Super12 - Round Two

Brumbies 64 defeated Cats 16 (Canberra)

I don't know quite what was the most astounding aspect of this game - the spellbinding efficiency of the Brumby machine, or the utter wretchedness of the Golden Cats. The former appear to be hitting top gear, running in an astounding ten tries in about fifty minutes. The latter are but a shadow of last year's semifinalists, compounding a crippling injury list with abysmal play.

The first thirty minutes or so would have given Coach David Nucifora some cause for concern as the Brumbies repeatedly squandered scoring opportunities despite dominating possession. But then everything started to click, and from then on the Brumbies ran rampant.

Stirling Mortlock's kicking remains a concern, and could cost the Brumbies dearly against teams like the Crusaders and the Highlanders. I think it's time to give Andrew Walker (when back on deck) a go as regular kicker. He has proven himself to have a reliable boot, and surely would bring greater consistency. To be fair to Mortlock, when he's hot he can kick them over from virtually anywhere on the park, but he is so often hot and cold that he can kick one from the sideline one minute and then miss a sitter in front of the uprights the next. Not good enough for the best team in the competition.

It will be interesting to see how the Cats fair on the rest of their away stint. Not too well, I suspect, but we shall see. In all likelihood, their competition will effectively be over by the time they return to Johannesburg.

The highlight of this game for me was when George Smith grubbered through at pace to set the ball up for Jeremy Paul in full flight. With forwards possessing skills like that, the Brumbies may well prove unstoppable in 2002.

- Dan Fowell

Reds 34 defeated Blues 23 (Brisbane)

Who would have thought that the Reds could come back after playing the Blues two weeks ago and getting thumped by almost thirty-something points? This time they played at Ballymore and the Queensland pride and passion came through. I can almost here it now running through their veins, "QUEENSLANDER! QUEENSLANDER! QUEENSLANDER!"

What a great effort by the mighty Queensland Reds to beat a very strong Auckland Blues on Saturday night. Neither side has ever beaten the other side away from home, and if there was ever a good chance of the Blues coming up with a victory, it was on Saturday night. The Blues certainly have looked like the in-form team leading into the Super 12 series, with convincing wins over an ordinary (second string) NSW (40-0) and Queensland (60-26 I think), followed up by a slaughter of the Hurricanes (60-7) at Wellington in Round One.

After raining all day in Brisbane it was predictable that the game would be very scrappy, and yes, there were a lot of turnovers from both sides. Putting that aside I found this game an enjoyable one to watch. Neither team held back, and both played with confidence. This wasn't one of the quickest games of Super 12 but it certainly was a close one. There was nothing in it right up until baby Kefu scored (according to the video ref) in the dying stages of the game. This try was a controversial one which gave Queensland a bonus point (for achieving four tries) and took one away from the Blues (as it meant that the Blues were not within seven points of Queensland when the final whistle blew). Bloody fantastic! To be honest I think the video ref had a shocker but I am not complaining at all. He wasn't nearly as bad as the video ref for the Stormers v Waratahs game who disallowed a definite try to Matt Burke, and then gave a try to the Stormers half back that definitely wasn't a try. But who cares, we won that game too!

Queensland are now on the points table and will be a force this season. They have had two of their hardest games early on and will have gained confidence with the results so far. Good luck to them and well done on helping to complete a great Australian rugby effort over the weekend.

Individual Performances to note:
* Fletcher Dyson: Welcome back to Couch Rugby's favourite Wallaby. Solid scrummaging and much more involved than usual. Encouraging to see. Keep going son!
* Baby Kefu: he wants Nathan Grey's Wallaby jersey. Watch out for this guy!
* Chris Latham: Loose Canon (Percy Montgomery mould). Twice in a row didn't kick the ball out on the Reds penalty yet showed some brilliance in ball handling and, of course, lethal receiving the inside ball.
* Ben Tune: Gotta love him. Please - No injuries this year Ben.

Queensland play the Chiefs at Ballymore and should be confident of a win this weekend. QUEENSLANDER!!!

- Matt Sherlock

Waratahs 26 defeated Stormers 25 (Cape Town)

Mark this down as a lucky escape. If not for erratic kicking from Marius Goosen, and a general inability to overcome some stern Waratah defence, the Stormers should have come away with the win. As it was, they almost did anyway.

Personally, I think the Stormers played superior rugby for the majority of the match, but NSW - to their credit - made the most of limited opportunities, and managed to maintain the lead for most of the match courtesy of a quick-fire points blitz in the opening quarter of the game.

With NSW looking increasingly fragile, the Stormers gradually clawed their way back and, in the dying moments of the match, replacement Gus Theron scored a try in the corner to give the Stormers a seemingly unbeatable lead. Indeed, so it would have proven had Goosen kicked the conversion. As it was, the Waratahs found themselves down by two with about two minutes remaining.

To their eternal credit, the Waratahs of 2002 never gave up. They drove down deep into the Stormers' half, but then lost possession when they looked poised to score a try. Thankfully, the luckless Goosen failed to find touch with his clearance kick, giving NSW one last opportunity.

And then...Nathan Grey, who had an outstanding game at inside centre, received the ball about fifteen metres out and calmly slotted a left-footed drop goal to give the Waratahs a one point lead that would win them the match. And those of us foolish enough to be up at 4am watching this engrossing contest rejoiced with stifled yells lest we wake up the rest of the house.

A cracker of a game, but NSW did not play particularly well. But what the heck - sometimes you just have to win ugly.

Phil Waugh, Matt Burke, Nathan Grey and Matt Dunning were particularly impressive. Dunning's legend will no doubt grow larger with yet another unlikely sprint to save the day.

Of all the players, I feel sure that Phil Waugh was most relieved when Grey slotted that drop goal, for it was Waugh who cost his team three crucial (as it turned out) points, when his arguing prompted referee Paddy O'Brien to reverse a penalty right under the Waratah's posts. He may be young, and he may no longer be Vice Captain, but he is still a leader of team and needs to show greater maturity than that, for his transgression very nearly cost the Waratah's four precious away points.

And now, on to Pretoria for what will hopefully be a third straight win on the road.

- Dan Fowell