The Waratahs are fresh off a bye and take on the Chiefs at Allianz Stadium tonight. Join us for live scores from 7.40pm AEST.
Imagine it. The Chiefs getting donked on the head by the Reds last week.
It happened, despite the Chiefs dominating the statistics in metres gained, defenders beaten, possession and territory.
The Chiefs had plenty of ball yet couldn’t score the points, going down two tries to four against a Reds team intent on ruining the final zenith in New Zealand.
Waikato was the last ‘go-to’ place for New Zealanders in a rough 2013 Super Rugby campaign – that safe place where everything’s ok because the Chiefs are still the best provincial side in the world.
No longer. They came unstuck by a Reds team who took to the field and proceeded to bolt from one side of the field to the other, like hares escaping the farmer’s bullet.
Effervescent, chaotic, reactionary.
All the things Kiwi teams hate to come across.
Tonight the Waratahs will want to take a leaf out of this particular book.
They come off a bye and will have fresh legs for a canter. Backs Adam Ashley Cooper, Drew Mitchell and fly half Foley are all coming into solid form, although it’s bolter Israel Folau proving the most dangerous.
The man is third in the comp for running metres and growing in stature every week.
Not to compare, however Sonny Bill Williams took a couple of years and a run in NZ before he did anything good. Folau is streets ahead in these early days.
Of course the Tahs will be aware that running with the ball won’t necessarily win them the game.
Horwill’s leadership in his win last week over the chiefs was clear as Fijian water, and if the Tahs are going to put the mocker on their more fancied opponents it’ll have to come from similar grunt.
This is where captain Dave Dennis will need to stand up.
The only way to defeat the Chiefs is to rattle their carriages. Big hits, score tries, clear out.
Cruden last week put in a solid but insufficient performance at ten during which he looked a bit … fragile?
There’s definitely some room to attack in Cruden’s channel if you can find your way past the flanks of Messam, Cane, and the murderous Fritz Lee; the latter running rabid last week and in good form.
We’re in for an exciting match; the Chiefs will score at least four tries and the Tahs know they’ll need to do the same if they’re going to win.
Look for a spirited upset from the Tahs.
Join us at 7.40pm AEST tonight on The Roar, the place to be for live scores and where you can have your say on the go.
Wii
Guest
Not sure what this comment has to do with my point however the Reds win was far more impressive beating the Chiefs on home soil. In this competition well this year especially there have been numerous accounts on how even this competition is, so I don't feel the Tahs win really is that spectacular, dont get me wrong the deserved their win last night and it was good seeing them play to their potential. They have a very good roster and they should always be warm favourites at winning their home games no matter who they are up against. The Tahs have done everything but win this competition and the key for them is winning home games and a few on the road and they will be serious title contenders. There season is far from over and as Red Kev made the point last week reality is every conference is going to get a gutranteed home final and one of the Tahs , Brumbies and Reds are going to be very disappointed come the pointy end of the season as they may on current results have more points than both the SA and NZ conference winners Then Australian fans may finally get why SA and NZ supporters were slightly annoyed that the Reds were shunted up the table 2012. There are still a lot of local derby games to go and both the Reds and Tahs must travel to Africa yet so I would fathom a bet that the Brumbies IMO are still the front runners to win the Aus conference. Back to point of my original comment I thought Joubert got in the way of both teams and he just had poor positioning. His reffing was fine however he did get in the way.
Phil Bird
Roar Guru
it was a funny comment. Biltongbek is hilarious
Phil Bird
Roar Guru
thanks BB it was fun. As Michael Hooper said at half time :)
soapit
Guest
i think i might get this framed!!
Kev
Guest
First of all.. Wallabies should get an Australian coach
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Ok A Different and soapit, I will admit you're right that Folau is a far better full-back than centre, that full-back is clearly his natural position, and that he is a much greater attacking threat at full-back than centre.
A Different Cat.
