What I wonder about the Webels

Which is exactly why Foley will get the nod. Better the devil you know. No way Cheika will want that performance in a big match. He may get it from Foley though. CLL for me hasnt done enough to convince Cheika hes the one. At least he has a Super rugby title, an England world cup section win, and a Scotland quarter that had Foley critical to the win. Hes blinded, and QC has just put himself out Id say.

Either the Rebels have had good strategies and game plans and the players simply failed to execute them, or they had poor strategies and game plans and they executed them well. The feeling down south is the latter is more likely to be the case. For instance, its hard to understand how Genia's repeated kicking the ball away in an attacking position when the game was winnable is part of any reasonable strategy. That issue, a factor in many of the losses, shows a problem with coaching and captaincy. The losses to the Crusaders and Chiefs exposed outside backs not marking their man in defence. How can that be possible at this level? Also, the recurring refusal to take the easy 3 points from penalties in the first half, invariably losing possession and ground position, was an ongoing concern.

Oops, missed the season vs this game comparator Would struggle to agree you could find a game where Foley, or anyone, had one this bad - it was one out of the box. Given he flew out of traps for the first month it has been a disappo8nting slide, I reckon the Stormers game inwards- thanks for explaining btw

RE about Quade - when you said "But this is the bit that gobsmacks me in your post , “Quade did better than expected imo” – Where exactly do you set your expectations." I meant his form over the whole season and ....... yes my expectations were set pretty low :) I rate QC as no 2 flyhalf in Aust behind Lealiifano now but I had him at no 1 until a month ago. Yeah Quade was crap last Sat as you rightly point out but I think Foley has played 1 or 2 equally as bad this season. So has Beale :) I've been saying all season that neither Quade or Foley are good Test standard flyhalfs and Australia could not make a RWC Final with either of them. Too error prone like you say. Quade is a more risky option than Foley but ..... Foley is consistently a dud imo :)

Gday Waxhead If anything last nights game reinforced my views. 1. Don't mindlessly kick pill away against good sides, well they did and got creamed. 2. Use Cooper as the rapier not the game manager, well they didn't do any damage at the gainline bar Naisarani and went to QC way too early and way too often, thus ineffective attack. Three linebreaks vs 28 with possession only slightly in the Chiefs favour. 3. Thought Meakes and English were ok without getting any dominance, stillt he best centre combo the Rebels have for mine. 3. But this is the bit that gobsmacks me in your post , "Quade did better than expected imo" - Where exactly do you set your expectations. That would be close to the worst performance from an Aussie 10 all year, even given Mack Mason's first game a hurry up. Biggest game of the season, at home, needing to win against a side outside the 8 and QC threw in so many errors it wasn't funny, esp when those errors lead directly to opposition scores. His kicking from hand, kickoffs and punting was poor and missed way too many tackles as the last defender, even the 75kg Weber fended him off in a straight one on one. He certainly started the season on fire but he may have finished it by playing himself out of the test squad - If you are making errors at this level, you are gonna make more at test level and that means points conceded. When Fox rugby lab updates its stats, should be all done by monday, those errors columns are sadly not going to read well for him, and while earlier in the season there was a balance of sorts with scoring opportunities created, since the Stormer's loss that has cratered also. Use QC properly you will get upside, but way too error prone to run the game plan.

ok Highlander Any reason to change your opinions after the Rebels appalling loss to Chiefs in Melbourne? I think Rebels were never as good as hopeful aussies thought. Their early season wins were all in the Aust Conference and when the Brumbies were just getting their act together. As soon as they starting playing outside their conference the Rebels were exposed again - just like in 2018. And poor defence has been their no 1 problem for 2 seasons now - not attack. Their defence has not improved at all over past 2 years. Coaches must take some blame for that. Add on only attacking 1 game plan (flat alignment) and Genia showing continuing poor form as the season progressed. Then add on continually moving Hodge around and a disappointing year from Coleman. Add on most of the squad lacking adequate toughness, mongrel, passion, pride and will to win Quade did better than expected imo but he's had no running game since his knee reconstruction and has never been great when put under pressure. Jones, Koribete, Hodge, Meakes, English, Philip, Maddocks and Naisarani were the only success stories in 2019 imo.

is “whichever way you analyse it” code for “I haven’t analysed it and have no interest in letting facts interfere with my pre-conceived view”?

