Pre-match, Waratahs coach Michael Cheika predicted the Tahs would have to play the best rugby of his three seasons in charge to win.
They didn’t, but still managed to beat the Brumbies 13-10.
It was an ugly performance from both sides. Post-match Cheika said, “It wasn’t brilliant rugby, but it sure was physical”.
Spot on.
Both teams came to play, but only scored one try apiece because both defences held like Fort Knox.
The difference was a long range penalty from the boot of Kurtley Beale. The kick was reminiscent of Bloemfontien in 2010, where the Wallabies pinched the Test against the Boks 41-39 on fulltime, ending a 47-year drought at altitude.
That game was unforgettable. Last night, however was fully of forgettable moments.
How can so many Wallabies in the Waratahs line-up make so many bone-headed and elementary errors in a provincial game and still win?
If it wasn’t for knock-ons, poor passing, turnovers, or giving away penalties, the Waratahs would have won by plenty and scored a bonus point as well.
Fox commentator Phil Kearns kept praising the Waratahs for sticking to their attacking game plan, despite all the mistakes.
But the same commentator not once gave any reason why those multiple mistake were made in the first place.
Elite footballers don’t make those basic mistakes, that’s why they are elite.
The win left the Brumbies still on top of the Australian Conference with 32 points from 10 games, while the Waratahs have 31 points from nine.
Let’s not forget winning the Australian Conference is the only assured way to qualify for the Super Rugby finals.
The head-to-head between Brumby David Pocock and Waratah Michael Hooper was a split decision, with Cheika summing it up best by saying “They both play great every week”.
But that still didn’t give any indication as to whether Wallaby coach Cheika will give any thought to playing them both at the same time come the Rugby Championship – and the Rugby World Cup that is only 139 days away.
Both were in the heat of battle all night leading from the front – Hooper copping a deep head gash, Pocock twice dislocating fingers – but both played the 80 minutes.
And there’s still the evergreen George Smith to be considered, now he’s become eligible.
Matt Giteau is another eligible footballer to be bandied around the selection table, putting the likes of Bernard Foley, Kurtley Beale, Christian Lealiifano, and Matt Toomua on notice.
Or is there are a possibility Giteau could be viewed as a halfback?
Food for thought.
My player of the match last night was behemoth Waratah lock Will Skelton who can now play the full 80. He was as damaging in the 80th as he is in the first.
He now has a Wallaby lock spot safely locked away for the Rugby Championship, and Rugby World Cup.
The strangest sight last night was Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham benching his skipper-hooker Stephen Moore with 13 minutes to go and the Waratahs leading 13-10.
The Brumbies at the time were hammering the Tahs inside their own half on a regular basis, quite often inside the quarter.
They had plenty of possession and territory, but couldn’t trouble the scorer.
That was even more apparent late in the game with the Brumbies on all-out attack and still not scoring.
That was a combination of losing patience, and the Waratahs’ rock solid defence that never looked like cracking.
Had Moore been on duty at that stage, I reckon the Brumbies would have won. They certainly had enough chances, but bombed them
In the end it was Skelton and Benn Robinson killing a messy maul near the Waratah tryline that earned the Tahs a penalty in the 81st minute that Foley happily deposited deep into the Gregan Larkham stand – as Steve Larkham ripped his communication piece out of his ear.
ten four
Guest
stats say foley kicked 3to lilos 1
Birdy
Guest
Never even hinted that NH refs are immune from having bad matches. As you say all refs have bad matches. One of my least favourite refs is Clancy, who I think has more bad matches than most. These things go in cycles, but at the moment there are more decent refs in the NH than in the SH. This will, no doubt change in the future. The main point, though, is that the conventional wisdom that somehow the RWC will be a turgid competition because of the incompetence or desire for a stodgy game by NH refs (a view that is pretty commonplace on these boards) is nonsense. I agree, that, for example, the SA-ABs game a couple of years back was a cracker because both sides wanted an open game (for slightly different reasons). The same thing happened the last weekend of the 6 Nations. However, many posters say on here that it's irrelevant what players want or do because 'NH refs' somehow magically 'ruin' the game. I don't share the pessimism about the RWC. It's probable that games will get tighter and tighter as the competition progresses; but that is far more to do with the pressure and nature of the competition than refs 'not letting the game flow' (perhaps the single most simplistic criticism of refs).
Taylorman
Guest
Birdy if you think that NH refs are immune from bad performances then just google any one of em and you'll find a badly reffed match by any one of them within a couple of pages. A NH ref having a good match with two SH sides says as much about the two sides playing as much as the refs. Clancy, Owens, Barnes, poite...et others have all had shockers in their day. One thing is for sure, the standard of referereeing is going to be a blight on this World Cup. That much is obvious. And the worst matches will be those that don't want to play rugby, don't want to scrum, and don't want to move the ball without first achieving some sort of perceived'dominance' first. Players are as much at fault as the refs, who have a hard enough job as it is.
