Weary Reds entertain right down to last second

Higgo out for 6 weeks, will miss wallaby 40 man squad selection

I heard SAMO has signed which is great for their depth

Higginbotham's injury looked very very awkward on the night. AAC was fantastic at centre for the Wallabies previously and he can try to do too much at fullback - especially overdoing those b...... up and unders a la Leon MacDonald. He's a great link runner but not so good on initial break as Hynes. But then Hynes' fullback defence against Hurricanes was just awful and he cost himself a spot there I think. Mitchell has his mojo back, good to see. It should be impossible to leave Ioane out. He is a power player and constant potential game breaker. Cooper will get game time for sure, he's irresistable and will have the opposition nervous (as well as his teammates) Expect Deans to quickly sort out his defence and calm his wild side. Deans would be licking his lips at the potential talent he's got to work with this year

Great read, Frank O'Keeffe an incitful look at what may be in store for us during the forthcoming tests. I too agree that Barnes should be at flyhalf with Giteau at inside centre because I am guilty of conservitism and just can't bring myself to play Cooper at flyhalf. A point that was made is that Cooper is great when the forwards are going forward but under pressure he is a little brittle and I don't think the wallabies will be running over the top of the ABs and the SAs in the front row, not with the injuries that we have at the moment. I wait with baited breath the Deans selections, I do think that Elsom will be chosen on past performances not form so too Giteau. Higginbotham should be one of the first chosen for the back row. I ask the question of other roarers would you put Hynes in instead of Mitchell or Ioane or Turner or AAC. Hard isn't it !!! The Reds had a stellar season but they will have to recruit well in the second row and back row to keep up to it next year. In the old way the game is won in the forwards and the backs score the tries.

Ah well pretty good result for the season really. Perhaps it was expecting too much to go all the way. Lots of fun. Thanks boys. I hope next year they can smooth out a few rough edges and really give it a shake. Geez if the Tahs can do it so can we !

Australians like five-eighths who are great handlers and runners. Australians like to think they have a history of running rugby (which at times has been true, but not always). Even when Australia were playing according to MacQueen's 'channell-code' system of play, they seemed proud they had a flyhalf in Larkham who had brilliant handling and passing skills. But the reality of flyhalf play is that when your pack is getting a flogging and you're getting good ball, you need to take control of the game, and often you need to do that with kicking. It's difficult to play the game with any kind of shape without a great kicking game. Lynagh was often criticised in Australia for kicking too much (he did have great handling skills of course). But when I think of the word 'compusore' and link it with rugby I think of smart tactical kicking. Lynagh's a great example of this. Look at the 3rd Test of the 1986 series against New Zealand. Australia were under all sorts of pressure from a New Zealand side displaying a kind of running rugby never seen from them before. They ran the ball everywhere, and it took one of Australia's greatest defensive efforts ever to win the game. In response to the overwhelming pressure Lynagh kicked the ball A LOT. But he constantly relieved Australia from all sorts of pressure. He didn't allow any territorial advantage to occur, which would have enabled the All Blacks to turn pressure into points. The ball hardly went past Papworth at inside centre for the whole first half. Lynagh did nothing flashy nor fancy in that game. But if he ran the ball it would have put Australia under all sorts of pressure. There's just no two ways about it - that was the only way Australia would win that game. Lynagh's not going to be remembered for that game (like he is Ireland 1991 or France 1993), but being a five-eighth isn't about being flashy, it's about controlling the game and winning it for your side. Australians need to learn that kicking is a vital and essential part of rugby. Even Mark Ella admitted he probably kicked the ball 40% of the time. You just can't control a game of rugby without good tactical kicking. Giteau hasn't got the kicking game. It would seem when things go wrong Cooper goes wrong. Barnes, however, HAS THE KICKING GAME. He's not flashy or fancy, but he's got a good tactical mind. For that reason Barnes has to be Wallaby five-eighth. On this topic again, as much as I think modern rugby I won mostly with a great, balanced backrow, the success of the Wallabies this year could really fall down to who's selected at 10 and 12. It is absolutely written in stone that one of the three contenders for five-eighth will also selected at 12 if they don't get the 10 spot? If it is then that's a worry about Australian sides. If you ask me Australia hasn't selected players on form since Deans has taken over... well maybe even before that! On form Mortlock could have been dropped (although in 2008 he was probably still Australia's best outside centre, despite showing signs of slowing down). On form Giteau shouldn't have been five-eighth etc. In fact Giteau was hailed as Australia's most important player when Larkham and Gregan retired because wherever he plays in the backline would impact on the Wallabies. He was absolutely going to be always Australia's first selected player for every game they played. But on form does he deserve this? Now this year it seems as though we have three protected species for the side - Giteau, Cooper and Barnes. Of course one will miss out, but my disappointment with this thinking is it rules out the possibility of having a more traditional 12. Should James O'Connor be considered for 12? I don't know I'd pick him, but I hate how 2D Australian selecters think... On another note: It once was thought Australians were pretty smart for converting 10s into 12s. You had Michael Hawker, Sydney University's five-eighth, playing at inside centre for the Wallabies - and he did a great job there. You had Michael Lynagh playing at 12 for the Grand Slam Wallabies and once in Argentina in 1987 (never saw the Argentina game, but he was great in 1984). Then Brett Papworth was deemed the most flamboyant and exciting player Australia had produced for a while, and he was moved to 12. When Horan was injured wasn't Pat Howard moved to 12 as well - originally a five-eighth??? Then last year in Europe, despite a few hickcups, Quade Cooper did a really excellent job at inside centre for the Wallabies - more in the Lloyd Walker mode of threatening the advantage line by waving the ball about, confusing players as to where he'd pass the ball etc. But now has that concept started to backfire on the Wallabies? Playing Giteau and Barnes together, asking one player to kick one side of the field, and another to kick on the other side of the field... that's led to a lack of generalship in the five-eighth role. You can have only one leader as five-eighth. Has this idea of playing five-eighths at 12 backfired on the Wallabies? Or it is that Australia seem to be rotating the players in their positions... and thus if they had either Giteau and Barnes staying at 12 ALL THE TIME then Australia would have a more commanding player at 10. Food for thought...

