Reds fail to make final-round statement

Agree with most of this. Stewart has not played ten at any level for 2 years while Hegarty has played there many times in the same period. Yet Stewart was better against a better side even with all that rust. Its pretty clear the Reds dont want Stewart at 10 though and may not want him at all with the development of Henry. McReight needs more time in the gym and coaching on kiwi entry ways but his upside is much greater than Liam's. Harsh on Daugunu. That YC was a mystery to everyone. Looked a typical kiwi entry to me. He is worth persevering with. Lets not forget our greatest winger (Campo) had a long brain fart history!

Stewart does both. He takes the ball to the line and passes, and he passes straight away if he thinks thats a better option. He also has one of the fastest passes in Australia and probably the best left to right pass of any right hander in the Aussie teams. Several times against the Blues the speed of his pass put Paisami on the outside shoulder of his defender with time to make significant breaks. All the Reds backs looked good against the Blues (cant say the same about the forwards) which is a sign the ten is getting the ball to where it needs to be. None of the backs looked good against the Canes.

Agree with most of this. McReight needs some coaching on kiwi entry to rucks and a little more time in the gym but his upside is much greater than poor old Liam who is about maxed out now. I think Stewart is a good ten. He was outstanding at NRC level. But he's not a runner and that is a down vote in this day and age. His skills are passing and kicking and his organising is improving. He's the kind of ten who makes others shine which is so unfashionable in an age where everyone lusts after freakish game changers like Mo’unga and B Barrett. But given Stewart has not played ten at any level for 2 years, I thought his performance was way ahead of Hegarty who has played a fair bit there in the last 2 years. Harsh on Daugunu. That YC was a mystery to everyone. He is worth persevering with as he has many gifts. Lets not forget our greatest winger (Campo) had a long brain fart history.

Yeah the Reds lost the game by being unable to convert a roughly 20 minute period where they dominated possession and territory into points in the first half. The Canes defence was outstanding and the Reds lacked creativity in attack. The game was really decided there. The second half was just a circus.

Aussies aren't getting pilfers because the kiwi cleaners are far superior. They have always been good but the way the breakdown was reffed in SR Aotearoa appears to have led to even faster ball securing. Players left and right of the ball carrier sprint into an arrowhead shape in front of the ball carrier the second he is tackled, preventing pilfers and slowing, and allowing super quick ball. Some of the time this looks like obstruction because no ruck has yet been formed by an opposing player and almost all of the time it looks like side entry (not entering from the direction of their own try line) but its done with such speed and surety and clearly allowed by the referees that it works beautifully to maintain quick possession and prevent pilfers. There is a pattern developing where referees will allow the side with momentum to get the benefit of the doubt in these entry and obstruction issues. Its momentum refereeing. The Australians are hopeless at ruck securing, dont have the technique, are slow to support the ball carrier, and too worried about entering through the gate to get there quickly enough which allows the kiwis to get on the ball much quicker and get all those pilfers. As these developments have happened in a vacuum between 2 nations that have reffed the breakdown differently at domestic level, we dont yet know how referees from other parts of the world will view the 'arrowhead' strategy. Certainly the Aussie refs have been like deers in the headlights and just let it go and I suspect that at the speed the kiwis are capable of executing it, this will be what happens when refs from overseas start taking matches down here again.

Nic just calls it right. That the Reds could win the world cup if he was the ref is a mere coincidence. :)

I only saw the edited highlights, so didn’t get full context of the decisions made by the ref (eg highlights didn’t show lomax shoulder) but just the Daugunu yellow; I thought the offence was caused because he tackled a played whilst being off his feet himself. It seemed to me D was off his feet at the breakdown and then made a tackle before regaining his feet. I assume this makes him technically offside ? If I’m right about it being off feet, then the ref did a very poor job of explaining why he was penalising D. Also not convinced it was cynical or worthy of yellow.

What does he have to learn please? A way better passing game both ways. mcdermott cannot pass L to R. A better box kick by the length of the straight at eagle farm. He doesn't have the snipe that mcdermott has, but usually only against lesser sides. A way quicker clean pass from the back of a ruck. If you need deer in the headlight moments. Watch McDermott's NRC tapes. He won't be mentioned in the same breaths as Ken Catchpole or Des Connor.

I'm assuming you didn't actually watch the incident? otherwise you can clearly see which way the ball travelled, after he hit it. Here's a clue it wasn't down. "Even is there is only a 1% chance he is able to ground it, then it is not deliberate if he makes the attempt." except a referee can only act on what he sees. And when the ball has no hope of being grounded it looks deliberate. Which is what was called, correctly. And yes I am suggesting Aussie Rugby players have less skills than plenty of League players.

Your knowledge of the laws and referees directives is incorrect. If a player attempts an intercept and knocks a ball up into the air in such a way that it is impossible to recover and it hits the grown forward of his position it is now classed as a deliberate knock on, and thus a penalty.

Your premise is incorrect, if you genuinely attempt an intercept hitting the ball up instead of down then it is not a penalty.

Rubbish, League players seem to be able to able to ground the ball from all heights and positions, are you suggesting our Union players have lesser skills? Even is there is only a 1% chance he is able to ground it, then it is not deliberate if he makes the attempt. Are you just arguing for the sake of it?

Yeah I thought it was one of ben o’keefes better games this year as well. No doubt NZ are better at pilfering but there are multiple variables that amount to that.

SRAU GF - Berry did Rugby a favour by not ending it with a penalty try, allowing the Reds to win with a try. The Brumbies last 5 minutes was the very definition of cynical infringing. Someone at RA should have had a word to them about what that looked like as a spectacle for Australian rugby's domestic showcase event, and remind them all that their $ depends on matches being worth watching. The disgrace was the Brumbies' cynical infringing in the hope the ref would bottle it.

The guys who repeatedly tackled my head were just clumsy doesn't really cut it when you're dribbling into your porridge at the age of 43.

The NZ teams don't try to pilfer on every ruck. There were a couple of turnovers in the 2nd half of the Blues-Force game which illustrate that they're just bloody good at it. It was also noticeable as the phases grew and the Force attack tired the turnover opportunities presented themselves. It's not just slowing down the play, it's quickness of thought to see the opportunity and take it with superior skill. Having said that, I thought across the board I did see, many times, some excellent ruck work by Aussie teams too. It just wasn't as relentless and consistent as Kiwi teams.

Might as well just let Laumape score the try, no point competing. At least he would have stayed on the field. :shocked:

@Doctor Hegarty is a FB playing out of position. He's a poor flyhalf and an even worse strategic kicker. Thorn should have persisted with Stewart at flyhalf imo. Reds are pretty aimless without JoC imo.

@Rhys I've discovered the reason Tupou is able to get through 70-80 mins per game now. He rarely attempts to tackle anyone and when he does he misses 50% of the time. Look at the stat's Nick Bishop posted in another article. He's only good in scrums and the very occasional carry. Against NZ opposition he often goes missing and has no impact

@Gepetto. Don't agree with you :silly: JoC is a much better strategic kicker than Hegarty - he's downright poor. Hegarty was not making any ground at the gain line anyway. He's a FB playing out of position. Stewart tackles better too.