Wallabies v England, Sat 11th June, 8.00pm, Suncorp Brisbane

[ACR]

It still takes time to score a try.
Realistically they had what 4mins to score the try within the 22. That is bloody hard.

Options /snip

Fair point. You make sense with the penalty option.

I'd still choose touchline.

I was thinking tonight though, Foley was still 40m out or so, WHAT IF HE MISSED?!?! Bugger.

 

[Pfitzy]

Unfortunately for Australia I don't see too many in the current squad with the combined quality of the likes of Burke, Roff, Herbert, Paul, Gregan, Latham, Larkham, Kefu, Smith, Eales, Giffin etc.

I take your point ACTC - but we need to look at it in context of the competition they faced.

Macqueen made that squad of guys more professional than anyone else in the modern game. Meanwhile the ABs were probably at something resembling a nadir and the Boks hadn't really recovered the retirements from 1995.

Not to say they weren't all-time greats, who happened to coalesce at once.

But there is a hell of a lot of potential here, and Cheika just needs to get it from them all at the same time.

 

[ACT Crusader]

Seriously? This squad oozes potential. We have two front rows that are as good as any front row we had in the past. Pocock and Hooper are both in all those players' class. Foley has incredible potential and is starting to realise it. Kuridrani has hovered around being the world's best 13. Kerevi could be anything. Folau is world class.

Get a few injured players back on the field and it's a highly competitive team against any opposition.

They just played sh1t today.

There is some great talent in the current squad and plenty of potential no doubt. Whilst Folau, Pocock, Hooper and Kepu are world class players, that 2001 squad had a lot more in that class and they had more in that next tier as well.

I remember being in Richmond on the night of the Melbourne test and talking to a heap of BIL fans and many of them were nervous as hell because of the class of the Wallabies side and I think they just knew that they would find a way, because thats what they did and were good at.

The Wallabies had some very good passages, but they were particularly ordinary at other times (much like the ABs). A number of players went MIA or just coughed up ball. There were issues in the midfield defence I thought, moreso from an organisational perspective. But it is unrealistic to expect a brand new combination to click at Test 1. Beale was sorely missed in that regard.

Did anyone else thin Phipps should've been subbed earlier? He was struggling i thought around the 65th minute mark, walking to rucks.

 

[galumay]

. Probably need to start Horwill next week with Simmons.

Really? I cant see that ending well, 2 penalty magnets. I wouldnt have either in my team.

.... Lilo not really up to test rugby I reckon.

Seems that way.

Big Willy too slow to play the up tempo game we need.

Maybe, I reckon he has looked better the last couple of weeks.

Damn irrititating regardless, losing to the Poms really grates, and the Kiwis love it!

 

[Viking]

Fair point. You make sense with the penalty option.

I'd still choose touchline.

I was thinking tonight though, Foley was still 40m out or so, WHAT IF HE MISSED?!?! Bugger.

Yep. If it was 3 metres longer and/or 5 metres to either side I think they would of had to go for the touchline. but right out in front 40metres out should realistically be a 90% kick for any regular goal kicker.

But not having a safe goal kicker really hurts us. I was also scared he'd miss

 

[tragic]

More possession, more territory, more line breaks, more tries, less points.
Seen it all before.
But it never gets any easier.

 

[Istanbul]

I was fairly impressed with that as a first hit out. Sio obviously struggled up front. The new faces were all very solid. We gave away too many penalties but I don't see the need for panic. The Poms are a very good battle hardened team that were up for that game and we weren't far off rolling them.

 

[Braveheart81]

Folau: fullback? OC? IC? What about wing? That's where he's played his best game for us in his debut IIRC.

You think Folau's best test is still his debut against the Lions?

Without doubt it was an outstanding debut but I think most of the test's he's played since have been better than that.

He should stay at fullback. Kuridrani played well at 13 tonight where Folau has also been outstanding in Super Rugby.

Folau was still our most dangerous player in attack and outstanding under the high ball. We want him touching the ball more not less.

 

[Viking]

I was fairly impressed with that as a first hit out. Sio obviously struggled up front. The new faces were all very solid. We gave away too many penalties but I don't see the need for panic. The Poms are a very good battle hardened team that were up for that game and we weren't far off rolling them.

I agree. No need to panic. Some great signs. But still very disappointed none the less.

DHP - solid all round. Such a well rounded player. Looked at home in test rugby.

Kerevi - I thought he was great, distributed surprisingly well. Although put under a crap load of pressure he still made that error which led to the try. Great players stand up in the crucial moments - he will learn from that

Arnold - I have mixed assessment of him. Was psychical at times which was great, but some poor hands at times too. I think a good first hit out. He will be a great test lock soon but had mixed results tonight.

