RWC 2011 - Quarter final 3 : Springbokke v. Wallabies CLOSED

[fatprop]

McCabe was fearless. The Boks aim a lot of their attack, using their big guys, at the opposing 12 and yesterday McCabe smashed them and drove them back. You could see the disbelief in the Boks' eyes.

In contrast AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was a ghost. I saw him with the ball once.

it is the "13" disease for the Wallabies. They simply don't get the ball - ever, there has been the same complaint about every 13 in the last 2 years. Off set piece and phase we only attack one pass inside or outside of Cooper or around the outside to the wings.

 

[Tangawizi]

Does anyone know where to find individual player stats for the match yesterday?

Want to find out how many of the Wallabies 13 missed tackles were attributable to Quade.

 

[Toddy]

I disagree about Two Dads. He played the ref brilliantly and slowed down a lot of the Boks ball by getting his hands on it during the ruck. Can't expect a centre to do much on 20% possession.

 

[dobduff11]

Not sure if these are reliable but according to SMH QUade missed 8 tackles

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/rugby-union-match-centre/live-blog-australia-v-south-africa-20111009-1lfio.html

 

[fatprop]

Not sure if these are reliable but according to SMH QUade missed 8 tackles

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/rugby-union-match-centre/live-blog-australia-v-south-africa-20111009-1lfio.html

http://www.rugbystats.com.au/matches/rugby/match12373.html

Yep missed 8, another ineffective

Pocock made 27, didn't miss all night

 

[dobduff11]

Pocock is a freak! 27 tackles and no misses is pretty ridiculous.

By contrast Ben Alexander missed 6 and only made 11.

I thought JDV had his best match for the Boks in years, looked rapid and incisive. No apparent knee problems either. Lambie was class as well.

 

[Slim 293]

http://www.rugbystats.com.au/matches/rugby/match12373.html

Yep missed 8, another ineffective

Pocock made 27, didn't miss all night

And according to that Sharpe made 15 tackles in the 27 minutes he came on which is also fairly impressive...

 

[Braveheart81]

Horwill 23, Vickerman 17 and Sharpe 15 is some super tackling by our locks. Outside of the lineout, all three were excellent yesterday.

Clearly there will be a lot of work on the lineout this week. I think we need to just get the ball in quicker. All the player swaps and running around pre throw were so easily worked out by the Springboks.

A lot of the throws looked too low. Our throws were being intercepted by a Springbok getting slightly in front of our jumper but at a far lower height than our jumper was at.

 

[RugbyReg]

AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) didn't make a single run according to those stats. 16 tackles, with 3 misses.

 

[Slim 293]

Horwill 23, Vickerman 17 and Sharpe 15 is some super tackling by our locks. Outside of the lineout, all three were excellent yesterday.

Clearly there will be a lot of work on the lineout this week. I think we need to just get the ball in quicker. All the player swaps and running around pre throw were so easily worked out by the Springboks.

A lot of the throws looked too low. Our throws were being intercepted by a Springbok getting slightly in front of our jumper but at a far lower height than our jumper was at.

The Boks knew where it was going to go and were able to get a jumper in front quite easily...

Vickerman seems to have lost his lineout magic in his time off...

 

[Scotty]

it is the "13" disease for the Wallabies. They simply don't get the ball - ever, there has been the same complaint about every 13 in the last 2 years. Off set piece and phase we only attack one pass inside or outside of Cooper or around the outside to the wings.

Except for AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)'s try in Brisbane a few years ago?

 

[pete88]

I'm holding fire till I see Scott's stats.

I'd love to see his analysis on how we used the possessions we started - errors, kicking errors & turnovers to make up 99% of them I suspect.

The most telling stat I can get out of that, and I had a feeling this was actually the case, was that we started a similar number of possessions. As I say thought, Scott's stats, best stats.

 

[pete88]

Except for AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)'s try in Brisbane a few years ago?

And against the Frogs and ABs on the EOYT last year.

 

[Braveheart81]

The Boks knew where it was going to go and were able to get a jumper in front quite easily...

Vickerman seems to have lost his lineout magic in his time off...

It wasn't just Vickerman. At the very least Horwill, Elsom, Sharpe and possibly Alexander (whoever caught the lineout that was thrown to the front and had it wrestled off them) all lost lineouts as well.

Our lineout actually improved when TPN came on and was throwing.

I think Moore's throwing was the major problem with the lineout yesterday.

 

[Scotty]

I am surprised that so many (mainly bok and AB fans) seemed to think that Pocock constantly infringed at the breakdown. I saw the vast majority of his involvements as being completely legal. First man to the ruck, holding his own weight and either slowing the ball down or winning a turnover.

It actually astounded me that Bryce didn't blow more penalties in his favour - there was one in particular about half way through the second half that stands out - he had his hands on the ball on his feet for the entire ruck, as three south africans tried to either hold onto it on the ground or clean him out.

I'd love to see a video of his ruck involvements to see whether I was just looking at it with gold tinted glasses?

 

[Slim 293]

It wasn't just Vickerman. At the very least Horwill, Elsom, Sharpe and possibly Alexander (whoever caught the lineout that was thrown to the front and had it wrestled off them) all lost lineouts as well.

Our lineout actually improved when TPN came on and was throwing.

I think Moore's throwing was the major problem with the lineout yesterday.

According to rugby stats TPN only threw one lineout when he came on...

 

[Jay]

First man to the ruck, holding his own weight and either slowing the ball down or winning a turnover.

Think about the laws of rugby, then about what you've written there and consider why people might think he got away with a bit.

 

[Mica]

Think about the laws of rugby, then about what you've written there and consider why people might think he got away with a bit.

Yep - 100% correct Jay; I think what Scotty is implying is that he was the first man to the tackled player (i.e. the third man in thus making it a ruck)

 

[Jay]

Yep - 100% correct Jay; I think what Scotty is implying is that he was the first man to the tackled player (i.e. the third man in thus making it a ruck)

I figured that's what he meant. But in reality, I suspect there were a few times when he wasn't the first man there or didn't release the tackled player, along with the many times he got his timing right (of course, the pragmatic answer is that if he didn't get pinged, he got his timing right). Lawrence was letting a huge amount of stuff go at the breakdown, which actually favoured the Boks overall, but Pocock also got away with a fair bit due to this.

 

[Mica]

Lawrence was letting a huge amount of stuff go at the breakdown, which actually favoured the Boks overall, but Pocock also got away with a fair bit due to this.

Agreed - the ruck was a bit of a free for all. Lots of hands from both sides on numerous occasions.
Still I thought the refereeing was pretty neutral regarding its impact on the game.

Lawrence does miss a fair bit though. (Then again he doesn't have spider cam and slow motion replays etc. )