This way up
I’ve written this post straight after the game while the pain is still raw and untempered, and I’m trying to work out if that’s the worst I’ve seen the Wallabies play. I suspect it is. We’ll post a more balanced review later.
That we still had a chance to win with the last kick is perhaps a measure of how “outclassed” these Scots were, completely lacking the ability to break our line with their only territory coming from the plethora of Wallaby mistakes.
That’s not to take away from an immense defensive effort from the Scots, they could not have defended their line more ferociously if William Wallace himself was at blindside. They played a tight game which was calculated to deliver them a victory, and that’s exactly what eventuated.
While the Wallabies were appalling in most facets of the game, it would be harsh to write them all off as Cliffy Palu, Peter Hynes and Adam Ashley-Cooper had very games, while JOC’s single touch nearly won us the game outright.
Wallaby injuries were devastating too, with a suspected ACL injury to Benn Robinson, and our thoughts are with Cliffy Palu who left the field on a stretcher with a suspected neck injury.
Such was the imbalance in these two teams that had we taken the points on offer to us the final score would have been 38-9 ! With just 32% possession and missing 24 tackles the Scots prevented the Wallabies from grounding the ball in 80 minutes.
Stephen Moore pioneered a unique way to not score by diving over the line on his back into the waiting Scottish defense. He then just lay there on top of them like an upside down turtle until the ref blew the whistle. So unsuccessful was this move that Rocky Elsom repeated the back first dive 20 minutes later, reproducing the disappointing result.
Quade Cooper built on his poor kicking game by butchering the most golden of try scoring opportunities – a 2 man overlap with half a field width of space and 5 metres to the line by throwing a massive cutout and clearly forward pass.
A numbers game
In total the Wallabies were turned over 22 times with 14 handling errors, while 40 odd visits to the Scottish 22 resulted in no points being added. Perhaps most telling of all was the scoreboard, where despite dominating every possible metric we scored just 3 points in 80 minutes.
So piss poor was this Wallaby performance that as the clock ticked to the 80th minute and our forwards picked and drived at the Scottish tryline, they were determined not to give the backs another opportunity to butcher it despite Burgess screaming for the ball. After 15 phases Burgo intercepted a short ball to fire it out to Cross who didn’t fuck up, making the score 8-9 at full time, with a kick to come.
Giteau was probably the worst on field, with very poor kicking from right in front and an unfathomable drop goal option, that also missed. Despite all this he had a final chance to save the match with a kick after full time, but it what was no surprise to any masochistic Wallabies supporters still enduring the torture he missed.
Perhaps a more fitting end would have been for the Scots to charge down his kick, they somehow still had enough energy to send out four runners and were very close to denying it.
Congratulations Scotland for a famous victory, your first over Australia since 1982.
Tags: adam ashley-cooper, benn robinson, loss, peter hynes, possession, post match review, quade cooper, result, review, rocky elsom, score, stephen moore
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My thoughts too are with Cliffy
Yep, hope the big fella is alright, it must be terrifying not knowing. I missed the collision, how did it look?
Pretty bad….
His head was in the open and got hit sideways and back. It didnt move that far hopefully he is ok.
Benny Robinson will be a major loss too. Hope its not serious.
Pathetic.
Hats off to Scotland for holding their line, but what a grande sham.
If your a real Australian Rugby fan you back your team through and through, but STOP engineering excuses for them and buying into the medias skewed viewpoints of what a great ‘young developing side’ we have. They are an absolute embaressment to themselves for talking of a Grand Slam before even boarding a plane. The ARU and http://www.rugby.com.au need to stop having the players look like idiots interviewing each other and cracking jokes, It’s unprofessional and distasteful you fu***n larrikins.
I have never witnessed a poorer Wallabies game in my 15 years of supporting our great nation
I think the Wallabies played just as badly against the Italians last year, the difference they got the result.
Perth this year was up there as was the debacle in Wellington a few weeks ago.
There have been plenty of others, one in Argentina about 5 years ago that I remember particularly.