 

[Braveheart81]

This was like the Scotland game, Australia making tries far from the posts vs penalty kicks in front of the posts. As Australia can do more tries, the advice would be, make the tries as close to the posts as possible. That should be the tactic until you have a top class kicker. If you must make 2 or 3 phases more to make a try closer to the posts, you must do it. The tries at the corner are counterproductive if you don't have a top class kicker and the opposite team has

That's a pretty ridiculous comment. If you can score a try, you score a try. It is still 5 points.

There is no situation where a try that is on offer out wide is going to be freely available closer to the posts a couple of phases later.

Your other comments criticising the match and England winning by kicking goals seems to be misdirected. Criticise the Wallabies for giving away so many penalties. We gifted them points, they didn't play a negative style of rugby to kick them.

 

[Pfitzy]

Folau: fullback? OC? IC? What about wing? That's where he's played his best game for us in his debut IIRC.

We have DHP who is early days but just played wing for us and was our principle kicker from the back and made some outstanding cover tackles. He also plays fullback for his state.

Then we have Folau at 15 who made some amazing line breaks when chiming in as well as running his trademark support lines. I wouldn't say he was safe as houses at the back though.

It seems like a logical switch to me.

Folau put in a shit pass, and let a ball bounce in traffic. Other than that he defused a crapload of stuff and didn't let England's box kick game get outrageously effective.

Its a hard decision because DHP did basically nothing wrong. He cleaned up some rubbish, kicked well (shit I wish he was left-footed), and was the kind of direct, hard player we have seen and like. But he didn't dominate like Folau did at the line and every time he joined it, the Poms were shitting kittens.

 

[tragic]

Amazed how many changes are being called for.
Swap the starting props with the bench and stop the stupid penalties and that was a win 9 times out of ten.

 

[Viking]

You think Folau's best test is still his debut against the Lions?

Without doubt it was an outstanding debut but I think most of the test's he's played since have been better than that.

He should stay at fullback. Kuridrani played well at 13 tonight where Folau has also been outstanding in Super Rugby.

Folau was still our most dangerous player in attack and outstanding under the high ball. We want him touching the ball more not less.

Would have been another superb test from him if he didn't make that poor pass leading to the try.

I was going to say his passing has gotten loads better, so many times 2 defenders were on him and he was responsible for the last pass to a player in space. He was acting in the Beale role and it was working. Not quite as crisp a passer as Beale or Gits but he did the job. Until that fuck up.

 

[Marcelo]

Did you ever see the Simpsons episode where Mr Burns is coaching softball? He tells Darryl Strawberry, "Strawberry- hit a home run." Then, when he does, he proclaims himself a coaching genius.

It would be great if it were that easy.

Take it easy, League hater. Would be more easy if you have Carter or Wilkinson at 10 but you haven't. So in a tight game vs Farrell you have less cards to play.

I'm improving, I didn't mention JT despite he's the best Aussie kicker in the last 10 years

 

[Joe Blow]

This may not be popular but I just don't get the idea of trying to squeeze McMahon into the 23. He is nowhere near as effective as Hooper or Pocock at test level. He doesn't have the frame to match his attitude and unless one of the Pooper is injured I don't think he should come under consideration.
If the Pooper is not working out we need to go in a different direction.
Mind you, I would keep the pooper but just have a different kind of backrower on the bench.

 

[ACR]

Australia is currently battling against Italy in the U20 world championship if anyone's interested. On Foxsports.

Side note; you used to get juicy odds with the bookies for the u20 matches. Sportsbet gave Ire a +50 line against NZ a few years ago but there was torrential rain and the pitch turned to bog. They were way too slow to bring the line back, muahahah.

 

[Pfitzy]

Team next week will be interesting - the decisions are:

Kerevi or Lilo.
Arnold or Horwill.

After that its injuries.

 

[biggsy]

Benched was used like the Dean's era.
Well played Eddie.
Wallabies will win the series

 

[Viking]

This may not be popular but I just don't get the idea of trying to squeeze McMahon into the 23. He is nowhere near as effective as Hooper or Pocock at test level. He doesn't have the frame to match his attitude and unless one of the Pooper is injured I don't think he should come under consideration.
If the Pooper is not working out we need to go in a different direction.
Mind you, I would keep the pooper but just have a different kind of backrower on the bench.

I don't think your thoughts are too unpopular at all. I feel the same about McMahon. I was picking a big year from him, but what I saw tonight was the same - his frame does not match his attitude. Maybe needs another year or two gain a few more kilos of muscle and strength.

Or we just need more players with his attitude.

 

[Viking]

Team next week will be interesting - the decisions are:

Kerevi or Lilo.
Arnold or Horwill.

After that its injuries.

On form you'd have to go with Kerevi. Unless Lilo trains like a madman this week.

I think I'd stick with Arnold. Some good signs from him, his errors although disappointed weren't out of the ordinary for some-one making a test debut. He'll be better after this hit out.