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Really pleasing to see the plan to run the bigger Rams forwards around come off. Some very slick offload work combined with some good direct running up the guts. Vui had a cracker as did Vasukicakau and Matuauto. Big effort by Scoble to last the 80mins. Good win by the boys!
Coaching genius?
Jono Lance in green and gold NRC team of the week. Special mentions to Ammon Matuato and Onehunga Havilli
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/nrc...m-of-the-week/
Who did the work at the Breakdown against the Rams?
Have finally managed to watch the game again on Fox On demand. Even more enjoyable the 2nd time.
This was an impressive win by the Perth Spirit who displayed everything needed to win against a good outfit - line speed, support, continuity, composure under pressure and numerous off loads.
Remember:
1. Early means 1st or 2nd of player’s team AFTER the ball carrier has been tackled and brought to ground.
2. Impact means active engagement: strong physical contact, changed shape of ruck, clean-out, protecting ball etc. (more than hand on someone’s bum or arriving after the hard work has been done). Yes it’s subjective - but as I collect all data at least it’s consistent.
3. Impact DOES NOT equate to Effectiveness. I’ve concluded that coming up with an effectiveness measure is just too hard in the time that I have available – but open to suggestions.
Ruck Involvements over Time
Comments:
1. Pleased to see Kane Koteka get a full game to show what he can do. Consistent involvement over the full 80 mins..
2. Very impressive 50 mins. by Hadleigh May who hit the ground running and had 20% of Defence Ruck Involvements.
3. Fantastic to see Front Rowers - Harry Scoble & Shambeckler Vui - who are capable of playing full games while still maintaining their level of input.
4. Laione Mulikihaamea was very involved at the breakdown and made his presence felt.
5. Brynard Stander put in a solid game.
6. Jono Lance shows all of his experience and keeps a cool head under pressure.
7. Enjoying the mix of the extended WForce squad members and club players getting chances to show their stuff at this level.
8. Eric Vasukicakau has genuine pace, but needs to keep further away from the side line and learn how to step off both feet. His willingness to get involved in rucks is impressive. He appears to be getting more confident taking high balls.
9. Good to see Billy Meakes making more runs.
10. Luke Morahan seemed very quiet but obviously hadn't been training with the Spirit squad
11. Michael Ruru is keeping Ryan Lourwens under sustained pressure for his starting spot. Hope Ian Prior gets a start next week.
12. Scrum performed well against some good opposition.
13. Kieran Stringer showing his reliability in both line-outs and breakdown.
14. Despite his size Onehunga Havili often seems reluctant to get involved at the breakdown.
15. Best Backs: Vasukicakau - 16 Total - 14 Attack/2 Defence; Meakes - 10 Total - 4A/6D.
Looking forward to next week's game at home - Qld Country.
The Rams No 5, Senio Toleafoa, who was Yellow Carded, has a strong tendency to tackled around the neck - penalised for one on Stander, made another on Koteka at 40 mins and again on Stander at 58 mins.. He shows plenty of potential but this misdirected aggression is a weakness in his game.
For those who may be interested, I collected some stats on Will Skelton's 59 minutes:
+ 9 Total Ruck Involvements - 5 Attack/4 Defence
+ 5/6 tackles (83%)
+ 6 carries for ~15m.
+ Mostly he was too slow to be where the ball was and generally was a late-arriving defensive pillar at the breakdown.
+ He was mostly positioned at the back of the lineout so he didn't have so far to run. Took 1 line out throw.
+ The speed of the NRC doesn't help his cause for selection into the Wallabies.
+ Unimpressive for a Wallaby, who has obviously lost weight, and has been part of the high intensity training regime since the end of SR2016.
Last edited by andrewg; 13-09-16 at 17:03.
Even more brilliant work than usual Andrew - thank you :-)))
Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby
Seeing as you blokes are doing same-old, same old, I will too.....with 4 rounds to go (+ finals), should they get Rona into the squad and give him some game time?
And while I'm at it; I hope they are still chasing Blake for 2018. He's on fire and will probably be offered an extension by Penriff before too long.