Geez, you guys are just getting a teenie bit carried away. Everyone take a deep breath and grab some perspective. I guess that’s easy to say as a Tahs fan. My day is done….

My prediction is Saders by 8, not that it is my preferred outcome but I think the old adage of you have to lose one before you win one will hold true. Ewen may beg to differ on that score.

I didn’t see the Stormers match but from all accounts the Saders just played smart, no mistakes pressure football. Like the world cup Reds/Wobblies will be full of fancy footwork and audacious play, Saders/NZ will be just absolutely relentless and ruthless. At the end of the day both S15 final and a potential RWC game will be a meeting between contrasting mindsets both of which have ample to recommend them. I’ll just be happy to be a somewhat neutral spectator this weekend. Though I can’t claim to be one in RWC2011 if it ends up an OZ/NZ final. But my what games they both will be.

Some of you should just ease back a little on the vitriol. Then again maybe we can get a virtual bar happening on the Roar where the disinterested spectators (read all the rest of us whose teams didn’t make the final) watch on as the die hard Reds and Saders fans duke it out in replay slo’ mos’.

“You could argue” does not equate to “I believe”. Sometimes I think it could be argued that Deans is a troll in disguise…. but I couldn’t possibly say that, it’s just what a friend of mine said and I found it hard to disagree.

any chance you are missing the point? The idea is to propose a first and second 15. I doubt that has much to do with what happened last year (particularly against England in Oz). I’d still give that team a better chance than almost any with the exception of the ABs of winning RWC2011.

I agree with that. I reckon it would make an ineresting discussion to see what the second string 15 would be. I guess we’d have to see some sort of consensus on the top 15, but I think that is relatively easy as long as you include anyone out injured.
Without any real thought my firts and second choice for each position would be:

Beale, Lucas
Ioane, Turner
AAC, Faingaa
JOC, Barnes
Cooper, Giteau
Mitchell, Davies
Genia, Burgess
Palu, McCalman
Pocock, Robinson
Elsom, Higgs
Sharp, Timani
Horwill, Vickerman
Slipper, Kepu
TPN, Moore
Robinson, Daley
Not sure if I have my loose and tight heads round the right way but they are the 4 I would choose.

As a second 15 it looks OK but a bit untested at the top level

Sure does, slot in Pocock, Elsom and possibly Palu and its all there. Robinson, Higginbotham and Samo (maybe McCalman) to the bench. Not convinced Gerard has the pace for a test 14, plenty of wingers out there are going to beat him on the outside given half a sniff. I’d go Davies/Turner/McCabe before Gerard. Either that or go back to Barnes at 12 O’Connor on the wing. Still it does look as though the test incumbents will be kept honest. You’d have to say 1-7 are certainties, as are 9,10, 11, 13, 15. Deans would have to be pretty comfortable with his cattle this year. Bet he’d love to get Mitchell back though.

It would be interesting to hear what Conrad Smith and Weepu think about this. As the other two most senior players in the team they must have had some input pre or post the event.

While I thought the Canes deserved the win I was confused by the “no mark” ruling that gave the Canes a scrum feed on the Reds line. Can anyone explain why that was not a fair catch? I thought it was a mark unless you dropped it yet the commentary kept on about it not being in control. It was a mark in AFL and would have been a wicket in cricket. I just didn’t understand how it could not be a mark…..

Lets not forget the draw. SA v NZ is likely in one semi so that has to count against the Boks.

Brett, I enjoyed the rugby, especially seeing Gits, Elsom, Moore and Chisolm find a bit of form. I’m not writing the guys off but having the opportunity to host a home semi and certainly cementing a spot in the top four and then being smashed in the forwards (in both games) smacks of opportunities missed. Both the Tahs and the Reds have lost considerable momentum. I hate it when you have to count on other teams losses to get through.

The Red’s had a great chance to break another hoodoo and the Tahs to dispel that niggling feeling in the heart of an Aussie fan when one of our teams plays in the deep south of NZ. Just didn’t happen.

Ah well, at least I didn’t go backwards in the tipping comp. Bit suprised at that, I guess everyone has 20/20 vision in hindsight but I had Growden’s words ringing in my ears about a Tahs upset and no one likes Growden to prove them wrong!

Extraordinary! How can you possibly be held scoreless for 20 minutes against 14 men and 80% posession? Phibbs was rubish, Gits was poor (and must be wondering about his test prospects) and the pack had the dropsies. You would think that the new breakdown rules would suit the Brumbies continuous rugby style of the late 90s. Unfortunately they seem to lack the ball handling skills, patience and polish to maintain the pressure.

A dismal night for any Brumbies fan, say goodbye to 2010!

Thats because the ones who have heard of it have already moved there and made damn sure not to mention it to the others before they left.

He is not yet the best, I still think Du Preez is the best half in SH, however Genia certainly has the most potential for improvement given his age. There is plenty of time for him to peak nicely for 2011 as with a number of the Australian players. I can’t wait to see how he goes in the Tri Nations this year, he won’t be the revelation he was last year but its a chance for him to realy test himself against the best. I’m also looking forward to Reds v Bulls game in a few weeks, that should tell is who is the boss.

