Bledisloe IV 2010 Hong Kong

[Langthorne]

I have to agree ith Godfrey and Daz - the hinging is unbelievable.

Lets sum up the opinions on this forum.

After a very good in (yes it asn't perfect) e should

1. Drop the props because thy appeared eak and not as dominant as they previously ere in all their other tests
2. The hooker should be replaced by Finger, but it doesn't matter because TPN ill be back next year
3. The lineout as strong but the 2 locks didn't contribute much. One is too old and the other just stands around
4. Elsom has lost his running game and as a passnger.
5. McCalman didn't kno hat he as doing
6. Thank god for Pocock as it appears he as the only forard there
7. Genia should be replaced by Burgess because h as good hen he came on
8. Everyone believes and nose Cooper can't tackle and should be replaced by Barnes
9. Giteau is passed it (have to agree ith this) and should be replaced by Barnes (makes him a busy boy covering 10 AND 12) or JOC (James O'Connor), ho definitely ill strengthen th mid field defence (same people ho ant him dropped because he can't tackle ant him at 12)
10. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) no comments so must be safe
11. JOC (James O'Connor) like Cooper can't tackle (can score tries and kick goals) so must go and be replaced by Turner a safer and prdictable professional, but can tackle
12. Mitchell made mistakes (but can tackle, beat a man and can finish off breaks) so has to go for someone else
13 Beale best attacking back e have orking off Cooper (ho is to b dropped) has his critics (see earlier and other threads)

So in summary Beale, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and Pocock are safe all th others must go. This after beating the darkness after all this time and playing some very good rugby to boot. Thats 12 changes. I said it before and I ill say it again - fucking unbelievable

(sorry for the typing but my vv key doesn't ork)

Was the hinging the reason Alexander got pinged a couple of times?

Of your list of 12 points, 8 and 9 are somewhat reflective of the forum (Cooper can't tackle and Giteau is past it), but the rest are (at best) only an extremely selective reading, and not really a fair reflection.

Just for the record, we know you agree that Giteau is past it, do you disagree that Cooper missed far too many tackles (in this game, or any other you wish to discuss)?

 

[Hawko]

On Sunday the following power craft were labouring to keep up with the rowers. Well crewed eights are an impressive sight, although you have to wonder about people who spend their entire sporting careers going backwards while looking at the back of another bloke's neck.

Bruce,
Is this an obscure reference to the Wallaby scrum from a few years back?

 

[Bruce Ross]

Bruce,
Is this an obscure reference to the Wallaby scrum from a few years back?

Love it! Although perhaps "people who spend their entire sporting careers going backwards while wedged between two other blokes' arses."

 

[Iluvmyfooty]

Was the hinging the reason Alexander got pinged a couple of times?

Of your list of 12 points, 8 and 9 are somewhat reflective of the forum (Cooper can't tackle and Giteau is past it), but the rest are (at best) only an extremely selective reading, and not really a fair reflection.

Just for the record, we know you agree that Giteau is past it, do you disagree that Cooper missed far too many tackles (in this game, or any other you wish to discuss)?

Quade Cooper is a wonderful wonderful wizard of a player (see I got my W back). Sure his defence can be questionable but he is not alone in this. Many brilliant attacking footballers have been weak in defence. I argue that without his brilliance the Australian attack goes back to a rather predictable and boring offence that will rely a lot more on kicking to go forward. He had a direct influence on three tries in the match - scoring one himself by staying active and backing up and giving two great passes to get support players into space (AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)'s try came from a Cooper pass that allowed him to get into that gap).

Was he not Australian Super 14 player of the year (I'm not sure but I think he was). Did he not have a major bearing on making Qld a strong competitive side in this competition? he has been praised all year for his playmaking abilities. saturday night wasn't good defensively for him but we would not have won the test without him. this is why i believe he is vital to this team

 

[tucker]

Is it just me, or was that All Blacks performance a tad more dirty then usual. Along with the usual offsides at rucks and in defense
- McCaw's kick at Cooper
- Smith's acting over the ref, he could have made that tackle
- Thorn holding Cooper back from chasing Genia's kick
- Donald high shot on AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
- A lot of marginal holds on players, I think i saw smith hold onto oconnor a little bit too long, and Nonu hold Cooper?

 

[Bullrush]

is it just me, or was that all blacks performance a tad more dirty then usual. Along with the usual offsides at rucks and in defense
- mccaw's kick at cooper
- smith's acting over the ref, he could have made that tackle
- thorn holding cooper back from chasing genia's kick
- donald high shot on AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
- a lot of marginal holds on players, i think i saw smith hold onto oconnor a little bit too long, and nonu hold cooper?

lol.......

 

[disco]

Is it just me, or was that All Blacks performance a tad more dirty then usual. Along with the usual offsides at rucks and in defense
- McCaw's kick at Cooper
- Smith's acting over the ref, he could have made that tackle
- Thorn holding Cooper back from chasing Genia's kick
- Donald high shot on AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
- A lot of marginal holds on players, I think i saw smith hold onto oconnor a little bit too long, and Nonu hold Cooper?

I definitely think Mccaw as an individual has become more cranky with playing the Wallabies especially in Sydney & Honkers I saw him pointing fingers & getting involved in niggle.

I believe Pocock has him rattled as you could see by the way he kicked out at the scrum in the 1st half.

