Masaga - klutzes his way into the World Mullet XV
Waratahs 11 Chiefs 7
On the one hand Chris Hickey can say the Waratahs have played two fancied kiwi sides in the last two weeks, for two wins. On the other, were 60 minutes of inexplicable, rudderless rugby from NSW.
It started with pushed passes in the back end of the first half, transitioned to midfield crash ball into traffic being the only attacking option, and culminated with midfield bombs going sideways. At times I wondered how many men the Tahs had on the field, because there didn’t seem to be anyone outside Beale after the second phase. A scratch team would surely have had more shape.
What saved NSW, other than a moment of slick skill from Beale in the 17th minute when he put a perfect kick-pass into Tahu for a try, was how god awful the Chiefs were. Both their line-out and scrums were disaster zones and consequently Stephen Donald might as well have stayed at home. Sivivatu tried in vain to kick start something (his chip kicks actually work) and Masaga had a shocker.
On the bright side for NSW was Sam Norton-Knight at full-back. Like Gerrard for the Brumbies, his positional kicking was first rate and his positional nouse impressive – man of the match for me. It was also positive to see Cliffy Palu back. He may have been a little one dimensional, but he also made over 100 metres and was his usual juggernaut self.
But it wouldn’t be the Tahs if they didn’t entice and infuriate at the same time. The first 20 minutes had me thinking under Hickey they’d taken a big step forward. The rest, especially the 20% place kicking rate, had me right back in the worst performances of 2008.
One good thing though – I found another candidate for The World Mullet XV.
The scorers:
For Waratahs:
Try: Tahu
Pen: Beale
Drop: Beale
For Chiefs:
Try: Taumalolo
Con: Donald
Waratahs: 15 Sam Norton-Knight, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Timana Tahu, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Phil Waugh (c), 6 Ben Mowen, 5 Will Caldwell, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Adam Freier, 17 Dan Palmer, 18 Chris Thomson, 19 Scott Fava, 20 Brett Sheehan, 21 Daniel Halangahu, 22 Tom Carter.
Chiefs: 15 Mike Delany, 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Callum Bruce, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Colin Bourke, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam (c), 5 Kevin O’Neill, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Ben May, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Sona Taumalolo.
Replacements: 16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 James McGougan, 18 Craig Clarke, 19 Serge Lilo, 20 Toby Morland, 21 Dwayne Sweeney, 22 James Wilson.
Tags: adam freier, al baxter, benn robinson, brett sheehan, chris hickey, dean mumm, kurtley beale, lote tuqiri, luke burgess, phil waugh, rob horne, will caldwell
Matt a.k.a Gagger or GAGR (short for GreenAndGoldRugby, not a fetish)
Matt started G&GR just before the 2007 Rugby World Cup and has been enslaved ever since. You can follow him on Twitter here http://www.twitter.com/Matt_Gagger 
I guess the Tah’s, for all their talent and promise in the midfield, could really have done with a Mortlock or Giteau to step up and direct the game. After all, KB to TimTam to Horne is not the wisest bunch of old heads.
A missed opportunity for Lote, for my money.
Also, and not only for the Tahs, at what point should a five-eighth realise that his kicking game is off-kilter and just friggin stop it?
It could have been worse – you could have been there.
Unfortunately I was!
A season pass at $482 to watch that shite mascerading as rugby
I can tell you I am mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.
I doubt there were any more than 3 phases of ball recycling and obviously nobody understands the concept of passing, using the width of the field and running from depth. A clever cross field kick to catch the defense napping is great but to try the same kick over and over and over and OVER AGAIN IS JUST FU&^ING STUPID.
After the 100th aimless misdirected up-and-under I was feeling my brain swelling – BUT then when Phil Waugh got in the backline and put the ball to toe my brain actually EXPLODED.
By the end of the game I was hoping the Chiefs would score an intercept try as just rewards for the negative, uninventive, cowardly and ineffective tactics employed by the Tahs – they should collectively hang their heads in shame for dishing up that tripe. How
those suits at the NSWRU can expect to fill any more than 10% of that
wasteland at Homebush for the Crusaders game after serving up that crap is beyond me!
The only good to come out of last night was the Force game and half a dozen beers to numb the throbbing pain in my head.
Karl aka Stomper
Here, Here…
I really hope someone at NSW RU reads this as, as a Lifer I agree with you entirely… If this cr@p remains for any more than 2 matches the Waratahs can kiss my support goodbye…
Mr Hickey, if the players aren’t listening to you drop them.
OR
Players, if Mr Hickey is requesting you play this directionless garbage then ignore him.
OR (and this is the most likely IMHO)
You’re all a bunch of prima-donnas, Beale go to League now because you can’t / won’t play Union, the rest of you give it away, you’ve had your go and there’s better than you running around in the TNSS. Hickey, p1ss off back to Eastwood, that’s your level, stick to it (or lower)…
On another note, the attendance of only 6 Waratahs at the Mark Tonga (West Harbour injured player) Benefit on Saturday was pathetic. Noteable by their absence LT an TT (both Pirates), if John O’Niell can make the effort, why can’t you ????
Perhaps this level of commitment explains why you’re all so cr@p on the paddock ??
Gagger your title is incorrect – the Waratahs were equally as crap as the Chiefs but the Chiefs managed to score less points. The highlight of my night was seeing Sivivatu chip and chase from inside his 22. That and TahMan’s entrance onto the pitch.
my highlight for the night was watching the powers that be try and figure out the scoring system after the Chiefs’ try. The numbers on the board ranged from Waratahs 0 Chiefs 5 to Waratahs 0 Chiefs 18 before deciding on Waratahs 5 Chiefs 7…
looks like the guys had forgotten how to use the scoring system… not really important as they werent using it for long.
Highlight of the night for me (apart from the booze) was almost getting close enough to Sivivatu to ask him how his wife is.
P.S. Westy, I also saw Waratahs 7 – Chiefs 5… Not real bright those scores people.
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