Wallabies v Baabaas

[Scotty]

Noddy,

I have always liked Mortlock, but he may quickly become a liability. The tackles he made could have just as well been done by anyone as effectively, if not as spectacularly, and most were just hospital balls to SBW. I would back Barnes or AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) over Mortlock defensively any day of the week. Even Burgess showed he could clean up a Mortlock miss.

As far as an inspiration leader goes - he would appear to psyche up a team by his intensity, but the fact is that we haven't won anything significant with him as captain. He will not be there as captain in 2010, let alone 2011, but I suspect that Deans will keep him until at least the end of the 2009 domestic season.

 

[Rugby Rat]

Awesome. Loved it.

Don't doubt it.

We are BACK !

Bring on Eden Park !

 

[Lee Grant]

Actually he played Tighthead. Robinson was getting rogered on the loosehead.

Dark blue headgear was on the left side from where I was sitting. Maybe he moved once Mumm came on.

Right Nicko. Seagull was on the left all night IIRR, and had a quiet game IMO. Mumm replaced Hodgson at 6.

Maybe it was the fact that I was in the cheap seats, or maybe it was all the beers before the game but I thought there was a distinct lack of atmosphere at the game.

Not where I was sitting. The SFS crowd is usually pretty vanilla, but they stepped up IMO. Couldn't believe the hype about Money Bill but the crowd loved it.

Not sure about the scrum but the only time we looked troubled was when Botha was boring in on Robinson but once Dickinson pinged him we were fine.

That was my impression after seeing the replay today.

One last thing I was going to mention last night, but I forgot to: Oz blew a number of tries in a game when they had a lot, but if they miss as many in a 3N game when they will have just a few, then they will lose that game.

 

[Spook]

Noddy,

I have always liked Mortlock, but he may quickly become a liability. The tackles he made could have just as well been done by anyone as effectively, if not as spectacularly, and most were just hospital balls to SBW. I would back Barnes or AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) over Mortlock defensively any day of the week. Even Burgess showed he could clean up a Mortlock miss.

As far as an inspiration leader goes - he would appear to psyche up a team by his intensity, but the fact is that we haven't won anything significant with him as captain. He will not be there as captain in 2010, let alone 2011, but I suspect that Deans will keep him until at least the end of the 2009 domestic season.

It must be said though that Barnes made the first defensive error on SBW..that was his tackle to make near the try line. What a great hit by Burgess though.

I do agree with the general point of your post though - Morty can be caught out at times.

 

[Rugby Rat]

2nd year of Deans I am hoping will sort both Gitts and Mortlock out. It does look very promising.

The Babs were a very experienced side. Not the usual tripe that we get as a 3N lead up game.

Even Cooper looked hungry in his 7 min cameo.

Must admit that it is Morts team mates that let him down. Up until last year they'd throw the pill to him when he was usually marked 3-1 and had no hope of a line break.

Deans has us going forward and not sideways. I liked it last year and the Babs game confirmed the progress.

Impressed by the young Force lad. He was hungry for 5 points. Reminded me of Drew, maybe just a tad better perhaps..

 

[Pfitzy]

The Babs were a very experienced side. Not the usual tripe that we get as a 3N lead up game.

They were experienced players, which is a different thing. Even though the Wallabies were only in camp a week, the fact is the players know each other reasonably well from a domestic and S14 point-of-view.

The Baabaas, had they stuck with last week's team, would have been more formidable, but the introduction of Waugh and last-minute Lyons disrupted the back row to the point of being ineffectual, while McAlister's combination with Mapusua wasn't really that great.

The more I think about it, a team with the same XXII but different XV would have troubled the Wobblies more:

1 Dermody
2 Brits
3 Botha
4 Jack
5 Corry
6 Betsen
7 Waugh (c)
8 Collins
9 Whitaker
10 Jackson
11 Balshaw
12 SBW
13 Lewsey
14 Blair
15 Murphy

16 Bruno
17 Sommerville
18 Tito
19 Lyons
20 Marshall
21 McAlister
22 Mapusua

Tight five is much of a muchness but I rate Corry ahead of Tito for the grunt work.

The back row is designed specifically to counter the Smith/Hodgson/Brown speed trio with a blend of aggression (Collins, Waugh) and pace to the ruck (Betsen).

SBW gets an easier job on defence and more touches of the ball. Lewsey is experienced at 13 while in Blair and Murphy you get two genuine fullbacks covering blindside wing and fullback for those kick-returns and kick coverage. Jackson had a bit more recent rugby under his belt than Lucky Luke, and Whitaker is evidently miles ahead of Meg Ryan at halfback. The bench cover isn't ideal for the outside backs but McAlister has the speed for that job.

 

[Blue]

The Babs were a very experienced but tired looking, disjointed and a side lacking cohesion of any description.

Good Wallaby performance but the Baabaas were terrible. It was obvious that McCallister hadn't played ten in ages (the two big hits on SBW were a result of Luke selling him to the defense with poor passes).

So I think there isn't much you can learn from this except:

1. James Horwill can still play
2. Sharpe missed a few weeks of his SA meetings (Seagulls Anonymous)
3. Mitchell can finish
4. Gitaeu is great
5. Pocock is going to be great
6. Brown is not tests class
7. Alexander should be banned for 6 weeks for diving when scoring. He is a prop ffs. Disgraceful.
8. Chris Jack may want to hit the odd ruck if he wants to play for the Blacks again. Talking smack ain't gonna convince the Cartel.
9. Don't drive the the SFS unless you're into self mutilation or other forms of horrid torture.
10. Standing in line for beer at the SFS takes a big heart and enormous patience.

