Super Rugby: Reds vs. Hurricanes in Brisbane (01/03/2013)

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Referee: Rohann Hoffmann
Assistant Referees: James Leckie & Ed Martin
TMO: Matt Goddard



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[Darwin]

I predict this will be a very close match. The Canes will be hoping Conrad Smith has recovered from his weekend concussion, though I suspect he will be unlikely to play. Hopefully the Canes will welcome back Toomaga-Allen this weekend, though Ben May was solid against the Blues.

It sounds like Anthony Fainaga'a will be back from injury for the Reds, which may actually not be a good thing for them! F-Sautia was great at centre versus the Waratahs as he really brings some spark into the Reds backline. The Reds certainly have plenty of options in their backline, with Luke Morahan looking sharp off the bench in the weekend. I'm sure they will be tempted to start Morahan at fullback, but I'm not sure if they will want to drop Harris to the bench as he is their regular goal-kicker (though hasn't really been kicking to his usual high standard so far this year).

 

[The_Wol]

I predict this will be a very close match. The Canes will be hoping Conrad Smith has recovered from his weekend concussion, though I suspect he will be unlikely to play. Hopefully the Canes will welcome back Toomaga-Allen this weekend, though Ben May was solid against the Blues.

It sounds like Anthony Fainaga'a will be back from injury for the Reds, which may actually not be a good thing for them! F-Sautia was great at centre versus the Waratahs as he really brings some spark into the Reds backline. The Reds certainly have plenty of options in their backline, with Luke Morahan looking sharp off the bench in the weekend. I'm sure they will be tempted to start Morahan at fullback, but I'm not sure if they will want to drop Harris to the bench as he is their regular goal-kicker (though hasn't really been kicking to his usual high standard so far this year).

Match day 22 will look something like this

1. Greg Holmes 2. James Hanson 3. James Slipper
4. Adam Wallace Harrison 5. Rob Simmons
6. Ed Quirk 7. Liam Gill 8. Jake Schatz

9. Nick Frisby 10. Quade Cooper
11. Digby Ioane 12. Ben Tapuai 13. Chris Feuai-Sautia 14. Dom Shipperley
15. Mike Harris

16. Saia Faingaa, 17 Albert Anae, 18. James Horwill (if Fit lets hope so because that Ed O'Donohugh guy is a joke) 19. Jarrad Butler 20. Ben Lucas 21. Anthony Faigaa 22. Luke Morahan/Jono Lance.

I'd say Hanson will be on to give the forwards some much needed muscle and Faingaa a rest to come on and do whatever it is he does during the second half against the Tiredcanes. Sautia and Tapuai were just too good of a combo on the weekend, McKenzie won't mess with that.

 

[Darwin]

Match day 22 will look something like this

1. Greg Holmes 2. James Hanson 3. James Slipper
4. Adam Wallace Harrison 5. Rob Simmons
6. Ed Quirk 7. Liam Gill 8. Jake Schatz

9. Nick Frisby 10. Quade Cooper
11. Digby Ioane 12. Ben Tapuai 13. Chris Feuai-Sautia 14. Dom Shipperley
15. Mike Harris

16. Saia Faingaa, 17 Albert Anae, 18. James Horwill (if Fit lets hope so because that Ed O'Donohugh guy is a joke) 19. Jarrad Butler 20. Ben Lucas 21. Anthony Faigaa 22. Luke Morahan/Jono Lance.

I'd say Hanson will be on to give the forwards some much needed muscle and Faingaa a rest to come on and do whatever it is he does during the second half against the Tiredcanes. Sautia and Tapuai were just too good of a combo on the weekend, McKenzie won't mess with that.

That is basically the side I would go for if I was coach. Frisby has looked much sharper than Lucas so deserves a shot in the starting XV. I'm not a big fan of Mike Harris at fullback, but would probably stick with him because of his goal-kicking (though he needs to get back to his previous high standards to keep his spot...).

 

[The_Wol]

That is basically the side I would go for if I was coach. Frisby has looked much sharper than Lucas so deserves a shot in the starting XV. I'm not a big fan of Mike Harris at fullback, but would probably stick with him because of his goal-kicking (though he needs to get back to his previous high standards to keep his spot...).

Ben Lucas is adequate in all positions he plays, that's it. That said he is one of the most useless halfbacks I've seen for a long while, we would have been better off keeping Richard Kingi and cutting him loose.

 

[Darwin]

Ben Lucas is adequate in all positions he plays, that's it. That said he is one of the most useless halfbacks I've seen for a long while, we would have been better off keeping Richard Kingi and cutting him loose.

