Force vs Rebels

[SNOB]

We watched someone come over and play with the Comms of the touchie on the east side during the game.

[whodunnit]

To think the rebels won this game with a winger at fly half for 50 mins!
Ellison showed Goodwin how to play the midfield.
New game plan lacked intelligence, but what would you expect from a narrow minded coaching group! The new game plan lacked understanding from most players which would explain slow delivery from Mathewson. Remember lance is an ex mungo who has not played much rugby at this level consistently. Might have had a good competition at nrc but that's tiddly winks in comparison to super rugby!

[travelling_gerry]

Yeah....bring back Tom Fearn...we know...

[Ralto]

All in All - same old same old. Foley's game plan vanishes after 10 mins..

Thought the first kick in the first minute, sans chasers was an interesting sight. Didn't Hodgo look like he'd played a rugby match by the end.

[Ralto]

Thought the line out was great - Adam Coleman was a standout!

...the Rebels' players looked twice as beefed up as ours - something need doing in the strength, conditioning and supplements department?

Spot on held our scrum and lineout, even stole a lineout. Have to get to work on some other bits this season - defence out wide,very dodgy brothers.

[eleypinkbit]

We watched someone come over and play with the Comms of the touchie on the east side during the game.

Yep the refs lost touch with that sideline ref. Pretty sure it was during that time there was a late hit on Hodgo that wasn't picked up

[whodunnit]

[QUOTE=travelling_gerry;407664]Yeah....bring back Tom Fearn...we know...[/QUOTE couldn't be any worse.
But travelling Gerry you have all the answers mate! Keep backing the losers, at least Fearn wins things and is successful! Not like, foley Nestor and whoever has come and gone since.

[Alison]

Always makes me wonder if their comms is working properly.

At one stage the comms wasn't working for the assistant ref on the eastern side - had to have a tech come over and sort it out.

[andrewg]

Have I told anybody how much I hate losing - and especially to the Rebels??

Getting trounced at the breakdown (Rebels a lot more committed with better timing - Rebs won 94% of their rucks) and handling errors (29) cost us this game (Rebs had 15 HE). Combine these aspects with the 2 well-worked but "soft" tries to Hodge and we didn't deserve to win. However, if either 1 of these had been saved then the game was ours.
You can tell that I'm a "glass half full" kinda bloke.

Positive comments:
1. Better game to watch than what was the norm last year.
2. Force had more carry m than the opposition. Haven't been able to say that too often!!
3. DHP ran a total of 118m - BUT he had >100m of these in the 1st half!
4. Our Scrum held its own (6 won, 0 Lost) and took 2 off the rebels.
5. Our Lineout more than held it's own with 18 won/1 lost versus 8 won/2 lost
6. Adam Colemen put in a consistent 80 minute effort despite being totally knackered by the end.
7. Hodgo maintained his inspirational effort with game high 42 ruck involvements (Cottrell 36, Coleman 35, Thomson 33) and 17 tackles (0 missed). Next best were Stander 12/0, Jones 11/1, Timani 10/2, Hodge 10/4, Reid 9/0 and Lance 9/1.
8. Lance did a good job at FH. Grant did OK (despite his poor clearance).
9. Prior did OK at SH.
10. Ainsley had a good first outing at SR.
11. Our try was a well-built effort from a collapsed rolling maul and was gained by moving the ball wide not just trying to crash through the defensive line.[B]
12. This is a game we should have won. (But how many times have we said that before?)
13. It was great to see the team rally around Hodgo after he reacted to Meehan's taunting and the choker-hold by Inman. Gus was lucky that he didn't connect with Inman. These young guys simply have no respect!!


Negative comments:
1. Evidently 27 deg C at the start of the game. Train in the heat as much as you like but it's always different in a match. The attrition rate is of concern re strength and conditioning inputs and preparation.
2. Injuries??? Godwin - looked like a knee; Alcock - looked like a knee; Tapuai was struggling with leg; Morahan was struggling with legs.
3. Foley obviously reluctant to bring Masirewa too early as had Brache, Morahan and Tapuai all walking wounded. Stander had to stay on.
4. Our going wide just too predictable; often too wide so easy to knock into touch; not enough running of inside lines at pace. But it will get better!!
5. Alby looked slow/cumbersome and showed none of his flair.
6. Brache's handling errors (5) gob-smacking as sometimes before any contact. But he wasn't alone - Lance 4, Matthewson 3; Cottrell 3; 5 others had 2 HEs.
7. We are in real trouble if Coleman or Mafi get injured.