Whichever way you analyse the Rebels poor season overall, there has to be an inquiry into the coaching. Also, there is much talk about a lack of representative and senior rugby experience (ie none) on the Rebels/Rugby Victoria board that needs to be addressed.

J Debz move to Northland for the Mitre 10 cup really helped him. Surrounded by a running team he had to fit in move the ball which he did, and.......and make his tackles when asked, still doesn’t tackle like a man his size should, but getting rapidly better. Will be quite the matchup, but only one winner in the game of force back.

On a serious note, they have it in them to perform well but something happens to them later on in the season. It’s strange and disappointing at times.

When will they qualify for the knockouts? Yeah, I wonder about that.

It is interesting the difference in positions. Lots of teams came with plans to shut down Sonny Bills offloading game, but the act of double teaming him made space for someone else so they could adjust to 'plan b' because he's still making space. Just not for himself. But with the shutdown Genia plan it doesn't seem to make any space for anyone else.

Thought the South African sides in particular came with a plan to shut down Genia and the Rebels couldn't find a way to react or adjust such is his dominance over the side. Re the Crusaders, you guys are spoiled for talent, but it the execution of simple things over and over which is most impressive.

Bulls game was a really interesting one TWAS, Bulls figured out where the game plan was run from and they went hard after Genia all day, did force some errors in both judgement and execution.

It felt a little bit like Cheika wanted to see if Ginea has an effective kicking game that he can for the internationals. Trouble is, that the technique is called kick-chase, not kick- wait for the crusaders to run it back with interest. As painful as this sounds, the Rebs were never going to win and that game was the perfect opportunity to try some stuff out. That said, if the Rebs miss out on a finals berth on their for and against record, they will be kicking themselves.

Hodge always looks assured in everything he does and is a bit of a clairvoyant who reads situations as they unfold very well. Haylett-Petty plays with a lot tension in his body, looking like he is on the edge of his abilities a lot of the time. Now that Pasture Folau is tending his flock, Hodge should be elevated to no.1 fullback status for the RWC year. But who knows what Chuckles will come up with.

My comment was speculative, There has been a change to the Wallaby/SR philosophy. Cheika can dictate which players he wants rested and there was talk that the Australian teams need to start playing the same type of rugby - Inferring that Cheika/Kafe gets some say in how and where some/all of the players play. Why any SR team would want to sign up for wallaby style "Loserball" I don't know, but there may be more to this than meets the eye. Maybe I need to take off my tinfoil hat and have taken too many RA comments on face value but the question needed to be asked, the answer can be no.

Good advice there Highlander. This sort of turnaround can also be caused by other teams working our that attack pattern and shutting it down. Once the pressure is on bad decision making follows if you don't have a plan B and the time, space, practice and confidence to execute it. And you have put your finger on the real take away from last Saturday. It is not that the Crusaders put a heap of points on them. When we are on song, the passes to the feet are being picked up at full run, the kick passes are perfect and everything is humming , we can pile points on just about anyone. But for the attack from that roster of players, which is pretty good on paper, to deliver up a donut. with all that possession. Well. Although, from looking at Nick's article on the Waratahs attack this week, they aren't drawing men, offloading in tackles or holding a drifting defence either.

Thanks for the interesting read HLDr. Should be a good game and looking fwd to seeing the 'failed' Rebels 10 Debreczeni against the 'dream' player (according to many here) Cooper. Should be interesting. Chiefs to win but not by much...

I think a big issue has been how much Genia has kicked the ball away in prime attacking position. I think at one point against the Bulls he kicked out on the full in the attacking 22.