grrrrr……….

The Force really looked good in the first half and just pulverised the Scarlet Pimpernell Reds (with pink neon socks to boot….who is there fashion designer? The guy from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy?). They even demolished a Reds scrum on their own line……a testament to a good pre-season on the scrum machine(Hats off, no, pants off, to the Force pack). In fact the Force forwards put in a highly commended performance all night against a supposedly superior Reds pack.

In the second half the Force just put the shutters up as if to say “oh well, we have a real game next week so nobody get injured OK?”. The Reds, to their credit also came out in the second half and had a red hot crack, but the game was won in the first 15 minutes.

Yes, Pretorius is going to be a major loss but I got the feeling Bartholomeuz revelled in the chance to be the no. 1 playmaker…….let him have a crack I say and make JOC his deputy…….who needs another high priced import that breaks down before the season begins?

Sheehan was close to Man of the Match for mine, but far too many predictable kicks to the box……..Genia was just camped behind the forwards waiting for them all night. Speaking of Genia, how quick is he? IIt’s the first time I’ve seen him live and I thought no, he’s not going to get through that gap and score that try…….but he did!

Cooper was Reds best player by far……pity about the larrikin in the crowd who yelled “Hey Cooper, got any cheap laptops for sale?” I think he’s going to get that a bit this season………..

Speaking of larrikins, how impressive was “Body by Dunning”? Geez he’s looking fit, only a hint of the former beer barrel that used to form his mid section. You should have heard “The Roar” go up from the crowd when he ran on (from all 10 of us at least)……and then in his first scrum, he splits the pack, gathers up the loose ball and lays it back with textbook precision…..the Force have found a new talisman me thinks.

The rest of the Force backs……Shep, JOC, DPH etc were solid but not spectacular…..what you would suspect this stage of the season I guess.

The Reds? Other than Hynes (who had a servicable if luckless game), Genia and Cooper, they looked bereft of ideas.

Overall an entertaining game, the field kicking was precise and meaningful at last……not the kick, kick, senseless kick we’ve come to expect. I thought the new rule worked OK and was properly enforced by the ref. Speaking of ref’s….why do they reset scrums just as the ball’s coming out the back? The ball has been won, let the bloody game flow!

It may seem like a long season coming up for the Force fans………but it’s going to feel like a longer one for the Reds.