[2018 Super Rugby] Round 2: Rebels vs. Reds (23/02/2018)

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: AAMI Park
Time: 10:45 CAT (SA, GMT+2)
​

Teams

Rebels: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Jack Maddocks, 13 Tom English, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Sefa Naivalu, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Will Genia, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Angus Cottrell, 6 Lopeti Timani, 5 Adam Coleman (captain), 4 Matt Philip, 3 Jermaine Ainsley, 2 Jordan Uelese, 1 Tetera Faulkner

Substitutes: 16 Anaru Rangi, 17 Fereti Sa'aga, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Sam Jeffries, 20 Ross Haylett-Petty, 21 Michael Ruru, 22 Semisi Tupou, 23 Billy Meakes

Reds: 15 Aidan Toua, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Duncan Paia'aua, 11 Eto Nabuli, 10 Jono Lance, 9 James Tuttle, 8 Scott Higginbotham (captain), 7 Adam Korczyk, 6 Caleb Timu, 5 Lukhan Tui, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 James Slipper

Substitutes: 16 Alex Mafi, 17 JP Smith, 18 Sef Fa'agase, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Liam Wright, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Hamish Stewart, 23 Filipo Daugunu

 

[Zero]

How good are the Rebels this season?

 

[SomeOke]

How good are the Rebels this season?

On paper they should be a lot better possibly? (Brumbies more settled and Tahs have more quality) the best team in Australia, and Dave Wessels was the most promising coach last year in Aus so who knows. The team looks pretty heat:
1. Props?
2. Jordan Uelese
3. Props?
4. Adam Coleman
5. Matt Phillips / Geoff Pariling
6. Colby Fa'inga
7. Lopeti Timani
8. Amanaki Mafi
9. Genia
10. Jack Debrezeni
11. Marika Koirebete
12. Reece Hodge
13. Tom English/Billy Meekes
14. Sefa Naivalu
15. Dane Haylett-Petty

Thats a pretty good starting 15, although writing it down now I do see a few holes, and potential issues.
I suspect they will be decent contenders in the Aussie conference but probably miss out on a play-off spot, or at best get knocked out in the quarter finals.


I suspect they will beat the Reds this weekend who I have little hope for (although Queensland country did win the NRC, for whatever that is worth). In fact I'd go so far to say this weekend is a must win, it shouldn't get much easier than the Reds at home.

 

[Zero]

That is a good team, what happened to McMahon? I really like Mafi, Timani, Hodge and Haylett-Petty.

I think the competition looks a lot better a tighter this season.

 

[SomeOke]

Not sure what happened to McMahon, whether he is injured, overseas or even retired, but he doesn't seem to be around for now.
Mafi is a beast and the rebels backline in general is dangerous in basically every position except 10, they could be very good indeed.

 

[Zero]

I just did a quick google, it appears he took a contract in Japan I think, there isn't much information about it. Definitely a huge loss for the Rebels and Australian rugby.

 

[Gena_ZA]

Yup he is playing in Japan at present, Rebels should be a much improved side this year

 

[Brigantine]

Suntory Sungoliath apparently, the 2017-18 Japanese champions - the team in line to get the next Japanese SR franchise. (though it won't happen any time soon)

 

[Gena_ZA]

My money is on the Rebels to take this game by some distance

 

[ratsapprentice]

Strong. STRONG Mullet from Higginbotham.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Final score a bit misleading imo. Entertainig to watch due to the score but technically poor game.
Rebels threw a LOT of chances and were even outplayed a few times with 13 vs 15. Tons of unforced errora from both.

 

[Hound]

Been watching a lot of Northern Hemisphere rugby in the off season.

That Higgers red card was not consistent with how I've been seeing called in the past 4 or 5 months...

 

[Hound]

Final score a bit misleading imo. Entertainig to watch due to the score but technically poor game.
Rebels threw a LOT of chances and were even outplayed a few times with 13 vs 15. Tons of unforced errora from both.

Yeah, Rebels twice gave up the lead when they had the Reds shorthanded. Once when it was 13 vs 15 as well.

 

[SomeOke]

Final score a bit misleading imo. Entertainig to watch due to the score but technically poor game.
Rebels threw a LOT of chances and were even outplayed a few times with 13 vs 15. Tons of unforced errora from both.

Very scrappy game, but I thought the Rebels in particular showed a lot of promise, it wasn't just that they looked good on attack, but specifically their set piece and defense was improved.

Still VERY scrappy which can hopefully be written off as early season jitters, hard to take away much about the Reds performance other than I do feel like they capitulated a bit even being a player down.

 

[Gena_ZA]

Comfortable victory based on the red card.
But in my view they have a poor pack, no real dominance even with an extra man at scrum time
They could get slaughtered in this area

 

[Hound]

I suspect the Reds are going to look worse than they are because of schedule after the first few weeks. The cards make it hard to judge where this team is with week one... honestly,hard to gauge either team as a result.

This is a rebuilding Reds side, it'll be interesting to see where Rod Thorn has them by seasons end, because I like quite a few of their young pieces.

A lots going to be made of their discipline but I said word for word what Higgers went on to say to the referee. He didn't have time to get his arm into play, the runner was going downand the only way he could have really avoided it was if he bailed on the contact situation entirely - which no professional rugby player is going to do. Tui's yellow probably should have been a red... but even there it wasn't so much ill discipline as other players swept through and he lost control of the contact situation, leading to Genia finding himself in a dangerous place as a result.

The Reds over the past few seasons have had legitimate discipline issues and I can see the media blowing this up as more of the same, when they weren't really stupid cheap shots or a result of dirty play.

 

[Larksea]

harsh Red, it was really poor technique from Higs but was there really force? The ref said it was with force but it was really just a minor bump.

 

[Car]

Even as a Rebels fan, I thought the red card was harsh.

The game wasn't great (despite what the final score might make you think), but after last year and with all the new players, it was just what the team needed. Once they've spent more time together, things should improve. They'll also have to.