Western Force vs Brumbies Match Report 2

[James]

The Good
The Force scrum has come along in leaps and bounds this year; hats off to Nick Stiles for that effort. While it was worrying to see Pek Cowan go off with what looked like a broken jaw (Graham says it looks like season over for him), watching Dunning, Charles and Longbottom stick it up the Brumbies front row was a joy to watch. Charles did his Wallabies prospects no end of good tonight and you have to wonder how much more Longbottom could do before he comes onto Deans’ radar.

The breakdown was also an excellent aspect of play for the Force tonight. The Brumbies simply couldn’t hold onto the ball and a lot of that came down to David Pocock and Matt Hodgson. It almost seemed like the Brumbies were giving it away for free in some parts of the game. It wouldn’t surprise me if Pocock leaps to the top of the Super XV pilfers table after that effort- and that’s despite missing half the season with injury.

The Bad
We had mountains of territory and possession and yet we did nothing with it. How many 5 metres scrums did we have? How many 5 metre line-outs? You need to come away from the opposition red zone with points at least one time in three and, for all the possession we had, we only managed to score three times. How do you fix our attack? It reminds me of a Simpsons quote from Ned Flander’s mother: “You gotta help us, Doc. We’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas.” Credit to the Brumbies- their defence was good- but if we ever want to become a top half of the table side we need to be far better than we were. Although I enjoyed seeing the early kicks for touch instead of for goal, when it was clear that wasn’t working, Sharpie should have pointed for the posts and built a buffer before declaring an all-out attack. I suppose the good news is that we have all the potential to become an amazing team: A powerful scrum, a well functioning line-out, a backrow that can cause havoc at the breakdown. We just need that last piece of the puzzle to fall into place in the backline and get our players to turn all of that into points.

The Ugly
The vBookie must have cleaned up pretty well on this weekend’s book. Boo.

Man of the Match
The official man of the match was Sam Wykes and that’s a pretty fair call. Almost all of the Force forwards put their hand up for this one, while it is hard to pick a standout amongst the backs. Harder still to pick a standout amongst the Brumbies. Matt Dunning was a rock in the scrum and put in some good hits. David ‘the Vulture’ Pocock had an excellent game and gave the Brumbies numerous headaches. Matt Hodgson was his usual quiet, yet effective self. But Wykes ran the ball well, scored a try, was reliable in the line-out and popped up everywhere around the field.

Notes:
Willie Ripia has been struggling with a calf problem. Richard Graham said that his lower leg muscles haven't returned to fitness since being in the moon boot and that partially explains why he has lacked form recently. Thats why he was subbed in the second half. O'Connor looked good at 10 but we really need a Scott Staniforthesque 12. Power and pace.

Tony Rea didn't have a spray in the post-match interviews. He was pretty happy with the draw. Clutching at straws. It sounded like the Brumbies were signing the team song after the game. You've got to take what you can get. I'm surprised the players hadn't forgotten the words.

[Darren]

Photos up:
http://twf.com.au/vbpicgallery.php?do=view&g=285
http://twf.com.au/vbpicgallery.php?do=view&g=284

What happened to Cummins' ear?

[blueandblack]

According to Fox he "went one round with Mike Tyson".

[Garfiep]

Think this was JOC's worst game of the year - maybe mind was elsewhere!

[Hoolly Doolly]

The expectation is to have magic occurr everytime he touches the ball

[Batto]

Piss poor, very dissapointing night !
Posted via Mobile Device

[welshrugbyfan]

Well that was

At least the Heineken Cup Final is on tonight, will get to see one entertaining game of rugby today.

Thankfully the Heineken Cup Final was brilliant. Didn't go to bed totally disappointed.

I think JOC's brother was playing #13 for Cott yesterday.

[BDAVEY]

Nothing to say all summed up well... SHIT
Took mate and trying to convert him to rugby and a member next year.......how do explain some the refs calls to a non rugby person.... when will the refs remember rugby is entertainment... last nite was not entertaining
Willie needs to go with Smith to France too

[SinBin]

I think JOC's brother was playing #13 for Cott yesterday.

Cough.. Wannaroo 39 v Cott 29 ..Cough.

