Round 9: Crusaders v Waratahs

[Dumbo]

Where's Wendy and Lote? Think they deserve to have their pay deducted for that performance... not going to read to much into this game... Rogers wasn't there (it be like the Crusaders losing and Carter wasn't playing).

 

[sanzar]

Originally posted by nik@Apr 8 2006, 11:03 AM
i thought the crusaders were back to their best in the first half....they were spinning the ball outwide as soon as they got the ball from the ruck...and it was great to watch..
i think in the 2nd half the crusaders sucked big time......must have been a lapse in concentration ...they were making too many silly mistakes...but they defended well...the tah's playd well in the 2nd half...but they never looked like scoring....

They lacked imagination that's for sure, but they didn't have Rogers and he is the only player they have that can really turn them into a powerful attacking team...

to me it seems the crusaders are stuck on 3rd gear atm in terms of attack and some of the skills they hav shown......im still waiting for their 5th gear performance
[/b]

I personally thought the Tahs were still in 3rd gear for a lot of the first half, and while they picked it up in the second, they still played very conservatively and didn't use all their attacking options... but they seem to do that a lot against the Crusaders, it's like they're afraid to chance their arm in the same way they would in other matches.

 

[esoj]

Originally posted by The TRUTH!!@Apr 7 2006, 10:33 PM
Waratahs were great IMO and deserved to win the game

Every time the Tahs had a try on, the Crusaders would lay all over the ruck and slow down the ball which gave the Tahs no chance to get the try.(and gave them a useless penalty)

Look at the penalty count ,the Tahs gave away only one penalty (which was absolute bullshit) and that resulted in 3 BS points for the Crusaders.Take those 3 points off the Crusaders score and the Tahs had heaps of chances to level the scores and even go infront.

I think this game proved that the Crusaders are the biggest cheats in the comp( at the breakdown) and the Tahs are the best team.(controversial!!!!!)

No Rogers!!, take Carter out of there team and see how well they would have done tonight.

a lot of those penalites that the tahs got were 50/50 at best and were proabbly on the back of the media hype imo.

I don't think the crusders were lying all over the ruck as the tahs were getting really quick ball still. I think the lack of a qaulity 10 really showed when the tahs were on attack.

rogers was a huge blow to the tahs they just don't play well without him. the match went as I predicited basically was a close game but crusaders still won. tahs never looked like wining it at all.

of course the game may have been different if carter wasn't there he is the best first five in the world so losing him would affect the team. I still think the crusaders proabbly would have won even without carter they were playing that well espeically in the first half.

one more thing macDonald is in awesome form a the moment and must be pushing hard for the abs fb spot. I personally don't rate macDoanld but man he is playing very well and has to be considered to be the no 1 fullback in nz at the moment.

aslo mauger impressed me at second five. he broke the line a lot and was good in support and I think should be the abs 12 without doubt.

 

[sanzar]

Originally posted by esoj@Apr 8 2006, 01:13 PM

rogers was a huge blow to the tahs they just don't play well without him. the match went as I predicited basically was a close game but crusaders still won. tahs never looked like wining it at all.

Oh? Maybe it's my bias as a NSW fan, but in that last 10 minutes of continuous pressure I thought we looked like winning on more than a couple of occasions... what you're saying is that they Tah's were never in the match by saying that, and there I have to disagree...

 

[Gay-Guy]

Originally posted by nik@Apr 8 2006, 12:03 PM
i thought the crusaders were back to their best in the first half....they were spinning the ball outwide as soon as they got the ball from the ruck...and it was great to watch..
i think in the 2nd half the crusaders sucked big time......must have been a lapse in concentration ...they were making too many silly mistakes...but they defended well...the tah's playd well in the 2nd half...but they never looked like scoring....

to me it seems the crusaders are stuck on 3rd gear atm in terms of attack and some of the skills they hav shown......im still waiting for their 5th gear performance

Totally agree.....first half the Crusaders had their game on.....

....however in the second half they changed their game plan....now their game on plan is when they mix all the aspects of rugby together at once......total rugby....in the second half they played bash rugby and gave the territory kicking the flick......this played into the the Tahs hands and they nearly stole the victory....

The Tahs showed they are a class outfit by not letting the Crusaders get away from them........

The Tahs sorely missed Rogers.....he is the make and break of the team regarding championship material.

The Crusaders defence has improved immensely lately......

The Crusaders showed the form of the past in the first half......slowly they will probably start to extend that form at every game to last longer than 40 minutes

Peter Hewat has improved majorly since last year

 

[Wally]

There goes the Waratah's chance and getting a crack at the final at Telstra Stadium. The Crusaders are all but minor premiers, though they deserve it. Have not seen the game yet but everything sounds encouraging. It's hard to look passed a Waratahs v Crusaders grand final in Christchurch at the moment. Unlike last year, with Rogers at flyhalf I think the Waratahs could be a huge chance this time around. But let's just see how these last rounds pan out.

 

[esoj]

Originally posted by sanzar+Apr 8 2006, 03:35 PM-->

<!--QuoteBegin-esoj

@Apr 8 2006, 01:13 PM

rogers was a huge blow to the tahs they just don't play well without him. the match went as I predicited basically was a close game but crusaders still won. tahs never looked like wining it at all.

Oh? Maybe it's my bias as a NSW fan, but in that last 10 minutes of continuous pressure I thought we looked like winning on more than a couple of occasions... what you're saying is that they Tah's were never in the match by saying that, and there I have to disagree... [/b]

they went largely no-where though. and defintely did not look like winning. the tahs were not out of it but I doubt they would have ever beaten the crusaders.

tahs badly need rogers or norton-knight to start I think. they just lack that creative spark on attack without one of these guys starting.