I tend to agree - his versatility makes him a handy player to have around though. The problem with versatile players is that the never get to focus on one position, so often don't develop to their full potential.

 

[Darwin]

Queensland Reds:
Aiden Toua, Dom Shipperley, Chris Feauai-Sautia, Ben Tapuai, Digby Ioane, Quade Cooper, Ben Lucas, Jake Schatz, Liam Gill, Eddie Quirk, Ed O'Donoghue, Rob Simmons, James Slipper (captain), Saia Faingaa, Greg Holmes.
Reserves: James Hanson, Albert Anae, Adam Wallace-Harrison, Radike Samo, Nick Frisby, Mike Harris, Luke Morahan.

One change to the starting lineup, with Aiden Toua replacing Mike Harris at fullback. I'm not at all surprised to see Harris dropped back to the bench (as he isn't a great fullback, and his goal-kicking form has abandoned him in recent weeks), but I was expecting Morahan rather than Toua to take his spot. I haven't seen a lot of Toua, but he seems very highly rated by the Reds coaches so I will be watching him closely against the Canes. The only other change comes on the bench, with Samo replacing Butler.

 

[Dizzy]

Conrad has been declared fit and will start on Friday. Toomaga Allen also has been included in the line up with Ben May dropping out.

Motu Matu'u has been welcomed back to the bench and will be a real impact coming on late in the game.

I think the Canes will definitely look back at how they lost the game last week to the Blues and quickly fix up on that to come out on top but it will be close.

 

[The_Wol]

Aidan Toua is overrated, Morahan is a better player overall....

 

[Wally]

Aidan Toua is overrated, Morahan is a better player overall....

To be fair he hasn't had many real chances for the Reds. The organisation obviously has a lot of faith in him so let's see how he goes against the Canes. If he fails miserably, which I don't think he will, we have two more than adequate replacements in Morahan and Harris. The biggest worry for this match is QC's goal kicking, as I assume he will be taking up the reigns in Harris' absence.

With two less than impressive matches out of the way I'm picking the Reds to play their best rugby of the season.

Reds 23 : Hurricanes 10

 

[Darwin]

The full Hurricanes side is:
1. Ben Franks,2. Dane Coles,3. Jeffery Toomaga-Allen,4. Jeremy Thrush,5. Jason Eaton,6. Victor Vito,7. Karl Lowe,8. Brad Shields,9. TJ Perenara,10. Beauden Barrett,11. Julian Savea,12. Tim Bateman,13. Conrad Smith (c),14. Alapati Leiua,15. Andre Taylor
Replacements :16. Motu Matu'u ,17. Reggie Goodes,18. James Broadhurst,19. Faifili Levave,20. Chris Smylie,21. James Marshall,22. Reynold Lee-Lo

As Dizzy has already mentioned Conrad Smith is fit, which is good news for the Canes. It is great to see Toomaga-Allen back to, as I expect him to have a big season. Ben May struggled a bit against the Blues, so hopefully Toomaga-Allen will be a cornerstone of the Canes scrum, as Ben Franks looked good on the LH side. It is good to see Broadhurst back in the reserves, though I'm surprised it took and injury to Reddish for this to happen (as I rate him much more highly than Reddish). I still think Vito and Shields should switch jerseys.....

No changes in the backline. I expect the Canes defense will be more effective this week, as they look much better equipped to mark the steppers in the Reds backline, rather than the giants in the Blues...

 

[nickdnz]

The full Hurricanes side is:
1. Ben Franks,2. Dane Coles,3. Jeffery Toomaga-Allen,4. Jeremy Thrush,5. Jason Eaton,6. Victor Vito,7. Karl Lowe,8. Brad Shields,9. TJ Perenara,10. Beauden Barrett,11. Julian Savea,12. Tim Bateman,13. Conrad Smith (c),14. Alapati Leiua,15. Andre Taylor
Replacements :16. Motu Matu'u ,17. Reggie Goodes,18. James Broadhurst,19. Faifili Levave,20. Chris Smylie,21. James Marshall,22. Reynold Lee-Lo

As Dizzy has already mentioned Conrad Smith is fit, which is good news for the Canes. It is great to see Toomaga-Allen back to, as I expect him to have a big season. Ben May struggled a bit against the Blues, so hopefully Toomaga-Allen will be a cornerstone of the Canes scrum, as Ben Franks looked good on the LH side. It is good to see Broadhurst back in the reserves, though I'm surprised it took and injury to Reddish for this to happen (as I rate him much more highly than Reddish). I still think Vito and Shields should switch jerseys.....

