Stormers vs Reds highlights: Stormers claim comeback win

gday avonjeff, I mentioned it in my comment to grapeseed below. yes he has slowed, That's because hes doing the job of the 9 and 10.

No one seems to have mentioned Frisby showing symptoms of the Genia disease - running one or two paces before passing. When he passes quickly the Reds show at least some penetration. More often than not it is all very mechanical with the receiver forced to move slowly making it impossible for the team to break the line. With sustained quick service the talented Red's backline can surely do better. .

You might want to have quick look at laws and interpretation before you come across as myopic (old or new meaning). Scrum advantages run until the team with advantage is in the position they would have been in had the scrum been given, ie until they have clean ball. Unless you are losing twenty plus meters plus, territory doesn't come into it.

Its not your problem mate. We've all been brainwashed to accept too many Jakes, Jims / James, Carmichaels, Sams, etc Agreed with your earlier comment, there is only one Quade and Beauden. I could do a banner for JakeMc like I did, for the QRU board. But I think his weekly performance will speak for itself. I do instead hope he proves me wrong and: - he finds that extra skip in his step - show he's done his homework against his opponents. - finds the bark in his voice He better do it now, if not real soon

Agreed. I think the real problem here is that my own expectations have been horribly compromised. Schatz is another guy who has fulfilled his potential as a solid 4.2 out of 10 player. I just feel bad for JM because I didn't want to have to be the one to tell him. Can you break the news to him and let me know how it goes?

Jake isnt a good enough 10 for any SR team, let alone Qld. The issue with him is not his lack of improvement: - Its his lack of potential. - Ive watched him since 2014 NRC and club and have not seen anything that says he can be the Qld general, or an attack threat in general - As an understudy he would be taking up opportunities for another player.

Jury's out on JM at 10 for me. Sure he's pedestrian now, but he's at least tracking in the right direction (albeit slowly). There is another unfairly maligned QLD 10 out there trying his hand at 7's who I'd love to see come back though. The frustrating thing is that the forwards have been playing well all year, let down by poor tactical kicking by the halves and poor game management. The issue is one of leadership, so I guess JM would be better off as an understudy at this level for a few years rather than the number one guy. Imagine if Beauden Barrett had been the 10 for the Reds last night.

Gday Legs. They were stuffed and had to be replaced. This was something the coaches failed to do in the last couple of games+: - Holmes was isolated, too far off the ruck when Groom scored his try at 52' - Slips was replaced and the Reds scrum won a beaut tighthead at 57' with Sef at LH Whilst there was a diff when Schalk came on and 108kg Browning was replaced with 96kg Gunn, they still did alright. All the mistakes I highlighted which led to the points, were avoidable. And mostly done by the starting team. Even in the last 20', Reds when in attack and no stupid mistakes, were still dangerous, all the way to 79'. The more experience the finishers get to finish the game, the better for the Reds I think Kudos to Browning. Nice work. And for goodness sake. Get another 10 Reds.

Not to mention: 8. Laloiffi being wrongly penalised for off-side on his earlier excellent kick- chase. 9. Frisby's knock on at the base of the ruck. 10. McIntyre's failed intercept attempt and 11. Frisby's offside on the tryline late in the match. Slipper and Holmes have to play 80 minutes. There were some disappointing blunders by a few while most played well - 2014 and 2015 repeated. Reds' attacking plays inside the opponents 22 are predictable.

Two great blogs Will, cheers mate.

Gday gs. re midfield. JackMc needs to be benched. Red Coaches. This is not a rocket science: - He is the not the Reds 10 - Doesn't have the vision or speed or the consistency - His lack of playmaking is forcing Frisby to do his work - This slows Frisby and the pack ditto re Westoros. Emily Clarke is easier on the eyes though.

K went well Johnno. Hes playing 15 and 2nd playmaker (after Frisby)

Just saw the replay. The turning points around 60' were are comedy of errors / 7 deadly sins: 1. Jack Mc missing the 3 pointer 2. Soft Reds KO before the scrum, Sef F scrum wrong pinged for over-extension -> 3 points. His legs were fine 3. Jake Mc 10m restart short, leading to Stormers possession and 3 points 4. Reds in attacking territory, Goru kicking away the ball and losing territory back to his 22m 5. Reds LO total fubar in Stormers half. Stormers possession again and 3 points Talakai binned 6. Caydern held up in maul in Stormers 5m (this a tough call by Westhuizen). 7. Finally Frisby fail to kick to touch at death leading to Stormers 7 pointer

"The Reds lost 23-nil in the last 20 minutes from tiredness and the quality of the Stormer’s reserves compared to the Z-grade Reds reserves " ....and the last ten minutes of that period were playing 14 against 15 due to a yellow

Yes, their gameplan is of child-like simplicity which is why they never win Super rugby. The Reds have decent players and so should always be able to beat a team with this bash and kick gameplan.

The Stormers are so simple and transparent tactically, that a team with good playing squad as the Reds have should not be able to lose. They are like most teams with a one dimensional gameplan: if they're pulled apart by an attacking game they collapse like a pack of cards. This loss is inexcusable for the Reds coaches. The coach of the Stormers Fleck might as well not exist.

Seriously KPM "a half decent group of players." Who should "be easy beats". I suggest you do some research on western province rugby.

The Reds played smart opportunistic rugby in the first 60:00 to stay in the game and then really, play better than the Stormers, who were led spottily by Damian de Allende in his first game to ever be captain at any level, 20-year old Jean-Luc du Plessis in his second start at SR, and a bumbling Nic Groom. Only PSDT, Nizaam Carr, and du Plessis seemed up for the match. The Reds' big backs broke tackles and the slow de Allende-led defensive line at will. Butterfingers Cheslin Kolbe seemed determined to convince Alister Coetzee not to select him, being tossed like a rag doll by the Reds winger once. In the last 20:00, led by Schalk Burger, a resurgent Kolbe, a crisper Schreuder at the base, super fast 20-year old Zas, big 20-year old JD Schickerling, lively Huw Jones, and the big boot of 20-year old reserve flyhalf Branden Thomson, it was all Stormers. I think coach Fleck took the Reds too lightly.

Just a note. The ref wasn't Rasta. He was van der Westhuizen.

Will gives you the reason just near the end. The Reds lost 23-nil in the last 20 minutes from tiredness and the quality of the Stormer's reserves compared to the Z-grade Reds reserves (C.Neville seemed ok but the other reserves weren't much chop). If SR matches only went 60 minutes, I think the Reds would have about another 3-4 victories this season.