 

[Ripper]

During those last phases of attack in the dying moments the Waratah's resembled the English rugby team.

 

[nik]

Originally posted by Wally@Apr 8 2006, 07:04 PM
There goes the Waratah's chance and getting a crack at the final at Telstra Stadium. The Crusaders are all but minor premiers, though they deserve it. Have not seen the game yet but everything sounds encouraging. It's hard to look passed a Waratahs v Crusaders grand final in Christchurch at the moment. Unlike last year, with Rogers at flyhalf I think the Waratahs could be a huge chance this time around. But let's just see how these last rounds pan out.

dont forget the hurricanes...they played well against crusaders too....they scored a try from set piece without tana umaga and conrad smith playing...whilst the tah's scored a try from a lucky bounce...
so i guess its too early to say that it will be a crusaders vs waratahs final...
its testing times for the tah's for the next few weeks...they still have to play the brumbies, highlanders, hurricanes, and chiefs (from the top of my head)

 

[Dumbo]

Crusaders I thin will make the semis based on that I'm not that much of a retard and one plus one = two.

Tahs have a good chance, Canes will be there... Brumbies have a sniff and the Bulls... well we will see

 

[Gay-Guy]

The Brumbies are the Crusaders biggest threat for the ***le this year....not the Tahs.....

 

[Wally]

Originally posted by Gay-Guy@Apr 8 2006, 10:53 PM
The Brumbies are the Crusaders biggest threat for the ***le this year....not the Tahs.....

You think so? I just feel Canberra don't have the depth to challenge New South Wales as Australia's best franchise, nor the forward pack. We'll see what happens when Mat Rogers returns.

The Brumbies v Tahs game is defiantely shaping up to be another great interstate battle between the two sides. With any luck it will be a dry night in Sydney when they meet.

 

[Gay-Guy]

Originally posted by Wally+Apr 8 2006, 10:59 PM-->

<!--QuoteBegin-Gay-Guy

@Apr 8 2006, 10:53 PM
The Brumbies are the Crusaders biggest threat for the ***le this year....not the Tahs.....

You think so? I just feel Canberra don't have the depth to challenge New South Wales as Australia's best franchise, nor the forward pack. We'll see what happens when Mat Rogers returns.

The Brumbies v Tahs game is defiantely shaping up to be another great interstate battle between these sides. With any luck it will be a dry night in Sydney when the two sides meet. [/b]

Well the Brumbies may not be feared by you aussies.....but over here the Brumbies are feared more than any other overseas team.............can never underestimate them......

....the Tahs will always be like the Warriors........good, bad, close....but far...

 

[sanzar]

Originally posted by Gay-Guy+Apr 8 2006, 10:10 PM-->

Originally posted by Wally@Apr 8 2006, 10:59 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-Gay-Guy

@Apr 8 2006, 10:53 PM
The Brumbies are the Crusaders biggest threat for the ***le this year....not the Tahs.....

You think so? I just feel Canberra don't have the depth to challenge New South Wales as Australia's best franchise, nor the forward pack. We'll see what happens when Mat Rogers returns.

The Brumbies v Tahs game is defiantely shaping up to be another great interstate battle between these sides. With any luck it will be a dry night in Sydney when the two sides meet.

Well the Brumbies may not be feared by you aussies.....but over here the Brumbies are feared more than any other overseas team.............can never underestimate them......

....the Tahs will always be like the Warriors........good, bad, close....but far... [/b]

Nah... much more like St George really. The Warriors win by luck of the bounce most of the time I think and aren't really a unit, just a bunch of individuals out to prove something, whereas St George has all the talent and all the promise and play like a team, and look like they are going to fulfil at certain times every year, but always just fall short from the pressure or someone is just that much better than them. That's how the Tah's are at the moment, they have the talent and promise and are a well drilled unit and know how to win most games, but can't lift enough for the big challenges!
The Tah's used to be like the Warriors, but you can't really say that anymore with their consistency... look at St Geroge last year, that's the Tahs .

I gotta say though, I do see why the Brumbies hold fear for the Kiwi teams... For the Tahs they are the toughest local derby match, but they're an Aussie team and we have the kind of game to play them (especially with a bloke like McKenzie at the helm, who knows them better than most), but they have been the side most likely to overcome the odds against stronger looking kiwi teams for a few years now... I don't know what it is about when they play you guys, but it is different isn't it?

 

[Ripper]

The Brumbies always seem to blow against the Blues, at least recently.

We beat them this year, last year, lost in 2004, beat them twice in 2003 (I think we played them in the semis, and the only game we lost that year was against the Highlanders).

I fear the South African teams more, each year we miss out on the Semi Finals by one or two points because of a mid to late season choke job against the Saffa's.

 

[sanzar]

Originally posted by Ripper@Apr 9 2006, 12:11 PM
The Brumbies always seem to blow against the Blues, at least recently.

We beat them this year, last year, lost in 2004, beat them twice in 2003 (I think we played them in the semis, and the only game we lost that year was against the Highlanders).

I fear the South African teams more, each year we miss out on the Semi Finals by one or two points because of a mid to late season choke job against the Saffa's.

Weird... The Tah's and Brumbies don't really have much trouble with the saffa teams, especially this year. It's the kiwi teams later that can cause problems.

 

[Wally]