What a match the Hurricanes versus Reds versus game in Wellington on Friday night was!
The Reds stayed in touch with the 2016 Super Rugby winners and 2017 runners-up and managed to spend some time in the lead but were pipped at the post by four points towards the end of the match.
There is no shame in that against a team as classy as the Canes, who happen to be captained by my favourite All Black, TJ Perenara, who is fantastically competitive and athletic on the field but always comes across as a genuine sportsman off it.
Furthermore, a nine-try spectacle, four of them to the Reds, should have pleased the most demanding of ‘running rugby’ aficionados. For me the highlight was ‘Thor Campese’, aka Taniela Tupou, barrelling and goose-stepping defenders with gay abandon up the left wing and then sending a slick pass to Jordan Petaia to give the teenage winger his first Super Rugby try. Outstanding!
I was also encouraged by the slick move off the lineout, with flyhalf Jono Lance picking out Samu Kerevi and sending him on the train tracks through the Canes defence, with Kerevi passing it to the flying Filipe Dauganu for the finish.
This is the third game in a row that the Reds have racked up four tries, so the consistent attacking performances should give comfort to various commentators who were worried about the Reds apparent inability to score tries. Thorn is onto it.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
On Lance, I thought he did pretty well overall. Apart from setting up the try, he kicked a perfect six from six off the tee and made his usual sterling effort in defence, making 11 from 13 tackles.
I noticed in one instance he appeared to have got into Beauden Barrett’s head enough that when he lined him up for a tackle, Barrett rushed a pass and sent it a mile forward with a Reds scrum resulting. Barrett is without a doubt one tough rooster, which should give an indication of how much respect these players have for a Lance tackle.
One area that Lance didn’t perform well in was his tactical kicking, which included a bomb that went straight up and a miss of the sideline on the penalty, thus putting his team under pressure. This will invariably raise criticism, with those who don’t use it as an opportunity to argue for the return of Quade Cooper to the Reds, asking why Hamish Stewart isn’t being run at ten.
The former question has been done to death, so I won’t cover it here, but a theory has occurred to me on why Stewart is being kept at 15.
After Stewart’s man-of-the-match performance against the Lions three weeks ago Thorn indicated that Lance, who had been injured, was still his first-pick flyhalf. Thorn said that Stewart still has to pay his dues, perhaps indicating that he thinks Stewart still needs some development in terms of skill and maturity before being put into the hot seat of being regular starting ten.
(Patrick Hamilton/AFP/Getty Images)
However, my theory is that Thorn has also avoided starting Stewart because of the heat that he knew would be generated by Quade Cooper’s omission from the squad. The 2018 season was always going to be tough, with a 50/50 win loss ratio being the best that we could ever have reasonably expected, so the last thing a young prospect like Stewart would have needed would be to have been up for constant comparison to the ex-superstar flyhalf playing club rugby at Souths.
Promising NRC prospect Jake McIntyre was thrust into the Reds starting ten spot in 2016 and was eaten alive in Super Rugby, with his career taking an early exit to France. Combine the intrinsic pressure that McIntyre faced with the frustrations of the Cooper fans directed at Stewart, and we can see why Lance might have been welcome to cover the position this year.
So realistically I think that we are likely to see Lance stay as the starting ten for the remainder of the season, with Stewart playing at fullback and getting another season of NRC under his belt before playing the role full time in 2019. That may change if Cooper decides he wants to go to another Super Rugby team and try to play well enough to command Wallabies selection for next year’s World Cup, but he is contractually entitled to stay in Brisbane playing club footy so that is really up to him.
Whoever plays at ten for the Reds, I immensely enjoyed Friday’s performance against the Canes. It has reinforced my faith that the Reds are heading in the right direction to get the results that we all want.
Paul
Roar Rookie
What is clear is that the Jono Lance apologists and the Quade Cooper critics aren't using the same slide rule. If Cooper was playing, you might not need turnstiles Daugunu on the wing (admittedly he is worth points in attack)? IMO, the issue between Thorn and Cooper is a man-management issue, and Thorn, by his conduct, has admitted he is not up to the job. Ask Alan Jones and his Barbarian coaching support staff what they thought of Cooper when he played Wallabies v Barbarians last year. Quade Cooper's club form for the mighty Magpies, would see him playing in a Reds jersey in any era, except this one. The Reds results do not justify keeping Cooper out of the team.
one way street
Guest
Hey Ruckin Oaf Because Thorn is a bullshitter
Ruckin Oaf
Guest
Yeah good point Paul. BEFORE Thorn got the job did anybody in the QRU ask anything along the lines of "where is the team going under Brad Thorn" If not why not ? AND did Thorn then answer "First thing is I'm dropping Cooper" ...............................
