The New South Wales Waratahs have secured a hard-fought 20-15 victory over the Melbourne Rebels at AAMI Park in Melbourne.
The visiting Waratahs were desperate for a win after a disappointing defeat to the Jaguares in western Sydney last week. The Rebels, on the other hand, were flying high after putting 50 points on the Sunwolves in Tokyo last week.
In muddy and greasy conditions in Melbourne, it was the Waratahs who struck first.
Off the top of the lineout, Lalakai Foketi found himself with the ball in midfield. He delivered an excellent ball in front of Kurtley Beale who got around his defender and streaked away.
Beale got over half-way and offloaded to Curtis Rona who skinned Dane Haylett-Petty on the outside. Rona handed it inside to Foley who quickly tapped it back to Adam Ashley-Cooper.
Ashley-Cooper juggled it on his way to the line but managed to hold on for a cracker of a five-pointer. Foley whipped the conversion around to put the score 7-0 inside ten minutes.
The Rebels got on the board three minutes later when referee Paul Williams pinged Rob Simmons for not releasing as the tackler. Quade Cooper slotted through the penalty kick from right in front.
The greasy conditions meant both sides had multiple kicking duels, attempting to gain some valuable territory.
In the 17th and 23rd minutes, penalties for hands in the ruck and offside allowed the ‘Tahs to extend their lead. Foley did so in both instances, the score 13-3.
Curtis Rona was denied a try in the left-hand corner when an incredible cover tackle from Matt To’omua knocked the former Bulldogs rugby league player into touch.
Rona seemed to have taken his revenge when he then stopped a barnstorming Marika Koroibete metres from the line. Replays showed the Rona had, in fact, tucked his left arm in, therefore resulting in a shoulder-charge. He was penalised but nothing came of it.
The Rebels looked to have scored minutes before halftime but a TMO review found that Anaru Rangi had knocked the ball on in the lead-up. The try was disallowed and the score at halftime remained 13-3 in favour of the visiting ‘Tahs.
The Rebels came out firing in the second term and it was them who scored first.
The Rebels managed to earn a penalty advantage from the back of a lineout maul. When released from the collapsed maul, Jack Maddocks swung it wide to find Koroibete. Koroibete got on the outside of Alex Newsome and offloaded behind Kurtley Beale to set Haylett-Petty hurtling towards the corner. Ashley-Cooper was hunting him down but Haylett-Petty popped it inside to Cooper who slid over for a very important try. Cooper’s conversion reduced the margin to three points.
The ‘Tahs hit back five minutes later to restore their handy lead.
Ashley-Cooper found himself charging down the touchline and managed to get his left hand free. He was being tackled into touch but wildly flung the ball back infield. Luckily, it hit Rona’s leg and bounced towards the try-line. Rona was first to ground it and even after a TMO review, the try was deemed all good. A very fortunate try, but a try nonetheless. Foley added the extras, the score 20-10.
The Rebels were keen to steal it from the New South Welshman though and Koroibete got himself in the game again.
The Rebels were ten metres out from the ‘Tahs line, punching through the forwards. Koroibete, off his wing, picked and went from the fringe of the ruck and broke the advantage line. He found Genia on his outside shoulder who was untouched on his way to the chalk. Cooper missed the conversion after hooking it to the right of the posts, the lead now just a slender five points.
Neither side could add points in the final twenty minutes, so the last chance for the Rebels had to be after the siren. They earned a penalty 60 metres out and they kicked into touch for one final effort. It was not to be, a knock-on from the resulting phase-play signalling the end of the match. The Waratahs held on for a 20-15 victory.
This win keeps the Waratahs in the race for the finals with only a couple of weeks to go. They return to western Sydney to take on the Brumbies next week.
The Rebels desperately needed a win but couldn’t get the job done. They now embark on the notoriously tough road-trip to Christchurch, to take on the ever-impressive Crusaders.
riddler
Roar Rookie
catchy none of the 3 are too flash to be honest. ideally we would have one of them or more of them with better numbers across the board. the abuse that foley cops on here and gagr is way over the top. personally i can't remember seeing many people get up the way he did after that landing on his head/neck last weekend. for me he is a quality bloke who sadly isn't as good as we would like but i am proud of the lad for the heart and ticker he shows. he will always give it his best unfortunately that best might be good enough or what we need some times. to repeat all i ask is that hyperbole on the positives on cooper and the hyperbole on the negativity on foley is reigned in to reality.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Riddler, Regarding the words of derision against Foley, I agree that no player, least of all one as talented and courageous as Foley, deserves to be described in the extreme negatives you list here. But challenging his coronation as ‘Australia’s premier playmaker’ is another matter.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Rangi has had 48 carries in about 8.5 full games worth of game time. That's 5.6 carries per 80mins and he's carrying at over 5m per carry. So 25-30m around per 80 mins played. Must have have some big ones to consistently have single figure games...
Short Arm
Roar Rookie
Riddler, try assists seem to be missing, something a playmaker should be doing? I seem to remember prior to the last WC especially on gagr, Foley was getting all the accolades while Quade was getting pillored all the time. I think it is what KCOL said, Foley's had more then enough of a chance in the Wallabies & hasn't delivered.
