England v Australia

[fatprop]

Did you read the bit that said "no-one who isn't already injured"
Because you've named 6 improvements who are all injured.
The point is there are back line improvements sitting on the pines.

yeah, nah

I don't think Cooper, who I assume was the point that I consciously ignored, put in a shift that was any better than Foley's.

Both did some quite good things and some average things IMHO

 

[Brumby Runner]

Jesse Mogg?

Has had shoulder surgery since the end of Super 14. If he returns in 15 with confidence to make his tackles, then he will come back into contention for the No 15 Wallaby spot later in the year for his kicking skills and outstanding pace.

 

[wamberal]

Has had shoulder surgery since the end of Super 14. If he returns in 15 with confidence to make his tackles, then he will come back into contention for the No 15 Wallaby spot later in the year for his kicking skills and outstanding pace.

He will have to cut out his egregious errors to have any sort of chance.

 

[Beefcake]

Congrats to England.

My take:

Obviously set piece was under huge pressure - felt fucking sorry for Keps. Why is it that say the Argies can have a better scrum than us. They, I think are lighter. Blades Maybe we need a Northern Hemisphere scrum coach.

Folau was shithouse. Sure he caught some high balls - fuck that is his job. The pass to Horne with the line wide open and the game to be won, was fucking terrible. If Horne had caught it he would have been a magican. It was just very poor skills from a bloke. I was just so shitty at THAT pass.

Yep we dropped ball everywhere.

We lost the game simply because of a shitty pass !!!!!!

Game was lost long before that pass

 

[Cardiffblue]

Disagree with most of tordhah s comments except for his assessment that nz are out there on their own at #1 and the ones re Farrell and Ashton being hartley''s deranged brother

 

[Pfitzy]

Probably ink in Slipper and Kepu and one of Moore or TPN,

Possibly the crim may give Michael Hooper a run for his money. Locks - probably ink in Simmons but the other spot is up for grabs.

Actually, I'm not sure we can ink in any second row players at this point. Simmons has given me much food for thought with his ability at TH lock this year for sure.

But I guess I'm not really talking about him specifically - its about the balance of the pack as I've said elsewhere.
If we get a back rower who can run a lineout, and we can put two big units into the starting second row like Neville and Coleman, then it might be a fine line between that and Simmons starting.

Got a whole Super season to sort it out, watch for injuries, and see who rises to the challenge I guess.


Even the front row can't be locked in, depending on what Weekes and Sio do next year, for example.

I'm actually pretty excited overall.

 

[brokendown]

as an aside,the English halfback's scrum deliveries were as straight as a dog's hind leg.The hooker didn't need to strike


not that it mattered

 

[ForceFan]

Hey forcefan did you collect comparative data for the orcs?

Sorry mate....this had done my head in just doing for the Wallabies.

Started the analysis with the Cape Town Test and continued it through to the last Test on Spring Tour.

I've decided that I don't want a career in game analysis - but it's been interesting.

I'm hoping to put something together showing Wallaby ruck performance for the 4 Spring Tour Tests.

 

[Cardiffblue]

Shame. V interesting tho. must've been hell to watch the Orc game in slo mo to compile!

 

[Gnostic]

No hooker will improve our scrummaging on our feed.

unless the Wallabies adopt the English method of driving past and not hooking. I doubt they'll do that as no doubt they'll get pinged for early pushing etc.

 

[boyo]

Shame. V interesting tho. must've been hell to watch the Orc game in slo mo to compile!

More like mental torture.

 

[Bullrush]

Disagree with most of tordhah s comments except for his assessment that nz are out there on their own at #1 and the ones re Farrell and Ashton being hartley''s deranged brother

Kiwi's don't have any huge reason to be worried looking at how everyone has fared this year.

While there have been performances that haven't been outstanding from the ABs, there aren't a hell of a lot of teams in world rugby who can say that every time they've stepped out, they'v employed their best rugby.

The difference for me is that our best rugby - at this stage - is so far ahead of what anyone else seems to be putting out right now. While our performances can vary, the consistency is that we win. Even when playing below our best, we still win. Can SA, Aus, Wales, Ire, Eng, Fra etc say the same? I'm not so sure.

For me, the danger is always that come RWC time, the ABs are always the team to beat and all those teams know it and play like it. One poor game, one average performance by us against a top performance by someone else and we're done. Every one of those teams are capable of beating the ABs (not much of a world sport if they weren't) but the skills, mentality, management, coaching and belief in the ABs gets them through even when it looks unlikely.

So, not the best season ever by the ABs but shit...who else is doing what they do and have done for the last 2-3 years?!?

 

[Braveheart81]

The All Blacks are currently the only team in World Rugby that can consistently win away from home.

For that reason, I think the RWC will come down to NZ and England unless someone pulls off some incredible form for a couple of months next year.

 

[Cardiffblue]

Kiwi's don't have any huge reason to be worried looking at how everyone has fared this year.

