A reminder that the Kiwi crossover game, Super Rugby W champ versus Aupiki champ is on 17 April in New Zealand.
If the Waratahs women take out the Super Rugby W trophy, they can look back at the second half of the first match against the Fijian Drua that got their season on track.
The Waratahs women are playing well and are chock full of stars, but the season did not start that way. They lost the first game against the Drua, in fact they had a try scored against them in the first 10 seconds. That first half was pretty miserable, they were being out-muscled, the scrum was, to put it politely, in all sorts of trouble and they were down 5-20 by half-time.
After half -ime the Tahs’ season changed. Although they did not win that game, they almost did, coming back to 17-23. From then on, they have won four games on the trot (including against the Penina Pasifika).
What was the change? Some will say you cannot attribute it to just one player. But arguably you can: tighthead prop Faliki Pohiva. Is it an exaggeration? Maybe but the Waratahs would not be where they are if she was not in the team. Her go forward allows the other stars in the team to do their thing.
She came off the bench in the second half of that first game. She strengthened the scrum and was the only player to consistently bend the Drua’s defence. All of a sudden, the Tahs were on the front foot.
Waratahs players warm up (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
In game two against the Western Force she again came off the bench when the score was 14 – 12 to the Force, with the Tahs winning 21-26. Then she started in the last two Super Rugby W matches. In each of the games she has started the Waratahs have gone into half-time leading and finished with solid wins over the Reds 36-14 and Brumbies 36-23.
Not only has she bolstered the scrum, but she has also provided physical grunt to the pack and scored a couple of tries to boot. The cherry on top is when she comes off after 50 minutes there is a like for like swap with Seneti Kilisimasi coming on.
That is not say that the Waratahs are set to win the trophy, far from it, but she put the Waratahs season on track. They have a significantly better shot at the title with her in the team.
While the Brumbies were unable to get a win throughout the tournament, they are a good team and played some good rugby. Also worth noting the Brumbies do not get much in the recruitment stocks. A number of their players will still be in the Wallaroos squad.
Probably the biggest difference between the teams was the ability of the Waratahs to convert each time they got into the Brumbies’ 22. By half -ime the Waratahs had three visits to the Brumbies 22 for three tries while the Brumbies had six visits for one try.
The Waratahs have the maul down pat which is a real go to for them and some excellent lineout set plays. They worked through the forwards and ground out the second half. In fact did not close out the game until the tries in the 75th and 80th minute. In the end it was the forwards scoring five tries to the backs one. So far this season the forwards have score 13 tries to the backs’ seven. Noting last season after four rounds the backs had scored 18 tries.
The backline has played well but not yet fully fired. There may well be a range of reasons including two new players in the spine – Tatum Bird at halfback and Waiaria Ellis at fullback. Youngster Ellis has had a solid season starting at fullback, especially her defence. But it does seem the backline has missed Caitlyn Halse and her creativity.
How were the head-to-head battles?
In the Arabella McKenzie vs Faitala Moleka battle points probably just went to McKenzie. At this stage both will be the primary flyhalves for the Wallaroos.
Biola Dawa had by far her best game. She was able to keep Maya Stewart reasonably quiet. Her defence was excellent, had some hard runs and got a try. There is a lot of competition for the Wallaroos outside backs.
As for the hookers, Waratahs Adiana Talakai and Brumbies Tanya Naden they matched up quite well although Talakai had some lineout throw issues. Both will be in the Wallaroos squad.
The backrow battle was pretty even. Neither significantly dominated the other. In recent games Waratahs six Leilani Nathan has stepped up her assertiveness on the field. There is probably only one or two Wallaroos squad spots available in the backrow.
Similarly opposing locks Ashley Fernandez and Annabelle Codey did no harm to their chances for Wallaroos selection. Fernandez probably has a bit more of the inside running but Codey again showed she is a real work horse.
As an aside Australia has real depth in the half back position. Brums’ Ella Ryan and Jay Huriwai and Tahs’ Tatum Bird, although down the pecking order, would not look out of place in the Wallaroos squad.
The rugby sevens player Bienne Terita did not really get an opportunity to show what she can do. She came off as planned at half-time. It will be interesting to see if she has any further opportunity to put up her hand for Wallaroos selection. She has not had a lot of game time this year, in fact has not played in any of the rugby sevens tournaments to date.
With no skin in this game, have to say the Reds versus Force game was a bit of a fizzer. The game was all done and dusted by half-time with the Reds leading 35-10.
While the Reds played well, the Force looked tired. Maybe the travel is catching up with them. Maybe last week’s game against the Fijian Drua took a bit of a spark out of them. The Force backrow of Tamika Jones, Ash Marsters and Pia Tapsell were quite subdued compared to last week’s win over the Drua.
This week the Reds were just too physical for the Force. There was very little backline play per se, just the forwards pounding away up the middle. Their tight five was too strong that includes a Wallabies front row. Eva Karpani had one of her special games with three tries. In the backline the power and skill of Shalom Sausao at 12 is astonishing. Both Carlotte Caslick at 15 and Lori Cramer at 10 had solid games, with Cramer goal kicking six from seven.
For the Force the last-minute change with flyhalf Grace Freeman dropping out probably made a difference as her kicking game ensures they play at the right end of the field. Also not sure what happened with the substitutions, maybe there was an injury as Marsters finished the game at hooker again.
The Force will want to forget this game pretty quickly as they prepare for a semi-final against the Waratahs this weekend, while the Reds will welcome the Drua.