Massive Ferguson
Guest
riddler Roar Rookie May 25th 2019 @ 4:52pm I won't repost your comment but suffice to say you know the one. There's few people in Brisbane trying to find out who you are.
riddler
Roar Rookie
Cheers for helping and for the stats. So to finish I go back to my original point. Blaming or crediting one player with a win or loss is not how I review a game never have as a player nor as a coach nor as a fan. What your info there has shown that Australia rugby over the last 4 years has not been successful, sadly. That is down to the team and management not one player. It is a team game.
riddler
Roar Rookie
Defamatory? Not once. As for continuing chatting with you massive I will stop here. It is like to rationalise with trump supporters. Facts, educated debate are irrelavant. Good luck.
Massive Ferguson
Guest
Seem a bit testy there riddler. I though a bloke that would post defamatory remarks about a player anonymously on a blog would have a thicker skin.
Massive Ferguson
Guest
Since you seem to be struggling let me help. Total/starts/won/won starting/win %starting/win%total Cooper 70/50/42/33/66/60 Foley 68/59/32/29/47/49 You're quite right about having a go though. Not fair on Lilo he has a crack.....Foley though has Beale as an appendage.
riddler
Roar Rookie
Mate don't tell me to settle. I have never said I was an expert. Don't be snarky. Says so much of ur character. Handling errors are not turnovers conceded. There might be an overlap. But they are not one and the same as u tried to arrogantly state. Read all the stats, look at runs, passes and kicks not just ur glory view of Cooper. All 3 are much of muchness. There are some massive outliers though for Cooper. They are not good outliers. I love to be taught and shown where I am wrong. You are not even close to that, u r just peddling the same b.s that gets peddled on here ad nauseum in favor of Cooper. Completely false narrative based on opinions not facts.
Massive Ferguson
Guest
Settle pettle. Handling errors and turnovers conceded share most of the same numbers because a handling error ends up in opposition hand either directly or indirectly via scrum or line out. Can't you figure out ESPN stats guru? I thought you were an expert?
riddler
Roar Rookie
Since when are handling errors and turnover conceded the same? It is such complete b.s that coopers numbers get justified by people like u. He makes mistakes but that is a given a pass because he has a go. The other 2 blokes aren't having a go? The complete and utter blind arrogance of some cooper fans on here is what annoys me. Impossible for them to ever have a balanced view. Also please show the numbers for the stats u provided.
Massive Ferguson
Guest
ESPN statsguru Not too difficult to find the winning stats of individual players. You do realise that handling errors and turnovers conceded are the same stat. Coopers looks bad in comparison because he's having a go most of the time.
riddler
Roar Rookie
also can you please provide the source of those stats. there have been numerous occasions on this site and gagr where people make up stats for their own narrative. all of mine are from espn rugby and fox sports that are easily viewable.
riddler
Roar Rookie
not impressive and sad for oz rugby over the past 4 years. but then again i am not going to put down losing a test to only one player, nor would i put down winning a test to one player. hence individual stats, while never telling the whole picture, are a far more relevant stat than yours.
Massive Ferguson
Guest
Riddler what do ya think of these stats? winning test % total/starting Foley 48/48% Cooper 60/66%
riddler
Roar Rookie
cheers highlander. just had a quick look at some stats. here is a summary of our 3 tens, sorry but hegarty is not at the level required. mins cll 1086 cooper 1085 foley 1032 line breaks cll 13 cooper 20 foley 17 tackle busts cll 13 cooper 20 foley 17 offloads cll 6 cooper 19 foley 7 tackle success cll 85% cooper 71% foley 73% handling errors cll 16 cooper 28 (highest in the whole super comp) foley 13 turnovers conceded cll 16 cooper 26 (highest in the whole super comp) foley 12 avg run metres per run cll 7.88m cooper 4.86m foley 6.48m
riddler
Roar Rookie
catchy i am a qlder supporting a tah. it is extremely rare. my pov is that both on this site and gagr the hyperbole in negativity towards foley is quite astonishing while the reverse for cooper. it is not foley's fault that you and others feel he is not good enough to be selected for oz. for me the best way to make a point is to show without the drama actual evidence. as soon i see iceman, popgun, cheika love child etc comments it is just for attention seeking and really shows lack of integrity. the guy does his best, never does a hollywood, never loses his rag. might he have some bad games, sure, like all of us have. i honestly don't think his bad games are as bad as people make out here.
riddler
Roar Rookie
how am i a tah tragic? i am a qlder!!
Olly
Roar Rookie
If walking off a cliff was how it worked would you still do it? Every country does not. Dean made it clear that Australian rugby puts too much emphasis on local derbies when we should be focusing on performances against NZ/SA. SA clearly does not pick their team from their rubbish local derby games. They even tend to pick players from Europe based comps particularly at RWC time. All Australian teams play the same boring low-risk game against each other that is nothing like how the Wallabies play making it irrelevant.