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

[TRF C A Iversen]

It looks okay to me, but I think the green looks just a shade pale of something vibrant like the Canberra Raiders used to have.

I still want them to return to their usual colours and stay that way with design and pattern variations every now and then. I'm sure that won't happen either.

Cowan is currently on fire.

 

[TRF_RC]

I was probably one of the few people looking forward to a new jersey

If the blue parts were dark green, or the lime parts were dark green, it would look all right, but the current scheme clashes horribly...

Lol! The rugby fashionistas are out en force, eh?

 

[TRF C A Iversen]

Try! Look at Kendrick Lynn's excellent improving of a pretty ordinary pass, in full speed you can see it helped Smith.

 

[TRF_RC]

Ben Smith! Is this boy honestly not in serious contention for the ABs squad in the upcoming RWC?

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

I don't think anyone would say he isn't in consideration - he's almost impossible to turn away at the moment.

 

[TRF_RC]

That should not be a yellow card. That pass did not go to hand, he JUST missed the ball that Thompson threw THEN the he was taken out. Harsh for the Force player to be yellow carded in my opinion.

 

[TRF C A Iversen]

Ben Smith! Is this boy honestly not in serious contention for the ABs squad in the upcoming RWC?

He has to be New Zealands form player in a variety of positions. Where some utility backs are not bad when switched to other positions, this guy is brilliant everywhere. I'll go so far as to say that he's one game away from impossible not to pick.

 

[TRF_RC]

He has to be New Zealands form player in a variety of positions. Where some utility backs are not bad when switched to other positions, this guy is brilliant everywhere. I'll go so far as to say that he's one game away from impossible not to pick.

I agree. His previous stint in the black shirt may not have gone brilliantly for him, but given the season he's been having, who would deny him the opportunity.
He'll be representing ABs in the Tri Nations that i'm sure of, we'll see how he gets on there!

 

[TNT88]

Get Mafi off, and Cummins on ASAP. Cummins with an ear infection or whatever it is can tackle better than Mafi. If Cottee can kick, get him on. And finally, Sharpe and Wykes need to hit the ball up, Nathan Charles and David Pocock are doing it all at the moment.

Force don't look too convincing right now, but i'd like to see them leave on a high note regardless of the result. The Highlanders have killed us in the kicking game and have numbers to the breakdown, as a result they are slowing the ball down brilliantly. Certainly learnt their lesson from last week.

 

[TRF_RC]

Yeah, TNT88, the attacking prowess, that dangerous option with ball in hand seems to be missing from the Force this week.
The key forwards can only do so much.

 

[TRF_RC]

Everyone in the media loves talking about the Crusaders and their dominance at the breakdown this season, but for me it's been the Highlanders. Week in week out, they've been hitting those breakdowns as if every one of them were essential to winning the game.
Wonderful dedication from the forwards in their clearouts.

 

[TRF_RC]

David Smith try for the Force. Game. On.
Highlanders really needed to have gotten something from all their possession and territory. The force are as stubborn as a mule and giving nothing away to the highlanders.
Now the force have got their tails up, things are looking dangerous for hte kiwi boys.

 

[TRF_RC]

1 point game, the Highlanders are letting their season slip further and further away with every game.
What's the deal with letting hte opposition come back into the game now? That was the Blues tactic at the start of the season, wasn't it?

 

[TRF_RC]

Oof! David Smith try from the halfway line!
This game is killing the highlanders.
I did place a sneaky bet on Force winning this game by +7. 10/1 odds aren't too bad given the way they've been playing...and with the scoreline as it is now...

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

With that penalty kick goes the Highlander's season... Bugger

 

[TRF_RC]

Aww, i missed out on a lot a vMoney by one point.

 

[madflyhalf]

Momentum were behind Force... they were performing better and better since the last 4 matches... Curiously this time they didn't go at halftime as leader, but they made a great comeback!

 

[TNT88]

YEA!!!!! Great to see them win away, this is the core of the next generation Force team. Even though Smith scored our tries, Swanepoel, Stannard and the whole backrow were simply outstanding. Hodgeson is playing better than Pocock for the Force, i hope he gets a Wallaby call up.

For the first 60 minutes the Highlanders were slowing down the ball effectively and getting extreme numbers to each breakdown. But after about 60 minutes fatigue set in and they just coulnd't keep slowing it down like the have been. If this game was on early in the season the Highlanders would have finished us off like everyone else, but they seemed to lack the hard-working mindset they had in the first half of the season.

 

[-D-S-B-]

Unlucky for Nasi Manu not to have been awarded that try, it's hard to think the Highlanders would've lost their momentum if they had two tries in the bank.

Credit to the Force though, absolutely dominated the second half and definitely deserved the win.

 

[TRF_RC]

There were some key substitutions for the Force as well, people who were actually willing to do the hard yards and get them on the front foot and get the momentum going.