Tahs fans have had enough
TPN - a new deity
Waratahs 25 Sharks 21
It was the same old shit different year for Tahs fans as Hickey’s men dished up a crapfest. The Sharks were better but not much – they were on the nose too.
I was chatting to some members as we were lining up for the doors to open and eyeing each other as to who had the pace to race up 3 flights of stairs to get the best seats. (Old Lee had a good run too – walking the dogs every night pays off). Anyhoo, folks were expecting a bit of running rugby. Even though they leaked 6 tries to the Bulls last week, they scored 4 and it was going to be fun to watch them against the Sharks; wasn’t it?
I was more circumspect knowing my Tahs under Hickey and McKenzie in the last 4 years or so and their ability to disappoint their fans, even if they win. [If you think this is boring it is cliffhanger stuff compared to most of the game.]
The Tahs were bloody awful. The same players who dished the ball out to each other at Loftus with a bit of joy for the game played like Englishmen – an insult, I know. Instead of aiming at gaps before they got the ball they found tacklers most of the time; nor was the support play as good as last week and ditto with the passing which was too much at the man and often too hard to catch.
Then there was the ping pong. I was sitting next to Sinclair Hill, the Oz polo legend, and explained a few things to him about the game. He kept tapping me on the knee and said why didn’t that Tahs player run with the ball instead of kicking it straight to a player in a black jersey. I got a few taps from the great man and a lot of the time I was flabbergasted because I had no clue either.
It was though they were being paid to provide material for Stephen Jones’ next article in the Sunday Times.
I don’t know how it was in other parts of the ground but the members were going ballistic at the lack of enterprise of the Tahs players; some of them even booed.
There weren’t many good moments but Kankowski’s effort in intercepting a Burgess pass and racing away to score was grand rugby as was Jacobs reading the Tahs backline like a comic book and slipping in to score, almost apologetically. TPN’s charge to score was good stuff too.
I thought the Tah’s bench would have it all over the Sharks bench in the last quarter but it was the other way around. Most of the Tahs players were used too late to have effect and that was unaccountable because the starting players must have been tired after their travel from JHB. The Sharks reserves such as BdP, Beast, Deysel and Botes had an immediate effect and they had the Tahs panicking in the last 20 minutes.
Earlier JdP was a real dickhead for putting his foot out and tripping Hangers who did a lovely dive, an 8.5 at least. The good doctor deserved a card for stupidity. Dunno what Goode did for his card but he’s a crafty sod and was probably guilty as charged.
Young Kurtley may have deserved the man of the match award for saving the game with a few minutes to go. I thought he went for an intercept and knocked the ball forward, but the incident was way over the other side of the field and I haven’t seen the replay yet. My jury is still out until I do.
If he was trying an intercept, he shouldn’t have got a card, but since he did get one, the Sharks would probably have scored a try had he not done what he did because they were heading for Campo’s corner at a fair clip and wouldn’t have been stopped. That means a penalty try should have been awarded.
Referee Marks either dudded Beale or the Sharks. He was weak and split it up he middle. Perhaps Marks deserves the Tahs MOTM award. I know damn sure that if Dickensen gave a card he would have given a penalty try as well.
For the Tahs TPN was terrific and easily the best of the park. Hangers looked very calm and assured as usual but he was standing back so deep sometimes it’s a wonder Burgess hads the strength to dish it back that far.
Barnes was disappointing as was Anesi but they were hardly Lone Rangers. 13. Carter got the ball once and seemed clueless about what to do, as though playing so wide has given him options he can’t compute. He’s only a 12 in my book. A pity because I thought he had his best game for the Tahs last week.
For the Sharks Pienaar was poor at scrumhalf and they didn’t start to sizzle until Kockott came on and Pienaar moved one out. Bismark dP was terrific from the bench and I thought the contrast to Smit was fairly embarrassing for the skipper. Adi Jacobs was an old master and full of tricks – and Terblanche as usual looked useful provided someone else did his tackling for him.
JdP was crap even apart from his indiscipline and Muller, like Smit, had better look in the mirror and ask himself how long does he want to keep doing this? But not Baxter for the Tahs; not Angry – he was like a pup.
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