Aucklander
The Ultimate Warrior
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- #1
Kick off tomorrow night.
Rebels v Force tomorrow night, Brumbies v Reds on sat night.
Rebels v Force tomorrow night, Brumbies v Reds on sat night.
Super Rugby 2013 Super Rugby Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Aucklander
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NarrowMind
Attempting Normal
- Feb 11, 2013
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Stoked to finally be able to see my Chiefs play live in Melbourne. Been a long time since i've last seen them in the flesh.
Rebels win 30-23, Force looked good in the first 40.
Scrappy but solid win by the Rebels. Force will work hard again this year but will probably just come up short more often than not with the lack of class in their backline and despite a solid pack. They still have Whittaker, McMeniman and Hodgson to return so they will be tough to beat up front but it's the outside backs that they need more consistency from.
Looking forward to Brumbies/Reds tonight. I'll go Reds by 8.
Looking forward to Brumbies/Reds tonight. I'll go Reds by 8.
LukeParkerno1
Post-Human
Reds are awful, said it before that they should have made the harsh decision to move Quade on! He was more interested in $$$$$ and boxing than pre season training!
storm fan
Club Legend
Did anybody else think the referee in that opening match was a big yellow card happy?
I enjoyed the free-flowing nature of that game.
Looking forward to recording & watching Reds v Waratahs this Saturday night. The traditional Australian Super Rugby rivals with the added interest of Folau.
I enjoyed the free-flowing nature of that game.
Looking forward to recording & watching Reds v Waratahs this Saturday night. The traditional Australian Super Rugby rivals with the added interest of Folau.
LukeParkerno1
Post-Human
The yellow cards were all there, one was harsh Matthewson but he should know to not push a referee. There is an old saying.."don't make the ref make a decision". The Reds are terrible, the Waratahs if they are realistic should be winning this one and by a margin too.
LukeParkerno1
Post-Human
The commentators generally have no idea half the time...they want a spectacle so to speak, having players binned doesn't do that. According to the LAWS they were all there. What should be questioned is how dumb are the players for even giving the referee a chance to bin them. Alcock is just a dumb footballer though so glad NSW got rid of him!
- Moderator
- #12
All three were there. First two were for repeated infringement which is fair enough in this game once the Captains are warned. As for the 3rd well a professional infringement on the try line is always going to be chancing your luck.
Cards were there and didn't effected the result.
Cards were there and didn't effected the result.
LukeParkerno1
Post-Human
Pretty much as you said it, teams have to be more disciplined, I am happy the ref was harsh. Teams ought to stop slowing the ball down creating an ugly mess. Bin them, it will clean the game up a lot!
Completely tangential...but it always makes me laugh when I see that Jeremy Tilse is still on the Tahs playing list. Not because I don't think he can play, but he has been in the squad for like 8 years now and plays like 2 games a year.
LukeParkerno1
Post-Human
Yes but glad Robinson has been dropped, was awful all of last season, Michael Chieka has the nuts to make the call and rightly so!
- Nov 1, 2012
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I'll be interested to see Izzy Folau's reverse (Mike) Pyke tonight.
Aucklander
The Ultimate Warrior
- Thread starter
- Moderator
- #17
Whoever brought in the law where a defender isn't allowed to knock the ball dead should be shot. Penalty try and a yellow card? Hopeless.
The Old Dark Navy's
Moderator
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- #18
Just watched that and came in here specifically to see if anybody had commented. I can't fathom the rule to start with, but to then say that was definitive with the body pressure he had on him is pathetic. What are you allowed to do in defence if the ball can't go dead off you when you are trying to prevent a try being scored? If an attacked touches the ball and it goes dead off his hand, that's okay but a defender can't do it. So you either take it cleanly or you let them score because 7 points is better than 7 points and a yellow card.
They are trying to make it even more high scoring and bugger the traditionalists. High farce.
Mint Condition
Club Legend
I didn't think it should have been a penalty try. No way you can say the try would have definitely been scored.
But I have no problem with the rule, nor the yellow card. I could be mistaken but I don't think it's a new rule either. It's basically a variant of not being able to deliberately throw the ball into touch.
He could have placed the ball or kicked it dead and it would have been a 22.
The attacker is never going to intentionally hit the ball dead. They have to ground the ball to score the try. Likewise a defender should at least have to attempt to ground the ball if he's using his hands. If he'd have attempted to ground it, but lost control it would have been a 22 as well. In the situation where the attacker and defender are even going for the ball why should it be easier for the defender to stop the try than it is for the attacker to score it?
Keep in mind the grubber into the in goal is a more potentially wasteful tactic in rugby union than it is in rugby league (despite the fact defenders in league are allowed to intentionally knock the ball dead). In rugby league you get a line drop out if the defence grounds or knocks the ball dead. That's still a big advantage for the attacking team. In rugby union a 22 is more of a neutral restart so it's used a lot less and you have to be really precise with it for it not to be a waste of possession.
