Giteau sends Deans a timely reminder
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Randwick 21 Norths 13
MATT GITEAU was not where he wanted to be yesterday, fighting for the Bledisloe Cup against New Zealand in Auckland, but he made a statement at Coogee Oval by guiding Randwick to victory over Northern Suburbs in the Shute Shield.
Not wanted by Wallabies coach Robbie Deans, Giteau played club rugby in Brisbane last weekend but switched to Sydney yesterday to get a better level of competition as he strives to make the World Cup squad.
Running the show .. Matt Giteau in action for Randwick.
''It was great, the club kind of feel, the crowd get into you … and I think it's just good to try things you probably wouldn't get much of an opportunity to try normally so I had some fun out there,'' Giteau said.
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''It's tough, it's almost touch football a little bit. It's very physical but the game's end to end … there's not too many restrictions, you have a game plan but it's not super-strict so within that you've got a bit of free rein to try a few things. That's what I enjoyed.
''I haven't been told to play any football, it's more just [off] my own bat … I've been training a lot with the guys and not playing some football so there was no instruction to come back and play.''
Giteau came off the bench in the 20th minute for Finau Makamaka, at the same time No. 8 Al McFarland was sin-binned for a professional foul. He marked his presence immediately, using strong defensive skills to help Randwick get the ball out of their own half when Norths were dominating possession.
In attack, Giteau remained poised under pressure and had all the time in the world to make decisions with ball-in-hand. He played with confidence and, while his acceleration, speed and agility were notable, in the first half it was tough for the Randwick back line to be familiar with his timing and execution.
Not only did Giteau prove his class, he made good efforts to combine and communicate with Randwick teammates. Like seagulls to a chip, Norths swamped the high-profile ''recruit'', who often had to fight off two or three tacklers.
For Norths, forward Al Baxter led the defensive charge, and they broke the Randwick defence to score with 10 minutes to go. But in the final minute it was all Giteau again, as he set up Ford for his second try.
Randwick are scheduled to play top teams including Sydney Uni and Southern Districts, stacked with rep players, in the coming weeks, which bodes well for Giteau before the World Cup squad announcement on August 18.
Manly thrashed Penrith 85-7, Sydney University downed Southern Districts 52-20, Easts registered a 47-15 win over Parramatta, Warringah beat West Harbour 44-17 and Eastwood trounced Gordon 61-5.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...806-1igke.html
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Originally Posted by theorceguy
