Waratahs v Force 13 March 2022

[DazloT]

The second half showed the team has the players and the mental attitude to be up there on the ladder.
What they do seem to be suffering from is a fear of crossing the try line! Credit has to goto the Tahs for their defence but why couldn’t we convert their territory to points in the last quarter and the other games?
They are certainly mixing up the attack when in the 22 so maybe it is just a lack of experience and not choosing the right combination or play to find the holes when under pressure from the defence? Hopefully time together will help that develop.

[chibi]

Let's hope the coach can turn this around and get us playing more like we did against the Chiefs last year

[shasta]

Attachment 5856



I don't think that we need to replace the Captain or the Coach. As the experts on the SOB Facebook page are saying.

There are quite a few reasons why I gave BookFace away years ago. That is an example of one. Too many fuckwits.

[GIGS20]

IMHO, yes, the Ref missed some penalties that we could have received, however I thought he was pretty consistent and communicated well, we don't have any excuses for this match. The Tahs scrum penalty did go the wrong way, but I read it as being the Tahs had gained dominance and started using that to milk penalties at will, including the one where we got pinged for pushing up despite moving forward and their entire front row popping out the top. the work for those lucky calls was completed well before they were given.

I'm mostly disappointed because we were building well, looking like everybody was on board and playing for each other, now two weeks in a row, we're all playing like individuals and it looks Rebels ugly. I'm concerned about the Drua next week, they've had time to get their shit together and we've had time to disintegrate.

Prior must start

Pasitoa needs to keep on plugging away and learn how to play when things aren't going well

Godwin isn't cutting it ATM, replace him with Kahui

Kuenzle played OK for a bloke who's just had 2 weeks off

Forwards need a sold slapping, they are better than the last 2 weeks showed

[Tazzmania]

I think we hit a bit of a speed bump, we were travelling fairly well and probably above expectations, and the lacklasture perfromance was dissapointing.

Factors to consider:
Waratahs are not the same team as last year, look a lot better
Too many players "hit the wall" i.e. had flat perfromances at the same time.
Second half does give a bit of a a more positive feel going forward.
We have played three away games and with the flying in and out for the Reds game, the team have not had much settled time at "home"
Thrush last played almost a year ago, will need time to find match legs.
The team is still relatively new to each other and still trying to gel.

Moving forward I think we are still on the right track. Coaching team, players etc are still the right mix and I believe by the end of the season we will look back proudly on what they are going to achieve this year.

[Tazzmania]

I think Tim sums it up in this piece in The West:

Western Force coach Tim Samson needs to give players a big shake-up after a disastrous first 60 minutes of Sunday’s 22-17 Super Rugby Pacific loss to the Waratahs.

A frustrated Sampson admitted they lacked enthusiasm and energy in the first hour when too much damage was done to let them back into the game.

They cannot afford a similar display on Saturday against Fijian Drua who came close to causing one of the great Super Rugby boilovers against the Queensland Reds, finally going down 33-28 after a massive fight-back.

The Force took an early seven-point lead at Leichhardt Oval but then leaked 22 unanswered points before the break.

They were the only side to score in the second-half, a second converted try and an after-the-siren penalty giving them a crucial losing bonus point to cling onto the eighth finals spot.

But the damage was already done and Sampson wasted no words after the defeat.

“Everyone has to take responsibility. It was a pretty average 60 minutes,” Sampson said.

“We misfired. We had no energy or enthusiasm.

“It was all our own doing, ill-discipline, set-piece, missed kicks to touch, not exiting our own half, simple execution and fundamentals let us down.

“When you get into a rut like we did you have to work your way out of it.

“In the last 15 minutes we played with the desperation that we should have played with the whole game.

“We have to stay tight, stay together and get ready for Fiji.”

After a lively start the Force took the lead with a Manasa Mataele try converted by Byron Ralston - but then it all went pear-shaped.