While there have been performances that haven't been outstanding from the ABs, there aren't a hell of a lot of teams in world rugby who can say that every time they've stepped out, they'v employed their best rugby.

The difference for me is that our best rugby - at this stage - is so far ahead of what anyone else seems to be putting out right now. While our performances can vary, the consistency is that we win. Even when playing below our best, we still win. Can SA, Aus, Wales, Ire, Eng, Fra etc say the same? I'm not so sure.

For me, the danger is always that come RWC time, the ABs are always the team to beat and all those teams know it and play like it. One poor game, one average performance by us against a top performance by someone else and we're done. Every one of those teams are capable of beating the ABs (not much of a world sport if they weren't) but the skills, mentality, management, coaching and belief in the ABs gets them through even when it looks unlikely.

So, not the best season ever by the ABs but shit.who else is doing what they do and have done for the last 2-3 years?!?

I agree totally. Remember this time last year, some idiot journos were writing their obituary. I am in awe of how they've maintained their record this year

 

[BabyBlueElephant]

I'm sorry, but don't rugby games usually last 80 minutes plus? I don't see how the ABs could have lost to Wales, when the Welsh offered absolutely nothing in attack, and were only in the game because of their very well organised rush defence and SBW & Barrett combining for a handling horrorshow.

Yup you're right, and as I said the AB's are the best team in the world still. However, my gripe is that the Aus and Bok fans are harping on about how rubbish their respective teams are. I read an article today on Planetrugby, here are some stats about the Bok's this season:

• "The Springboks won 10 out of their 14 matches in 2014, for a winning percentage of 71%. Meyer said before the season he knew the year before a World Cup is always tough and the performance this season compares very well with 2002 (winning percentage of 45%), 2006 (42%) and 2010 (57%). "
• it was also the Springboks' first unbeaten season at home since 2005, which included a draw against France.
• South Africa scored 44 tries in total during the season, while their defensive effort was also very good in conceding only 19 tries, or 1.4 per game which equates to the best defence by the Boks in 15 years.

So again, this is one of the issues I have. I didn't mean to detract from the AB victories. A win is a win and there is no flukes in rugby, its fully deserved. It just seems a bit odd the huge backlash from both nations, but perhaps thats because both are such proud rugby nations that any perceived dips in quality are picked up quick.

 

[Bullrush]

Yup you're right, and as I said the AB's are the best team in the world still. However, my gripe is that the Aus and Bok fans are harping on about how rubbish their respective teams are. I read an article today on Planetrugby, here are some stats about the Bok's this season:

• "The Springboks won 10 out of their 14 matches in 2014, for a winning percentage of 71%. Meyer said before the season he knew the year before a World Cup is always tough and the performance this season compares very well with 2002 (winning percentage of 45%), 2006 (42%) and 2010 (57%). "
• it was also the Springboks' first unbeaten season at home since 2005, which included a draw against France.
• South Africa scored 44 tries in total during the season, while their defensive effort was also very good in conceding only 19 tries, or 1.4 per game which equates to the best defence by the Boks in 15 years.

So again, this is one of the issues I have. I didn't mean to detract from the AB victories. A win is a win and there is no flukes in rugby, its fully deserved. It just seems a bit odd the huge backlash from both nations, but perhaps thats because both are such proud rugby nations that any perceived dips in quality are picked up quick.

Yeah.....I think this does have something to do with it. I think most Bok fans expect them to win every time they play - no different to the AB fans - and I think it's great, I'm sure you agree.

Wallaby fans aren't so convinced anymore I reckon but one or two good wins against SA and NZ and they'll be right back....

 

[Joe Blow]

Has had shoulder surgery since the end of Super 14. If he returns in 15 with confidence to make his tackles, then he will come back into contention for the No 15 Wallaby spot later in the year for his kicking skills and outstanding pace.

More likely KB (Kurtley Beale) or JOC (James O'Connor) I was thinking but Mogg has the skills to be good for Australia when he gets a more rounded game.

 

[tragic]

yeah, nah

I don't think Cooper, who I assume was the point that I consciously ignored, put in a shift that was any better than Foley's.

Both did some quite good things and some average things IMHO

Its not all about Cooper, although I do feel he added an extra dimension to the Wallabies attack. I posted my team before the game which had a 6-2 bench split with an extra lock to help cover the recurring scrum deficiencies at the end of the game. Having the backup lock unable to come on at 40 mins as he is too unfit to last a whole half is ridiculous at international level.
I think we could have won that game with the cattle we have with more intelligent selections.
But hey, if you're happy to stick with the status quo and keep coming close then thats your perogative.

 

[ACT Crusader]

Is the "Skelton's too unfit for 40 minutes of test footy" a myth or has someone with authority come out and said it?

If someone is picked on the bench and a player goes down with a hammy chasing the opening kick off, the replacement is going to have to play 79 minutes. If he can't do that then he shouldn't be in the 23. And it would be unlikely that an International coach would take such a significant risk unless there are other contingencies in the squad.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Game was lost long before that pass

Jeez - I thought it was close at that point