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Super Rugby Rnd 1: Waratahs v Drua

Shiggins

Steve Williams (59)
Would have to be happy as a Tahs fan but wants overally impressive. Expecially with the scrum at the end
 

Hawko

Tony Shaw (54)
Turner should have gone to the bin, how is it if you elect to contest the ball and someone is deemed to land in a dangerous position as a result you are gone

Yet you elect to tackle someone in the air and it is just a penalty
Absolutely agree, it was a clear yellow. Berry and the TMO will be having a conversation with the assessors, I think. But overall the penalties are evening out, the Tahs have had some tough calls too. Berry has just been blowing too much - stuff that had no effect on the game is still getting blown.
 

formerflanker

Ken Catchpole (46)
A good win to start to the 'Tahs season.
We needed a win and we needed some confidence builders like a poised 5/8 game, 15 taking the high ball well, winning some collisions and getting up from the big hits we suffered. Certain signs of skill around the park including silky hands and hole running from forwards. Breakdown numbers was intelligently handled.
Coleman and the team have a huge mountain to climb and we have successfully negotiated the initial steps towards base camp.
A loss at this stage would have been disastrous and that didn't happen.

As the great rChinese rugby coach Lao Tzu once said, 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step'
 

Hawko

Tony Shaw (54)
Isn't he just? Not a great showing at all.
The real issue is that the reserve THP last week was pants and the Queenslanders had a field day. So why was he selected again this week? He is two years of hard work off being super quality. That was a serious selection blunder and Horton and Cridge have to take some of the blame too. The Drua reserve LHP absolutely smashed him.
 

Rebel man

Jim Lenehan (48)
Absolutely agree, it was a clear yellow. Berry and the TMO will be having a conversation with the assessors, I think. But overall the penalties are evening out, the Tahs have had some tough calls too. Berry has just been blowing too much - stuff that had no effect on the game is still getting blown.
He was never legal, that’s how I see it. The outcome is irrelevant he has just come through and tackled him knowing he was in the air
 

Dan54

Tim Horan (67)
Anyway I was good and stayed up to midnight to watch it all. Thoughts this morning, game was pretty well as expected. First game of season so teams were a bit scratchy, though I will add I not sure how much improvement Drua got in them. They looked an awful lot like the Drua team that won NRC, for all the talk about playing open rugby, it includes the ability to pass to a man in good position, at super level I don't think it quite as easy to run around and other teams end up letting you run in, it's not 7s. Anyway I hope they improve quite a bit anyway, and suspect if they get a few players who have played in NH back they will develop over next few years.
For Tahs, I hope supporters are happy to pick up win, and with a few more games They looked messy at times, but with a few games under their belt can see them being a not bad team. And lets face it to be topping table and on a winning streak of 1 they have reason to feel ok today!

I still go along with what I said last night Nic Berry looked a little uncertain to me last night, whether he was trying to let first game of season flow or not he did seem to miss a few pretty clear things .

I hope Tah supporters remember to get back on train, as it quite important to start at this satge before NRL and AFL start splitting loyalties.

Anyway Super is back so I happy!
 

7137

Alex Ross (28)
I think NSW aggression will cost them this season, Swinton will be carded often if opponents are smart enough to niggle him.
Seems to me opponents are targeting him but he’s been smart enough to not take the bait. Just like Mafi in the trial, you can come unstuck thinking you can start something and get away with it. Swinton’s reputation can be an asset if he remains cool while opponents try it on.
 

Cancelled Account

Desmond Connor (43)
Tahs did well. To come into game one and play against an unstructured team I thought they did well in the first half to maintain the form that they did. A good confidence booster leading into the season.
Credit to Coleman for his leadership in culture and comradeship. That was the biggest takeaway for me.
Bell is the new breed of prop. He ticks every box and more. His game smarts puts him as my number one prop in Australia. I have grown to like Swinton’s style of rugby, and would want him on my team. His aggression and physicality are first class. A bit of work to polish his skills but moving in the right direction. The centre pairing of Perese and Foketi will be tough to beat as the season progresses. Donaldson showed good control in the first half. Lost some focus in the second half which showed across the team. Onwards and upwards from here.
 
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Froggy

John Solomon (38)
Don't know if you can blame Cridge for Tiaan's problems, he wasn't separating from the hooker or being pushed back, which are the two things where Cridge has an input, he was just going straight to ground. I felt very sorry for him, he got absolutely belted in his Super debut, and looked very forlorn sitting in the naughty chair. Worth noting when HJH (Harry Johnson-Holmes) came back on suddenly the scrum held up.
 

Drew

Bob Davidson (42)
This is where we miss nrc as playing 10 rounds of nrc would have helped Tian Ts development. Faulkner was also disappointing and actually has been for a while.
Yes, the nrc would help players make the jump from club to Super Rugby. Is there a schedule for Tahs A, Runners etc? Do they play a whole season? That’s the closest we have at present.
 

7137

Alex Ross (28)
Yes, the nrc would help players make the jump from club to Super Rugby. Is there a schedule for Tahs A, Runners etc? Do they play a whole season? That’s the closest we have at present.
They are playing today. The other sides don’t seem to be as big on getting the squad game’s running. Admittedly it is easiest for the Brumbies and Tahs to play each other when they are just a reasonably short bus ride apart.

Ruan Smith is playing for the Tah A. Perhaps his return to play timing didn’t allow him to play last night but he can today. Or perhaps Coleman was just giving Tiaan first crack. He had a bad night, but I do think he is capable of better. Angus Bell was whistled off the park early in his career too.
 

Marce

John Thornett (49)
I’d be surprised/happy if it cracked 10k, think 5-7.5k is more realistic
Is there any rugby supporter in Western Sydney? When I lived in NSW, I lived some time in Bonnyrigg and for each rugby supporter you see at least 10 League supporters...
 

Pfitzy

George Gregan (70)
Yep replacement from row got trashed.by Fiji which was red flag

Actually it was all Tiaan Tauakipulu getting "trashed". Horton and Faulkner were already on, without issue.

Every time TT went to bind, he shifted his feet back too far, and the Fiji replacement LHP just let him nosedive. Easy penalty to give, and surprised it took Berry 5 scrum penalties to go for the card.

The fix is a good scrum coach, and enough contested scrums at training. Five minutes of eating grass on the training paddock would sort him out. I could see it from the stands a good 70m away FFS. Clearly Shute Shield taught him nothing.

What it shows is a little too much time on the scrum machine - a device not known for outsmarting young props with big frames.
 
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