No changes in the backline. I expect the Canes defense will be more effective this week, as they look much better equipped to mark the steppers in the Reds backline, rather than the giants in the Blues...

Agree with all of that. Broadhurt actually looked like our best lock a few seasons ago (so much so I thought he should be a bolter for the AB's), but then got completely ignored by Hammett for Reddish, who is hardly amazing. I have a feelling Vito is playing at blindside because he think it's his best shot at the AB's, however I think #8 is clearly his best position, where as Brad Shields is clearly a blindside who will probably have a big future there, so I just don't see why Hammett is messing with it - especially as Vito plays like a #8 and Shield plays like a #6 anyway.

Toomaga-Allen should be set for a great season. Rated him when he started, but then was a tad disappointed by his form up until last season and the ITM Cup (though considering his age I was probably just a little over enthusiastic).

 

[The_Wol]

To be fair he hasn't had many real chances for the Reds. The organisation obviously has a lot of faith in him so let's see how he goes against the Canes. If he fails miserably, which I don't think he will, we have two more than adequate replacements in Morahan and Harris. The biggest worry for this match is QC's goal kicking, as I assume he will be taking up the reigns in Harris' absence.

With two less than impressive matches out of the way I'm picking the Reds to play their best rugby of the season.

Reds 23 : Hurricanes 10

Have you seen Aiden Toua play club rugby? He is nothing all that special.

 

[Dizzy]

Well, the best side we can field at the moment, I would've loved Broadhurst to be starting ahead of Thrush but meh, he'll get on eventually.Hopefully Andre Taylor has a good game this week, ever since that mid year naming of the All Blacks for the June tests Taylor's light has seemed to dim. It's like, he didn't get picked so lost that edge.... Hopefully he has a blinder and we see more of that form from last year.

 

[Darwin]

This is really a tough game for me to pick.

One of the keys for the Canes will be to obtain dominance up front - the front row of Franks/Coles/Toomaga-Allen has the potential to do this, but don't have much experience as a combination (a few pre-seasons games). I think the Canes loosies really need to step up this week, after being largely outplayed by their Blues counterparts last weekend. The young Reds loosies are in great form too - Gill probably outplayed Hooper last weekend (after matching Pocock the weekend before) so will be a real threat. What I like about Quirk and Shatz is there high work-rates - the Reds haven't missed Higginbotham so far this season (indeed I think the trio has functioned better without him!). I feel Brad Shields really needs to try and assert a bit of physical dominance for the Canes, rather than play the wider ranging game of a number 8 (which is why he and Vito need to switch positions in my opinion...).

There are some great match-ups in the backline: Cooper vs Barrett, Tapuai vs Bateman, F-Sautia vs Smith etc. I'm very interested to see how Conrad Smith goes marking F-Sautia - Smith remains one of the premier centres in world rugby but does seem to be slowing down slighty, so will need to keep a close eye on F-Sautia (who is lightening quick for a centre). I'm hoping to see a bit more from the Canes back-three this weekend as they were pretty quiet last weekend (Leiua was the pick of them though).

Overall I'm picking the Reds by 5. Not sure whether we will see and overly expansive game, as it has been raining consistently here for the last couple of weeks, so may well be raining again come kick-off time....

 

[ABs2011]

I'm hoping to see a bit more from the Canes back-three this weekend as they were pretty quiet last weekend.

I think the real key is Barrett getting going. Then you'll see the back three in action. Granted I didn't watch the Canes Blues game with full concentration but Barret tseemed remarkable quite and the backline rather innacurate. I suspect the two are closely correlated and hope Barrett gets a rocket up him to pull finger this weekend. If he does the Canes win this Im sure!!

 

[Darwin]

I think the real key is Barrett getting going. Then you'll see the back three in action. Granted I didn't watch the Canes Blues game with full concentration but Barret tseemed remarkable quite and the backline rather innacurate. I suspect the two are closely correlated and hope Barrett gets a rocket up him to pull finger this weekend. If he does the Canes win this Im sure!!

Yep, getting Barrett going is crucial for the Canes. To do that they really need to get front-foot ball, which they failed to do against the Blues. To so that they need to (a) dominate up front, and (b) nullify Liam Gill. I think they will dominate up front, but I fear nullifying Liam Gill will be easier said than done!

 

[Sam Owen]

Come on REDS!!!

 

[Sam Owen]

Touchdown. Ioane has landed

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Was that Quade Cooper smashing someone to end the half, then?!




Edit: Walsh is making some bizarre calls!