Hey Sam I watched it too. The key seemed to be that because the 2nd and back row joined later not much of a hit was put on by the pack. That meant you had to wait for the ball before applying pressure. Seems a sensible way to avoid the whole early engagement thing and would probably avoid a bunch of injuries. Funny how going back in time often shows you the way forward.

Sam, I think it is the time zone changes rather than the distance which causes the problems. However I would still love to see some stats from the last few years as I suspect that travelling SA to NZ is probably the worst way to go while Perth to SA would be the easiest. This will continue to be an issue next year though less so. With careful management of the schedules and byes SANZAR could at least minimise the disadvantage.

Temba, I didn’t see the game but by all accounts it was a close affair until the last quarter. This is not the sort of result one expects from the championship leader. When I tip I am always mindful of the distance travelled and the disparate ranking of the opponents. In this instance I expected the Bulls to win comfortably with a bonus point.

I have never understood why, since it is such an obvious disadvantage, teams travelling to or from Africa are not given the bye to recover. I know you can’t have a bye both ways but it would be interesting to see some statistics on win/loss ratio whenever the Indian ocean is crossed.

Nonetheless I agree with Spiro that of the AUS teams Tahs and Reds look the best placed, but the Stormers need to fall away considerably for both to have a look in. Given the Stormers are touring perhaps this is not as unlikley as one might think.

Good game that one. How good was Larkham’s kicking under pressure, after only 6 games at 10 you could see how his game was developing with the little pass turned back inside. The flat wide ball must have come later. How fat and slow was Kearnsy! Still I would have to say that was one of my favourite Wallabies teams of all time.

Agreed that Melbourne is the logical choice. It would certainly help the Rebels to have an Olympic form of the game played and we all know Melbournians will turn up for just about any world class sporting event.

I share your concerns. The only caveat I would offer is that the Force/Tahs games are always very very close and never produce scintillating rugby. To be honest it was exactly the kind of game I expected. A thrashing by the Reds hardened the force up and the Tahs went back into their shells. They badly missed Palu and some players just had off nights, particularly Barnes. Hodgson had a blinder too so they never got quick ball which they had in spades against the Lions. For all I was looking forward to see Horne on the field he didn’t make an impact but Carter was rubbish again so the first half was wasted.

I think the game against the Blues will be a better indication of where the Tahs really are in terms of the rest of the pack. But I look forward to that game with some trepidation…..

PK, that’s pretty much what I said in an earlier post. The only difference being Barnes at 12 for his defense and tactical acumen. Test matches are a step up defensively so I would play a strong defender next to Cooper and I think Barnes is a better thinker than Gits or JOC.

Ora, a game should end when the final whistle blows. Why should the fans wait for a judiciary to make a decision that could take days before they can celebrate a dour win like that…..

Match reviews are for future appearances like citing a player for foul play. Same applies to refs.

I can recall in League where teams can be docked points for having too many players on the field but I don’ think the points were ever awarded to the losing side.

If the tahs were a winning team instead of just a “winning culture” maybe he would have committed for longer. If I was him I’d be taking it one year at a time too……

Pretty crappy game, won’t be watching that one again!

I was listening to it on the radio for a bit and it sounded like the ref was having a shocker (in favour of the sharks) then later on I thought perhaps the Sharks were hard done by.

In the end just chalk that one down to a win. The back play was so disjointed it was gob smacking. I suspect the reason there was so much kicking in the end was that Barnes had no confidence in Carter’s positioning. Its time to give Horne a start, Carter has had 4 games to click and has done little to impress.

If they play like this next week, having settled back in at home, they will be lucky to make the top six.

Looking forward to the development of the gits/leliifano combo. Hopefully Gits will have freedom now he has another playmaker outside him which should lessen the pressure. Meanwhile Leliifano gets great benefit from the 20,000 caps either side of him, at some point he may require ear muffs! I haven’t seen enough of the comnbo defensively to to know wheter it can cope with strong inside back running.

Should be a cracker of a game, Brumbies by plenty.

Hey Andrew, you pose intersting questions.

Hickey has spent too much time dwelling on the strength of the oppoisition. Instead he should be building a single starting 15 that has the capapcity to adjust to the oposition when required. That is choose a team that will give you acendancy early. What I mean is let your attack remain the same but vary the plays using the strengths in each player in each game plan, let the comnibations they have built with the player who is adjacene to them week after week continue to grow.Surely every team wants to start on the front foot.

This happnens when the attacking team fires from the start. This allows the leaders to set the tempo of the game, and if they are good enough, they can make strategic decisions to hold that position if and when the tide turns. When the tide turns and plan A no longer works its time to play plan D for defence, thereore the bench should be a mix of attacking players and defending players,each one thrown on to suit the current game situation. If you are safely ahead and some of your key attackers look stuffed, throw on a defender. If you are behind and the key defensive players are knackered throw on some attack.

Whenit comes to defense stick with that same team an again look for ways that make them complement one another.

The benefit of playing in the same position week after week should not be discounted.

The bench players ought to be chosen for a change of tactic. That is any interchange should tell the rest of the team how the introduction of the sub will impact on the game plan. Sure players are changed for injury but, that should clearly signal that the current game plan should remain.