End of Year Tour 2012

[Hugh Jarse]

Scotland 12th Rank.
What is going wrong in Thistle Rugby? They only seem to rise to the occasion against the Men in Gold!

When are the offspring of the Hastings Brothers, David Soul and Andy Irvine eligible for selection?

 

[flat_eric]

Deans go.

 

[It is what it is]

Scotland 12th Rank.
What is going wrong in Thistle Rugby? They only seem to rise to the occasion against the Men in Gold!

When are the offspring of the Hastings Brothers, David Soul and Andy Irvine eligible for selection?

I think you mean David Sole cause the other guy was a singer who starred in Starsky & Hutch and belted out "Don't give up on us baby".
Maybe he played rugby too?

 

[Hugh Jarse]

^^^^ or the jewish one, David Saul.

 

[Viking]

Missed the italy game. Can some-one let us know how Mitchell went with his return from injury? Any signs of his former 2010 form?

 

[ChargerWA]

Missed the italy game. Can some-one let us know how Mitchell went with his return from injury? Any signs of his former 2010 form?

Nil, nada, nothing.

But in fairness I can't recall him receiving a pass in any sort of attaking position all night.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

With SA not having another test this year if the wobs beat the welsh can we then finish the year at second in the rankings?

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk 2

 

[qwerty51]

We would need to win by 15 or more so highly unlikely. A 1-15 win would have us .08 points behind.

 

[Bardon]

Andy Robinson has resigned as Scotland boss today as fallout from yesterday's defeat at home to Tonga.

 

[ChargerWA]

See Robbie, that's how you do it.

 

[aeneas]

Looks like Argentina played one test too many this year. I suspect that earlier in the season they would have knocked the Irish off rather than the weak display in the weekend. South Africa looked similarly tired against England in my opinion but got over the poms with quite a bit of luck and self-determination.

The All-Blacks were good against Wales without being great. Cruden looked the goods at first five I really wish the NZ commentary team would stop comparing him to Carter as comparing anyone to a once in a generation player is hardly going to be fair.

Hore should get a long ban, that was an act of extreme cowardliness and was completely stupid. I think the All Blacks have suffered from not having Kaino and Thorn as their 'hard' men and its meant that someone like Hore has felt the need to stand up and attempt to fulfil the role of the enforcer.

 

[Scoey]

Did anyone watch the France v Samoa game? I really felt for the Samoans - I think they were really hard done by, by a ref who looked really really lost and at times was making it up after he blew the whistle. Home crowd influence I reckon. They had the game and eagerness to get up over the French who have been playing some really good rugby but were up against it almost from the start.

On another note, the solitary commentator on the Fox telecast seemed to not really like the Samoans much either, with comments like (paraphrasing) "You come to expect violence when playing the Samoans" etc.

The refereeing and commentating really ruined what could've been a top game for mine!

 

[Bardon]

Little bit of build up to the Wales v Aus test at the weekend from the BBC. Since it's on the BBC can't embed it here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/20497799

Like stuff like this as it's one of the things about the game I enjoy, the fact that we can have a go at each other in good spirits.

 

[Forcefield]

See Robbie, that's how you do it.

God knows I am not a Robbie Deans fan, but when you think about it, Robbie isn't that bad. I was reading a Steve Hansen article and I just think- thank fuck we don't have that guy as our head coach. Sure most of us would prefer Ewen McKenzie as the Wallabies coach but it could be a lot worse.

 

[ChargerWA]

God knows I am not a Robbie Deans fan, but when you think about it, Robbie isn't that bad. I was reading a Steve Hansen article and I just think- thank fuck we don't have that guy as our head coach. Sure most of us would prefer Ewen McKenzie as the Wallabies coach but it could be a lot worse.

I read the Gatland article and actually felt bad about how vocal I have been about Robbie when it reeled of the achievements on his watch.

His record really is better than we give him credit for. And then I remember all of the players selected out of position, the unfathomable game plans, the indecipherable press comments and the general dumbing down of Australian Rugby under his watch, and I don't feel so bad. The last one is the unforgiveable one in my opinion.

 

[TOCC]

Or how about the losses to teams like Scotland and Samoa... I can concede that the Darkness are the best team into the world and there are no easy wins... But capitulating in matches without scoring tries, game plans not suited to the players selected and at times the absence of a game plan is what frustrates me about RD's coaching reign.

Australians expect a level of excellence from our sporting teams, they have always performed above their weight. Gatland obviously doesn't understand this..

 

[I like to watch]

Have we always performed above our weight?
Sorry, not close to that.
You are complaining about his performance when we have hovered around 2-3 in the world.
We have not consistently rated above that.
On occasions we have, when the planets have all aligned.
But ranking above 2-3 consistently is AB territory.
No other Nation regularly ranks above where we are at present.
you can moan about his methods,his style or whatever.
But to suggest his performance is sub par based on our historical performance is wrong IMO.

 

[BDA]

As TOCC noted, its not the overall win loss record that is disappointing but the manner in which many of those wins and losses were achieved. To often the team has fallen apart or looked directionless. Granted that we have often snatched victory in-spite of our seemingly shambolic disposition.

Test rugby is about consistency, which is why the Blecks are the benchmark.

This year has proven that there is nothing wrong with our depth or the quality of our players or even our scrum/forward pack. We have the talent (on par with NZ and SA) We just need a coaching set up that is going to get the best out of these blokes on a consistent basis. That is really the area where deans is failing most at the moment. If we cant be consistent we 're never going to win the 2015 WC.

 

[TOCC]

Have we always performed above our weight?
Sorry, not close to that.
You are complaining about his performance when we have hovered around 2-3 in the world.
We have not consistently rated above that.
On occasions we have, when the planets have all aligned.
But ranking above 2-3 consistently is AB territory.
No other Nation regularly ranks above where we are at present.
you can moan about his methods,his style or whatever.
But to suggest his performance is sub par based on our historical performance is wrong IMO.

I think you have misinterpreted my comment, it was in reference to Australian sporting teams in general not just the Wallabies. Australians have a culture of high expectations from athletes and sporting teams due to a long history of performing above our weight.

Essentially, unless the Wallabies are challenging for the number 1 position then Australians will find reason to question the teams performance.

For me personally, it's the manner of the losses which is why I've turned off him.

 

[Thin Thighs]

Not too many upsets this time around. Most games went as form suggested except for:
NZL vs ENG
TON vs SCO
SAM vs WAL