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Written Saturday 14/04/2007 |
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WEEK 11 SUPER 14
Last evening, Friday 13/04/2007 saw the Cheetahs get rolled by the Hurricanes in windy old Wellington, in a match that was fairly mistake riddled, and oh those scrums, are they ever a joke. However, I slept through a fair bit of the game, but one thing was of interest, well a couple actually. I thought the ref, Paul Marks was ordinary, his positioning of himself during alot of the play was very, very bad. However, two calls he got right, that the commentators, one of them ex All black Stu Wilson were dumbfounded about, which makes it easy to see why Joe Average trying to understand the game cannot. The first, a steal by Jerry Collins, Collins made the tackle, regained his feet and got the ball to about shin height before being challenged by the opposition, no ruck, ball is not on the ground, no maul, not enough people involved, and the ball was gotten off the ground before it became a ruck contest (two players, one from each side, in contest over the ball on the ground), ball squirted out, ref called play on, correct call. The second, a penalty against the Hurricanes, for seemingly a similar incident. Conrad Smith was over the tackled player immediately attempting to get the ball. Also immediately a Cheetahs player was over the ball in contact with Smith, ball had not even been allowed to be released (which was what the penalty should have been for.) but in any case we had two players over the ball, constituting a ruck if you want to go down the hands in a ruck road. Essentially the referee was right in penalizing Conrad Smith, not sure if he got the call right, two laws there, you must allow or give time for the tackled player to release the ball and you cannot handle the ball in a ruck. We had both there, so the penalty went to the correct side. Just a note on the Cheetahs, there cleanout work was very sloppy and ineffective, too high at contact and just slipping up and over the strong body position of the Hurricane players. Compare it to the Brumbies cleanout from last week, getting in lower than the lowest point of the "jackal" and lifting and shifting them very effectively. What can you say about the weekend's rugby, all pretty one sided stuff. Thr Force really took a hammering this week getting 62 amassed against them. Not sure what you can say, but some of these blokes need to learn the simple stuff, like hang on to the footy at all costs in contact. Some nice tries scored by the Chiefs in this flogging. The Force for mine with the Brumbies, the Cheetahs and the Blues to play are gone Then we saw the Crusaders show us that you can smash their scrum, you can dominate their territory and you can dominate possession of the football, but such a classy side are they, even on a day when their mistake rate was higher than normal, they will still give you a fierce touch up. When they visit your inzone, they often take away points. The positive for the Hurricanes was that scrum, Carl Hayman in particular was pretty scary at tight head, in a take no prisoners mood. Scrums were pretty good too, most stayed up well. Other than that, the Crusaders catch, pass and support better than any team in the competition. If anyone can stop them from winning their 7th title, well I don't know if anyone can, they are now firmly at the top of the table. The Sharks vs the Blues, well I got the indiscipline part right, and with a little bit of rain over there in Blue Auckland, the game became a tactical battle, and the Blues could not compete. The Sharks were smarter, and much more stifling and suffocating in their defence than the Blues could cope with. Just before the rain, the game was travelling at a million miles an hour, and I thought we might have been in for the entertainment match of the century, but it became a tactical battle for the purist as the rain changed conditions a little. The niggle was great, something the game misses, you just wish that someone would actually let a couple of decent punches go rather than this throat grabbing, pushing thing they do now, in fear of their earnings and contractual value. Aren't commentators precious at times, one said there last night that the Blues poor discipline was uncharacteristic, well most of we casual observers would see it differently. The Blues should have started with those All Blacks, but even that may not have been enough, Williams did make a difference lineout time and Mealamu picked up the close running game, but the Sharks defence will be something those meeting them from here forward will have to deal with. The Reds and the Waratahs, hard to remain positive actually, they looked like two teams of under 11's I used to coach. I think the worst game I may have ever seen, terrible really. As the Crusaders worked themselves in to first position, the Reds have planted themselves firmly in last. Not sure what happened to their driving play they started with early in the season, not sure what happened to anything they were trying to do. NSW were obviously a trifle better, but not too much in reality. It was a yawnfest and I am sorry I wasted a dollar committing it to DVD's. Never have I been so happy for a game to end, very, very forgettable. The ref, well event though the game was terrible, where did they find this guy Kelvin Deaker, no wonder he has been assigned not too many games in season 2007, and Brett Bowden on the touchlines, a disgrace. Marto's comment when Lachlan Turner was clearly in touch and Bowden missed in response to a Kearn"s question, "over the line, he was nearly over the fence, what are we paying touch judges for" was quite apt. Scrums were a disgrace again. Of course to finish with the Bulls handed out a heavy defeat to the Lions over there in Africa in the middle of the night. Now a quick look through the rest of the tournament, and I see the sides finishing in this order and on this many points, roughly:
There are a few combinations in there that can change that outlook, but that is my guess, with Aussie sides looking like finishing far adrift form the main pack. I can't see the Reds winning again this season. I think I tipped a 100% round in round 11. |
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I Missed 100% of the Shots I Didn't Take, Michael Jordan. Copyright 15manrugby.com, 2007. |