Birdy
Guest
Sorry, PeterK, I just don't agree. Many of the dropped balls were essentially 'unforced' errors. I also hope to God you're wrong that 'this is how the RWC will be reffed'. Jackson looks out of his depth in international rugby. Not surprising, he's very inexperienced. By common consensus (something almost unheard of in the 6 Nations) he gave by far the worst reffing performance in this year's tournament. This idea that somehow there is a 'style' of NH reffing that slows the game down is simplistic; unless you mean that refs should simply ignore and/or miss infringements. I haven't noticed the offside line or the ruck being policed in a 'SH' way by SH refs that somehow favours attacking rugby. Many of the best games of recent years (particularly the SA-NZ match a couple of years ago) have been reffed by NH refs. Good sides like the ABs manage to cope and play their normal style under NH refs. The difference at world cups is the general upped level of intensity that puts skills under pressure. Although I thought Jackson was poor (particularly at the scrum where he seemed all at sea) it wasn't the reffing that led to a stop-start affair; or the 'unusual' level of intensity of the game (didn't seem notably intense, particularly by international match standards) but the skill-sets of the players letting them down.
Freighter
Guest
Hahahaha. Great one Birdy... girls grammar- ha! That's Benny hill stuff - superb!
Freighter
Guest
Boring!
PeterK
Roar Guru
It was not ugly IMO, there was dropped ball due to the intense physical game though. Tahs still kicked less than Brumbies
Bamboo
Guest
Nearly but not mate. It's not that its so awesome being a New Zealander, more that logic suggests it must be a tough gig being an Englishman. If you were a Superhero Im sure your name would be Battlerman. Your Battlermobile would be parked in your Battler cave on Struggle Street. Lets go for that treble of pool play knockouts huh?
ten four
Guest
Waratah`s win ugly? I hope they didnt resort to Jake ball!
Mike
Guest
"Lawrence wasn’t going to pick him up for anything." True enough but that applied to all the other players too. That was Lawrence's style and it generally favoured SA's forwards and minimized the ability of the Australian backline to get into the game. The same thing happened in the pools match against Ireland and the previous 3N game against SA in Durban, which were officiated by Lawrence. The game was a grunt fest where all the forwards and many of the backs had to get tight and dirty. As it happens, we had an excellent fetcher, and this was accentuated when SA's fetcher (who was also pretty good) was taken off injured early in the match. I expect Dan Vickerman had Broussow marked down for special attention, but it didn't matter because Horwill got to him first. chucked wrote: "and they say richie cheats? for f..cks sake..this was daylight robbery" Not really. It was just an Australian player doing exactly what McCaw would have done in the same situation.
Birdy
Guest
Hee, Hee. So that's Kiwis being relaxed as the time flies by is it? I hope to God your rugby standards never drop then, or the rest of the world will have to cordon the country off and stop your citizens travelling.
Taylorman
Guest
Not at all, the wait was kept busy by winning just about every test, retaining the no. 1 spot, the tri nations, EOYTs, grand slams, lions tours, the sxv most years etc, you know...all the little things. Kind of makes the time pass quickly. It was there before you knew it really.
Birdy
Guest
Have to say, guys, I'm with Chucked on this one. As a pom I watch Australia-South Africa matches in the same way as I watched the Iran-Iraq war; just sad both can't lose. So I suppose that does make me a neutral. Lawrence's performance that day was jaw-dropping. Well done to Pocock for recognizing that short of blasting the ball-carrier in the chest with an elephant gun, Lawrence wasn't going to pick him up for anything. He adjusted his game accordingly and won it for the WBs.
Birdy
Guest
Ditto, mate. 24 years was a long time between drinks. I imagine the construction and counseling industries did a roaring trade in the land of the 'long white pout'.
Birdy
Guest
I suppose we've all got our fantasies about each other's rugby scene, PeterK. It would be pretty boring if we all thought the same way. It's probably nothing more than the fact that we're all 'foreigners' when we're looking at each other from the other side of the world so we pick up on and emphasise things that seem irrelevant or minor from a local perspective. I suspect you're as puzzled by my posts as I am at many of the ones I read on here discussing England or the NH in general. All good fun, though.
Taylorman
Guest
Geez, I'm surprised there's anything left of the place with all that lashing out over the decades. None taken...like I said...commiserations...cheer up. Toulons not such a bad idea.
Birdy
Guest
'What will fans do when England don’t qualify?' Don't know Taylorman. I imagine they'll watch the rest of the tournament then dust themselves down and get ready for the 6 Nations. We don't tend to go into national mourning and lash out in all directions over losing a rugby match - no offence.
Birdy
Guest
I wish you were right, World's Biggest, that the WBs are 'no chance of beating England', but I don't think you are. If England are at their best and the WBs are at their best I think the 'Twickenham factor' might just push England over the line. If they're off the pace in any way, shape or form, the WBs will beat them.
Taylorman
Guest
Commiserations on your first four words birdy. What will fans do when England don't qualify? Watch Toulon?
Worlds Biggest
Guest
What self delusion are you referring to Birdy, the odd media sound bite or comment from these boards ?? Reckon I speak for many on here in that the Wallas will do very well to get out of the group. Add to that they are no chance of beating England. Hard fought win by the Tahs despite poor performances from Phipps and Foley. Foleys pop gun kicking game is a real worry. Ita V'aa didn't do his help his cause for Wallaby selection, looked off the pace and had little impact. Both openside flankers were outstanding and best on the field for mine. Great win Rebels !