It's high time the Waratahs got serious

Disappointing to see so much referee pointing it was a great game with total commitment and effort from both sides but how the waratahs stayed with so close on the scoreboard is a puzzle when you look at the stats-will the highlanders start tiring due to injury and squad depth issues in key positions as the season goes on Anyway good luck to them and that stadium is fabulous

it may very well be that its not only the kiwis who have and apply this "rule", fetus. im pretty sure i saw the reds do it ad nauseum against the rebels at suncorp on saturday night. and yet, it was the rebels getting penalised!! with the above being the case, why would it be something groundbreaking and worthy of people reporting?

David, did you watch the highlights package or the full game? Any feedback on some of the Referees decisions and timing of - do you think that was the highest impact or is it easier to just pick 2 or 3 mistakes in the game, of which many were made. I had an NZ mate at the game and he stated to me that at times the crowd were laughing at some of the Ref decisions in favour of the Highlanders - seriously mate what is your objective/s from your Articles?

Play the ball not the man.. Of course scoring tries is the focus for all teams, but David was pointing out that they are stuggling to cross the try line.

One thing frustrates the hell out of me about the Tahs. They have a very, very good scrum (even with Mumm at lock). When their starters were on, they backpedalled the Highlanders at will. And it got them nothing at all in the match. Zilch. Indeed, the first scrum penalty I remember was for Paddy Ryan standing up, after the Highlanders loose head had done the old Bill Young drop step and bored in sideways. What does a European side do when they have a dominant scrum. What do they do against us? They make the most out of it. They milk it for everything it's worth. The Tahs don't. Every Tah scrum feed in the first half, they walked the Highalnders back a couple of metres at will and then when moving forward, released the ball. Sure, they get go-forward ball, but a European side would be looking at every scrum as a chance to force a penalty, and get a lineout 40m upfield (when they kick it out). Every Tah scrum in the first half, the Highlanders loosies were bound by a fingernail, if that. It should have been penalty after penalty to the Tahs. However, if the ref's not going to notice them, you have to make him notice. You have to keep driving forward, and get in his ear about how your scrum is dominant, so he looks at them. The Tahs did neither. If they'd done this, for example, the ref would have been on the lookout for the drop step by the Highlanders prop. He would have noticed why Pretorius was getting scrappy ball. However, as the Tahs hadn't forced any scrum penalties till then, he wasn't on the lookout for it, and hadn't noticed how dominant they were. How can a hooker be their head coach, and this doesn't occur to them? Sure, the ref missed about a thousand pnaties against the Highlanders (like the one where a forward in a ruck grabbed Pretorius, and the Highlanders ended up scoring from it - a real game turner), but you have to make him notice. Where is the smarts, the gamesmanship? It's a shame, because it was a fast, bruising match. Can I contact the Waratah coaching somewhere? I think I'll try.

I'm not sure the crowds can be compared: Queensland is ten times the size of ACT.

Thanks Atawhai. it's a good point you raise. I'm a big believer in Refs being as accountable as players for how they perform. Some times the League cutthroat approach can work. It gives the ref a wake up call to mind his ps and qs. It can be detrimental sometimes though I think. If the mistake is a one off then I think dropping a bloke is harsh. I mean Grant Fox, Michael Lynagh and Wilko weren't dropped for misjudging a kick at goal. One mistake shouldn't mean a ref is dropped of how much it affected the outcome of the game. if that applied to top players Giteau would never have been selected after Scotland a few years ago. But if if there is consistent missing of things then off to the lower grades a ref should go.

DCR - you have got to lose the eye patch. blaming lawrence for this loss is both limp and so wrong. lawrence controlled this game and did well. so what if he isnt your vision of a drill seargent in charge, its his style to be self effacing. lawrence can be lambasted for a alot of his performances but this game isnt one of them. what lost the game for tah's was lack of balls and spirit. no imagination or creativity. barnes is not a [percentage player. barnes is one of the best attacking 5/8, midfield centers around. why was he playing with fire in his belly. tah's seem to be a black hole. any attacking creative attacking rugby goes in but never comes out. lawrence isnt a great a ref but then neither is dickinson or many other refs i could mention. its part and parcel of the game. u have great,good,average and bad players just like refs. i dont know why aussies are complaining bout lawrence anyways. no one was complaining when he handed the woblies the WC quarters.

bryce had a good game in the weekend. nothing like the wc quarters . sorry this loss comes down solely to the tah's being boring and unimaginative. berrick was disapointing. did he run the ball at this game. remember him kicking for a ot of touch and only doing that avaeragely. barnes is not a percentage player, he needs to attack the line more. tah's didnt look like they wanted to win. "... but the Rebels have an on-going major problem with their inability to score tries.Fix that, and the Rebels will be a genuine handful..." thanx captain obvious. scoring tries should be a focus for teams. wow rewrite the play books.

