Bledisloe 1 - Saturday 18 August 2018 - ANZ Stadium, Sydney
- Thread starter Braveheart81
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Jerry West
Sydney Middleton (9)
It’s time for Chieka to make a call. Pocock or Hooper, we can’t play both anymore. Don’t get anywhere near as much advantage around the breakdown with two 7’s the other teams have with one. Add to that the woeful Line out, need some tall timber to give us another option against arguably the best reading L/O locks in World Rugby.
dru
Tim Horan (67)
Yep, ditto your thoughts on Rodda (tonight). And I'll add Tui.
Up the Guts
Steve Williams (59)
I do, they didn’t have much going for them in the first half. The Irish could suffocate them out of the game imo.
Up the Guts
Steve Williams (59)
What errors? His knee is on the ground when he is stripped, Naholo has to release him.
Dismal Pillock
Simon Poidevin (60)
Straya 6-0 up after 35 mins, looking solid and compact on D. NZ attacking but looking predictable and stifled easily enough.
Then Aus ran out of puff.
Add in Retallick eating 7 Aus lineouts and hitting the nitrous to start running amok murdering people and the rogering was on.
33 pts conceded in half vs NZ, worst since 1925 or some shit?
Turnover ball, broken field play, AB's off to the races w/BB and Naholo answering their critics and their stodgy pedestrian first 35 mins papered over.
Mehrts did brilliantly not to rise to Kearns baiting. Such a cock. Where7s my fucken NSFW tears meme
Gnostic
Mark Ella (57)
God you have no idea at all do you? You would just prefer to play junior sides you can win against and not try to improve. Why do you think the set piece was so crap? I would give you a tip that the players are quite capable of performing to the required level if they are prepared properly and actually execute the skills, but then I don't think you can recognise the skills required or what a good rugby attack would look like.
And yes they are beatable, Ireland did it last year and quite well.
Brumby Runner
David Wilson (68)
Yeah, should have started Ainsley
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The Wallabies went into the last week of training with arguably one of the best front row combinations, including reserves, in world rugby. During the week we lost our best LH and then our most ferocious TH. The next best Th was moved to the bench to cover LH and a Super rugby failed prop brought in to cover the hardest position on the field.
Does that sound like a team selected, trained and coached at an international standard? I don't think so.
The errors made by Cheika and his assistants (if they are part of the decision making which I am starting to doubt) were to do whatever caused injuries to the best two props in the lead up training, then selecting an over-the-hill hooker and THP in the starting lineup, and moving the best available THP to the bench as LHP cover - a position incidentally that he didn't come onto the field to play anyway.
There will be injury enforced changes to the lineup for the next test, but there should also be others, including Banks in for Folau, retain Maddocks in place of DHP though his defense is somewhat questionable too, To'omua in for Foley who is slower than me in a wheelchair, Powell on the bench for Phipps who was more than his usual scattergun when he came on, Timu in for Hooper as we need to get back to a more effective back row, Pocock to 7 (what a massive game he had again tonight playing the archtype No 7), Arnold to start in place of Rodda with Rodda on the bench in place of Simmons, Tupo to start at THP if fit and Ala'alatoa on the bench, BPA and Fainga'a to replace both of TPN (old man) and Latu (poor skills) and Sio back to LHP if fit, otherwise Slipper to the bench.
We need abrasiveness to front up to the ABs. This current team is deficient.
I'm guessing we won't see so many changes. The Pooper will survive, Foley will survive, Simmons will survive, Kepu will survive as will probab ly both of the hookers. And we will again get towelled up by the ABs and probably sink even further down the world standings.
dru
Tim Horan (67)
Pretty sure I'm not "singling out" anyone I didnt mention during the game.
But I'll add another - the myth of the always 80 min man no matter being out for weeks - that also has been proven to be bollocks.
Derpus
George Gregan (70)
Only if the ABs have an off day. Even agaisnt us they failed in the last 20.
