Rathbone scores in rugby return

lol what a laugh. This is the biased BS Force have to constantly put up with. Never changes. Force were obviously over run by a smooth, disciplined professional outfit, they were completely hopeless, their warmup was a joke, they played with schoolboy errors. Their scrum was useless, the Brumbies 10/12 combo destroyed them. Yet funnily enough the score was 20-18, both teams scored two tries, Force missed the last two penalty attempts and had the ball stripped from Mathewsons grasp while over the tryline. Reports from the Force supporters who flew to the game paint a rather different picture to Ras. First 20 mins was all Brumbies, which was not unexpected given they have years playing together and the entire Force backline is totally new. Yes the front row struggled at the start. The last 60 mins however was the opposite, Force halves played with cohesion, stringing together attacking manoeuvres. 3M killed them at lock as did Wykes, Force back row pressured Brums forwards all night including disorientating Pocock when he was on, he gave away 4 penalties from memory and should have been sin binned. So the Force supporters there were very happy with what they saw. A complete revelation from last years shambolic performance losing 25-0. Perhaps Ra had a few too many and was reminiscing about last year lol.

thanks HR, good to know

Hugh played in the 2nd row w/energy ... #8 was McCalman 1st 1/2 and MCcaffery 2nd 1/2

Usually a handheld camera job.

There you go. Thank you Ra. The host city doesn't want the game because there's no exposure for them, because it wasn't on tele! Why isn't it on tele? Mostly rusted on fans will watch, but its a unique opportunity to get the rugby conversation going while the other codes are still surfing. Glad that Pulver is a marketing exec. There is a marketing vacuum at the ARU. Thanks for the game breakdown Ra. Inconceivable that in the age of cameras on Mars, the ARU can't find a way to get one or two to Darwin.

I'd be interested if anyone knew who that no 8 you refer to was Ra - McCaffery? They've got some good stocks in the backrow even with the loss of Pocock.

Pretty meaningless contribution Johnno. At least you kept it brief. Can't develop combinations or start building teamwork on playstation or in opposed drills.

great feedback Ra, particularly regarding the Brumbies 10/12 combo.

You seem to know a bit 'Bakkies' and I'm sure you will enjoy having more funds once the sale is publicised ..... Have a great day AF ....

Ive annoyed you. Sory my post was a tad harrshly worded on a readover. My poorly worded point is it make 100% sence for those companies... PS - i live and play rugby in asia. The brumbies are hugely popular.

Ra, The Western Force is sponsored by Emirates. Get your facts straight.

RA how's rugby doing in the Northern Territory?

If he played last night most of us dint know. Sadly, only the Brumbies squad was printed out and even the ground announcerdidnt know names in the Force team. I thought the Force locks were competitive at line outs and the big No8 had a stand out game in general and a pretty good ball handler

mate, read my report above. My view from the grandstand. The Force need better clearnce from the base i would like to have seen your five eight given time space and protection to run his game. Neither backline really sent it wide. ball handling, mistimed passs and good defence by both sets of inside backs negated that. Both sides sets of backs made ground through probing blindside runs. Theirs in the first 20 and yours in th last. Your lineout was good, and the pack gained raity later in the game. You need to build understanding between backs and forwards. twice, once right on half time you had good attacking front foot ball. You won a penalty. Your backline strung out ready to attack, a good ball off the top from the linout inside 10 from the line, your forwards took it in, got tied up and th whistle blew. The second time early in the second half your forwards rolled down to provide good frontfoot running ball. one hit up too many,stalled the drive and stopped the momentum, moment lost. i think your five eight needs to toughen up and call for t. Hope that helps. Others here could have been at the game too and give thir view

You get a grip big shot. Asians dont give a damn about the Brumbies. There is only one rugby team on Asian lips - the All Black !!! The next one dude - between my partner, her sister and i we have over 100 years of military life experiences together. Myself and my partners ex are ex servicemen, my wifes father ex navy and her sister has just taken voluntary redundancy from Defence Housing. Ive been a night driver in recent times carting defence personnel from homes and barracks on outings and back and now work in a school that has boasted the highest number of defence kids in a school in Australia. Now that's called real life on the ground exprience. Maybe you need to turn your radio down a tad and stop listening to your own feedback. By the way, i also spent 27 years dedicated to kids rugby too, without receiving one cent,amateurs ya know, just to bring this discussin back to game. Played a little too at one time.

Anyone know how hugh mcmeniman went? His return could be huge for aussie rugby.

Oh get a grip Ra. Who is CUs money making target market? International students. Which ones in particular? Asia Where are the brumbies very popular? Asia Following? Similar with defence housing....you do understand that they sellnthe houses to the public at a profit andvthen lease them back for defence staff? This works for many cash flow reasons.....as for the rental top up...,my giddy aunte, like a lot of employers who force staff to live in ccertain locations, the DFA pay rental assistance.... You been listening to too much talk back radio?

The crowd was poor, even by Territory standards, around about 2300. White played Toomua and Leilifano at one and two for most of the match and it was that combination that reeked havoc in the Western defense especially in the first 20 minutes where they probed the right hand blind side sending the Fijian flyer away down his right wing on several almost length of the field runs, one resulting in a try to him, the second to Rathbone. That first five second five combination looked very settled and mature. The Force is in for a long sad season if it's going to rely on that front row. The Brumbies 1st 20min pack demolished it in one of it's few shows of strength early on, but settled to an even contest in the second half, probably because of the rotation of players, but the Bumbies had already made it's statement, at line out, in the scrum and around the paddock at rucks and mails. The Force looked rattled most of the night. They played as the practiced in their pre game warm up, dropping passes and running into each other, and made it hard for their busy little left footed stand off the stamp his mark on the game. The Brumbies on the other hand were smooth, before and during the game. A spectacle, it wasn't. The fire works was provided by the nice little monsoon storm that rolled in from the west late in the game lighting up the night sky and dousing the visiting players, driving hard at the backs of the Force players as if trying to help them over the line, but they ran short of time. Then again the storm was a nice little "welcome to country' by our ancient Territorial resident.

Trials are meaningless full stop. Unlimited interchange, 2 differnet teams on over each 40 minutes.

Trials are about combinations, not scores. Anyone know how the variouscombinations of both team went. In particular how did the Force's inside back go? That is the area they needed to improve on last year. The Force are playing Tonga in Mandurah, a city south of Perth, next weekend.