France v Australia, Saturday 19 November

[galumay]

You might have been unconvinced - I thought it was a bloody good performance from a scratch side.

I thought it was unconvncing because the result so easily might have been the opposite, I think it was 14 points the French missed off the boot.

I agree it was a good performance by a 'B' side/scratch side - i dont think that precludes it being an unconvincing win!

 

[Strewthcobber]

I thought so as well, I thought that if you went past the call you're considered part of the ruck and can't pick up the ball.. although the French player did it fairly fluidly, if there were a longer pause between joining the ruck and picking up the ball it may have been a penalty

Just had another look at it - it was still a tackle I think, there weren't any Australians on their feet in contact over the ball, so no issues. Previous ones have been pulled up for hands in the ruck IIRC

As an aside what was Latu doing sticking out his leg as the Frenchman crashed over. Very lucky he didn't contact anything and get himself sent off.

 

[wamberal]

I thought it was unconvncing because the result so easily might have been the opposite, I think it was 14 points the French missed off the boot.

I agree it was a good performance by a 'B' side/scratch side - i dont think that precludes it being an unconvincing win!

We can argue semantics all you like. Was it a good performance, or an unconvincing one?


Can't be both.

 

[Dave Beat]

Was our line speed in D a bit quicker today.

 

[Twoilms]

This thread continues it rapid descent.

Anyone know where you can watch a decent highlights reel. Missed the game.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[the sabanator]

Pocock had the best game in a Wallaby 7 jersey for quite a while. It might be just semantics, but I'd like to see Pocock at 7 and Hooper at 6.

 

[Strewthcobber]

This thread continues it rapid descent.

Anyone know where you can watch a decent highlights reel. Missed the game.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Search YouTube for Australia France and set the filter to today and you should find replays to suit any time budget

 

[Dave Beat]

Pocock had the best game in a Wallaby 7 jersey for quite a while. It might be just semantics, but I'd like to see Pocock at 7 and Hooper at 6.

I'm not sure that it'll change the type of game either of them play, or the angles they run in attack and D.

I'm not agreeing or disagreeing here - they both play a differeng style of game that complements each other.

 

[Scotty]

You can stand by it but it got well and truly smashed.

What that match proved was that even the fringe squad is now able to slot into Cheika's pattern of play - Godwin and Morahan were great cases in point.

Some of the attacking interplay in midfield was just excellent. It was on the edges of the tight forward range that things got rickety - I think that's when we were missing our new lock finds and probably Hooper.

It what way did it get 'well and truly smashed'. Because of the result or because how we played?

I only once mentioned that I thought we would lose. In the end it came down to Spedding ignoring a 4 on 2 chance near the line and a field goal missing by 1m in regards to the result.

In regards to how we played, I thought the intensity was great, but that combinations in both attack and defense, particularly in the backline was average, and there were plenty of mistakes.

I also agreed with Noddy (and liked his post) where he said having Foley come into the side served us better. This at least helped with the combinations that have been used for the vast majority of the last three test matches.

We also lacked penetration in the backs, and guys that were willing to run hard and straighten the attack. A lot of the ball we got was front foot, and similar to the Wales game, but we couldn't make the best use of it. It is no surprise at all that we lacked penetration when we rested Folau, Hodge and DHP.

So instead of giving key players a rest over the last few games (or when the game dictated we could) we've given them a rest all at the same time. I think there are some clear negatives to that, while also a few positives out of this game:

Negatives:

Flyhalf - Unlucky Cooper was injured, but if he had more time in previous games it wouldn't matter as much - we now have a big risk if Foley struggles in a game or is injured because we have to bring someone in that has been used for about 10 minutes over 3 games.

Fullback - This was a prime opportunity to see DHP there, who is surely the second choice fullback over Morahan, but has yet to have any time in a test match there. What happens if Folau is injured?

Skelton - why why why - nothing more to say.

Positives:

Second Row & Loose - It was good to see Douglas, McMahon and Fardy given a good hitout. We know these guys can play, but it is a reminder there are choices that may be better balanced - Mumm, Skelton and Pocock at 6/8 are all things that can be altered.

Hooker - Thought Latu went pretty well and is only going to get better.

 

[Slim 293]

I can't wait until we win a game on this tour.........

 

[ForceFan]

Anyone know where you can watch a decent highlights reel. Missed the game.

Whole game in HD

 

[fatprop]

Pocock had the best game in a Wallaby 7 jersey for quite a while. It might be just semantics, but I'd like to see Pocock at 7 and Hooper at 6.

They sort of do, it ain't about the number on the back, but the role in the backrow as a unit

Regardless of the irrelevance of your position as a moderator, it displays very poor analytical and discussion skills if you perceive those with a differnce of opinion to yours as negative. Its also a very poor form of argument to attack a person rather than their argument.