But I have no problem with the rule, nor the yellow card. I could be mistaken but I don't think it's a new rule either. It's basically a variant of not being able to deliberately throw the ball into touch.
He could have placed the ball or kicked it dead and it would have been a 22.
The attacker is never going to intentionally hit the ball dead. They have to ground the ball to score the try. Likewise a defender should at least have to attempt to ground the ball if he's using his hands. If he'd have attempted to ground it, but lost control it would have been a 22 as well. In the situation where the attacker and defender are even going for the ball why should it be easier for the defender to stop the try than it is for the attacker to score it?
Keep in mind the grubber into the in goal is a more potentially wasteful tactic in rugby union than it is in rugby league (despite the fact defenders in league are allowed to intentionally knock the ball dead). In rugby league you get a line drop out if the defence grounds or knocks the ball dead. That's still a big advantage for the attacking team. In rugby union a 22 is more of a neutral restart so it's used a lot less and you have to be really precise with it for it not to be a waste of possession.
Mint Condition
Club Legend
I only just got back from the US and fell asleep before the waratahs/reds match started. Seems the waratahs still have a fair way to go though. Will watch the replay later though. Results so far suggest the Brumbies are a class above in the Australian conference.
Woke up not long after 4 and saw a bit of the Force v Kings match. Can't believe the Force could lose that. I honestly thought before the season started that the Kings wouldn't win a game and would struggle to even get a bonus point for losing by less than 7.
Seems like the Australian conference will be the worst again this year. When you compare it to the NZ conference, where all 5 teams are very strong it's a bit of a joke.
Woke up not long after 4 and saw a bit of the Force v Kings match. Can't believe the Force could lose that. I honestly thought before the season started that the Kings wouldn't win a game and would struggle to even get a bonus point for losing by less than 7.
Seems like the Australian conference will be the worst again this year. When you compare it to the NZ conference, where all 5 teams are very strong it's a bit of a joke.
I think it's too early to say that.
The Reds under Ewen have traditionally been slow starters to the season. The Reds will get better throughout the season. Not too mention they've lost Faingaa, Horwill, Genia, Robinson, Daley and Samo. Almost half of the champion winning team. Found some real stars in Ed Quirk and CFS. The freakish thing is that Ed Quirk might not be part of the future at The Reds, Curtis Browning and Butler are freakish talents and will takeover soon enough.
The Brumbies are freakishly strong and will most likely take out the conference. The addition of Pocock makes them far and away the best team in the Australian conference. Against the Reds, every time we looked half dangerous Pocock would stop momentum.
The Waratahs are really the wildcard. Plenty of good players and they'll almost certainly get better throughout the season. I've never seen a Cheika coached side as disorganised as the one we saw last night. Big changes are needed though, it might be time for Ulugia to step up and take over the no.2 jersey. Decision to bench Robinson was bewildering considering he was close to MoM in his 20-30 minute cameo, he needed to be benched last year when he was out of form. He's been in good form since the EOYT. Don't like Dennis as captain aswell, he won't be the starting 6 for much longer. Timani a far better option.
The Force are the victims of a thin talent pool in Australia. Don't expect much from them.
Mint Condition
Club Legend
I just think that if it was a home and away league this season that the 5 NZ teams would all finish ahead of the force and rebels, and that most of them would finish ahead of NSW and QLD as well.
If it was home and away last year we almost certainly wouldn't have had a team in the finals.
Saw the replay of Tahs vs Reds. Tahs were very disorganised as you say but I was at least happy with their intent. I'm actually glad Robinson was on the bench as I think it's the kick in the arse he needs. I was pretty impressed by Volavola when he came on. Definitely a work in progress but he has a bit of spark about him. I hope he gets some more chances. Folau didn't have a great game, a few mistakes in defence and will need to learn when/how to involve himself more. But I think he'll be a good player.
If it was home and away last year we almost certainly wouldn't have had a team in the finals.
Saw the replay of Tahs vs Reds. Tahs were very disorganised as you say but I was at least happy with their intent. I'm actually glad Robinson was on the bench as I think it's the kick in the arse he needs. I was pretty impressed by Volavola when he came on. Definitely a work in progress but he has a bit of spark about him. I hope he gets some more chances. Folau didn't have a great game, a few mistakes in defence and will need to learn when/how to involve himself more. But I think he'll be a good player.
I've never been a fan of these sort of gimmicks but I actually enjoyed the camera angle as well. Getting up close with the play would give some people a look at play that they have never had before and show them just how physical the game really is.
Mint Condition
Club Legend
Yeah it was good, though most of the time the refs are bobbing their heads up and down and looking around too much for it to be used too much. It's great for set pieces though.
Maybe in future rugby referees will be selected based on their ability to keep their heads relatively still and provide good camera angles for television.
Maybe in future rugby referees will be selected based on their ability to keep their heads relatively still and provide good camera angles for television.