Lets not let the facts get in the way of a good yarn hey!! Raiders got 7.8k last Sat night in torrential rain, hardly a measure. Titans crowd was almost the same as the Brumbies, bout 1k difference. Brumbies crowd was OK, not great.

of the 5 or 6 matches played over the weekend.. i found only one or two interesting. why the NZRU persists is beyond me.

On that last one, yes Cowan milked it but if Robinson, knowing he was offside felt the body over him and just dropped back to the deck would he have still been penalised? I think it was a big penalty pull by Cowan but Robinson could have been smarter. I had my whinge about Lawrence on another thread but don't think I can blame him on that one.

If the Waratahs had scored from that Cowan kick it would've been one of the all-time great Super Rugby finishes. That was sublime.

I thought the Tahs did very well. Away from home , a kiwi ref, and a lot of injuries. Far too many people go on about a star laden tahs team. It is not. Not that many strong players there. How many of the tahs were in the starting xv at the world cup, (or would of been if fit). Robinson (assumed starting if fit), Kepu, Barnes, Horne. 4 players. 2 frontrowers, and notice how strong the scrum is, and 2 backs. Out of the 2 backs Barnes started far fewer games than McCabe and only got starts due to injuries. Lawrence DID actually penalise the highlanders for leaving their feet, more than ususal, however no weher near as much as they offended. Tahs were penalised constantly for offside (fair enough) however he rarely looked at the highlers to see if the were offside which they were often. Not 1 offside penalty against them. The tahs totally dominated the scrum. Virtually every scrum the highlanders broke early AND the loosehead prop bored in at an angle on the hooker. Not 1 penalty. The only penalty Lawrence gives in the scrum is against the stronger scrum when they have the feed. The worst penalty (and the kiwi commentators noted it as well) was Robinson was clear of the ruck and trying to stand up and return to his position. The highlanders halfback jumps on instead of of going for the ball, Robinson continues to stand up and and is penalised. Note that highlanders were 2 points behind at this stage and this gives them the lead.

No one has talked about Cowan's post hooter garryowen on his own winger.How close was that to the blooper of the century. Only saw last five or ten minutes but the Tahs were looking good to steal it and most days could've expeced the ref to find a penalty for them from all those phases.Have to mention that the Caxton Hotel erupted in cheers when the game finished.Guess they all have a soft spot for the Highlanders like me.

My heart sank watching the breakdown in this game. We've all sen this movie before. It goes like this. 1. Refs closely police the attacking team going off their feet 2. Teams adjust by making every effort to stay standing 3. Defending team quickly realise that they can follow the highlanders pilling into the counterruck to knock players away who now have much higher body height 4. We all applaud the exciting contest at the breakdown with some great counterattacking tries 5. Coaches soon realise that it's now too risky taking the ball into a breakdown in their own half 6. They instruct their halves to kick the leather off the ball 7. We all wonder why rugby has got so boring suddenly Trust me that's how it'll play out. Then next year refs will be back focusing on the tackler letting the tackled player play the ball.

to begin with the Tahs need to put Barnes at 10, Horne at 12 and ACC at 13. That 9-13 will challenge most in the comp.Some strange selections happening.

Jesse Mogg-his Bronco days are mentioned alot but he played junior and premier rugby for the mighty Norths Eagles.

Thanks for that but I never take any notice of the ref when watching a game. He is the sole enforcer of the laws on the field. So it's up to the players to work out rulings and to adjust accordingly. If I concentrated to much on the ref I'd forget about the game and spend all the time yelling what a idiot he is. If lawrence was as bad as every one in the other two sanzaar countries say he is. I would think he'd be sacked

Onor, your are mistaken in your rose-tinted nostalgia for the NPC that narrow provincialism is what makes rugby league and AFL uninteresting to the rest of the world....