Would be good to give Masirewa a start just to see what he can do at this level (but I'm concerned about his defence).

Let's keep attacking as I don't want to have a repeat of the same game style as last year.

PS. Forgot two very important aspects from my notes last night.

1. We were owned at the breakdown - and it's not too often that happens. The Rebels were well co-ordinated and selective in their involvement. Force was just too slow in supporting their ball-carriers. Line speed in support had been a feature of the trial games and training but was missing last night.

2. The rebels were well disciplined and cohesive in defence. We struggled to break this line and get over the gainline. The need to go forward and draw the defence before going wide was evident all night - but particularly in the 2nd half.

[chibi]

Bit more draw'n'pass would have been good when we shifted it out.

[Tazzmania]

Andrewg great post and a sensible post after the heat of battle has subsided.

I was drafting my summary before logging on and seeing yours and was glad to see others feel the same way that it was a definite step forward.

Here is my take on the match:

It was a game that needs to be looked at in perspective.

Firstly there is no way that the game should have been played on a day when the temperature peaked at 40c only hours before kick-off, it is a winter sport after all.

As you probably saw the guys were going down all over the place with cramp at the end.

George Gregan mentioned it on to tv and so did Chris Alcock when chatting after the game that the ball was like a piece of soap in the conditions and even had a sheen to it. Jono Lance said that it would have been easier playing in the rain with a wet ball than a sweating one.

With that in mind the new style of expansive rugby looked more difficult to execute, however from a fans point of view the ball in hand rather than the aimless kicking of last year was much better to watch and more enjoyable.

The set piece and scrum seemed to go well, Coleman was great in the lineouts. The scrums we held our own but I think the new rules of continuing to play if it is safe to do so were beneficial to us.

Jono Lance and Peter Grant hit the line more often than Sias did in all the time he was with us so that was a bonus. Jono looks a great buy for the Force.

Dane Haylettt Petty again had a great game, however the locks looked very fragile as Ross not yet at this level and a heap of reliance will fall on Coleman and Mafi

Ben Tapui looked like he needs a few more outings to get match fit, he really struggled in the last quarter as did Alby Mathewson.

Marcel Brache was very enthusiastic but ball skills in difficult conditions let him down too often.

Moving forward I believe it was a good platform to build on. I think we need to be brave moving forward and depending on how Kyle's knee turns out it may be time to start Ian Prior and Ryan Louwrens alternatively each week with Alby on the bench.

Other changes would be to look at Semisi Masirewa starting on one of the wing positions.

Tough night at the office overall but there was a lot to like moving forward.

[palitu]

yeah - a cannot believe that morohan was pulled be brache - he was well off his game.

the endeavor was there in the first half, and they definitely lost a lot of momentum in the second. I LOVED that they were actively looking for offloads, despite the poor execution - it is there!

breakdown was a bit of a mess.

I need to watch a replay before i can comment further

[Buddha Handy]

I thought Foley waited too long to bring the subs on. In those conditions with the heat and players struggling he should have had Prior, Grant, Masirewa on at half time for more impact.

Alcock was a big loss because that meant Stander had to play 80 minutes which wouldn't have been part of the plan. Cowan playing 60 mins + I think was a big effort.

Was refreshing to see Taps make a big line break early in the game and then DHP as well. Didn't see many of them last year.

If we lose any more props or a second rower we are screwed big time.

[chibi]

I hope that some of the basics improve, seeing as it's only their first game of the season. Less isolation in their ball-running, a few more picks'n'drives, more forward support driving the man on his feet and the backs knowing when to draw'n'pass, when to throw the cut-out and spotting the space for the kick - hopefully more of this will gel as the season develops.

[GIGS20]

Just a thought for those who are bagging the wingers. The play was clumsily obvious to spin it to width without committing anybody in the middle. By the time the wingers got the ball they had 1/2 a metre of space and virtually the entire defensive back line steaming at them at a million mike's an hour. Tough gig to be a winger with set ups like that.

Once or twice, Monaghan or dhp cut back in and it looked handy. They definitely need somebody to hold the defenders into the middle whilst they spin the ball