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Alex Newsome

It was a high-scoring game between the Chiefs & Waratahs where it kickstarted the three-day Super Round weekend at AAMI Park in Melbourne last night. Waratahs were lucky to have recovered from their messy first-half spell at 30-17 after the break when Jake Gordon’s 2nd TRY almost overtook the Chiefs for the lead in the 50th minute. However, the Chiefs are in cruise control when a hat-trick scoring spree later in the 2nd half from Jonah Lowe sealed them an easy win, 51-27.

The Tahs needed their attacking shape to be on the same page as Jake Gordon. Although, Alex Newsome was the other try-scorer in the 1st half. That is one huge weakness that precluded them from staying in contention over the last 30 mins of this match. Luckily, the 20-minute red card rule gave the back Tahs a full XV men where they made up some lost time. However, the momentum just wasn’t there in the end. They also would’ve benefitted from Angus Bell if it wasn’t for his red card that can form a more robust forward line to stop Jonah Lowe defensively and help brighten up the Tahs’ attack.

And the Chiefs were simply on fire last night. Their attacking shape has been sensational from Jonah Lowe’s four-try scoring spree, including the hat-trick in the 2nd half to Quinn Tuapea’s 1st half double-try. You can see the communication and a few decoy runners lined up together where you saw one player running up & protects the opposition half, while another Chiefs player in the same shirt finds that gap past the TRY line and scores. Although they will need to fix their ill-discipline where Tahs scored back a couple of times, the Chiefs were glad to get one away unscathed, thanks to the read off the Tahs’ poor attacking shape before they unleashed Lowe at the right time that changed the storyline of this game.

Chiefs will now head off to Brisbane & take on the Queensland Reds at Suncorp Stadium next Friday night, while the Waratahs will host the Crusaders at Leichardt Oval in Sydney next Saturday at 5.05 pm local time.

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What a way to finish Round 9 of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific as we turn our attention between the Australian and New Zealand teams battling each other with six rounds left to go. NSW Waratahs were off to a stellar start in the 1st half with a decent lead ahead of half-time at 7-24, while Western Force began to make up lost time with three tries on the board in the 2nd half alone. However, the game has already handed over to the Tahs by that stage when they’re too good to pull off a comfortable win at HBF Park in Perth. The final score is 24-41.

NSW Waratahs looked outstanding; left, right, center, tonight; on all fronts. Their first-half spell was unbelievable when the Tahs rack up three tries on the board off the back of the Force’s poor start, such as; Mark Nawaquanitawase, Lalakai Foketi & Michael Hooper. And they continued to extend their winning margin alongside the double try brace from Alex Newsome after the half-time break, even though there were some mistakes with the ill-discipline and that blunder at one point from Dylan Pietsch on the left-wing. It’s nice to see the Tahs high & flying now in 5th on the ladder under new coach Darren Coleman; players such as Michael Hooper & Jed Holloway, who have returned from overseas, will play a key role in their playoff push & the development of the Tahs youngsters.

Western Force just still held on to their place within the Playoffs bubble in 8th; they need to start acting fast now if they want to stay there, especially with the New Zealand teams around the corner for the remaining six rounds this season beginning next weekend. There’s no problem with their defensive shape that helped the Force win a couple of penalties. Although, they can be patient when building some pressure with the ball going forward. However, they only dominated the 2nd half alone with three tries on top of one lone big score in the first 40. They need more support with the executions & cut the ill-discipline from the start if the Force wants to stay in this fight by winning games.

The Tahs will open the Super Round at 6 pm AEST with the Chiefs from Waikato in Hamilton, NZ, where all of the Round 10 games are held at AAMI Park in Melbourne next Friday. Meanwhile, the Force has an opportunity to strike back when they take on Moana Pasifika straight after this Tahs v Chiefs match-up at 8.30 pm AEST.

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It’s been another close match-up to round off Round 5 of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season at the Sydney Cricket Ground. NSW Waratahs fired off with two tries on the board in the 1st 40 where they led comfortably at half-time (14-6), while the Melbourne Rebels made up some lost time late in the 2nd half. However, a few finishing mistakes, poor throw-ins, and lost penalty chances ruined Rebels’ late resurgence with a five-point loss (24-19).

Unlucky from the Rebels, who brings a brilliant defensive shape when it comes, to their impressive forward pack for a start. They racked up some winning penalties that made the most of successful three-point goals as a safe pair of hands. And the Rebels were able to build some momentum over time, where they bounced back late thanks to Cabous Eloff on the tighthead front row in the 2nd half. They were so close to pipping the Waratahs in the last minute, but the Rebels couldn’t justify their messy finishing, which led to several missed opportunities before it was too late.

And hats off to the Tahs with the win they deserve once again tonight as the home team. We love how the Tahs were patient with the ball on hand, where they took advantage of the Rebels’ slow start & got ahead early with two big scores in the 1st half by Lalakai Foketi & Will Harris. Alex Newsome extended the Tahs winning margin in the 55th minute from the backline, while the Rebels began to close into their radar late in the 2nd half. But the Tahs knew one or two things the Rebels aren’t good at, and that is the finishing where the away team blew their chances away even with the penalty in place, before they defended well & kicked the ball into touch after the full-time siren.

So the Tahs will head off to Brisbane where they will battle against the Queensland Reds in another State of Origin rivalry match-up next Saturday night at Suncorp Stadium. And the Rebels will return home at AAMI Park on Friday night v Fijian Drua.

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Congratulations to incoming Waratahs coach Darren Coleman who just guided the LA Giltinis to an Major League Rugby Championship on their first ever season.

This is a massive achievement through a group of star-studded characters that can pass on these hometown players & learn a thing or two from them at this club.

It’s something Darren would do to bring this vibe when he returns home from Los Angeles later this year, as we haven’t seen much of this kind of structure since Michael Chieka left after 2015.

As it stands you got Jake Gordon, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Lalakai Foketi, Ben Donaldson, Alex Newsome & Angus Bell staying on, while a number of key players are coming back too such as Michael Hooper, Jed Holloway & Ned Hedigan.

And some of the new players he’d like to see at Daceyville would be the best produced & proven at club rugby level, having coached in the Shute Shield for many years including Warringah & Gordon with two titles in 2017 & 2020 respectively.

These two important characteristics shows why a three year contract is enough time for Darren to rebuild this franchise.

We’ll also see if Adam Freier and Stephen Hoiles follows Darren as well or stay in LA.

Up to the board now to back Darren with inside knowledge of the NSW rugby system & get the Tahs back to winning ways from next year regardless of the Super Rugby format.

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