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Reds player ratings vs Crusaders | Super Rugby Trans-Tasman
A week after being thumped by the Highlanders in Dunedin, the Reds had the unenviable task of having to return back across the ditch to host the almighty Crusaders in Brisbane.
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The match was billed as a clash of the titans as it pitted the Super Rugby AU champions with the Super Rugby Aotearoa champions, but it was the men from Christchurch who tore the script up as they romped to a 63-28 victory.
It was a disappointing evening for Brad Thorn’s side, so with that in mind, here’s how they rated.
1. Dane Zander – 5
Guilty of angling in at a scrum just after his side had worked so hard to win the ball back from a dominant Crusaders forward pack in the 28th minute. Barely sighted beyond that. Off in the 51st minute.
2. Brandon Paenga-Amosa – 6
Not his most amazing first half in Queensland colours. Didn’t do a lot wrong, but was largely ineffective. Opened the second half in positive fashion with a turnover to stunt a promising Crusaders attack. Off in the 51st minute. Returned 11 minutes later and crashed over from a pick-and-go to score on full-time.
3. Taniela Tupou – 6.5
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Unrelenting aggression with ball in hand. Up there as one of the most damaging ball carriers for the Queenslanders. Off in the 73rd minute.
4. Ryan Smith – 6
Ran hard and straight all match long, although not with quite with the same devastating effect as some of his teammates. Off in the 54th minute.
5. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto – 6.5
Showed plenty of physicality early on and was busy throughout. Can’t be faulted for his effort.
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6. Liam Wright – 7
Superb work to shut down a rolling maul and win a turnover while his side were back peddling close to their own line. Followed that up with a terrific steal at the breakdown just before half-time. One of the most influential Queensland players.
7. Fraser McReight – 5
Quiet compared to his usual self. Spilt the ball that led to Richie Mo’unga’s first try, which was particularly sloppy for someone of his quality.
8. Harry Wilson – 8
Made a charging run from the match’s first goal line drop out that was akin to an NRL prop. Maintained that energy with ball in hand throughout the contest. On par with Tupou for impact with ball in hand. Cracking 50m individual try where he sold Will Jordan with an outrageous dummy. Followed that up with an intercept and an exceptional over-the-head offload to set Suliasi Vunivalu up for a try. Off in the 70th minute.
The Chiefs have extended the New Zealand’s undefeated start to Super Rugby Trans-Tasman after they toppled the Brumbies 40-19 in Hamilton on Saturday. #SuperRugbyTT #CHIvBRU https://t.co/5GR478adzo
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 22, 2021
9. Tate McDermott – 7
Lively start. Unlucky to be held up over the line from a quick tap penalty in the second minute. Equally as unfortunate to have not scored again in the 35th minute. Was eventually rewarded for his sniping around the fringes with a typically sneaky try two minutes later. One of the better Queensland players. Off in the 70th minute.
10. James O’Connor – 5
Hardly got a look with ball in hand in the first half. Left in the dust as Mo’unga strolled on in for his third try. Good covering effort to deny Leicester Fainga’anuku a second half try.
11. Jock Campbell
Flailing defensive effort on Cullen Grace in the lead-up to the No 8’s try. Was largely restricted to engaging in a kicking battle with the opposition back three. Off in the 68th minute.
12. Hamish Stewart – 4
Got bowled over by Fainga’anuku late in the first half. Flung an audacious offload into touch in his first involvement in the second half. Off in the 56th minute.
13. Hunter Paisami – 5
Kept very quiet upon his return from a fractured cheekbone. Ran with vigour but wasn’t able to impact the game as much as he’d have liked.
14. Suliasi Vunivalu – 6.5
Tried hard to get involved but couldn’t muster much for his side. Eventually showed his prowess when he made Jordan and Whetukamokamo Douglas look silly with his strength and agility in the lead-up to his try.
15. Bryce Hegarty – 4.5
Caught badly out of position defensively in the lead-up to Richie Mo’unga’s second try. Kicked well when called upon. Had a bad case of butter fingers just as the Reds were building a promising attack inside opposition territory. Not his finest outing.
The Blues have returned to the summit of the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman table after condemning the Waratahs to their 10th successive defeat on Saturday. #SuperRugbyTT #BLUvWAR https://t.co/2FP1HSzGTK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 22, 2021
Reserves:
16. Alex Mafi – N/A
On in the 51st minute. Off in the 62nd.
17. Harry Hoopert – 4
On in the 51st minute. Sin binned just eight minutes later for collapsing a maul that led to a penalty try. Not the impact Brad Thorn would have wanted from his bench.
18. Feao Fotuaika – N/A
On in the 73rd minute. Not enough time on the park to do anything.
19. Seru Uru – 6
On in the 54th minute. Busy defensively.
20. Angus Scott-Young – 6
On in the 70th minute. Did as much as he could in the little time he had.
21. Kalani Thomas – 6
On in the 70th minute. Picked up where McDermott left off.
22. Isaac Henry – N/A
On in the 56th minute. Barely caught the eye.
23. Filipo Daugunu – N/A
On in the 68th minute. Didn’t really get involved during his time on the field.
Comments on RugbyPass
Results probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
1 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to comments