The Wallabies are just not very good, and a long way from being so despite the mantra of “building to the next World Cup”
Being a Reds supporter I’m used to anonymous performances so this is just another to add to the list.
Can’t wait to see the player tour diary for this week.
eeeek !
I thought you guys wouldnt get all 4 but I didnt think you’d lose to bloody Scotland !
I still think Robbies ‘divide and rule’ approach doesnt suit your players DNA- hes way too like JON.
Heads up guys.
In the bigger scheme of things this is not such a bad result. The boks losing to Scotland effected a huge change in mindset.
Wallabies need a leader. They seem to lose interest/concentration to easy or even tend to not show up for certian games ala France.
You guys need to dig deep.
First time comment from a long time viewer of GGR…but i just have to say that was one of the worst thing’s i have seen from the Men (boys) in the green and gold….Once the ball left the back of the pack there seems to no idea. Our Backs once the most awesome of attacking machines has turned into a dribble of its former self.
What a bunch of idiots this Wallabies team is. it is not as though they do not have the capability….they showed it once this year when they beat the Springboks…. What they don’t have is attitude. they talk about being professional. How then can Gits miss from in front. he is too fukin cocky and does not show the respect of a true professional. If he did he would take his time, focus concentrate and kick the ball. It also show respect for the Scots.
Every second game we get tthe same f…in story. We will learn and move on. These rock stars don’t take what they do seriously. Drew Mitchell’s kicking was terrible as QC. Moore has to learn to change body position to score a try. You don’t go over the try line upright. Once again not taking the game seriously and we talk about professionals.
Cliffy had a good game sorry to see him injured.
I could go on and on… but I wont. Enough time to hand back my Wallabies top and watch AFL……
What a disgusting performance..
Maybe they had money on the Scots… nothing else can explain this performance.
It’s only a game. Enjoy it, win, lose or draw.
It’s more than a game. They represent our nation.
One of the reasons both aggression and depression levels are increasing, especially in men is, I believe, that we often confuse sport with a desperate national mission (like a war for survival.
Many treat it like people treat religion, a way to explain the purpose in life.
When we do this, we end up with men abusing talented sportspeople who are trying to do their best and who entertain us at the same time.
We should enjoy the game, I think. If we lose, it is natural to be disappointed for a moment,but then why not laugh and party with the other team and try to beat them next time.
It is not good for our happiness or even the success of the teams we like if we say things like “disgusting performance” and “men (boys”, “absolute embarrassment” and so on.
Happiness pinned to chance,to whether a slippery ball was dropped, or a decision that didn’t work in the instant…wow, that is some perilous gamble.
Instead of abusing our team, can’t we appreciate that they actually did some very talented moves but a very talented defence — and lady luck– held them out. An amazing game.
While this is certainly a valid argument to make, and I don’t totally disagree with you……A time and a place my friend. After a crushing loss to Scotland is definately NOT the time to bring this up. Some angry Aussies might show up at your door. I hear they can be very mean when aroused…
Good point Mike.
Can I then also add congratulations to the Scots. I have always enjoyed the Scots style of play. that was gutsy determined defense. AND a total belief and attitude that they could do it…… they have what the Wallabies lack, the belief and hunger that they can do it.
I am also a professional. If my results are as bad as the Wallabies I do not get paid. Nothing to do with aggression and depression…. just a lack of results.
At some stage you have to produce results.. We could sugar coat the words as we have done for 2 seasons… not to hurt the poor wounded Wallabies. But enough is enough. You want to travel the world and earn good money… then step up and be counted.
I am not sorry for the Wallabies anymore. They deserve all they get. Also I don’t believe it is Deans fault cause they have shown they can step up. Its all about the players. A coach cannot do it on the field for them. they have to take responsibility for their actions….
Nice sentiments Mike, but this is professional sport we are talking about here which exists and thrives only because there is a fan base which follows it. Champion marbles players, for instance, would have no chance of ever going professional.
It might be kinda character building for the WBs to be beaten like this, but it does nothing for me having to wait until nine hours after the match has concluded so that I can actually see it via a delayed telecast. Selfish I know.
