IRB U/20 Tournament and Oz Squad

[Lee Grant]

PAE, Gill, Situati, Peterson, Jones and others I am sure played Ozzy schools last year.

That is correct. Hooper, who had to go home injured, was also at school as was Sio who didn't make the 22.

They are all available for the same tournament next year, in fact Gill is eligible for 2012 as well.

Siliva, Fainga'a, Quirk, Shipperly and replacement player Anderson will also be eligible for 2011 making 12 in total.

 

[dbla]

Against the Boks and England, Oz was vulnerable to breakouts and especially when the ball was moved wide quickly. The wingers or whoever was covering there after Oz turned the ball over, were isolated on defence and the BBoks, in particular, took advantage.

Hate to name names but in most of those cases it was shipperly who was caught out, we have seen what he can do cutting back on the angle with ball in hand and needless to say he is dangerous, but if he wants to make the next step to s15 level then his defence is going to need some fine tuning. Good thing defence is relatively easy to fix.

 

[tranquility]

I am still very positive that we can win this game.

 

[Lee Grant]

Hope you're right tranquility. One thing I forgot to mention in my post was one of the negatives of the Kiwi team. There were a lot of poor passes and also a lot of dropped pill when the pass was OK.

If they don't fix that up they will be as vulnerable to us as we are to opponents in not re-aligning defences out wide when we turn the ball over.

 

[fatprop]

Watched the game last night, I didn't think we played that great. NZ will be a harsh test

I thought Nic White was just excellent, great pass - wide & straight from the base, no steps, no flourishes Just fired out. Valentine better watch his game or he could lose his spot to this guy for the Brumbies

To'omua is very safe/solid but doesn't add a lot himself, his passing can be just shovelling it wider without a plan.

Coleman looks bloody dangerous.

Shipperley & Situati struggle to play for the team in defence or attack, they do great things if their show boat big hits and running away from support come off but both leave gaps and can be isolated and I think they will struggle in big boy rugby for a while.

Tuoa looks more complete and aware rugby is a team game and has a better workrate

Forward did OK in bits but seemed unable to concentrate on their job for long periods, we would do well at scrum and lineout, then forget. Front row all need to lose their guts before they go too far

 

[observer]

I watched the NZ game against SA and I think they are very beatable. Poor ball security was their problem but they do have a couple of outstanding players. Winger and sevens star Julian Savea and No 8 Rory Grice are the players to watch for NZ

 

[chief]

I think Australia will win. They could have beaten South Africa by a lot larger than what they did, just need to watch their defense from the restarts. NZ haven't had any strong opposition so far, beating Wales by 30 odd points, while Australia have had South Africa and England. South Africa were no where near their best in yesterdays match as well, nor were NZ to be fair to them, but Australia should come out on top here.

 

[Lee Grant]

chief

The Kiwis played better against the Baby Boks than we did even with their handling errors, and even though they left points on the park as you say. On that measure they are probably favourites with the bookies.

Our boys were not so great either, but were not allowed to be.

The old adage: whoever shows up to play on the day, will prevail, and I hope that it is our blokes.

 

[chief]

chief

The Kiwis played better against the Baby Boks than we did even with their handling errors, and even though they left points on the park as you say. On that measure they are probably favourites with the bookies.

Our boys were not so great either, but were not allowed to be.

The old adage: whoever shows up to play on the day, will prevail, and I hope that it is our blokes.

Of course they'll be favourites. Your signature tells the truth how it is with any International NZ Rugby team.

It will also determine who the referee is as well. We've had that same Kiwi ref for all our crunch games and we adjust well to him, because he lets the game flow and he only blew up the infringements that actually affected the game. We won't have him because he's from NZ. We have to hope its a ref that won't blow us off the park, because we have gotten away with a few dubious tactics in the past.

It's Rugby101 for the final, defense will be win. I think Australia will play their style of rugby they've played all tournament and that's attack.

 

[the gambler]

I was blowing up at the ref after 10 mins. A couple of times he played no advantage to Australia when they looked like scoring and then I thought the first disallowed try to Tuoa was a fair try. But from then on we probably got the better of the calls including a try off a pass that looked forward.

 

[spectator]

It is great to see the U20's through to the Grand Final, but going on semi form the Baby Blacks will be hard to toss. Their 8, 10 and 14 look particularly dangerous. Thought that the OZ side looked in control of their semi against England but it was a bit scrappy in parts. The lineout definitely needs some work.

It will be interesting to see if Fainga'a is fit for the finals and makes the run on side. Might be that Quirk goes back to the bench, although I thought he played well and did better in the lineout than other recognised jumpers. Thought Jones looked good when he came on. Will he get more game in the final?

White looks really sharp at halfback. Great pass on him. Situati is incredibly strong but could probably give the ball a bit more. He will get better at 13 with more time.

Looking forward to the final.

 

[WallabiesPride]

What's the lastest on Justin Turner? How bad is his injury?

 

[spectator]

Pretty sure I heard he is going under the knife. Damn shame to see him cop another long injury lay off.

 

[Ash]

Pretty sure Turner is gone for six to eight months. ACL I think. Force will need to find another back up halfback for the S15 in 2011. Their unlucky run continues.

 

[tranquility]

spectator, that was a ripper post.

 

[spectator]

I see that Robbie Coleman is one of four nominations for the IRB Under 20 player of the year. Good choice, he has been outstanding!

I hope he has one more big game in him.

Quite a number of this squad should be playing S15 next year. They have been really impressive.

 

[TOCC]

apparently the force are chasing Robbie Coleman

 

[chief]

apparently the force are chasing Robbie Coleman

Understandably, you could add the likes of Gill, Toomoua to the IRB Player of the Tournament list as well. Would completely understand.

 

[Nusadan]

Latest on the game coming up v shortly...(all academic by the time most of you read this....)

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/Fainga'a-back-in-young-wallabies-squad-20100621-yryc.html

Colby Fainga'a taking Quirk's place ...

 

[Brumby Jack]

Well NZ score a try after 33 seconds....Not a good start.
Aus reply through a To'omua penalty after 6 mins - 5-3 NZ
Try to NZ FB Marshall on 9 mins - converted - 12-3 NZ
Penalty to NZ on 15 mins - 15-3 NZ
Try to NZ on 19 mins - converted - 22 -3 NZ
Penalty to NZ on half time - 25-3 NZ

Penalty to NZ on 41 mins - 28-3 NZ
Try to NZ #7 Polwart on 43 mins - converted - 35-3 NZ
Try to NZ #10 Bleyendaal on 47 mins - converted - 42-3 NZ
Penalty to NZ on 52 mins - 45-3 NZ
Finally a try to Australia from Luke Morahan on 54 mins - converted - 45-10 NZ.
Penalty to NZ on 61 mins - 48-10 NZ.
Try to Australia through Sitauti on 72 mins - converted - 48-17 NZ.
Straight away NZ reply through a Veainu try on 74 mins - converted - 55-17 NZ.
An intercept try to NZ by Veainu at the death - converted - 62-17 NZ.

And the ref puts Australia out of their misery.