Agree NTA, looking at the selections in retrospect it was not nearly the best team hey could have chosen.

 

[cyclopath]

9. Don't drive the the SFS unless you're into self mutilation or other forms of horrid torture.
10. Standing in line for beer at the SFS takes a big heart and enormous patience.

9. Park in Woollahra and walk the 10 mins - you get to walk back past LOTS of pubs!! My secret for years.
10. I have no answer...well, you can get pissed before you get there.

 

[Lee Grant]

So I think there isn't much you can learn from this except:

2. Sharpe missed a few weeks of his SA meetings (Seagulls Anonymous)

6. Brown is not test class Harsh, but true that in a big game with big opponents you need a bruiser at 8 to run over guys after picking up from the scrum base - or in other kinds of traffic. His strengths are a high work rate, being on the ball and a bit of linking - the same as Smith, but not as good. Not bad in lineouts either.

For mine he would be best off the bench as an impact all rounder. Yeah, I've seen him play well in some tests already, but that is my opinion of him nevertheless. If the new hands in the ruck protocol makes an all rounder no. 8 more valuable that a bruiser getting over the advantage line, I will change my view.

8. Chris Jack may want to hit the odd ruck if he wants to play for the Blacks again. Correct - Jonathan Livingston Jack played well in Europe but you can see why the Cartel want to use the Super14 as a measure of how well a player is going.

9. Don't drive the the SFS unless you're into self mutilation or other forms of horrid torture. Or unless you leave early as I do.

 

[Rugby Rat]

OK. You have me. More optimism than the opposition playing well.

I still like to think we made them play as bad as they did.

 

[Lindommer]

9. Don't drive the the SFS unless you're into self mutilation or other forms of horrid torture.
10. Standing in line for beer at the SFS takes a big heart and enormous patience.

9. Park in Woollahra and walk the 10 mins - you get to walk back past LOTS of pubs! My secret for years.
10. I have no answer...well, you can get pissed before you get there.

Or park in Surry Hills down near Central and catch the bus up, I've been doing it for years. That way you get dropped off near Fox Studios so you can duck in to the Fox + Lion and have a decent beer.

After the game you get to walk past 8 pubs on the way back. And it's down hill!

 

[rugbywhisperer]

Just wish we could apply those principles at Ballymore. Might get a better crowd if you could.

 

[Pfitzy]

7. Alexander should be banned for 6 weeks for diving when scoring. He is a prop ffs. Disgraceful.

And for running further than the closest point on the tryline to score. Running under the posts is for homo backs who want to curry favour from the goal kicker. REAL Props do just enough to score, because anything else is a waste of time (like scrumming your arse off just to watch the backs kick it away or drop it cold).

9. Don't drive the the SFS unless you're into self mutilation or other forms of horrid torture.

Yes - leaving early is the best way. It was a shame they shut off the gates at Hordern for that dance party thing that was on, but there was some nice eye candy walking around the place

 

[Gagger]

9. Don't drive the the SFS unless you're into self mutilation or other forms of horrid torture.
10. Standing in line for beer at the SFS takes a big heart and enormous patience.

9. Park in Woollahra and walk the 10 mins - you get to walk back past LOTS of pubs! My secret for years.
10. I have no answer...well, you can get pissed before you get there.

Or park in Surry Hills down near Central and catch the bus up, I've been doing it for years.  That way you get dropped off near Fox Studios so you can duck in to the Fox + Lion and have a decent beer. 

After the game you get to walk past 8 pubs on the way back.  And it's down hill!

The car must just drive itself after that!

Highlights of SBW vs Wallabies on the front page http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/video-sbw-vs-the-wallabies/

 

[cyclopath]

Lindommer is right, but there are MUCH better looking women in the uphill pubs...

 

[the gambler]

I managed to get to 5 of the pubs uphill, not to mention the three of them before the game but it went down hill when I went to the cross. Dont recall seeing any women though.

 

[cyclopath]

I managed to get to 5 of the pubs uphill, not to mention the three of them before the game but it went down hill when I went to the cross. Dont recall seeing any women though.

You need to re-calibrate the beer-goggles!! Admittedly quite a few of the lay-dies in the Cross seem to have big Adam's apples...

 

[fatprop]

The stats for the match

http://www.rugbystats.com.au/matches/rugby/match2204.html

Interesting points

Most Turnovers at ruck & maul - Mortlock, Smith didn't get one.

Defence - Collins 26 tackles / 19 effective, Waugh - 19 tackles / 18 effective

Barnes missed 5

 

[Scarfman]

Funny, plenty of Kiwis elsewhere on t'interweb seem to think otherwise. He's more a 12 though I reckon. Blair impressed me more, but mainly with his toe. Looks quick, like Brent Russell did.

Me and Blue didn't have a program so we had to figure out who everyone was. We congratulated ourselves on figuring out that the 22 was Brent Russell. Wrong of course, but they're very similar.

And agree with my learned colleague about Brown. Seemed to be a bit lost out there.

As for parking, the Fox studios thing went well for me, and the pub there is OK. Plus, I can't afford the women in Woollahra.

 

[cyclopath]

Funny, plenty of Kiwis elsewhere on t'interweb seem to think otherwise. He's more a 12 though I reckon. Blair impressed me more, but mainly with his toe. Looks quick, like Brent Russell did.

Me and Blue didn't have a program so we had to figure out who everyone was. We congratulated ourselves on figuring out that the 22 was Brent Russell. Wrong of course, but they're very similar.

And agree with my learned colleague about Brown. Seemed to be a bit lost out there.

As for parking, the Fox studios thing went well for me, and the pub there is OK. Plus, I can't afford the women in Woollahra.

They don't charge you to look! Yet.