Friend praises Brumbies front row in win over Sharks
By AAP, 14 Mar 2010 AAP is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- ACT Brumbies, Andy Friend, Rugby Union, Sharks, Super Rugby
Brumbies coach Andy Friend praised his front row after they outmuscled a Springbok trio to set up a 24-22 win over the Sharks in Canberra on Saturday night.
The Sharks remain winless this season, having lost nine out of their past ten Super 14 matches, while the Brumbies have now notched three wins in a row.
The home side scored two tries to one in a match that started out scrappy as both sides traded early penalty goals.
It was not until the 30th minute that the first try was scored through Brumbies prop Ben Alexander who crossed again for the Brumbies second early in the second half.
Like last week, Friend said his men created opportunities but again failed to finish them off.
“I thought in phase play again we created some good opportunities, I thought our scrum was outstanding, we dominated there, and when we quick-tapped and played … we put them under a lot of pressure,” he said.
“We created a lot of opportunities we didn’t finish.”
He was, however, pleased with the effort of his front three who dominated an all-Springbok front row.
“Outstanding. I thought they were outstanding,” Friend said.
Despite winning three in a row and four from five this season, Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles said they would have to improve if they wanted to be around at the business end of the season.
“We’re all pretty aware that we’ve got a lot of improvement in us,” Hoiles said.
“Guys aren’t in there carrying on and telling each other how good we played and how good we are. I think everyone is aware that to be serious contenders in this competition that we’ve got to improve.”
The Sharks went to the break with a 16-13 lead and stayed in touch in the second half thanks to a faultless kicking performance from No.10 Andy Goode.
He scored 17 points after kicking six from six to keep his side in touch before Brumbies playmaker Matt Giteau kicked what would prove to be a winning penalty goal ten minutes from full time.
Brumbies outside centre Stirling Mortlock, replaced at the end of the first half by Tyrone Smith, will have scans on Sunday after injuring his shoulder.
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sportym said | March 14th 2010 @ 6:06am | Report comment
damn, gutted i could not see the game, as the fox box at my local pub died. Was it a good game? Still disapointed that the brumbies are without a bonus point this season.
matt said | March 14th 2010 @ 7:16am | Report comment
Tight and scrappy game. A few thoughts:
*Brumbies are not the well oiled machine they should be for a side that has had no changes for three weeks, and has been at home for 2.
*Front row, and whole scrum had it all over the Sharks. A few years ago, who would have believed that a Brumbies side would do this to a Springbok laden pack?
*Comment from Greg Martin on Giteau, ¨I won´t believe heś not carrying an injury until he accelerates through a gap¨. Still waiting.
*Mortlock – second game now where he has made no impact, even when running onto the ball full tilt. No line breaks, and barely (and often not at all) over the advantage line. Smith comes on and the zing is instantly noticeable. I love Morty, but he needs to perform or he is bench material…is there an injury?
* Andy Goode (Phil Collins) looks like someone you would find wandering around a public toilet wearing a trenchcoat. He can kick though.
*AAC and his bloody box kicks. They are a lottery. Why not have a run, or tuck the ball under the arm and hit it up? With the new/old rules you have a much greater chance of getting it back than last season. Whoś coaching this aspect?
*Whoś coaching re-starts, or haven;t they got to that aspect yet.
*But, a win is a win. Perhaps they can have a squizz at the Tahs game!
CraigB said | March 14th 2010 @ 9:20am | Report comment
comment of the night – Greg Marin apologising for calling the Goode haricut a combover last week when it is actually a skullet. Bald at the front, party at the back. BRILLIANT
Lee said | March 14th 2010 @ 10:34am | Report comment
I laughed the most when John smit asked the ref if the penalty against came from Paul marks….
Even looser said | March 14th 2010 @ 11:16am | Report comment
Maybe it’s because I’m ‘hair challenged’ myself that I find these sort of remarks by professional commentators disrepectful and unwarranted. It’s just cheap one line throw away bully boy stuff.
Wouldn’t it be better to focus on the game and inform the listener with one’s knowledge and experience. After all I’m sure that’s why they got the gig. If it was a comedian Fox SPorts was after I’m sure someone funnier could have been found.
CraigB said | March 14th 2010 @ 1:40pm | Report comment
c’,mon looser – It was funny. I see people on here complain about the foxsports commentary all the time. While I tend to agree with the comments made, I look at their coverage differently. I listen to them as if they are standing next to me in the pub. From that angle they offer some good points, some funny stuff and the rest you just ignore. I am happy that I understand what is happening. I only get annoyed when they start whinging about rules they don’t understand, but then the guy at the pub annoys me then too.
