Waratahs expect wide attack from Reds
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New Waratahs five-eighth Bernard Foley says Queensland would be silly not to throw the ball wide in Saturday’s Super Rugby clash in Brisbane.
The Reds enter the final-round game knowing nothing less than a bonus-point victory will give them a chance of winning the Australian conference title or earning a wildcard spot.
For Foley, the game represents his first venture into the Suncorp Stadium cauldron and a second opportunity to build his combination with halfback Grayson Hart.
“Grayson is a really good bloke so that combination is developing quite nicely,” Foley told AAP.
“I’ve never been there (Suncorp Stadium), so it’s going to be daunting.
“The Reds have a lot on the line there. They are going to come out very fired up and wanting to put together a good performance.”
With his opposite number Quade Cooper running the show for the Reds, Foley has no doubt Queensland will look to swing the ball wide.
“With the amount of talent and potency in their backline, they would be silly not to (go wide),” Foley said.
“They will have a game plan that they will work to.
“But they will let the guys like (Reds halfback) Willie (Genia) and Quade (Cooper) just play their natural game and that’s to throw the ball around and give it to the outside speed guys.”
Foley said cohesion between forwards and backs was addressed in the aftermath of the loss to the Brumbies, the Waratahs’ seventh straight defeat.
“Once we gel as a unit, you see the times when we did we looked very dangerous and quite potent,” Foley said.
“Its just trying to get that consistency throughout the 80 minutes and attack as a whole unit.”
NSW coach Michael Foley has reshuffled his forward pack due to a shoulder injury to No.8 Wycliff Palu with Sitaleki Timani promoted to lock, Dean Mumm shifted to the back-row and Dave Dennis starting at No.8.
Paddy Ryan remains at tight-head with Wallabies prop Sekope Kepu grounded by a calf problem.
© AAP 2013The Crowd Says (9) | Page 1 of Comments
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July 12th 2012 @ 9:27am
formeropenside said | July 12th 2012 @ 9:27am | Report comment
Reds team:
1. Greg Holmes
2. Saia Faingaa
3. James Slipper
4. Rob Simmons
5. Adam Wallace-Harrison (vc)
6. Jake Schatz
7. Liam Gill
8. Scott Higginbotham
9. Will Genia (c)
10. Quade Cooper
11. Digby Ioane
12. Mike Harris
13. Anthony Faingaa
14. Dom Shipperley
15. Luke Morahan
16. James Hanson
17. Ben Daley
18. Radike Samo
19. Beau Robinson
20. Jarrad Butler
21. Ben Lucas
22. Ben Tapuai
23rd man – Nick Frisby/Blake Enever
Given no Horwill, Quirk, Van H, McDuling, Sam Lane, Jono Lance, Hynes, Toua, CFS, or Davies, thats probably about as good a team as the Reds can field.
July 12th 2012 @ 9:51am
Jutsie said | July 12th 2012 @ 9:51am | Report comment
Is hynes still part of the sqaud? I thought he had retired due to his bad run of injuries.
Thats a decent starting 15, the only change i’d make was kev in for simmons who’d replace butler or samo on the bench. Also taps and a.finger reversed if taps was fully fit.
If it was 4/3 split on the bench i’d bring in f. sautia otherwise thats a really good team and hopefully they can get the 4 tries and sneak in. THey will give any team shake come finals time.
Also is humphries injured or just not being selected? I thought he was better than simmons at the start of the year.
July 12th 2012 @ 10:04am
formeropenside said | July 12th 2012 @ 10:04am | Report comment
Van is out with a neck injury. It means Samo is the reserve lock, which is a little thin for my liking. Still, AWH can push for a Wallaby spot if his form continues, and Simmons was huge last week.
July 12th 2012 @ 10:16am
Gary Russell-Sharam said | July 12th 2012 @ 10:16am | Report comment
You are correct FOS. That is the best the Reds can field. I’m glad that Holmes is getting a start he is a much better scrummager than Daly,They will need him to steady the set pieces in the first half.