Waratahs flanker Charlie Gamble was on the end of a line-out rolling maul and Will Harrison kicked four penalties before finishing off a nice handling move in the corner as the Force struggled to get out of their own half.

Force reserve prop Harry Lloyd finally got over for a second try late in the game and Ian Prior’s conversion and late penalty closed the gap.

After going behind, the Waratahs stepped up at the breakdown, were effective in their counter-rucking.

They had options either side of the ruck and time and space allowed them to line up line bending attacks.

The penalty count hurt the Force.

They gave away eight in the first half and another seven after the break as they played catch-up rugby.

The Waratahs had an overwhelming 70 per cent possession in the first period and forced the visitors into twice as many tackles.

The Force copped a double scrum blow before the break with injured loosehead prop Tom Robertson replaced by Lloyd and then captain and hooker Feleti Kaitu’u sin-binned.

Western Force women almost caused a huge Super Rugby boilover in a bruising 31-14 loss to four-time Super W champions Waratahs.

They produced a mammoth defensive effort to hold the Waratahs to 14-14 for more than an hour.

But the Waratahs scored three late tries, two while the Force were reduced to 14 players, and the third coming after the siren.

[Kevin77]

I think we hit a bit of a speed bump, we were travelling fairly well and probably above expectations, and the lacklasture perfromance was dissapointing.

Factors to consider:
Waratahs are not the same team as last year, look a lot better
Too many players "hit the wall" i.e. had flat perfromances at the same time.
Second half does give a bit of a a more positive feel going forward.
We have played three away games and with the flying in and out for the Reds game, the team have not had much settled time at "home"
Thrush last played almost a year ago, will need time to find match legs.
The team is still relatively new to each other and still trying to gel.

Moving forward I think we are still on the right track. Coaching team, players etc are still the right mix and I believe by the end of the season we will look back proudly on what they are going to achieve this year.

I appreciate the optimism and god knows I need it after the last two weeks.

However I simply can't accept that 'the team is relatively new'.
That pack has been together for the best part of last season and now this season. Rodda is the only new addition (maybe an argument for Callan but he's been there).

Yes the backs are changed but half of them were there last season.

I completely get it's a new 9/10/12 but annoyingly they have all trained and played together at the Brumbies for the last few years.

I'm not losing the plot about all this but equally not really buying the 'they need time' excuses.

The Tahs are improved no doubt but they're still imminently beatable.
The defeat itself wasn't the thing that hurt so much, it was the manner (like last week against the Reds).

We just capitulated in the twenty minutes before half time.
It's like we lacked leadership and cool heads (we literally did when Kaitu'u got a yellow) and it cost us.

[The InnFORCEr]

We are severely lacking on field leadership and authority. No communication with the ref at critical times, no asking questions of the oppositions tactics, ask when the yellow is coming after the first few offences, don't wait for the ref to offer a warning, ask when it is coming, call out obvious non straight lineout throws it they are not calling them....so frustrating to see very little of this happening which only leads to the opposition continuing their ways unabated.

[chiraag]

One thing that is really frustrating me this year is our kicking for touch from penalties. There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason about it, and there's been very few times this year when we've kicked for touch, and I've thought we'd got as much territory as we should have. We need a couple of guys putting in a lot of hours at training just on this skill alone, as it is one of the easiest ways to gain metres in a game of rugby and we aren't getting much pay from it at all.

This week we had Kuenzle kicking for touch, which was good because he has a decent boot on him. But once he missed one, McIntyre took over. Surely if you've decided Kuenzle is your best kick for touch, you persist with him for longer. Not that he'd been doing an amazing job up until then - was very conservative on most kicks, not gaining too many metres.

Last week we used Kahui and Pasitoa in somewhat of an opposite of what I would've thought their strengths are from memory. Pasitoa has a bigger boot but sprays it more often, whereas Kahui is shorter but more accurate. However Kahui was used from the backfield and Pasitoa from the front.