Calling my posts "negative bilge" is the sort of personal attack worthy of moderation, calling my comments "boring and slightly unhinged" is also playing the man.

How can you have an informed discussion that provides "enjoyment and quality.." if you are only going to allow commentary that aligns with your personal opinion?

Rather than launching a personal attack on me, you would improve the quality of the forum if you focussed on putting your opinions foward in an articulate and non personal manner, and where you disagree with someone else's opinion, then putting a counter point for discussion.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[PeterK]

Good win by the wallabies.

They played better than I expected after so many changes.

Foley's second best game of the year. Good variation, kicking, short and long. Good inside passes.

One terrible error kicking out on the full.

Only hard goal kick he missed, others near or in front.

7/10 for me. He will be the 10 for the next 2 matches.

Pocock the real difference in that game just like the Scotland game.

Hooper should be benched for impact.

Naivalu offers genuine pace, he saved a couple of tries with his pace, yes he missed tackles but often presented with 2 on 1 against him.
He was tackled early on the lost ball near the line.

Morahan should replace Speight with Naivalu on the bench.

 

[Sully]

.
Morahan is DHP mark II. He has all the skills and a back 3 of he, DHP and Folau has everything. enough said.

I've been thinking this all morning myself!

 

[PeterK]

McMahon had another opportunity to show his wares starting and still fell short of Hooper IMO.

McMahon played well though.

Pocock will be missed next year.

 

[Brumby Runner]

For TOCC. Just watched the game a second time. Took particular notice of the defensive setup during the French second try. The backline configuration was Godwin, Kuridrani, Speight with Foley deep on the right wing (some might say at fullback, but I reckon that was the wingers spot in Grey's defensive line). Godwin didn't miss a tackle, but held off his man who was then taken by Kuridrani and Speight then had to move further in field to cover the French centre. When the ball got to the fullback running down the sideline, he was Foley's to take. Foley duly missed the tackle. Speight in cover defense took him over the sideline in a strong tackle but the ball had been turned inside to a French support. We know how the rest of the movement unfolded.

Again, how many tackles did Speight miss? Uncountable. He did get out of sorts at 13 but then so did Naivalu on the other side and he missed three tackles. I'm not putting Naivalu down, as I thought otherwise he had a very promising debut and I would not be upset if he replaced Speight for Ireland, though I don't see that as being a necessity. Naivalu really should have had a try to his name - he was taken early with the try line open about a metre or two away. A penalty try could well have resulted in another game with another ref.

 

[amirite]

I'm very impressed how Cheika has filled gaps in the Wallabies in just a year.

We ran Gitts and To'omua as our 2nd 5/8s at the WC, we don't have either this year and we've developed two options with potential (Hodge and Godwin). We also have the option to look at a different shape at 12 with Kerevi.

We have none of our 4 best wings from the WC (Horne, Mitchel, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), Tomane) and now we have a new set of viable ones.

Things aren't half bad, even in the development is only half done.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Tomane rather than Timani, but yes, the current crop at 12 and on the wing are far better than those who played the RWC and who have since moved on.

 

[barbarian]

All in all, it was a really good win. Beating France in Paris? I will take that every day of the week.

According to a few here we 'got lucky' and the Frogs should have won.

To me that's bullshit. They had plenty of chances to win the game and didn't take them. There were no unlucky bounces, or dodgy refereeing calls. Just French skill errors.

Yes the kick at the end missed by 1m but it still fucking missed. It was a skill error by the French. They didn't deserve to win the game, because they missed kicks, dropped balls, forced passes.

When Foley misses kicks like that, we don't go 'oooohh that's unlucky', we go 'shit kick Foley, get better at kicking'. And rightfully so. So we should do the same to the Frogs.

I hate it when we lionise the opposition like this and talk ourselves down. We beat the French, and deserved the victory, and should be bloody happy with the result!
.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

Stats paint the full picture don't they?

first French try, Godwin had a player marked and made the tackle, Speight also came in on the same player and left the outside man unmarked, ball was offloaded to the unmarked player and the French finish up 5m from the try line and go over in the next phase. Speight didn't miss a tackle, but made a defensive error by coming in and leaving his man unmarked.

Second French try, I've actually already explained this one.. Godwin was actually the main issue in the second try by getting beaten on the outside, which was exacerbated by Speight indecision and getting turned around.. Speight didn't actually lay a finger on anyone in the first line of defence so technically didn't miss a tackle, he eventually made a covering tackle 20m behind the advantage line but French went over anyway

Watch it again Tocc Godwin wasn't beaten on his outside he was slidding a across and had his man covered when Kurindrani jammed in creating the overlap which was followed by a lot of questionable defence Godwin was also then taken out when not part of the ruck which created the hole for the Frenchie to walk over the line.