JK said | March 14th 2010 @ 1:57pm | Report comment
I’m with ya CraigB, I think they are hilarious, but if I had to rely on them to know what’s goin on I’d be stuffed
penguin said | March 14th 2010 @ 8:14am | Report comment
The Brumbies continue to misfire and disappoint. Giteau really doesn’t look 100% and Mortlock has lost his impact. How long is it going to take for the obvious to sink in – AAC is not a 15. His counter-attacking is limited to either aimless high kicks (was that Deans’ idea?) or running until tackled – his touch-kicking is poor and his distribution nil.
I sometimes wonder how much of the problem can be ascribed to losing Gerrard. Not just for his kicking, but his ability to run intelligent lines, act as first or second receiver and put others into space.
If Stirlo is out next week I’d like to see Toomua at 10, AAC at 13, Lilo and Gits at 12 /15 (either way around). Either of them would offer better kicking and better vision in counter-attck than AAC. I agree with Matt on Tyrone – if Gits needs resting to get fully fit, put Tyrone at 12 and drop Lilo to 15.
I sometimes think
Bay35Pablo said | March 14th 2010 @ 2:40pm | Report comment
What happened to the Real Madrid of Super rugby?
Interesting to note:
* Brumbies seem to have trouble finishing. They put away the Lions, but the Tahs put them to the sword.
* Sharks seem to produce scrappy games. With a talented side they seem to be having trouble adapting to the new rules. Surely the coach is gone?
* For all the talent in the Brumbies backline, something isn’t firing? Too much talent not enough structure? Too many players out of position? Few to many unackowledged injuries?
The Tahs v Brumbies game is looking more and more interesting ….
ballboy said | March 14th 2010 @ 3:33pm | Report comment
Pablo – the coach is gone after winning 3 from 4? What book do you subscribe to. I agree that they are having trouble finishing. The two that seem to be holding the team back are AAC and Mortlock. I thought Gits had a really solid game. I’d like to see T. Smith in at 13 and Friend to tell AAC to stop kicking the ball away.
Forwards are looking really strong. I thought their lineout ball was tremendous as was their scrum. Moore had his best game of the season.
Bay35Pablo said | March 14th 2010 @ 5:00pm | Report comment
I was talking about the sharks’ coach. They wre, after all, the subject of the first sentenc and thuis the paragraph.
MR said | March 14th 2010 @ 3:44pm | Report comment
So did the Brumbies 9 get cited for smacking someone in the face in front of the ref ? or is OK if small boys do it to big boys ? The last penalty was a joke, Sharks 8 was part of the lineout & seemed onside to me, or was there some rule I missed ?
Dave said | March 14th 2010 @ 4:19pm | Report comment
The Brumbies need a genuine No.10. They are supposed to be the great innovators – but their only backline play is Giteau giving an inside ball, or just shuffling the footy across field with no effect.
The Reds have Cooper, The Tahs have Barnes (although playing 12, he was directing traffic and taking the ball to the line very well the other night), we have nobody.
Its not that they are not trying – you could tell after each game that they are not happy. The forwards are also playing very strongly. We need someone to take the ball to the line and some one who can pass long to let the outside backs get the ball. Giteau cant do those things at 10. Its as obvious as can be. How many matches do we have to watch to see that?
Whats the answer? Toomua perhaps? Something needs to be done and done now or the season will be over. Its not enough to just win. I have no interest watching the team have to play the Bulls or Crusaders away in a the finals if we do manage to get in. They have zero chance of winning away from home.
Mortlock also looks very flat I agree. We have options there however as AAC and T.Smith are more than capable. No.10 is the problem area.
I would love to see Rod Kaffer do some work with the backs. He was the brains behind the great Brumbies backline plays, and Im sure he could give them some direction.
penguin said | March 14th 2010 @ 5:47pm | Report comment
Toomua was looking very sharp in the Brumbies Runners v Junior Waratahs game today. Ran and kicked well and produced some lovely accurate long cut-out passes.
Huxley played 80 minutes and looked very good. He, Toomua, Mafi and A Smith dominated in the backs. It was a bit of a worry when the first thing he was called on to do was to tackle Nadolo head-on, but he survived
Central North said | March 14th 2010 @ 10:25pm | Report comment
The Tahs – with all their stars – struggle to put the Sharks away.. and the sky is falling for a week.