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Brumby Runner
David Wilson (68)
Too true. Tonight, it looked to me that we were in the game until Foley started to kick the ball away. Nearly every kick went the Barrett and he had a field day leading his black attacking machine to the tryline with ease.
Derpus
George Gregan (70)
We beat them last year as well. Neither game meant anything. They may concede the odd match out of sheer disinterest but an ABs team with their tail up will never lose a game.
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Up the Guts
Steve Williams (59)
Yeah if the coaching staff were planning on Hooper going 80 that was dumb. You can’t do any conditioning with a hamstring injury (with upper body injuries you can at least hop on a bike) and 6 weeks out and he was going to be blowing (particularly as he played with his usual intensity for much of the game).
Gnostic
Mark Ella (57)
I'd agree with you on most points, with some debate about the backs. But shuffling deck chairs in selection will do nothing if the team is not prepared properly and they cannot play rugby, but instead some bastard hybrid of league in attack, and that I do not believe has anything to do with the players selected and everything to do with Larkham (and Chieka allowing it). Show me a team he has coached that has any sort of deep structures in attack. By deep I do not mean depth of positioning but in terms of support runners and having players in motion to provide multiple options in attack.
Dismal Pillock
Simon Poidevin (60)
If Folau is out for Bled 2 Aus are fucked.
Him and Beale are their only creative sparks to unlock anything.
Him and Beale are their only creative sparks to unlock anything.
Simon.
Bob Loudon (25)
My observations:
1. Tui isn't fit enough. Too much time spent seagulling on the wing and then getting burned by the AB backs looking like he's about to keel over
2. Whole team wasn't fit enough - they were expending such a lot of energy in the first half maintaining a rush defence and I could just tell that in the second half they'd fall away. The ABs didn't try to match the intensity, they just let the Wallabies blow themselves out and that's why they walked it home in the second half
3. Robertson is not a starting loosehead at this level. Too small and too weak at the scrum
4. That was the worst lineout I've ever seen. Cheika's team once again shows its complete inability to change a game plan on the fly, they just keep doing the same thing again and again
5. It took Cheika 3 years but he finally figured out it's good to let Hodge kick for touch and do some clearing kicks in play. Worked beautifully for the first 20 minutes or so and then they reverted back to Foley for more aimless kicking
6. Peyper is the worst test ref in the business. Shocker of a game.
7. Beale was the only Wallaby who earned his pay cheque out there tonight IMO. Koroibete was decent too, and Pocock didn't let up for 80 minutes.
All in all, the result wasn't surprising but I'm still really disappointed in that performance. Defence was generally good (until they were out on their feet) but every other aspect of the game has gone backwards since last year.
1. Tui isn't fit enough. Too much time spent seagulling on the wing and then getting burned by the AB backs looking like he's about to keel over
2. Whole team wasn't fit enough - they were expending such a lot of energy in the first half maintaining a rush defence and I could just tell that in the second half they'd fall away. The ABs didn't try to match the intensity, they just let the Wallabies blow themselves out and that's why they walked it home in the second half
3. Robertson is not a starting loosehead at this level. Too small and too weak at the scrum
4. That was the worst lineout I've ever seen. Cheika's team once again shows its complete inability to change a game plan on the fly, they just keep doing the same thing again and again
5. It took Cheika 3 years but he finally figured out it's good to let Hodge kick for touch and do some clearing kicks in play. Worked beautifully for the first 20 minutes or so and then they reverted back to Foley for more aimless kicking
6. Peyper is the worst test ref in the business. Shocker of a game.
7. Beale was the only Wallaby who earned his pay cheque out there tonight IMO. Koroibete was decent too, and Pocock didn't let up for 80 minutes.
All in all, the result wasn't surprising but I'm still really disappointed in that performance. Defence was generally good (until they were out on their feet) but every other aspect of the game has gone backwards since last year.
Derpus
George Gregan (70)
Gnostic
Mark Ella (57)
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