Ireland v Australia

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Am I imagining things , watched the game twice and came away with the feeling that the Irish constantly did not release the tackled player ... If I'm right I am actually starting to feel like we have a fair bit of upside in the lead up to the World Cup .... If Cheika can address the slow down of the ball by oppositions and keep plugging away at the cohesion we look to have a real shot at peaking when it matters at the 2015WC , I thought the scrum was much better in the first 55 minutes or so, as was the lineout . A great game , well done Ireland and a 35 year old MOTM ! And well done Australia for remaining in the contest , I would like to see the same group have a crack at England which should be a riveting affair and give the squad a fair indication of where we are at .

 

[Stumpy]

The biggest highlight for me was that none of the starting Wallaby 15 wore head-gear. It's good to see progression away from the soccer mum era!!

 

[vidiot]

If Cheika can address the slow down of the ball by oppositions

I don't see how he can.

 

[Stumpy]

Have you heard of rucking, Vidiot? Something every rugby field misses!!

 

[Stumpy]

Richie McCaw wouldn't be alive today if players could capitalise on rules gone by.

 

[KOB1987]

I am comforted by the fact that our coach is realising winning isn't that easy when you don't have overly stacked provincial sides with huge recruitment groups, and he's now going to spend 6 months coaching another team before coming back to coach at the RWC. Bet the farm folks.

In all seriousness, if this hasn't awoken Cheika to the fact this isn't a part time job, we have major problems.

But does anyone actually believe he doesn't know this? After Link's departure the expectation was that a caretaker coach would be appointed for the EOYT and then the 'RWC coach' in due course. Cheika is merely fulfilling both roles, he has a contract with the NSWRU to honour in the interim..he was always odds on to get the gig after the Super XV, I'm pretty sure he's not viewing it as a part time job..

 

[Mr Doug]

I've been mulling over this post for a few days deciding if it deserved a response or not.

I watch more rugby than most on GAGR. For anyone to question my commitment to rugby is beyond the pale.

Sure, I don't wake in the early hours to watch the Wallabies live, but I record such matches to watch later.

It is a tragedy that certain people question the quality of the commitment of GAGR members.

Hey boyo, you spend too much time "mulling"!
As Mrs D said when I told her of a couple of the critical replies to my post: "They're too precious"!!

I don't care how much Rugby you watch, I happen to like watching "my" Wallabies "live" whenever I can. Anyone who missed today's match "live", is the poorer for it, it was exciting from kick-off to the final whistle.

Get over it, stop sulking, and get ready for Australia vs the Soap Dodgers!

 

[mxyzptlk]

The tight finish has sent Schmidt to hospital! Hope he is ok

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/30164673

To be fair, it wasn't Schmidt that couldn't take the tight finish -- it was his appendix. Schmidt even did the post-game interviews before checking in to the ER.

 

[Athilnaur]

Bit of a dog's breakfast that game. But I loved our physicality.

And I am glad we aren't in a pool with Ireland, most teams will struggle to knock them over twice.

 

[mxyzptlk]

As for any complaints about refs and bullshit decisions ,I think TMO's allowing Foley's try trumps everything

Ireland did a lot to hand that game over, especially in the second 20 minutes. But if they lost by less than a try, Jackson/the TMO giving Foley the score on a clear forward pass would have brought forth some pitchforks and torches.

Games like this also always make me curious about a second ref at the scrum. One penalty was given to the Wallabies for Ireland collapsing the scrum, but it collapsed after Slipper popped up and out like a meerkat. Slipper was actually standing up and looking at Jackson looking at the near side of the scrum before Jackson blew the whistle to call the penalty against Ireland.

This was Slipper on the far side of that scrum:

 

[mxyzptlk]

Think you underestimate how well Irish pack did second half

The replacements especially -- they didn't have to get up to speed at all.

 

[mxyzptlk]

I thought the major difference in the Australian attack in the second half was the drop in work rate of the backs off the ball. In the first three tries breaks were made by having multiple runners and getting Dwyer's oft mentioned multiple touches. For me that isn't just the multiple touches of the ball but involvements, as in the Speight tip toe down the touch line to get up from the offload and get involved in the next ruck straight away. That dropped off in the second half.

I haven't confirmed this, but some Twatters on Twitter noted that Folau didn't make any tackles. Might have even been tackle attempts. If that's the case, it says something about work rate -- unless he was just real unlucky with where attack flowed.

 

[boyo]

Hey boyo, you spend too much time "mulling"!
As Mrs D said when I told her of a couple of the critical replies to my post: "They're too precious"!!