The Brumbies – with all their stars – struggle to put the Sharks away, and there’s ONLY 14 comments – FIVE of which are about Andy Goode’s hair?
WTF?????
Good lord, maybe Canberra really doesn’t count in the grand scheme of things after all. One thing’s for sure, after Sunday, the Brumbies deserve to be the third ranked Australian team, behind big link’s resurgent Reds and – yep – the Tahs…
Dan said | March 14th 2010 @ 10:44pm | Report comment
Yeah, fair comment. NSW have a dour game against a side with 10 Springboks (and win) and get labelled boring and incapable of scoring tries. The Brumbies beat the same side by just as little and score LESS tries than the Tahs and they’re virtually commended! WTF?!
Central North said | March 14th 2010 @ 11:23pm | Report comment
Let me declare an interest from the outset – I am a dyed in the wool Waratahs man and will be until the day I die. No matter how many times they kick the ball away. No matter how little “entertainment” value they offer. No matter how many games they move to Homebush. I don’t care.
They’re my team and I will defend them to the death.
But here’s my problem. The double standard that is applied when it comes to coverage of the respective Australian teams – in the media and on sites such as this one – shits me to absolute tears.
The Tahs beat a belligerent yet entirely capable – if down on its luck – foe by a handful of points and the commentariat wails and moans for days on end about why they are not worthy of their patronage. The Waratahs are failing their “core supporters” for not playing attractive rugby. Sure, the win was ugly. But, it yielded points. Sure, the past few years have served up their share of dire victories, and a few losses too. But hell, last week’s win was better than if they had lost, and the four points gained as a result laid a platform for the following week, when they broke a host of records to move within a bee’s dick of the top four.
What is all too often ignored is that the Super 14 is a bloody tough competition – for all teams.Travel, injuries and a two week dip in form can and often will kill a team for the year. It’s amazing that the Bulls have won two titles in the past two years – given the South African teams face a five week road trip most years. And don’t get me started on the Crusaders – they’re freaks. Outside of the big football teams of the world – the Man U’s, Real Madrids etc etc, surely no team has been more successful in the past 20 years.
And yet, it’s not as if the Tahs haven’t had their fair share of good years in recent times. The big wins of 2005 – Peter Hewat scoring a hat trick and kicking a shed load of goals against the Bulls in the regular season, then doing them again in the semis – are still fairly fresh in the mind, as is their second final in 2008. I was also there for the annus horribilus that was 2007 – one of Link’s 17,000 – and I didn’t hold that against them. Yet a few scraping wins in 08 and a relatively low year in 09 – when six more points would have secured a semis berth – followed by a “slow” start to 2010 that sees them just outside the four after five rounds, and the world (or should that be the blogosphere) is turning against them. Sorry, I just don’t get it.
Maybe it’s vacuous Sydney, which has always valued looks over substance, which demands instant gratification, that is to blame. The Tahs haven’t won a title and as such they have to play pretty – win or lose – in the attempt, or be damned. Or maybe people just need to chill the f@#k out a bit, accept there’s going to be games that are not so pretty (Stormers @ SFS in ’05, Brumbies @ Canberra Stadium in ’05, Blues @ the SFS in ’05, Qld @ Suncorp in ’06, Sharks @ SFS in ’06, Lions @ Ellis in ’07 etc etc) and go along for the ride…
And all the while, the anointed “Real Madrid” of Australian Rugby serves up rubbish like that we have seen in the past two outings and they get off relatively scot free.. I just don’t understand. And yet I fully expect the Brumbies faithful – and the Tahs not so faithful for that matter – to get stuck into this diatribe like a big hot meal.
I’d love to say end rant… but I truly hope that this may lead to a meaningful discourse that doesn’t end with some keyboard critic saying “the Tahs are boring and therefore they don’t deserve my support”….
Chris K said | March 15th 2010 @ 12:03am | Report comment
Yep, fair comment, the waratahs despite some very dour moments have played better rugby overall compared to the brumbies this season but because everyone wants to have a go at the waratahs they got all the crap
matt said | March 15th 2010 @ 5:41am | Report comment
Central North, supporters from QLD and the ACT have many historical reasons for hating the tahs. Itś called tribalism. Itś also what sees you, continue to support them when are playing at their worst.
Don´t worry about other teams, yours had a good win, enjoy it.