Super 15: Highlanders - Western Force in Dunedin (03-06-2011, 8:35 GMT)

[TRF_RC]

Bets finalised. TNT88 is the only winner!

 

[Amobokoboko]

Great come back by the Force.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Oh, snap. Congrats, Force. Jeez, that pretty much puts paid to the Highlanders' splay-off hopes unless they manage to topple both Blues and 'Tahs which is a tough ask considering they lost to the Lions and Force these last two weeks. Something went terribly wrong somewhere along the line after the halfway mark. Possibly injuries and a lack of experienced depth.

 

[madflyhalf]

I feel sorry for Shepherd.
Since he debuted in S14 first season, he was a very solid player, great kicker and good finisher, I think he's quite similar to Chris Latham.
But he always has been very unlucky due to frequent injuries that interrupted his career in both WF and Wallabies jerseys.

I really hope he can put behind all these injuries and genuinely competing for a spot in Oz squad for RWC!

 

[nickdnz]

Holy hell David Smith was good in this game. I wouldn't mind the Canes getting him back after his trip to Toulon if he can consistantly be as good as he's been over the last few weeks.

 

[Darwin]

For the second week in a row the Highlanders have given a good exhibition of how to lose a game of rugby. It has been their trademark over the last 10 or so years, but I thought they had got that out of their systems this year, but clearly I was wrong! The number of tries the Highlanders blew was quite impressive (though the Nasi Manu try should have been awarded..); I had a feeling that those blown tries were going to cost us at the end. No disrespect intended to the Force; they themselves blew a number of chances at the end of the game (though did manage to take two off them), but in my opinion if the Highlanders had taken several of their try scoring chances the Force should have been well out of the game by then.

The Force loose-trio stood out for me. Pocock was strong at the rucks and took the ball up well, McCalman make a couple of telling runs, while Matt Hodgson was everywhere - he was the man of the match for me. He stole the ball for the Highlanders on several occasions, looked good with ball in hand, and made a number of vital tackles. Stannard was good again with the ball in hand at first-five, but his lack of distance on his punting was evident on several occasions. For the second week in a row David Smith was the most dangerous player on the park. He made a few errors, and I cringe whenever he kicks the ball, but he was electric on attack, and pulled of a great defense play to prevent Thomson for scoring.

Hard to think of many standouts for the Highlanders. Hoeata may be touted as a possible AB's bolter, but I think he's got a way to go. He slipped off a few tackles, and he often deliberately puts himself on the wrong side of the ruck, then complains when the ref (rightly) penalises him... Nasi Manu again impressed at number 8. His handling and tackling seem to have improved as the season has gone on, and he was also responsible for winning the Highlanders at least two penalties at the breakdown. Adam Thomson frustrated me again, particularly the try he completely blew. When you are 5m out for the line facing a small wing (David Smith) you simply drop shoulder and run over him (especially if the wing is a notoriously poor defender!). You do not run completely upright and allow yourself to be driven 10 meters sideways over the touchline! I seriously question whether Thomson's game (particularly his running style) is suited to test level; indeed if I was picking the AB's RWC squad he wouldn't make my team...

There were few standouts in the Highlanders backline. Cowan was solid, and I have no idea why Aaron Smith came on for the last 10 minutes. You would have thought that the Highlanders would have learnt from last week to kick the ball out, but it was a very poorly executed box kick from Aaron Smith that lead directly to David Smith's try. Ben Smith had another solid game; no big linebreaks this week, but he did put in some huge touch finders from fullback. He did miss a tackle on David Smith I would have expected him to make though.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

It is very sad to see that twice in a row, they have possession with the win in their grasp but they mess up again. The new shirt didn't really help. It's sad to know this was the last Super Rugby match at Carisbrook

 

[Shaggy]

It is very sad to see that twice in a row, they have possession with the win in their grasp but they mess up again. The new shirt didn't really help. It's sad to know this was the last Super Rugby match at Carisbrook