Super Rugby Game Review: NSW Waratahs vs Melbourne Rebels 2nd March 2012
Posted: March 3, 2012 Filed under: Rugby | Tags: adam byrnes, dave dennis, eye gouge, game review, kepu, polota-nau, rebels, super rugby, tom carter, waratahs Comments OffCoverage Viewed:
Fox Sports Live
Commentators:
Greg Clark, Tim Horan, Rod Kafer
Commentating Highlight:
Nothing outstanding for this game, apart from Tim Horan assuming Paddy Ryan celebrates St Patrick’s Day.
Now Onto The Game:
Referee:
Bryce Lawrence
Referee Performance:
Surprisingly good. All penalties were fair (even the penalty try and sin bin to Polota-Nau IMO) and he handled the spiteful play well, especially the sideline brawl and complaints of eye gouging. My only complaint would be his calls at scrum time. It’s not just Bryce Lawrence though, it’s for all refs. They just have to speed up the scrum calls. There’s no need to pause before you say pause. That’s the point of the ‘pause’ step. Pausing, then saying pause, makes a double pause. That leads to problems for the props and slows the whole process down.
Score Breakdown:
Rebels 19 Waratahs 35
Scorers:
Rebels
Tries – Penalty try
Pen – J O’Connor 4
Conv – J O’Connor 1
Waratahs
Tries – Carter 2, Kepu 1, Foley 1
Pen – Foley 1, Halangahu 3
Conv – Halangahu 3
Random Observations:
AAMI Park in Melbourne is just a beautiful looking football stadium. I haven’t had the pleasure of watching a game there yet but I’m looking forward to getting down there one day.
Their choice of opening song for the players as they run onto the field is interesting – Do You Hear The People Sing from Les Mis. If they love Les Mis so much I’d prefer they used Master of the House. Now that would be abstract.
When the Waratahs and Rebels play now they compete for the Weary Dunlop Shield. Weary not only invented tyres (lies), he was also the 1st Victorian inducted into the Wallabies Hall of Fame.
Game Highlights:
The Waratahs were just too good for the Rebels again. They ran well with the ball and played with lots of confidence. As a result they ran over 4 tries for the bonus point win.
Tom Carter scored 2 tries in the 1st half and proved himself to be quite the agitator. The Rebels complained about him constantly early on. With agitating and scoring skills like that he could be the Waratahs version of Brad Marchand.
Both teams displayed a willingness to keep hold of the ball and run with it and for me, after watching the Brumbies/Force game last week, this was great to watch. The Rebels just couldn’t keep the play going phase after phase, either knocking it on her letting the Waratahs slow things down for them at the breakdown.
Sekope Kepu played his 34th Super Rugby game and scored his 1st ever try. He got the ball 15m out and busted through 2 tackles to storm over the line. I love seeing the big guys score tries.
The game was spiteful throughout but things were possibly at their ugliest after the second Waratahs try. Carter scored the try and immediately complained to the referee about an eye gouge. Bryce Lawrence placed the incident on report and Rebels lock Adam Byrnes has since been cited for the incident. Punch and shove and call each other names but never, ever gouge someone’s eye. That’s just not on.
Waratahs hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau was sinbinned in the second half for his work in the maul that led to the Rebels penalty try. With Polota-Nau off the field, flanker Dave Dennis had to take a throw in and it was the flattest, most crooked thing imaginable. He’ll never complain about his hooker’s throws again.
