Super12 2002 - Round Eight

Reds 48 defeated Bulls 12 (Brisbane)

I've been surprised by some of the criticism levelled at Wendell Sailor since the Reds' comprehensive thrashing of the Bulls. Finally, the big guy has broken his Super12 try duck by scoring two - and wasn't the relief apparent. Not a perfect performance, perhaps, but competent and promising.

So Sailor will have reason to be a little miffed as to why the likes of John Connolly and David Campese have chosen this week to launch into him. To borrow a Fatty-ism, in the fair dinkum department Wendell has had barely a whiff of quality ball all season, as the Reds doggedly and fruitlessly continued to play it narrow. The chants of "throw it wide" from the fans, the media and Tuney, Wendell and Latham fell on deaf ears, and points for the Reds were subsequently hard to come by.

The flood gates finally opened against the Stormers, and Wendell - at long last - had something to work with. One week later and it was two under the posts. Now it seems to me that the moral of this story is that if you give him the ball, he'll do the business and score tries. Even when he was seeing precious little ball out wide, his ability to bust up the middle and take three defenders with him was impressive, as has been his skill at getting the ball back to his scrum half at the breakdown.

As I say, there's a long way to go, but it seems that there are those who are gunning for him to fail, or at the very least want to make sure he's kept in his place, whatever that's supposed to be. I say - leave him alone. He's doing fine, and continues to improve each week. Not Wallaby material yet, but his class will make itself known over the next twelve months. At least he hasn't tried to pass the ball in his own in-goal area, eh Campo?

In a game that they were expected to win, and win handsomely, the Reds produced another solid display which once again vindicates the theory that they are simply poor starters. This year they weren't helped by a horror first half to the draw either. Their run home isn't too bad, and though they may well miss out on a semifinal berth, they have at least played themselves into form, which will be important as the international season gets under way.

- Dan Fowell

Waratahs 31 defeated Highlanders 13 (Sydney)

The NSW Waratahs are back in winning form. They had their first real test and came out with not just a pass or a credit, but a distinction. Not only did they win but they scored four tries to the Highlanders' one, which gave them a vital bonus point. The end score was Waratahs 31 to Highlanders 13. A very convincing win, especially considering that the Highlanders were coming equal third with the Waratahs leading into this match.

What I found particularly exciting was how dangerous the NSW backs look when they are on the attack. If NSW could eliminate the amount of drop ball out the backs (especially from Nathan Grey) they would be the most dangerous backline in the Super 12 competition on form. It really is hard to find a weakness in this backline which just oozes confidence. I couldn�t help but notice how often the players kept building up and encouraging each other during the match, which frankly is an absolute transformation from any other Waratahs side in the last five years. They are (overall) young, competitive and are backing themselves, which I believe is a direct response to the influence Bob Dwyer has flowing through the NSW boys.

Full credit must go to the forwards who outplayed there opposites in all aspects of the game except for the lineouts, which were dreadful. Bob will be punishing them at practice with lineout after lineout to get it right, because it couldn�t get much worse than against the Highlanders.

If I was the Brumbies I would feel a little worried about this weekend as the Waratahs are looking quite awesome. NSW have got a hard road ahead of them playing ACT, Reds, Crusaders and Hurricanes, but frankly there is not a team that they cannot beat when their forwards are playing well, because they have the backs who will finish the job if you put the ball in their hands.

Players of interest:

Matthew Rogers � this guy is my new hero. How well does he complement the rest of the backline? EXTREMELY WELL! Fantastic purchase.

Matthew Burke � The old Matty is back and in outstanding form. He has an incredible rugby brain which is finally being exercised in the outside centre position. Herbs � say your prayers buddy.

David Lyons & Big Des - Awesome work rate.

If the Waratahs don�t make the semi�s there is something dreadfully wrong as this is the sort of team that could win the Super 12. My prediction is that they will!

- Matt Sherlock

Hurricanes 20 defeated Brumbies 13 (Canberra)

The Hurricanes seem to be one of those teams that gets under the collective skin of the Brumbies. As do the Crusaders. So it comes as no enormous shock, though maybe as a bit of a surprise, that the Brumbies have lost two in a row to those teams. Clearly, it's not a case of cracking the glass and pressing the bright red panic button, but it will inevitably give this consummate "thinking" team some serious pause for thought.

It's not that they played badly, but neither did they play especially well. To be fair, the better team won on the day, and the biggest eyebrow-raiser was the fact that the road to victory for the Hurricanes was ostensibly paved by their defence rather than their attack. Of course, it was their much vaunted backline which set up Pita Alatini for what proved to be the match-winning try, but of far greater significance in the context of the match was the pressure that the Hurricanes' defence was able to absorb as the Brumbies bivouacked in the their 22 for most of the second half. Against a team with the structure, discipline, patience and self-belief of the Brumbies, it was nothing short of a miracle.

But a good rub of the eyes and a pinch of the forearm didn't do anything to change the final score when the full-time whistle was blown, though I am now sporting a rather fetching bruise - I may be lazing on the couch, but I do like to suffer for my sport.

The Brumbies would dearly love, I feel certain, to be playing teams other than their top four neighbours - the Waratahs and the Highlanders - over the next two weeks. Defeat at the hands of those two teams - however improbable given the fact that the Brumbies simply do not lose three or four in a row - would put them in serious jeopardy of crashing out of semifinals contention. And that would be an enormous shock.

So the curtains will be drawn, the coffee machine working overtime, and a siege declared at Brumbies HQ this week as they endeavour to solve that age-old problem of how to cure a case of the hiccups, for that is surely all these past two defeats will prove to be.

- Dan Fowell