As do the Crusaders hence why they have 7 titles to their name

i cant see the bulls losing in the finals, they are a team who know how to win...

Yeah SAMO could be a bolter, he has been in Japan for 2 seasons and has come back with very limited preperation and played quite well. Under Robbie, who knows.

Same for the Brumbies, Crusaders even the Sharks at a stretch, they can't all have a home Semi, teams miss out, it's that simple.

Lets not forget that while the Bulls apparently had 13 players out, the Reds had 10 players missing - including the entire first choice front row, three locks, their marquee import, and the fastest man in S14. So well done to a side full of inexperience, especially holding up well at scrumtime against the Clan - take a bow James Slipper, and Greg Holmes at 3. If the Reds had had the refereeing luck the Tahs had, they would have a home semi. Its that simple.

The chip kick to Lucas was amazing, I was watching it on the big screen at Lang Park, and he virtual caught the ball and onto the boot for a pin point kick while being tackled. you cannot coach that sort of brilliance, that is just pure instinct. of course you are right by saying all the players where definitely on the same page, and some of those combinations would be handy in the wallabies, but of course you have to pick Mitchell (not a fan but he has been playing very consistently this year) AAC, Giteau etc. if these blokes can work with Cooper at 5-8 then the wallabies back line should be very handy. In saying this, in the 2nd half the reds totally switched off and i thought they would get done like last week against the canes. thank god they just held on! it almost felt like they didn't want to be in the game after half time, a loss would of been a sour way to end a great season. for the first test against fiji, I would like to see some of the young guys/fringe players picked for a bit of a "welcome to test rugby" game. I don't think the fijians could last with a Wallabies A team, but the first 20-30 minutes the young blokes would be belted about and it could really only do them good, barring injury of course. what are the thoughts on a Wallabies A team playing that first test?

First half did demonstrate some brilliance by Cooper, but what made it all work was the coordination, hands and running lines of all of the other players in the backline, which made it all the more impressive. Right from the first no-look inside ball to Hynes, all the players were on the same page, running the right lines and combining perfectly. And when you think that some of those guys were only slotted into the starting team this week, that just goes to show that whatever McKenzie is doing at training to get all the guys in the squad in synch is working. Of course you can't take the whole backline and drop them into the Wallabies, but here's hoping that they take a good chunk of them so that they can continue the combinations in the gold jersey. Reckon Genia, Coops and Ioane pick themselves, Hynes has been the quiet underachiever all season and deserves a spot and Faingaa, Chambers and Davies could all be bolters should they be healthy. Final note: Still can't believe all the stuff that Cooper pulled off... that pass out of the back of the hand! Gees... and the chip while getting tackled that almost resulted in a try to Lucas. Can't wait to see more of Coops (hopefully in a Red jersey next season).

How good would the Reds be if Link was able to get them to sustain the first half performances of that match and the first 35 mins of the Hurricanes match for 80 minutes! Frankly, they would become like the Bulls, virtually unstoppable, except for the odd off day. Roll on 6 team semis!! lol

The first half was the Quade Cooper Show at its best! what a freak, his defence is still a little patchy! but I would rather have him at ⅝ then Barnes, who is to conservative and giteau who as the whole world knows is best at 12 (I wonder if the Australian selectors and Robbie Deans know this too?)

Reds attack was fantastic, also showed a lot of character and heart to keep coming back. The reds overcame the injuries. I would love to see Samo be a dark horse for the Wallabies squad, we are very light on locks ATM. Given better training etc with Deans he would really improve. All those people who go on and on about Coopers poor defence, I say SO WHAT. You can teach someone to tackle better or at worst case move Cooper to F/B and have AAC on the frontline when defending, like Deans did with Merhtens or McKenzie does at the Reds. But you just cannot teach someone thos amazing attacking skills Cooper has. Give me great attack in a flyhalf over great defense anyday.

"Another reminder of why rugby is the greatest game (football code) on the planet" - Providing both teams have the right attitude, it would certainly be up there. Well done Reds this year. They have been consistently the most entertaining and rewarding team to watch. May it long continue.

Completely agree - has been a great year for both the players and the spectators, despite missing out on the finals. Here's hoping that they can keep enough of the team together for next year to have a repeat.

Wow.. what a bloody fantastic game of rugby. Big tackles - great skills - bit of biff (Van Humphries trying to roll some *****). Another reminder of why rugby is the greatest game (football code) on the planet. When rugby is played in the right spirit as it has been so often this year it just makes you happy to watch it and this all bodes well for the wallabies with resurgence of the Force (at the end of the year) and Reds as well as decent showing from the Brumbies and another good year from the tahs (who are looking heir most potent in attack in years - no leaguies around to screw things up).

So will Hynes and Quade yell us where they are going now ?????