Guest
KPMs right. Now that the Tahs are really starting to flow the only way to stop that is by swaping everyone around for no reason.
stillmatic1
Guest
dont worry about him wii. let the little aussies have the super cup if they want it, we will worry about keeping them in the doldrums when the tests roll around. after another year of losing the bledisloe etc etc, they will be back to "so and so is a cheat", "why cant the ref see them", "we dont have the cattle", the kiwi coach is useless", why isnt the whole qld team in the wallabies" etc etc etc. you must remember Wii, these are fans that arent used to winning, so they dont know what to do with it when it comes. kind of like giving an iphone to a 5 year old, or shoes to a leper. the tahs looked solid in the first half and the chiefs the opposite. however when the chiefs decided to play with purpose there wasnt much the tahs could do about it. too many errors, and has been stated, usually at the wrong time from them though. every time the chiefs scored they would give up points almost straight away, disappointing to say the least. i certainly wasnt cheering for the tahs, but they are coming along quite well and with a bit more structure than i have been seeing with the reds lately. will they improve throughout S.A though? the comments regarding NZ teams at the moment are spot on. way too loose with the play and going wide way too early. when the chiefs kept it tight for a bit, they looked great, but both games tonight i felt the NZ teams didnt respect the hard stuff enough. the maul call re: hooper was bollocks, but symptomatic of an idiotic chiefs team on balance over 80 minutes. a couple of idiotic plays by tameifuna that resulted in penalties and a missed tackle that the tahs scored off was barely rectified by his try. falou good in the first half, apart from the woeful missed tackle on anscombe in the 2nd, he had a sharp game. its only one game but the tahs seem to be getting better and the chiefs are getting worse. poor ball control from a team that is favourites to win the comp. early days though i guess. come on saders (although i expect them to lose to the landers!!)
A Different Cat.
Guest
Johnno Australia does not need another super team, infact, both NZ and Sth Africa have more justification to add another team with the amount of depth they have. What Australia needs is a national comp or a level of sorts below super rugby. I've read your posts in the past and it seems that nothing anybody says will stop you from campeigning for it to happen but I think you are not considering 90% of the information and only acknowledging things, no matter how obscure, that suit your argument. Even your example tonight, Cam Crawford, its obvious that another team isnt needed for him to get his opportunity because he got it. Super Rugby is a comp that is the best players from the 3 top nations in the world condensed into 5 teams each and is not there to serve as a nursery for Australian talent. That is for somewhere else.
Ben.S
Roar Guru
SECONDED. Another Mark Cooksley. Not necessarily a perfect comparison, but you get the gist...
soapit
Guest
so we just beat the top kiwi team and you want to make a major backline reshuffle?
AndyS
Guest
Loved that move - faked the kick to the line, then take the tap down the other side. Great to see that sort of creativity.
Parisien
Guest
Wouldn't a partial draft system fix that? I think its more a case of needing to spread the players around more evenly then bringing in more super teams.
Guy
Guest
Unfortunately they will always do it hard, being based in non-rugby outposts relying on flyin-flyout players.
TheMainMan
Guest
It's amazing what a difference it made to some of the Waraths spending time in camp with Robbie Deans..
Working Class Rugger
Roar Guru
Fitness won the game. The Chiefs are a bloody good team and it has taken two very solid efforts over the past two weeks from both the Reds and Tahs to achieve wins over them. They aren't defending champions for nothing. As for the positions of certain Tahs. I'm glad Cheika is in charge of that aspect. Keep it as is, the combinations are working well. Volavola will get his turn in time. It's his first year as a pro and needs to be given time (a very important commodity for a young man) to develop the physical nature of his game. Cheika will defintely be working with him. He's for the future and will get game time soon enough.
Working Class Rugger
Roar Guru
Fitness won the game. The Chiefs are a bloody good team and it has taken two very solid efforts over the past two weeks from both the Reds and Tahs to achieve wins over them. They aren't defending champions for nothing. As for the positions of certain Tahs. I'm glad Cheika is in charge of that aspect. Keep it as is, the combinations are working well. Volavola will get his turn in time. It's his first year as a pro and needs to be given time (a very important commodity for a young man) to develop the physical nature of his game. Cheika will defintely be working with him. He's for the future and will get game time soon enough.
jeznez
Roar Guru
And this was meant to be on my comment below! Fresh from surgery last night and the medication may be hitting me harder than I thought.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Sorry hit reply on the wrong comment. Obviously directed to Johnno above.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Johnno, Crawford is 23. This is a great time for him to be trying to nail down a starting position. I agree with WB's comment above. The standard of the Aussie conferences weaker teams needs to come up before we even consider another team. Plenty of young guys coming through at the moment and we will likely see a few more senior players head off shore post the Lions so there will be even more opportunities next year.