Felt sorry for the Aussies today. Was screaming myself hoarse for the boys in blue, and their tackling would bring down trees but as for creation Giteau was way ahead. Felt so sorry for him at the end on a tricky day for kicking. You have the base for a very fine rugby team that maybe needs a leader to step up to the plate.
One of the best games of rugby I have witnessed.
“One of the best games of rugby I have witnessed.”
Really? A win is a win, so fair play if you’re Scottish mate, but you can’t have seen too much rugby.
Bledisloe 2000: similar result – a narrow Wallabies loss, but a genuinely great game of rugby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3kDSiHVbwg
I would agree from a Scotish POV, they showed true guts and determination as massive underdogs to beat a highly ranked team. I have to admit to a little spine tingle about the 70th minute when the crowd came alive and started singing their anthem.
Definitely – if I were Scottish I’d be elated. Gutsy performance built on solid defence to pull off an underdog victory. Don’t want to take anything away from the Scots – it was a great effort. All I’m saying is that as a game of rugby, there really wasn’t much to get excited about.
The neutral headlines say it all: from PR – “a largely dour encounter”.
What a fuck of a game.
Some players did really well: AAC, Palu, Hynes. Our scrums were dominant even with Benn off the pitch. But the fuck ups of a few absolutely derailed our whole attacking effectiveness.
Gits 0/4. Enough said.
The aimless kicking – not a fault of Deans.. He has directed that we need territory and possession. We are getting that even though the execution is fucking lower than Subbies Rugby. With the amount of ball we had 38-6 would have been fair.
QC has been a major let down, something that does not surprise me. If we include him at all it is because at certain levels of rugby he can pull off good looking plays. This will never happen on the international scene, at least never without a Reds player or two around him. He’s a rudderless ship in our backline.
Gits has no gameplan without a go forward 12. Cross – who fucked things up less than i thought he might, and was more dependable than 10 & 12 combined, did his job with what he had. He’s still not Stirls,.. and not Ioane,.. How out of shape is Dan Herbert? .. or Little?
AAC has the best go forward of any international back.. Deans’ half time talk should have been.. “when we get to the 22.. give AAC the ball”.. Simple. Tries would have been scored.
Absolutely fucking mystifies me as to why we are using G.Smith as our hit up man in the 12/13 channel? ? ? ?
a) not big enough,
b) tries to beat the tackle anyway – we may as well have used our 13, since that is what he’s frikken there to do.
c) we lose our primary fetcher on the first phase breakdown…
I can’t get my head around it. It never worked, never will.
Horwill. Is there anyone more useless at a breakdown. Much like me – he can’t bend his knees. But then, I’m not a wallaby. I’d like to see some stats on what is going on when the opposition has the lineout.. Do we really have no plan to steal their throw? We statically hoist someone up in the hope they throw it straight at him.
To tie things up.. if I was Deans..
I would have left only the manager in the sheds with one simple message.
“We’ll keep you updated on Cliffy. We’re going back to the Hotel. No one gets to go out tonight. You don’t deserve the smooth taste Scottish Liquor.. It’s harder than you. We leave for Cardiff first thing. If you are lucky, you might get a run… Oh, and if one of you twits tweets tonight.. you can forget playing next week.”
Eddo i feel your pain.
1. Moore’s blow of that try reminds me of that time i watched steven bradburry win gold at the winter olympics. what the shit!!! it’s as if every wallaby who goes for a try thinks, “whoa….a try line….ermm, so do wait for support, or…we didnt rehearse this in training!”.
2. Horwill and Chisolm are fucking useless, Chis more so than big kev. You’d think chisolm with his size and arms would be a palu sort of runner, but he just goes to ground after a touch like its touch footy.
3. Completely agree-wtf did they use g. smith at the backline as a runner!? why the fuck did deans NOT use pocock after an in-form performance!?!?? it completely defeats deans’s “play well this week and u will get a run next week” policy. pocock would have been fuming inside being useless in the stands.
