Wigg'n wrote:
Hock was still quite strong in defence. Our highlight of the horrendous 2003 GF is probably when he smashed Vainikolo from a 20m tap in his first first-team season.
That said, Nsemba consistently dominates opposing forwards which I've not seen in a young player before. I posted similar last week after the Catalans game when he hit Bousquet and Garcia all over the place. He also rarely gets caught out in defence which is rare for a big guy.
Hock could hit but I always felt like it was the attacking side of the game that got him excited and he was never a guy who would consistently go around putting big shots on or hunting players. Nsemba is doing that and is clobbering anyone who comes near him. He's that big, he's smothering players and at times you feel almost sorry for them as he wraps them up.
I didn't pay much attention of the night but it was interesting looking back to see that he kept his place on the left hand side and Faz was on the right. I think it highlights the impact he's having already that he can move Faz over to that right hand side. He looks more threatening with his running lines on that side and defensively he looks more comfortable and those little lapses we saw on the right have gone.