SUPER 14 ROUND 12

And From Sunday 04/05/2008

Who would have picked it,  well I guess some would have,  the Force getting up over a red hot Chiefs,  well Red hot for the last 5 weeks anyway,  and the Waratahs,  my new best friends getting knocked over in the Republic.  Haven't see the Waratahs game yet,  and may not get to,  but the Force game had something of everything in it,  great attack,  great defence,  stupidity,  you name it,  it was there.  Of course it included the spectacular run on debut of diminutive 2007 Schoolboy,  James "Rabbit" O'Connor.  The kid just keeps stepping up,  and his match bonuses will soon add up to more than his first year contract amount,  but bet his next contract is somewhat inflated over the first one.  Will O'Connor and Horne be the names on everyone's lips as the stunning centre partnership that Horan/Little once was.  Time will tell.

ADDED SATURDAY 03/05/2008

Friday 02/05/2008.  Tough week of Super 14 tipping.  The weekend kicks off today with the Crusaders taking on the Sharks.  A tough one that could go either way,  I'll tip the Crusaders by a whisker,  the end of a pretty rough road trip for the Sharks,  but won't be surprised if the Sharks get up.  A couple of hours later at Suncorp,  I'm going to be outrageous and tip the Reds.  Anything could happen,  and maybe I want the Reds to win more than them actually being able to,  but the Blues have not exactly been displaying stellar form of late either.  The Force and the Chiefs,  these Chiefs have become irresistible to watch,  scintillating,  will go with them over the Force.  I note  James O'Connor is starting at 12.  I got a phone call last Sunday and the caller said "want a real scoop,  James O'Connor will start next week,  but you can't write it".  Anyway,  good luck tot he kid,  hope he goes OK.  Chiefs (woops,  that would actually be the Cheetahs,  3am a tough time to be 100% accurate) to get the Highlanders in Africa.  Hurricanes vs Lions could be another close affair,  I'll tip the Hurricanes,  the Waratahs should roll over the Bulls and the Stormers should get the Brumbies over there in Africa.

Game one went sort of as expected,  wasn't it nice to have Murray Mexted back in the chair,  and he warmed us up with some classic Mexted comments,  the best I think being "they'll have to get in front if they want to win".  Murray is priceless and can make a boring game worth watching.  Have definitely missed Murray over the last couple of weeks.

Of course the game was hampered by rain,  and hail,  and freezing conditions,  which when combined can make rugby a difficult game to play.  However the Crusaders got another one and the Sharks could be in some trouble going forward,  although have a couple of games on home soil now,   it has been a massive road trip for them.

Those Reds,  almost got there.  Fatigue was evident in some poor handling and decisions in the last 20 minutes.  That's to be expected,  young guys playing a few levels above where they may have expected to at this time in their lives.  Quade Cooper does drop right off his game when physical and mental fatigue set in.

It was a strange game,  Auckland's running guns in Mealamu and Tutivake were kept pretty quiet,  or were quiet all night.  Leroy Houston is continuing his development nicely,  and while admittedly I was against his signing,  he is looking more and more like Toutai Kefu every outing.  Some of his running and offloading last night was very potent.  Coupled with Horwill,  Qld have two very potent running forwards,  probably just need two more in that vain.

Couple of refereeing decisions of interest in that match last night.  Van Humphries try.  I don't think we are playing the ELV version of the Law that allows a football to be handled in the ruck,  so for mine that was picking the ball up in the ruck,  penalty Blue.  I must be wrong,  it wasn't mentioned by anyone,  Auckland didn't complain,  but that's the way I saw it.  Van Humphries was clearly bound and ensconced in the ruck when he picked the ball up and reached over the line.  I am also not sure as to where the adjudication of the Television Match Official stops and starts.

I might have to have a look at this one again,  but late in the game when Shifcoske spilt the pill,  it may have initially gone backwards,  but the next Reds player picked the ball up in front of Shifcoske,  ie in an offside position.  Now what I would be looking for in a second look is was there an impact on Shifcoske that took him backwards off the spot.

The other one was the very poor decision by the Assistant Referee Mr Geoff Acton,  with that late shoulder charge call on Luafutu,  guys there is no way you can pull out of an action within a step,  and things like that can change the course of a game.

Resigning Peter Hynes was certainly a good thing,  I don't think we will miss Cordingley,  as good as he is,  Lucas is going OK and the kiddie to watch for is Mark Swanepoel,  still at school,  but a big strong halfback that is aggressive and with a good pass.  Who would know also if Brent Hamlin may want to return home,  and Keiran Landers is out there playing league somewhere in North Queensland.  I don't think I have seen many tougher than Landers,  and he fought his way back into that Aussie Schools side of that year,  came back early from a terrible broken jaw,  and forced Josh Holmes out of the starting side.  He might be enjoying his league,  but personally I think he is wasted a little in the 13 man code.

I think though that we all should be feeling pretty positive about the way the Reds have developed in season 2008 under Mooney,  Bell and Emtage.  There is a bit of grit and determination there,  looks OK for the future.

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