Wales vs Australia - Sunday 12 November - 4:15am AEDT

[ShtinaTina]

I also thought Moore’s leadership with Hooper off was impactful. Easy to miss the guys contribution.

You're right about his leadership, he managed that situation well. I just wish Cheiks hadn't persisted with starting him as his form was declining.

 

[Hawko]

I just had a look at the stats on Fox. Now their stats are sometimes very iffy but:
Wales 55% possession
Wales 50%territory
Wales 659 run metres to 592
Wales 9 linebreaks to 3
Wales 19 offloads to 4
Wales 359 kick metres to 621
Wales 5 missed tackles to 25
Wales 16 handling errors to 7
Wales 3 penalties conceded to 15
Wales 1 free kick conceded to 2
Wales 0 sinbins to 1
And they lost. Stats just do not measure effectiveness well.

 

[ForceFan]

WALES RUCK INVOLVEMENTS AGAINST WALLABIES

Francis: 29 Total - 25 Attack/4 Defence (76 mins)
Wyn Jones: 28T - 23A/5D (83 mins)
Navidi: 23T - 16A/6D (70 mins)
Evans: 18T - 4A/4D (70 mins)
Shingler: 18T - 17A/3D (61 mins)
Felatua: 17T - 14A/3D (83 mins)
Owen: 15T - 14A/1D (76 mins)
Ball: 11T - 10A/1D (70 mins)

Best Back: Halfpenny: 10T - 10A/0D (83 mins)

Wales won 95% of own rucks (85 of 89).
Wallabies won 97% of own rucks (87 of 89).
(I'm missing the breakdown battles of the past.)

Wales stood off 63% of Wallabies' Rucks.
Wales committed fewer players at the breakdown than the Wallabies:
+ averaged only 1.7 players in ruck support of their own ball carriers. (Walls 2.4)
+ averaged only 0.3 players placing ruck pressure on Wallabies' ball carriers. (Walls 0.5)

Wales' Front Row 33% of team's Total Ruck Involvements (Wallabies 28%)

Wallabies' Locks had lowest involvement ( 8%) in D Rucks. (Wales 17%)
Wallabies Back Row 48% of team's D Rucks (Wales 34%)

 

[dru]

Interesting. The SBS commentary was that the Wallabies were standing off against the Welsh trying to engage them.

Not according to the FF (Folau Fainga'a) stats.

 

[Pfitzy]

OK so Kerevi at 12. Tackling was OK. Defence wasn't tested. Ball running was appalling. England are going to eat that shit up.

Our scrum was noticeably weaker with a few changes on both sides, and Matt Philip isn't Rob Simmons when it comes time to push.

Hanigan is standing with Coleman next to him on a few occasions, and then Hanigan takes the ball in. Fucking madness. Just cover the rucks and take the lineouts mate. Let Coleman crash it up.

Very low handling errors, even with some enterprising stuff tried by our guys. Our forwards have really upped their skill level.

Welsh fans might feel that a few pieces of better handling could have won them that game, but really they were never in sight IMHO - their backs involved Davies versus everyone in a gold jersey. Halfpenny was barely sighted except goal kicking.

Gatlandball is not going to beat Australia. It might take out a few NH sides whose forwards aren't fit enough against backs, but it lacks the killer blow, particularly if you're missing blokes.

The reason Wales missed so few tackles is we tried almost nothing on attack. Just went for the same bash approach we had against Japan, but against bigger bodies it was ineffective.

Nice variations on attack from us, but England won't even let us into their territory to try the grubbers.

 

[Brumby Runner]

I think the constant in the improving performances over this year has been the improvement in individual skills; passing, catching, running at gaps, support play. I believe the benefit of bringing Mick Byrne into the coaching setup is starting to be realised.

 

[Viking]

OK so Kerevi at 12. Tackling was OK. Defence wasn't tested. Ball running was appalling. England are going to eat that shit up.
.

Kerevi played at 12 last series against England. Started twice and his defence wasn't an issue back then (at least not against England). We lost by poor tactics, poor attacking ability, and some great defence by England. So i'm not so sure England will be able to expose this defensive fratilities like the All Blacks did. I think they will play a different game. I'm more worried about our attack, I hope it is not too one dimensional with 2 crash-ballers in the Centres.

 

[dru]

I think the constant in the improving performances over this year has been the improvement in individual skills; passing, catching, running at gaps, support play. I believe the benefit of bringing Mick Byrne into the coaching setup is starting to be realised.

Yes but no but.

Handling and skills have certainly improved. Ditto fitness.

But for me the biggest issue is the Cheika plan. We swing from one needless kak to another, learning the hard way. But learning and improving. For me it is ugly progression, but it is progression. And Cheika is doing this, I think, throughout the squad, not simply the caps.

This game will be interesting. Still think we have a chance.