I don't care how much Rugby you watch, I happen to like watching "my" Wallabies "live" whenever I can. Anyone who missed today's match "live", is the poorer for it, it was exciting from kick-off to the final whistle.

Get over it, stop sulking, and get ready for Australia vs the Soap Dodgers!

FYI I don't spend a lot of time "mulling".

It's not me being precious - perhaps you should look closer to home, instead of traducing the character of people on here.

Please don't tell me to "Get over it, stop sulking" - you don't have the right.

Someone doesn't have to watch a rugby match "live" to get the atmosphere of it.

 

[barbarian]

I actually thought this was a bloody good game, and our guys can hold their heads up.

We played pretty well, with clear signs of improvement from last week. Defence was fine, they scored two tries which were completely unrelated to defence, and didn't really get close to scoring a 3rd.

Bench made a good contribution, especially Skelton (that's more like it!).

Intensity from both sides in the last ten was fantastic, Aussies attacking with speed and creativity and the Irish brick wall holding up....... just.
.

 

[KevinO]

Have watched the match twice, Australia played there best game on tour so far. A World Class 10 and you would have walked away with a win. Should be able to come away with a win against the Poms, but will be another tight match.

Ireland took it's chances early and than just held on. Had a game plan and stuck to it, lots of high kicks and chasers where good at putting the pressure on the Wallabies back three.

Speight played well for his first cap.

I thought QC (Quade Cooper) looked dangerous when he came on, Ireland defended really well.

Good 2014 for us, 13 Test for 12 wins and 1 loss.

 

[mxyzptlk]

I'm finding it increasingly hard to see the Wallabies in a glass half full light.
The game today, though close, still reflects poorly on the team for making a lot of basic mistakes.
I see some positive moments and improvement from individuals, but as a collection of players they looked like it was their first game today.

Ireland played well, and a credit to them for the win - they showed a lot of ticker.

Ask yourself this -- did the Wallabies play better in this game than against France or Wales? I'd say better than against France, and it's a close call with Wales, but Wales aren't capable of putting a full 80 minutes together at this point.

 

[Quick Hands]

Have you heard of rucking, Vidiot? Something every rugby field misses!!

And something which will probably land the perpetrator in the sin bin for 10 mins.

 

[Lorenzo]

Defence was fine, they scored two tries which were completely unrelated to defence

The first try was completely unrelated to defence? So any pitching wedge into the corner is going to result in a try if they have a winger hitting the gas and there's nothing we can do about it?

I think AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was caught napping on that play.

 

[ForceFan]

Wallabies did well in the 1st half in coming back to evens from 17 points down.
Ireland's discipline in defence very impressive.
Wallabies had 63% possession and territory in 2nd half and couldn't make any headway.
Thought they looked like a rudderless ship in a running tide.

Ruck data:


+ Hooper (80 mins) made 39 rucks, 28 early (72%)and 25 with impact (64%).
+ Carter (71 mins) made 36 rucks, 31 early (86%) and 33 with impact (92%).
+ Kepu (70 mins) made 34 rucks, 21 early (76%) and 19 with impact (56%).
+ Slipper (75 mins) made 33 rucks, 25 early (78%), and 23 with impact (56%).
+ Fainga’a (70 mins) made 29 rucks, 23 early (79%) and 24 with impact (83%).
+ Simmons (80 mins) made 24 rucks, 19 early (79%) and 19 with impact (79%).
+ McCalman (80 mins) made 23 rucks, 17 early (74%) and 20 with impact (87%).
+ Jones (53 mins) made 19 rucks, 14 early (74%) and 14 with impact (74%).

Off the bench
+ Schatz (27 mins) made 12 rucks, 10 early (83%) and 7 with impact (58%).
+ Hanson (10 mins) made 4 rucks, 4 early (100%) and 3 with impact (75%).
+ Robinson (5 mins) made 4 rucks, 4 early (100%) and 4 with impact (100%).
+ Skelton (9 mins) made 4 rucks, 4 early (100%) and 1 with impact (25%).
+ Faulkner (10 mins) made 3 rucks, 1 early (33%) and 1 with impact (33%).

Significant ruck contributions by Backs as follows:
To'omua – 17, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) – 15, Speight – 14, Kuridrani – 8, Foley – 8.

Comments:
+ Early engagement = 1st or 2nd to ruck.
+ Impact = active engagement, strong physical contact, changed shape of ruck, clean-out, etc.
(more than hand on someone's bum or playing statues.)
+Impact doesn't mean that the player was "menacing" at the ruck.
+Rucks stats gathered while watching replays of the game.

 

[Sully]

The stats a great mate. We need to do something with them.