AUSTRALIAN TEAM OF THE WEEK - Week 4

[travelling_gerry]

AUSTRALIAN TEAM OF THE WEEK

Each week, Greg Growden and Rupert Guinness pick the form Australian Super 14 team.


15 Sam Norton-Knight (NSW) (3)
14 Lachie Turner (NSW) (1)
13 Rob Horne (NSW) (2)
12 Berrick Barnes (Qld) (2)
11 Peter Hynes(Qld) (2)
10 Quade Cooper (Qld) (3)
9 Luke Burgess (NSW) (1)
8 Leroy Houston(Qld) (2)
7 Phil Waugh (NSW) (2)
6 Ben Mowen (NSW) (1)
5 Dean Mumm (NSW) (2)
4 Hugh McMeniman(Qld) (2)
3 Al Baxter (NSW) (3)
2 Adam Freier (NSW) (1)
1 Benn Robinson (NSW) (3)

(Number of times selected in brackets). Player of the round: BENN ROBINSON. Front-rowers often get forgotten, but the Waratahs loosehead had an excellent game in all facets, capping it off with a try.


Try of the round: TIMANA TAHU. Not much to choose from, but the replacement centre was at the right spot at the right time to score.

[force addict]

so the ACT and WA don't exist? brilliant...

[PerthGirl]

Brumbies had a bye, Force played crap!

[palitu]

Brumbies had a bye, Force played crap!

i agree, however, if NSW was so much better that Qld, how come they didnt beat them by more? I didnt see the game, but i can see that so many more NSW players were better...

[AndyS]

Neither were great, but both were better than everyone in the Force. I honestly can't think of a single player that deserved a spot over the selected TOTW.

[benny]

dont know how Quade Cooper got in the team, more errors than what you could poke a stick at .... 5 out on the full kicks, gifted the W to the tahs.

[GIGS20]

did better than the #10 ....what's his name again?

[WF2006]

Neither were great, but both were better than everyone in the Force. I honestly can't think of a single player that deserved a spot over the selected TOTW.

I thought the only possible would have been Horua, but I didn't see how the other loosies that were picked played.

[GIGS20]

Workmanlike without being spectacular...but then I rated Horua's performance as pretty much that....backrow would've been a bugger to pick this week, for all the wrong reasons. I can imagine the conversations now..."so did Pocock suck more than Waugh or did Waugh suck more than Pocock?" "Well they both sucked pretty hard" "yeah they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked"

[lmaag]

Reds forwards were very ordinary, Hugh was alright, but his old man died a bit earlier in the day (I think), so that might have played on his mind a wee bit.

[tic]

Reds lineout was awful - but otherwise the Reds forwards went OK.

The tahs pack is nothing special - they talk a good game, that's about all.

Of course Phil Waugh would have you believe that they are pace-setters.

Phil Waugh is as stupid as he looks if he really believes his own b.s.

[tdevil]

Rugby365 Team of the week:

Team of the Week - Round Four:

15 - Isaia Toeava (Blues):
Playing in a losing team doesn't mean you had a bad game. Also, go have a look at his role in that late comeback. He is a class act.

14 - Lelia Masaga (Chiefs):
We have known about his qualities for some time and maybe he has not always been consistent, but boy oh boy, was he good last Friday.

13 - Adi Jacobs (Sharks):
He showed again at the weekend why Springbok coach Peter de Villiers preferred him ahead of Jaque Fourie even when the Lions' No.13 returned from injury last year. He is now, without doubt, South Africa's premier outside centre.

12 - Wynand Olivier (Bulls):
He had faced a barrage of criticism after he lost some form, post 2007 World Cup. However, Olivier has looked every bit the player that first burst onto the scene and he certainly had the better of exchanges with his more illustrious Springbok teammate Jean de Villiers.

11 - Hosea Gear (Hurricanes);
His blistering pace and great skills had the Cheetahs defence as sixes and sevens on Saturday. Another player that has done his reputation no harm and put his hand up for All Black selection, yet again.

10 - Stephen Donald (Chiefs):
It is the way in which he controlled the game that eventually won our vote - although there was strong competition from Matt Giteau and Morne Steyn.

9 - Fourie du Preez (Bulls):
Simply the best, no doubt about that!

8 - Pierre Spies (Bulls):
Yes, there was some debate, but in the end it was a unanimous decision.

7 - Phil Waugh (Waratahs):
So strong, so skillful and a good leader to boot.

6 - Duane Vermeulen (Stormers):
This was Rassie Erasmus' best buy in the off season and what a gem he is proving to be - big, strong and skillful. He matches the beefy Bulls 'punch-for-punch'.

5 - Jason Eaton (Hurricanes):
Just letting the All Black selectors know that he is still around.

4 - Bakkies Botha (Bulls):
His style may not be everybody's cup of tea and he may be as disliked in Cape Town as Luke Watson is in Pretoria, but Botha is one of the form locks in the Super 14.

3 - Jannie du Plessis (Sharks):
Who said South Africa lacked quality tighthead props? This man is playing out of his skin at the moment.

2 - Aled de Malmanche (Chiefs):
Although he can cover all three positions in the front row, he looks at his best at hooker - a brute of a man.

1 - Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks):
Forget the yellow card, that was just a culmination of his teammates' transgressions. He remains a beast ... in fact YThe Beast!

[Burgs]

Unfortunately didn't see a single match (yet) of this Round but find it amusing that the one Australian in the Rugby 365 selection is the one TWF are bagging out

[gotheforce]

I'm not complaing about the Australian TOTW. Fair enough, our force boys didnt prove they were great at all. Cummins and Pocock probably had decent games, but even then Hynes and Waugh played a little better than they did.