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Tahu's debut from hell
September 01, 2008
TIMANA Tahu was shattered by his nightmare run-on debut for Australia, but he's also itching for a square-up after experiencing South African gloating.
Former NRL star Tahu started in a rugby Test for the first time and learned what it was all about in the worst possible way as Australia crashed to their biggest ever defeat, 53-8 to an unstoppable Springboks outfit at Johannesburg's Ellis Park.
Tahu took over from the injured Berrick Barnes at inside centre having played just 23 minutes of Test rugby before Saturday.
"I've had a few (heavy defeats) in my career and it's just not the best thing in my debut in the starting side...you get given a chance to prove yourself and it's just shattering," said Tahu.
"I was looking for a rope to hang myself.
"South Africa just played out of their skin.
"The first five minutes everything was going well but after that it just felt like we were running backwards all the time.
"It was probably one of those games where you just want to wake up and just think this is a bad dream."
If the nightmare wasn't bad enough, Tahu also had to swallow the Boks' celebrations.
"South Africans sure know how to rub it in and I think that's what made it feel worse," he said.
"The crowd and listening to them after the game, you can hear people cheering and carrying on and it makes you angry, it makes you really angry, it makes you want to play them again next week or tomorrow and try and see if you can square things up."
Australia arrived in Johannesburg confident they were in with a real chance of ending their awful run on the highveld after a breakthrough win in Durban and with the Springboks seemingly in disarray under eccentric new coach Peter de Villiers.
Tahu may have arrived at Ellis Park without any "baggage", but there's no doubt he will have left with some.
"It's really hard to get into the stadium, the traffic, the crowd," he said.
"It takes you about half an hour, 40 minutes squeezing through the traffic and then you're getting into the stadium and there's a rowdy crowd. But it was a good experience."
Tahu's ability to read the play at inside centre was always going to be a key factor in Australia's performance and the Boks had no hesitation in aiming plenty of traffic at the Wallabies midfield.
"I felt comfortable, I felt my defence is probably one of my strengths but there's probably just a few little technical things," he said.
"I missed one tackle there which cost us a try, for me personally that was probably the down point of my game but I thought I was doing everything right."
He said he had no real opportunity to get going in attack.
"I was disappointed with my game, very disappointed ... I've got to learn from it," he said.
"It felt like as a backline we didn't really get enough opportunities to prove ourselves, there were bits and pieces, we did make a few little breaks here and there but overall in the whole game it was just a battle uphill.
"They got the first three tries and then it was a battle just to keep on going.
"Games like this you live it, you learn from it and then you've got to move on.
"At the moment it's hard but I think this is only going to make us stronger and make us more determined when we play (New Zealand) in Brisbane."
AAP
"Remember lads, rugby is a team game; all 14 of you make sure you pass the ball to Giteau."
Gotta feel for him - an unwise decision
61 years between Grand SlamsWas the wait worth it - Ya betta baby
To be honest, this aspect of the match worried me least - Tahu is a talented player that needed some air let out of his tyres. There is still a lot he needs to learn and hopefully he will recognise that and not listen to all the morons looking for a new messiah. He could be a very good player, but he won't get it without earning it.
once he gets into it and gets a better grip when he tackles then he could become a regular bench/start position
Be There. Be Heard. Be The Force Behind The Force
My reckoning is that this was perhaps (for his development atleast) the right game for him. It was good opportunity for him to experience top flight rugby on foreign soil against a top rated side and infront of a very vocal local crowd.
It was meant to be good opportunity for Deans to assess Tahu's development, however, I'm sure Deans didn't expect a flogging (though he would have undoubtably expected a close result going either way) and because it was a flogging and an all-round piss-weak Wallaby performance, it makes it tougher to work out his contribution (to the loss).
I think this confirms a lot of what I've been saying about Tahu all year, he's just not ready for international, top-flight rugby just yet. He has stacks of potential but still looks lost on the field when things get busy. He'll be the better for this, and it was wise of Deansey to use the dead rubber in this way. He knows why he's on the bench now, and he'll do the work he needs to do to address that. The same (I think) goes for most of the bench sitters who got a run on Saturday, as well as some of our lazier players.
I have to say, this is not as devastating a loss as it might seem. We need to lift against the AllBlacks and that is more likely now that we've had a significant spnking. We need fresh legs, and guys like Sharpie will be baying for blood after sitting out such a game. This could easily be turned into a positive when we put our A team on the pitch again.
Any Injuries?
C'mon the![]()
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A whole season of inside centre at the tahs will fix his defensive play and he'll be the player everyone expects him to be.
Fingers crossed, because he shows heaps going forward.
only good thing is that his debut was this game rather than the all blacks one.
with time he will be so essential to the wallabies. but not yet..
turner has a simmilar debut and hasnt been seen since...
A kick in this game is like a rather nasty alcoholic shooter, only as good as it's chaser...
Courtesy of quality South African commentry
In the long term, for his sake a game like this could be a blessing.. Tahu is used to a world where he is the best if not one of the best players in his position.
Now after a performance and game like that, hopefully he will realise its not so easy and he has a lot of hard work ahead of him, sometimes players after a performance like that wilter and never can make it back, but i really respect tahu as a player and i think he will bounce back and be a better player for it... in the long term.
That's the key. Really it was almost an impossible ask for him to protect that channel in his run on debut against the wounded Springbucks in that frame of mind. Bearing in mind how much game time he's had at 12 or anywhere for that matter. Pretty sure Robbie Deans was aware of that too. Hopfully he'll be good from the bench the rest of this year and get a full S14 in next year plus another two before the main event.
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
Don't misinterpret what I've been saying, he's not READY, it's not that he doesn't have potential, but he just hasn't had the time to get used to the difference of the game. I mean bludging behind bigger blokes ten metres behind the ball is a classic way of catching your breath in league but it only makes yawning gaps in union.
Give him a year or so and he'll be smicko!
C'mon the![]()
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One tackle! I had two if not 3 that led to tries! It was a horror show - what game was he thinking of?"I felt comfortable, I felt my defence is probably one of my strengths but there's probably just a few little technical things," he said.
"I missed one tackle there which cost us a try, for me personally that was probably the down point of my game but I thought I was doing everything right."