Winning Rebels sweating on injury front

No the Reds do. They produced the bulk of the players in the Force vs Rebels game in fact. It's the Shute Shield that doesn't.

I think many of us were surprised not that he played exceptionally well but that he stood up ok considering the circumstances he was in the side and the pressure he would have been under. To me he looks rather confident taking the ball up which is one area that i think Debreczini is lacking (despite his size). I think both would do well under some tutelage from Larkham. If only that was possible.

Yeah they should roll the reds and force and rebels together as reds no longer produce players of any substance unlike the Shute shield

I don't agree. If there were only 4 teams there would be wallaby talent that goes unnoticed and probably lost to the game as a result. Ben McCalman is one example. Nick Phipps is another. There's a good chance neither would have played super rugby let alone for the wallabies had it not been for their team.

i found it interesting that , though he launched the dead ball kicks into orbit, he did not have the long punk - like a Dagg or 1/2penny or kearney (OR EVEN DEBRAZINY). someone needs to work with him to make sure he pays more attention to direction , rather than trying to kick the cover off the ball :)

@Train Without A Station : my point exactly re not having enuf players. rebels , farce and rubbish could become one team . i know auzzy hvae this state pride and all that going (and so do nz and saffers - why else would kings even have a team in super???) but for the mose elite tournament just below test rugger, u cannot have such weak teams, with club players making numbers. just look at ur cricket. why did the big bash and state cricket succeed? becoz there were very few teams with cream eof talent playing against and together week in week out. but then these state and money considrations will never even think of a super 12 again - 3 auzzy 4 saffer 5 nz teams - becoz eyeballs matter more than the quality of rugger and the players DUH. its not ur fault. am sure if u had a say u would agree with i say :) cheers

Sorry, just a correction. He did not play for Scots. Did play Under 16 rep rugby for Sydney Juniors, then go onto Aus Schoolboys, state colts, etc. though.

I get where you're coming from James, there was a lot of dodgy stuff on top of the two tries and booming boot. To be fair, all players struggled in the conditions and he was thrown in the deep end and played in different positions. I agree that a few people have gone a bit early with him - happier to see how he travels over the next few weeks before making a proper assessment.

That Hodge got chucked a few curve balls - but I must have been watching a different game. Sure he got the last pass for two tries, but I thought otherwise he was atrocious. First game so I'll forgive the errors as he (inevitably) improves.

http://www.raysrugby.com.au/players/reece-hodge/ "Rep Honours: Australian Schoolboys (2012), Australia U20 (2012), ARU National Academy (2012-2013), NSW U20 Academy (2014)" Geez, if it wasn't for the Shute Shield they never would have discovered Reec Hodge, hey?

You mean the bloke that played GPS for Scots College, Aus Schoolboys, Aus Under 20s and NRC? How many games did he wear the Manly jersey for Marlins Tragic?

Great to see yet another Shute Shield player that came through the Manly Marlins pathways make a supurb super rugby debut. Who's says club rugby isn't a breeding ground for Aussie rugby talent? Oh, that's right Bill Pulver & TWOAS

If there was 4 teams, good players would be missed. 5 teams is in the best interests of Australian rugby. How often is an Australian team the worst team?

Jonah Placid was the one who really got away. That said every sporting team will go through and ebb and flow of success and renewal. I definitely disagree with any thought of compressing 5 teams into 4. I think all 5 franchises can do well this year, Force and Reds included.

Missing the captain and first choice 9 plus first and second choice 10s is never going to help a teams ball-in-hand efforts either. Was pretty impressed by Hodge's effort on debut; named at wing, moved to fullback with Big Jack's withdrawal during the warm up and then on to 10 at the 20 minute mark when Harris left the field. Also worth noting he's always been a 'big' kicker. There was that video of him at Manly (I think?) slotting one from 75m with a tailwind. Looking forward to seeing how far he can send it next week at Loftus Versfeld.

And yes, they could be made into one team. THE REDS! Between them they had 15 players who either played for the Reds, were Reds Academy or played club rugby in Brisbane right under the Reds noses(probably after playing QLD Schoolboys). Quite damning for the Reds recruitment department.

Game was played at a pretty lively pace with good intensity in awful conditions. I thought both sides had good depth off the bench. As a Rebels member I'm pleased with the result but I don't the Force played that badly and I don't think it fair to judge them on that performance. These two teams have been pretty well evenly matched since 2011 and always make for an interesting game.

CUW the conditions in Perth would have been much more humid than Melbourne. It should be noted that for their first pre-season trial, the Rebels had 14 fit contracted players for selection. They've been hit hard on the injury front from 2015 Super Rugby, the RWC and NRC.

that was a strange match for tha super competition. looked more like a club match and as time went on there were more guys lying with cramps than running. the rebels kicker was trying to launch the ball into orbit, not bothered it went thru the uprights :D think i saw one land on the top tier :P if both these tams are made into one (plus a few boys from the rubbish ) there can be a very competitive super team who will challenge the brumbies and chiefs and stormers ....

Force are going to be rubbish again. It's the coach.