby system.
- The Rant
  
  agree – he was smashing some of those rucks low with his shoulder giving some welsh forwards an uncomfortable trip home i bet.
  
  The vid shows he is pretty good at following the footy and secure the ball for us. Good attitude. Also in defence.
  
  Can’t complain about his lineout work – strange he wasn’t used and a shame as he’s probably the only one capable of getting high enough to where tpn was throwing them.
Alan

I like him and I think 6 was a fair score. Echoing pretty much everyone above, there is no denying he has some serious potential. Looks to have good ball skills, doesn’t shy away from the tight stuff and is absolutely f*cking massive. Add in a bit of rage and this bloke in full flight would terrify defences and break lads in half with his tackles.

Ive never warmed up to simmons so i hope to see sitaleki get more game time and step up another level
Harden up

I thought he was a bit quite in the first half and really improved in the second. I agree with Alan, if he could get angry he would be devastating.

I know this is off the point, but I really wish Kurtley would give that chip kick up, especially when he has one man to beat (as seen in this clip). I thought he was supposed to be one of the most dangerous backs in world rugby. I think of what Digby would do if faced with the same situation. He’d run around the full back and do a little dance to celebrate the try!

Digby, please have a chat with your mate because I’d love to see him score as many tries as his prestigious talent would allow.
Disco

Agree a lot with what Harden up has to say on Timani & Beale.

I just don’t like Timani as a test lock I think Simmons & Pyle will offer much more especially at lineout & even scrum.

Ok a coupe of good off loads but not the sort of impact I assume Deans was looking for.

I was thinking he’d be more like Palu in getting over the advantage line but he wasn’t.
Tom

Without Sharpie in the side next year Timani will have to become a major lineout option or he won’t get a game.
But his impact at the breakdown is amazing, he moves mountains!!
Horses for courses?
Botticelli

Once this GIGANTIC specimen develops his confidence (and feels like he belongs), I predict we will see him develop into a world class player. However, this prediction is subject to first seeing his ability in the line up (perhaps he is too heavy to lift!!).

He is surprisingly agile for such a big man – notice how he was able to make the tackle when the ball runner seemed to have passed him. He provided good support at the breakdown – his ability to shift bodies made a big difference to ball speed and quality. And he will be hard to stop near the try line!

Good coaches pick guys that can grow into great players. I like this selection.

Thanks for taking the time to get us good information to make the assessment.
- NTA
  
  He’s only 120kg or thereabouts, and for each lifter its only a few extra kilos over a flanker. The main thing is whether he can jump and what his technique is like in the air – the skinniest blokes with no core strength can be harder to lift than a 120kg of bloke who can jump straight an controlled.
Eddo

Tons of comments,.. go back and look at the video. It seems he has his head down every time he is in a contact situation – which might lend in to why he is both too high and also going off his feet.
Would therefore love to seem him keep those eyes up and use those monster legs to get a bit lower on attack and defence.

Do we keep stats on clean outs or only tackles, runs and pass?
vidiot

Darn seagull. Where are the lineout highlights?
Henry

You missed his most crucial involvement- taking Halfpenny out after his kick near the start of the game! Had him in all sorts for a while.
RockyElboa

It would seem to me that the lineout was generally badly managed on the weekend. Seems like they didn’t throw to Timani because he wasn’t in the 22 from the beginning, which in itself raises questions about how this team trains.
Also why is AAC the only one chasing re-starts. I think we all agree that this is an area that needs to be looked at ASAP. Timani is a big athletic giant so why would you have him chasing the restart.
I am still not convinced about Timani or Simmon’s but Timani (and Pyle for that matter) at least deserves as much time as Simmon’s has had to prove me wrong.
Who?

A lock who isn’t trusted to be used in the lineout where his provincial hooker is throwing (pies, admittedly) proves himself worthy of international Rugby? Big call…
NTA

If anyone wants to talk about Teddy Bear Islanders – look at what Palu has turned into. Where are the damaging runs? The huge hits? He doesn’t even do this for the Tahs any more. Run onto the bloody ball!

Timani has potential as a massive cuzzy who works hard, but he’ll need to start rounding out his game. As for lineouts – well you’ll notice the man calling the lineouts tends to let you know where the ball is going. When that man is Sharpe, its usually going Sharpe…
murph

You forgot they key bit: he’s a Tah and, therefore, his mum doesnt need to wash his jersey after each game – just merely turn it inside out
Groucho

He certainly doesn’t have “concrete hands” as some people continue to insist. There was some good handling in there and a couple of excellent touches.
BloodRed

The scrum and line out were both as bad as they have been for some time while he was on the field and both improved when he went off. Meat and veggies on the plate first , then the gravy thanks.
- Barbarian
  
  Timani went off in the 71st minute. In the remaining nine minutes there was one lineout and no scrums. Therefore your comment is complete rubbish.
Who Needs Melon

He wasn’t too bad. Nice to see him doing the unsung stuff just hitting all the breakdowns.

But he reminds me of Tuquiri. Massive frame but does seem to get his weight behind hits (either in attack or defense) most the time. You expect so much more from a guy that big.
Scott Allen

Timani was used in the lineout at 49.25 as the receiver, which was the last lineout TPN threw. Unfortunately the throw wasn’t straight so maybe that’s why it was forgotten.

Timani / Simmons – different players but both dissapoint me with their impact. At least Simmons is a good lineout operator, which we’ll need when Sharpie retires.

Timani looks completely lost around the field. Watch out for a video analysis on Friday that shows what Timani was really doing (or not doing).
JJJ

We’ll really need big bastards who hit rucks hard and shift bodies when we play NZ. I have far too many bad memories of slow ball with ABs piling in, then counterruck is good.
Pingback: Sitaleki Timani – A Closer Look - Green and Gold Rugby Blog