I think that they will bring on Taps in this game somewhere around the 50 minute mark. If Gill can go the eighty minutes the Reds will win by a good margin. Higgy needs a great game to lift a bit he is looking a bit jaded after the test period. You might see him replaced at the 50 minute mark.
I would have thought that the Tahs should have won last week V Brumbies to have any chance against the Reds. I had picked them to win but they failed as per usual.
The Reds last week only hung on for the win v the Highlanders, the Reds were the walking wounded in the end of the game and looked rather battered. That was a hard game and the Highlanders are a tougher team than the Tahs.
So all things being equal the Reds should win by 10, I would love them to score a bonus point but judging on previous state encounters that looks fairly tough to do. That Tahs will be up for this game to try and salvage some pride.
The Tahs have the players but lack coaching and administration. After years of non achieving to their potential the obvious cracks are appearing and the spot light has been turned on to, not the players but the system itself that surrounds the players. Here is hoping that some good will come out of it in the near future and we will see changes that are essential to the success of NSW rugby and Aust rugby.
I say all this with no sarcasm, as I am a Reds supporter. I truly think that the Tahs need to fix their problems and that in turn will benefit Australian rugby. Lord knows they need to fix them as they have been the poor achievers for a long long time now.
From a Reds supporter perspective I see them as arrogant boys own admin that thinks that rugby starts and stops within the NSW borders. Yet all around them in Australia rugby is being played better than them with much less in player numbers and top level support. Is it any wonder when the media primarily reports mostly on NSW rugby that other states become anti NSW. I was on the ABC Club rugby site this morning to see if I could get some news on Qld club rugby I turned off after a fair while because it was all about Shute shield and super rugby. There doesn’t seem to be any fairness in reporting on Rugby. A greater % of articles are written about the Tahs than other franchises, and that’s because most of the journalists are situated in NSW that report about Rugby.
I haven’t done a survey but if I did I would put money on it that more stories are written about the Tahs than any other franchise, and they are playing like crap. Even when the Reds won the championship last year this was the same. No wonder the other Franchises get slightly off put when all you hear about is the Tahs this and the Tahs that and then they don’t put up on the field.
I suppose that my rant is rather irrational in the latter part of it but frustration sets in when I write about the fabulously under achieving Tahs, NSW rugby and the Shute shield. Where oh where is the responsible reporting about what is happening in other states and club rugby. I have long held the belief that a more holistic approach by journalists would be much better for Australian Rugby rather than the narrow minded love affair that most of our rugby scribes have with the Tahs
July 12th 2012 @ 10:33am
formeropenside said | July 12th 2012 @ 10:33am | Report comment
I disagree GRS, all the real talent is Australian rugby in recent times has come out of Queensland. You only need to odd NSW-man to be aby good to fill a gap or two in the Wallaby lineup.
July 12th 2012 @ 7:24pm
Mals said | July 12th 2012 @ 7:24pm | Report comment
And that is also why the Wallabies have not won the Bledisloe Cup for 10 years.
Both States need to be strong for the Wallabies to be world class.
July 12th 2012 @ 3:42pm
Gary Russell-Sharam said | July 12th 2012 @ 3:42pm | Report comment
Again I agree with your philosophy FOS
July 12th 2012 @ 9:34pm
dcnz said | July 12th 2012 @ 9:34pm | Report comment
both sides wont be in the finals so the caravan has moved on chaps and they need to scratch their heads for 2013.
July 12th 2012 @ 9:42pm
AndyS said | July 12th 2012 @ 9:42pm | Report comment
It is going to be interesting. McKenzie is making all the noises that it is the win that is important and the bonus point is secondary. But it is the difference between requiring a pretty unlikely loss by a team above them versus simply one of them just not getting a bonus point. I wouldn’t expect them to throw caution to the wind, but if they kick penalties instead of pursuing the tries then McKenzie should probably be sacked and certainly never, ever be the Wallabies coach.