Ruckin Oaf
Guest
Hey Peter, I'm pretty sure that when Coopers critics are talking they have but 1 rule - don't let the facts get in the way.
Ruckin Oaf
Guest
Hey Aussikiwi Then why the heck hasn't Thorn come out and said that ?
Rhys Bosley
Guest
I reckon with Dempsey and Hannigan out with injury, Higgers will get selected to start by default. Cheika will play the Pooper for sure and Higgers is really the only remaining option that balances the needed running game and lineout ability. If Timu gets back from his ankle injury I hope he gets a run from the bench, he would be devastating when the game opens up towards the end.
lassitude
Guest
O'Keefe is fundamentally a homer. More so when the Hurricanes play.
Ruckin Oaf
Guest
You don’t have to be a good 10 to know a good 10 And you don't have to be a good player to be a good coach. AND more importantly the converse to both of the above would also hold true ;)
Paul
Roar Rookie
I am an unabashed Quade Cooper fan. The fact that he is not playing Super Rugby or equivalent level anywhere grinds my gears. In terms of who is responsible for the QC farce, it's hard to go past the QRU Board. Remember their form when it comes to appointing coaches is not good. Apart from MacKenzie, who must be regarded as a fluke outcome for the QRU, every single coaching appointment they have made since Mark McBain was coaching has been an outright disaster. It's the board who is responsible for QC playing the house down in Brisbane club rugby this year. Did they not think about their star recruit when they chased Thorn's signature? Tell me there are no other quality Australian coaches with senior coaching experience out there? Thorn is another big-name feel-good coaching appointment, a QRU special. And if Quade's tackling is the big concern, why does Thorn persist with Daugunu while there are better tacklers on the bench?
Peter
Guest
Jacko, never seems to occur to you or the other haters that perhaps Cooper's lived experience (as opposed to your fifth-hand "I think") was in fact a toxic environment. Or would that get in the way of "But he mussed Saint Ritchie's hair!"?
Lano
Roar Guru
love to see Smith and Higgers get up again....both have attitude.
Sprinter
Guest
Sorry you misunderstand me. It was reviewed by the TMO and they considered their decision so I'm assuming it was the correct one. Perhaps the ruling was that the Red's player tackled him legitimately (because he was now considered in control of the ball) but he didn't regather before it hit the ground - hence the knock on? Perhaps the refs talking about the player being held back was a reference to ruling that it wasn't deliberate?
Sprinter
Guest
Sorry you misunderstand me. It was reviewed by the TMO and they considered their decision so I'm assuming it was the correct one. I can't believe they are so ignorant of the rules that they would think about a decision for a minute and get it wrong. I was really asking someone to explain the rule to me because my understanding was clearly wrong.
Cynical Play
Guest
yeah that was BS and a classic case of the NZ players influencing the decision...classic example of O'keefe's ref problems. He is gutless and blows with the wind. That was a penalty minimum as that was looking like try by the Reds with the overlap. A hand on the player is not a hold back And anyway the hold-back of the player off the ball is one of the key lessons in the NS rugby manual from what I see, so to see TJ complaining was pre slapstick...
Cynical Play
Guest
hey Jerry why dont you check the NZ passes, i counted 5 forward that #lookawayOkeefe let go nah.. doesnt suit your narrative
Sprinter
Guest
Could someone explain to me why the deliberate knock-on by the Canes was called a knock-on because the player was held back? I thought that once you touched the ball you were considered in control and could be tackled. If not they why couldn't a player running with the ball just throw it forward and run forward to catch it? While is was in the air they couldn't be touched. I just couldn't understand that ruling. Also interested why the coathanger on Lance just before the Red's last try wasn't a yellow.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Why hasn’t someone written an article calling them out!?!? https://www.theroar.com.au/2017/04/25/cant-waratahs-spot-talent/ Safe to say I fully agree with you!
jeznez
Roar Guru
Both were on the pitch. Just Stewart at FB
cinque
Guest
Was a good pass to Kerevi for the final try though.
cinque
Guest
Rhys wrote "The Reds stayed in touch with the 2016 Super Rugby winners and 2017 runners-up" They more than stayed in touch with the Lions .... 'I was also encouraged by the slick move off the lineout, with flyhalf Jono Lance picking out Samu Kerevi and sending him on the train tracks through the Canes defence, with Kerevi passing it to the flying Filipe Dauganu for the finish." So Lance was wearing 9 at the time ....