Would be nice to have an approach to this more similar to the Brumbies, where Banks is used where possible and I'd imagine puts a reasonable amount of time at training into it.

[Kevin77]

One thing that is really frustrating me this year is our kicking for touch from penalties. There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason about it, and there's been very few times this year when we've kicked for touch, and I've thought we'd got as much territory as we should have. We need a couple of guys putting in a lot of hours at training just on this skill alone, as it is one of the easiest ways to gain metres in a game of rugby and we aren't getting much pay from it at all.

This week we had Kuenzle kicking for touch, which was good because he has a decent boot on him. But once he missed one, McIntyre took over. Surely if you've decided Kuenzle is your best kick for touch, you persist with him for longer. Not that he'd been doing an amazing job up until then - was very conservative on most kicks, not gaining too many metres.

Last week we used Kahui and Pasitoa in somewhat of an opposite of what I would've thought their strengths are from memory. Pasitoa has a bigger boot but sprays it more often, whereas Kahui is shorter but more accurate. However Kahui was used from the backfield and Pasitoa from the front.

Would be nice to have an approach to this more similar to the Brumbies, where Banks is used where possible and I'd imagine puts a reasonable amount of time at training into it.

Couldn't agree more.

Kuenzel appears to have decent boot but was afraid to use it.

It's something that's killed us the last couple of years as McIntyre seems to have a very average kick from hand, Miotti was better but still not great.

I also watch a lot of Northern Hemisphere rugby and it's so frustrating to see all of their kickers (even the back up at provincial level) can get good distance and accuracy from penalties to touch.

A penalty in their half should be easy for a top class kicker to put well into the 22 from the hands

[Alison]

Think I saw on social media that McIntyre is leaving for Perpignan at the end of the SR season. Signed with them for 3 seasons I think.

https://www.lefigaro.fr/sports/rugby...ntyre-20220308

[GIGS20]

I'm not losing the plot about all this but equally not really buying the 'they need time' excuses.

I think 35 minutes of fumbleball suggests that, yes, they actually do need time.

They might be less deserving of time than they were a year ago, but they do clearly need time to sort stuff out.

My biggest disappointment has been the decline in our pack with relatively few changes, I mean swap Callan for Koteka and bring Stander on, shifting Lee-Warner into Thrush's spot and you have the same 8 blokes that started well against the Brumbies and improved for the Rebels, all of a sudden they're playing like they've never met and taking lazy options. I hope the problem can be identified soon, because it's objectively bad

[Alison]

And now I see that Byron Ralston has signed for Connaught in Ireland from next season.

So tough for the Force coaches to get anything going when the franchise is unable to hang onto players for long enough. A fact of life, I know, in the professional era when there is so much more money on offer in Europe than in Australia, especially when RA is considering changing the Giteau rule for Wallaby eligibility.

So disheartening.

[chiraag]

Wow, that is very disappointing to lose Ralston. Unlucky last year and has been stuck behind Pulu and Mataele so far this year.
He could've been a future wallaby with the potential we've seen, but I guess the path to making the Irish team is easier based on what's happened with Mack Hansen

[.X.]

I think 35 minutes of fumbleball suggests that, yes, they actually do need time.

They might be less deserving of time than they were a year ago, but they do clearly need time to sort stuff out.

My biggest disappointment has been the decline in our pack with relatively few changes, I mean swap Callan for Koteka and bring Stander on, shifting Lee-Warner into Thrush's spot and you have the same 8 blokes that started well against the Brumbies and improved for the Rebels, all of a sudden they're playing like they've never met and taking lazy options. I hope the problem can be identified soon because it's objectively bad

I don't think Ollie Callan had that bad a game. Maybe it looks worse because his opposite number - had a fricken blinder of a game. And possibly the best mustache in the history of Rugby.

Sorry, his name escapes me - but he will be headed back to Shute Shield as soon as Hooper decides he is ready to come back to the Tahs.