Wallabies v. Springboks, 18th July 2015, Suncorp, Brisbane

[Lorenzo]

Probably doesn't help when you have Delon Armitage (55+) and Leigh Halfpenny (50+) (and Johnny Wilkinson for the first 2 years) at the club. Why should he bother lining up 40+ kicks?

So he can play test rugby, if that's what he wants to do?

 

[Brumby Runner]

Man is skelton weak in the scrum - exposed at test level as he was on last EOYT.

Much better when horwill came on..skelton strong in general play but weak in key areas for lock to be successful ie scrimmaging and lineout..

Next

I am pretty sure that the first few scrums that we went backwards, the problem was on the LH side, and I am just as sure that Simmons was packing behind Slipper at the time.

Not defending Skelton, as I think he wasn't really up to standard tonight in his general play, but I don't think he should be lumbered with the blame for the scrum if not warranted.

 

[qwerty51]

So he can play test rugby, if that's what he wants to do?

Well it's an issue for all our kickers. None are good for 45+ and 40 is dodgy.

One of the big selection factors could end up being who place kicks the best and in a RWC it's fair enough.

 

[Cpt Crow Eater]

Observations :

Boks must be gutted with that loss. Outplayed Aus for the majority of the match. Lots of positives for them, great breakdown, great defence. Well balanced team imo

Negatives :

Very scrappy, particularly early. perhaps the Wobs needed a warm up game to get the cobwebs out. Too many turn overs and lost ball.

Bismark Duplessis was a monster. Was allowed to play like a 7 pilfering the ball whenever he wanted too. Breakdown needs a lot of work.

I have major concerns for the cut throat style of the world cup when we consistently miss penalties (even if some shots were from far out, it has still been an issue for many seasons now) We need our kickers to improve.

Support play needs to improve. Lots of runners getting isolated too often.

Positives :

Horwill had a lot of impact from the bench. I would keep him there to get the fire burning.

The whole bench had great impact and it made this wobs supporter very happy to have a bench which adds to the team when they come on.

Great to see some scrum dominance (even if it may have come after the Boks changed their front row) and loved seeing Squeaky having faith in the scrum to use it as a platform.

Thought Pocock was great when he came on.

Lots of room to work on, but i'll take the win!

 

[Viking]

How on that game people seriously see Cooper as starting XV material is beyond me.

Cheika pulling Cooper was key tactical moment of the match

Or maybe it was bringing on Pocock which forced the Boks to put more numbers in the breakdown freeing up space for the backs.

Cooper was average. Gits was worse. But the backs weren't an issue at all for me, I think the biggest issue was the lack of go-forward from the forwards.

Our backline could do with some polishing but it hardly got much space to shine and when it did it get an opportunity to shine it did as noted by the set-peice try from a nice backline move.

 

[Teh Other Dave]

So basically the question of whether to persist with Cooper comes down to whether you're in light blue or red. Cool.

 

[TOCC]

Same old parochial bullshit and mis-directed praise in this thread...

There weren't many positives from tonight's game, apart from fighting until the end and the scrum in the last 10minutes.


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[Lorenzo]

Ok and who will be the kicker?

good point.

 

[Viking]

Question is, if there isn't any space at the back how is it a tactically smart decision to kick? Kicking down the throat of the Boks back three only for them to run it back into our half was just stupid - particularly he was going it on ball that was over the gain line at times.

I agree with that. They should run it in those moments but I have feeling it's part of the game-plan.

 

[Groucho]

Cooper plays at 10 and Gits plays at 12 but Cooper plays like a centre, he runs with the ball in hands too much and Gits plays like a #10, he passes the ball quickly (at least tonight). So Giteau at 10 and Cooper at 12 would be a better combination buuut To'omua won a spot tonight so:

10 Someone
12 To'omua

Yeah. Cooper + Gits is a great story but Cooper + To'omua is a great combo.

 

[galumay]

It's probably a good exercise to invert the result and think about what your armchair coach selections would be then. After all we were very, very, very lucky to win. Imagine the mood, a loss, heading to Argentina where we lost last time. that's how we should be thinking about the performance of this group of players. The run on side just about got far enough behind to ensure a loss. The bench managed to outscore the Boks by 17 to 0 and snatch a win. It will be very interesting to see what changes are made for next week, I am betting many of us will be surprised.


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[Rugbynutter39]

TWAS

Maybe you saw something with Gits I didn't -

Genia and cooper once pulled made a difference IMO

I saw glimpses of what Gits offered which made me believe worth still being in the mix...

Maybe wrong but need to seet more to prove as he showed lot of football awareness to me but just little bit of exection letting him down noting not played with many of these players etc

Can't see how you can support Cooper as starting option...

To'omua immense when came on....but worked well with Gits.....

For me more proved To'omua starting material but Gits still in the mix...and Cooper not in terms of staring XV - bench yes.....

 

[Train Without a Station]

It's a dud combo. Always was.

12 needs to straighten.

 

[Train Without a Station]

Rugbynutter yes I saw 2 turnovers and a pass over the sideline.

 

[Groucho]

It's probably a good exercise to invert the result and think about what your armchair coach selections would be then. After all we were very, very, very lucky to win. Imagine the mood, a loss, heading to Argentina where we lost last time. that's how we should be thinking about the performance of this group of players. The run on side just about got far enough behind to ensure a loss. The bench managed to outscore the Boks by 17 to 0 and snatch a win. It will be very interesting to see what changes are made for next week, I am betting many of us will be surprised.


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Yeah, nah.

 

[shanky]

I'd like to point out that we beat the Springboks

We BEAT the Springboks!

Fair and square!

Yes we did!


Owens had an excellent game I thought. And we won, yes we did.

 

[Viking]

TWAS

Maybe you saw something with Gits I didn't -

Genia and cooper once pulled made a difference IMO

I saw glimpses of what Gits offered which made me believe worth still being in the mix.

Maybe wrong but need to seet more to prove as he showed lot of football awareness to me but just little bit of exection letting him down noting not played with many of these players etc

Can't see how you can support Cooper as starting option.

To'omua immense when came on..but worked well with Gits...

For me more proved To'omua starting material but Gits still in the mix.and Cooper not in terms of staring XV - bench yes...

I can't pinpoint anything in Coopers game that was glaringly bad. It was average all round. Maybe one high ball he dropped, and that poor goal kick.

Gits I can pinpoint 3 or 4 moments which were very poor. 2 or 3 turnovers and the poor pass after his nice break. And also a poor goal kick, Plus he literally looked like he was about to have a heart attack after came back on the field from his blood bin.

 

[Lorenzo]

To'omua is a dominant defender, competent kicker of the ball and can actually cross the advantage line and get the ball to ground for recycling. He can also step into 10 if needed.

We need that from a 12 and nothing more. We certainly don't need the unqualified "experience" or "offering" that Giteau is constantly said to bring with him.

 

[Brumby Runner]

I think it's fair to say Higginbotham failed. He already had a rep of not performing at Test level and with McCalman's form you can't possibly play him over Ben again.

I think Higger's and Skelton's poor games should open up the door for Ita Vaea's selection again. He is the best performed No 8 in Super rugby all year, and really offers the go forward we are missing with all other options.

 

[qwerty51]

I don't see how. He'd be behind Palu and McCalman for #8 and definitely cannot play him with Hooper and Pocock.