Hardtackle
Charlie Fox (21)
Give it to a sadomasachist to paraphrase for us. Scarfy would do it in a flash.
Wallabies at the Rugby World Cup 2011
- Thread starter Lee Grant
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This. We really missed a 7 against Ireland who could help get McCabe to ground to preven turnovers, as well as get over SOB & co and isolate them to create some. We only needed one good turnover and a try to turn that game right around.
Slim 293
Stirling Mortlock (74)
I thought what I was responding to was parochial rubbish?
I've consistently praised and critiqued players from all teams.
I'm not in the slightest bit anti-Reds, but unfortunately there are many fans of a certain team that carry a giant red eye patch and there's nothing to do but poke fun.
It's far more amusing than Tom Carter man-love.
Bowside
Peter Johnson (47)
Plead some more ignorance. And address my post before you call it rubbish.
Groucho
Greg Davis (50)
Personally, I think Hodgson is an outstanding player and it's a mystery to me why he hasn't stepped up in tests. Not that he's played badly for Australia - that's not the case - but he's never displayed his Super Rugby capabilities, even against weaker opposition that Super Rugby teams.
Gnostic
Mark Ella (57)
Three games today have shown the fallacy about fetchers. IMO the Welsh, NZ and Ireland 7's (Warburton, Vito and Obrien respectively) show exactly what many coaches have been trying to get from 7s this year with the changed interpretation at the breakdown. These players didn't excell at the breakdown by putting hands in, they dominated by driving in and made life difficult for the opposition at this phase. They tackled and linked and occassionally ran. The key was they were effective at all these facets. Forget involvement statistics that reflect "workrate" only. These three were dominant figures in well balanced backrows working as units.
Contrast with the Wallabies, as I said McCalman who has a huge workrate with zero to negative effectiveness, Elsom who is for long periods a passenger and you are left with Samo trying to do lots by himself.
The facts are pretty easy to see, if you have a pilferer like Pocock or Brussow you play them, if you don't then you look for balance and effectiveness in all the backrow positions. As I look at the Wallabies there isn't a balanced backrow to be selected if Pocock is not fit simply because there isn't a player in the squad to fit the requirements to play the complete 7 role I described above. I personally don't think Hodgeson is the player as his style of 7 as with Waugh, is last year's interpretation of 7 play (and why I think Deans didn't select him in the first place). I think Robinson has the ability to play as required with the right instruction to keep his hands out unless the turnover was a sure thing.
Contrast with the Wallabies, as I said McCalman who has a huge workrate with zero to negative effectiveness, Elsom who is for long periods a passenger and you are left with Samo trying to do lots by himself.
The facts are pretty easy to see, if you have a pilferer like Pocock or Brussow you play them, if you don't then you look for balance and effectiveness in all the backrow positions. As I look at the Wallabies there isn't a balanced backrow to be selected if Pocock is not fit simply because there isn't a player in the squad to fit the requirements to play the complete 7 role I described above. I personally don't think Hodgeson is the player as his style of 7 as with Waugh, is last year's interpretation of 7 play (and why I think Deans didn't select him in the first place). I think Robinson has the ability to play as required with the right instruction to keep his hands out unless the turnover was a sure thing.
Antony
Alex Ross (28)
I agree: O'Brien was phenomenal tonight, and the balance of the Irish backrow is excellent. I also think some of what Sluggy said above is pretty bang on - the role of the 7 may be changing, so that it's more about having someone with the upper-body strength to control the breakdown (e.g. by getting mccabe to ground) rather than merely pilfering, but it's still crucial to have somebody to fit that role and play it with intent. Trying to slot in a bits-and-pieces backrower (McCalman, Vito) as a pseudo-7 isn't going to cut it in the big games.
pissedoffihavetoregister
Bill Watson (15)
So any news if slipper is ok?
Hi,
I was just wondering if slipper is ok?
Cheers dave
Hi,
I was just wondering if slipper is ok?
Cheers dave
Inside Shoulder
Nathan Sharpe (72)
This is fine, except I would tell Vickerman that if he gives away a penalty for backchat at any stage in the game he will be subbed off.
DPK
Peter Sullivan (51)
Fixed.
rodha
Dave Cowper (27)
Exactly, it seems that current fans really aren't appreciating just how competitive the standard of world rugby is at the moment. As Eddie said himself - the top 7/8 sides in the world are currently separated by the width of a cigarette paper!