 

[tucker]

Yeah i think McCaw and the All Blacks were feeling the pressure

 

[tucker]

Also Mils reacted a bit more agro then usual after Cooper's push on McCaw

 

[Gnostic]

Quade Cooper is a wonderful wonderful wizard of a player (see I got my W back). Sure his defence can be questionable but he is not alone in this. Many brilliant attacking footballers have been weak in defence. I argue that without his brilliance the Australian attack goes back to a rather predictable and boring offence that will rely a lot more on kicking to go forward. He had a direct influence on three tries in the match - scoring one himself by staying active and backing up and giving two great passes to get support players into space (AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)'s try came from a Cooper pass that allowed him to get into that gap).

Was he not Australian Super 14 player of the year (I'm not sure but I think he was). Did he not have a major bearing on making Qld a strong competitive side in this competition? he has been praised all year for his playmaking abilities. saturday night wasn't good defensively for him but we would not have won the test without him. this is why i believe he is vital to this team

You should read the forum a bit closer. The only points you make which are remotely accurate is what Langthorne replied. The rest is at best an ignorant rant from misinterpretation and at worst a clear manipulation of the stated views of a few posters.
I will not bother to adress all your points but:-
No serious poster or critic has suggested that Cooper be dropped. Plenty of people including his supporters want to see him get intensive tackling coaching. VERY Intensive.
Nobody at all has suggested dropping the props - anywhere that I can see. I was and still am worried about Alexander returning with very little rugby from a serious injury but even a one legged Alexander is better than Ma'afu. Regarding Robinson I questioned why he has been struggling?
Lastly I do want JOC (James O'Connor) moved from wing, because he is not a wing. He is brilliant in traffic and make break with apparent easy from the 12 channel. Not in the last test but in tests prior he was caught out of position regularly and this led to a few tries. "Test match rugby" not being a place for experimentation is often used by those who support Dean's selection policies as a reason not to make changes yet Deans has done this by playing JOC (James O'Connor) at wing, a position he has not played in at S14 level. Yes sometimes such experiments come off but they are few and far between.

 

[disco]

Also Mils reacted a bit more agro then usual after Cooper's push on McCaw

As expected, considering McCaw is captain & they just lost the game + cooper is a bit of a twat.

 

[Richo]

Getting a fast start for next year's awards, eh Gnostic?

 

[Gnostic]

Getting a fast start for next year's awards, eh Gnostic?

Which one am I running for with that post? All at once? >

One does do one's best!

 

[Richo]

Which one am I running for with that post? All at once? >

One does do one's best!

Rookie, obviously.

 

[Spewn]

Is it just me, or was that All Blacks performance a tad more dirty then usual. Along with the usual offsides at rucks and in defense
- McCaw's kick at Cooper
- Smith's acting over the ref, he could have made that tackle
- Thorn holding Cooper back from chasing Genia's kick
- Donald high shot on AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
- A lot of marginal holds on players, I think i saw smith hold onto oconnor a little bit too long, and Nonu hold Cooper?

They have been dirty cheats for years. Fitzpatrick, Loe, the Cowboy. Was anyone in the crowd in Canberra when the snow fell and the crusaders cheated every time the ball was in their 22 to prevent the brumbies coming back and winning the super final? Lying on the ball, offside, not releasing, etc etc.

 

[RugbyReg]

just looking at this picture, did Lachie Turner get on the field? Or was he just very fast into the celebrations from the bench?

 

[Brumby Jack]

Well he is the fastest sportsmen in Australia, so it wouldn't have taken him long to get there

 

[Jnor]

As far as I knew it was just him and Dick Brown that didn't get on the field in a playing capacity

 

[Gnostic]

Deans still needs to do a lot with the team. Yes there have been massive changes (improvements) since the SA tour (which IMO were forced on Deans), but his selection is still questionable as is his bench use (which has improved a immensely). I refuse to get caught up in the love in because they did not convince me of much except we got lucky with Donald missing the penalty. On second/third look there was a very good Oz chase on Donald outside in which forced Donald to miss touch IMO and this has gone unremarked. That said they did well to back themselves and score the try and deserved the win but 9/10 times the ABs will win that as they have repeatedly shown, literally, simply because of the deficiencies which are still apparent in the team and have not been addressed.

At least the Goal Kicking Deficiency will be addressed now and I hope Giteau was sacked and didn't elect himself to go as that would show Deans is actually addressing the fundamental issues however tardy he has been doing it.

 

[ACT Crusader]

Well done OZ, in particular to Beiber for taking it to the try line and scoring in traffic. Then conversion, whilst a fairly regulation kick was great under pressure. By the way is he still not good enough for wing...

The games have been very close for the best part of 2 years and we have got the roll of the dice and taken the edge for almost all of them, so I can't fault the post-game celebratins by the Wallabies. 10 straight would be a hard pill to swallow for a proud outfit like the Wallaies.

Interesting by the some of the comments in relation to "extra agro", didn't really notice anything different from both sides. Sharpe still getiing a few in at rucks, Cooper with a couple of swinging arm clean outs, Thorn doing his usual stuff, etc.

Beale has turned himself into an excellent test fullback. I remember when he first started playing there for the Tahs and was playing more like a league 5/8, trying to be the 2nd playmaker and kicking grubber kicks in the 22 and just trying to step his way through things. Now he is composed and uses his quickness to counter and injecting himself into the line. One sign of a very good fullback is when they can set their wingers off and he has shown that throughout the 3Ns.

ABs played poorly then good then shocking. Its been some time that I've seen so many ABs fall off tackles and the opposition get over the advantage line with relative ease. Defensively we looked messy and lethargic, and early in the game and right at the death OZ made us pay.

Bring on Ingerlund.