[Ecky]

how do explain some the refs calls to a non rugby person

ok, I'll bite:

You need to understand the laws yourself to be able to explain the ref's calls

when will the refs remember rugby is entertainment... last nite was not entertaining

When will the viewing public remember that the refs don't actually make the laws; they just apply them to the game they officiate?

Perhaps if the players could comply with the laws while trying to be entertaining, the refs could just watch them play and just do re-starts?

Do you have any particular incidents that puzzled you? I'll be glad to assist where possible.

[shasta]

You need to understand the laws yourself to be able to explain the ref's calls

Perhaps if the players could comply with the laws while trying to be entertaining, the refs could just watch them play and just do re-starts?

Trust a ref to use logic al argument.

[Rex Messup]

ok, I'll bite:

You need to understand the laws yourself to be able to explain the ref's calls When will the viewing public remember that the refs don't actually make the laws; they just apply them to the game they officiate?

Perhaps if the players could comply with the laws while trying to be entertaining, the refs could just watch them play and just do re-starts?

Do you have any particular incidents that puzzled you? I'll be glad to assist where possible.

.........pedantic pea blowing was endemic last night. I think that if a ball has come to the back of a ruck and the game can play on, you could probably warn the transgressor on the run. Penalise if they have killed the ball or if they have slowed the ball down in an attacking situation but really????????? You could find a penalty in every farking breakdown if you want to. For the sake of the game could we let it flow where possible?

.........and, if the scrum collapses after the ball has been raked to the back of the scrum and the halfback has his hands on it......could we play on instead of repacking?

.......and tell me why each referee interprets the laws differently from the same book my 6 year old can read? The players have to have a session each week about how a particular referee interprets laws. Dave Pocock has to be counciled on each referees style as part of his match preparations.

.......and that's without watching the replay on tele. I'll get back to you

[zimeric]

three glaring mistakes i believe saw at the game last night.

David Smith - penalised for not releasing the ball in the tackle
My POV: he was never tackled, he fell over and then crawled through everyones legs. or is that playing the ball off your feet?

JOC - getting collared about a second after chipping the ball through
My POV:That was Late and most other refs wouldve seen it as such

AAC blocking Nathan Charles from chasing JOC's chip
My POV a blatant obstruction and decisive in not letting Charles get to the ball.

[GIGS20]

ok, I'll bite:

You need to understand the laws yourself to be able to explain the ref's calls When will the viewing public remember that the refs don't actually make the laws; they just apply them to the game they officiate?

Perhaps if the players could comply with the laws while trying to be entertaining, the refs could just watch them play and just do re-starts?

Do you have any particular incidents that puzzled you? I'll be glad to assist where possible.

Nothing specific, there was a bit of variation in the way he called stuff, but consistency on both sides, so no harm no foul......my biggest issue was the speed with which he stopped the game, I haven't watched the replay to hear what he was saying, but he seemed to give about three steps advantage for a penalty, or blow the whistle straight away......made it very stop start IMHO.

That being said, he might have seen stuff that I didn't which caused him to call it that way.

[GIGS20]

three glaring mistakes i believe saw at the game last night.

David Smith - penalised for not releasing the ball in the tackle
My POV: he was never tackled, he fell over and then crawled through everyones legs. or is that playing the ball off your feet?

I don't think there was any time where Smith's momentum was stopped, he certainly kept his legs (ok knees) pumping, but it's well worth disputing that he wasn't tackled, didn't stop, neither the ball or the elbow touched the ground and his legs were pumping the whole time.........but really, just a shit call made with no reference to either touchie, both of whom seemed to decide that their only job was identifying the place at which the ball crossed the touchline.

JOC - getting collared about a second after chipping the ball through
My POV:That was Late and most other refs wouldve seen it as such

That one was IMHO a judgement call, sure most at the ground appeared to think it was late, but he was letting a fair bit of physical play go at that point.....maybe he just thought he'd better stop blowing his whistle......shame he didn't continue with that!

AAC blocking Nathan Charles from chasing JOC's chip
My POV a blatant obstruction and decisive in not letting Charles get to the ball.

Yeah......that one was bullshit!