I genuinely believe Rennie was as good (or better) as any Wallabies coach they've had for the last 20 years, he just inherited a union at an all-time low, post-2019 player exodus, cost-cutting and massive financial strain due to Covid, the effects of isolation hindering the quality of Australian rugby & therefore hindering the development of international-standard prepared players.
From 2008-2012 (I'm using this period as an example - because people on here frequently cite Deans as doing a better job than Rennie) the Wallabies had world-class talent and great depth in most positions - hence they quite rightly were expected to get the better of everyone in the world except the All Blacks, the NH sides were frankly cannon fodder during this period & the Springboks were coached by an underqualified Muppet in Peter De-Villiers who's players eventually admitted coached themselves.
Fast-forward to 2023 & Scotland, England, France, South Africa, Ireland, Argentina, Italy can all get the better of the Wallabies on their day and people wouldn't consider it anything out of the ordinary.
"But Deans had the Wallabies ranked at no.2 in the world for three years...." Yes and Dave indeed would have too if Australia's only legitimate competition was South Africa and New Zealand.
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Lightblue
Arch Winning (36)
Robbie Deans let us not forget dumped Matt Giteau for a World Cup campaign and also was in charge when Cooper, JOC (James O'Connor) and Beale were young and allowed to get away with blue murder. Any decent coach would have pulled them all into line or dropped them, although I wouldn’t have put Giteau into the same league as the ‘3 amigos’.
Highlander35
Andrew Slack (58)
2011 is an interesting one: in retrospect you can squeeze Giteau into the final squad, particularly for Phipps as his only appearence was off the bench to the wing.
But Deans clearly had decided that he wanted two carrying centers in each game alongside Quade (hence the selection of Fainga'a, McCabe & Horne alongside AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)): and when Barnes came through late in the tournament he played extremely well and continued to for the next couple of seasons as well.
But Deans clearly had decided that he wanted two carrying centers in each game alongside Quade (hence the selection of Fainga'a, McCabe & Horne alongside AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)): and when Barnes came through late in the tournament he played extremely well and continued to for the next couple of seasons as well.
stillmissit
Chilla Wilson (44)
Cooper, Beale and JOC (James O'Connor) never had any respect for Deans from their off-field antics, he tried hard to raise them up (apart from Cooper a lost cause) from being 3 D'heads but they didn't want to know, they treated the Wallabies like a ticket for after the game, playtime.
He dropped Cooper at least. What do you think would have happened had he dropped all 3? Beale was the aboriginal darling of the press and JOC (James O'Connor) was a wonder boy, Cooper was a nasty piece of work at that time.
I think Deans was an excellent coach and I didn't mind Rennie. Keen to see what Eddie v2 will bring.
rodha
Dave Cowper (27)
-which inadvertently contributed to Link's demise, Robbie had created a player-driven culture of youngin's getting a free-reign to drive standards and the longer-term consequences from the aftermath of this developed culture naturally accumulated and then snowballed to the point that once McKenzie got his hands on the wheel.... well unfortunately, by then it was all too late to avert the course of SS Wallabies' over the ravine and into the precipice!!!
'If I had my time again, I would've changed a lot': How falling out of favour with Robbie Deans changed Matt Giteau's career
You don’t play over 300 games of professional rugby without having a few personality clashes along the way - that was certainly the case for Wallabies centurion Matt Giteau, who has spent time in Australia, France and Japan.
www.rugbypass.com
Giteau had earned his first caps on tour with the Wallabies in 2002 under now-England coach Eddie Jones.
For the next few years, Giteau played alongside a number of already-established Wallabies legends – men like Sterling Mortlock, George Gregan and Stephen Larkham.
It was these experienced, elder states-men that set the standards in the squad while the newbies took a backseat and earned their stripes.
Their departures meant that Giteau, who had now accumulated over 40 caps for Australia, was now one of the nation’s more experienced operators.
That’s when the troubles first started.
“My view was the older brother always teaches the younger brother how to do things,” said Giteau. “Through experience, I always thought it was that way.
“It was hard for me because we’d often been told how to do things by the senior players – they led the culture.
“When Robbie came in, we had a lot of young guys and he wanted everyone on the same level, everyone to drive the standards, I suppose. But a lot of guys had come in and not really learnt anything yet.”
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