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just putting it out there... hodgo was very unlucky to come off to be replaced by benny mccalman, is RG afraid to replace pocock even if hes having a shocker?.....
pocock is a great player... but is a sh1t captain, so many times tonight he had the oppportunity to ask the referee for a 'please explain' but no he went back in the line to set up for defence. if it was sharpie he would of been over in the ear of the ref all day.
Even when the team is behind the goal line after the try's have been let him, no huddle or communication, everyone is left to themselves..
I wouldn't go that far by a long street, if only because we finally have someone who is prepared to attack the line every now and then. Watching the replay, you could see the utter confusion on the face of the Waratahs - they kept handing over penalties, but the Force didn't kick points. Worse, they wound up with someone in the bin and tries being scored...
It has always been axiomatic - give the Force a penalty and they'll take the points. Pity he wasn't game to challenge that notion against the Chiefs, instead taking the usual "stay in touch" option and trailing them all the way home without ever really threatening. Even bigger pity that his nerve eventually cracked in this match, or that he lacked the strategic awareness when the acid came on. In my opinion, it was lost around the 65th minute when that last penalty was taken. The 'Tahs already had one in the bin, had coughed up three penalties since, the ref was looking for a number so he could send someone else to join him, and there is a penalty 1m out right in front. The safe, textbook move was take the points. Strategically, it was take the tap and look for the try. With luck, the 'Tahs wind up trailing by five, with two in the bin for five minutes and missing the second for much of the last ten. Instead, two minutes later the Force are at halfway, back to trailing by two and kicking the ball to the opposition. All the pressure vanished and they never seriously challenged the line again. No killer instinct.
Good to see that you toned it down a bit from last night
Sitting next to AndyS I had the uncut version!
But we have to stop playing stupid rugby; every time we have the opposition beat we take our foot off their throats. When the Tah's scored 60 seconds into the 2nd half the boys could have let their heads drop, but they played themselves back into the game and took the lead. Then we took the easy points rather than keep the pressure on the Tahs and we let them came back into the game.
Last year wasn't it that we lead at the 70 minute mark in 2/3rd of the games? We've fought back from behind in games this season before snatching defeat from the jaws of victory (last night and in Melbourne both spring to mind).
I don't know if the cause is the coaches telling them to play to protect the lead or the players themselves thinking "job done" once they get their heads in front. But the buck stops with the coach and Graham has to sort this out; last night was shit.
It has taken seven years of elite Rugby for him to become the best Openside in world Rugby.
Give the lad a bloody chance, I am quite confident he didn't seak the position but you can be damn sure he will do the best he can and that he has the full respect of every player he leads out.
Six years of "brilliant" captaincy never lead us to greater heights.![]()
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
Yeah, give him time.
Some refs don't like chatty captains, and are more likely to listen when a captain who doesn't chatter has something to say - think Gregan vs Eales.
Its also up to the players who are penalised to give the captain their perspective on the penalty. With the scrum penalties, he had his arse up and head down, pushing his heart out - Mafu could easily have a chat explaining Benny Robinson was turning in and down after the engagement.
Robinson is a canny operator. He is so squat, that the way to get parity is to get underneath him. But in doing so, you're at greater risk of collapsing as a result of hingeing, especially if you are a big prop. The likes of John Smit have come unstuck at his hands.