4. Dont get me wrong, there were a few standouts in the wallabies- ACC, palu, elsom, hynes- i especially thought JOC was fantanstic off the bench as QC’s replacement- but cross was shit i hate how he drifts wide and then passes to the wing and the wing gets tackled into the sideline. if palu is injured, i hope and pray they dont put richard brown in for wales, he is a clusterfuck of errors and is not big enough for the no.8
i genuinely think that this team has no fizz and aura about them and it shows in their execution and consistency. i dont know why i keep following them.
Eddo, right on the button in your last two paragraphs. Time for the players to be held totally accountable.
That is ALL
I’m so sick of hearing all of this shit about how we are slowly getting better. When we lost to England in the 07 world cup, we were nowhere close to being this bad. Ever since Robbie Deans took over we have been going in a downwards spiral which will only stop when John O’Neil pulls the plug on this cluster fuck.
Got to agree with you there Nick as much as I like Robbie I don’t think his style works with what he has to work with? However who’s the alternative?
With 109 hit ups we had 7 offloads?…
Is that a normal stat?
Hey fellas, from Scotland,
To be fair, the Aussie scrum wasn’t dominating until Robinson actually came off the pitch, so to say it dominated DESPITE him now being on the pitch isn’t really accurate.
All your team lacked today was execution and the correct decision-making, but on the back of last weeks’ draw with Ireland a bit of leadership on the pitch probably wouldn’t be missed either. Can’t comment on your TriNations games as I didn’t see them, but with better execution us Scots were beaten today even with our excellent defense.
Hope Palu is ok, never good to see anyone get carried off like that.
Cheers
Geo.. I’m going to let that first thought fly through to the keeper.
Benn has been the cornerstone of resurrecting our scrum. Kepu, a poaching from NZ, is short of international level, but is extremely welcome at S14 considering the depth of our stocks there. He did his job on the night at scrum time,.. apparently has basketball rings for hands.
Hi Geo,
Thanks for dropping by, and congrats on an epic win.
I’m not sold on your scrum theory though – while it was more successful after Benn went off it was about that point the Ref started letting them actually scrummage.
Hey fellas,
Benn has looked a real good scrummager for you guys, can’t argue with that, but he wasn’t getting his way today. Not a biased comment because Scotland won, but have seen him a lot more comfortable. Hope his injury isn’t too serious either – still waiting to hear on Palu’s condition. Fingers crossed there.
For the record, I thought the ref this week was much better on the scrum. Last week we rolled Fiji in the scrum and the ref covered them in cotton-wool. I’d rather see a ref let them go and our scrum got worked over than we were protected for no reason other than being stuck on the back foot every time!! Some folks have slated your midfield, but to me it looked like they were just confused by their 10. Giteau tried all sorts of dummies and misses, but I don’t think your 12/13 knew what was going through his head. On another day that gets you 3/4 tries, but he just had a mare today. Happens to us all, and is a thin line between genius and madness. (I should know, haveing to watch Scotland on a regular basis, though we don’t get too much of the genius!!)
Cheers
We have reached new lows. I expect a big shakeup for Cardiff starting with 10/12, nothing to loose and everything to gain.
It has finally dawned on me why Deans is focussing so much on preparations for the next world cup – he knows full well (as we all do now) that his current squad has NO chance in next years Bledisloe or 3N, and probably not even the EYT.
JOC at 12, giteau at 10.
giteau?, he does not deserve 10!… he should be 12 or dropped to the bench. Lets give toomua a go at 10, joc 12. Giteau needs to be punished for tri-nations n now this grand slam form slump.
I assume there’s some typo going on with the score here. Surely even Deans wouldn’t throw a match v Scotland?
As a kiwi living in Australia. I have the priviledge of being able to fanaticly support two world class teams, I was delighted with the ab’s win over the poms obviously, but was still up at 3 am to support the men in gold.
First of let me say Congrats to the Scots for securing a win that they earned, with composure and determination that was not expected.
Now for a rag on the wallabies. I dont know what it is but there doesnt seem to be a cohesive effort from the men in gold. there is a lot of individuals who can clearly play some fricken awesome rugby at times , but no unity.
The wallabies are still making the wrong decisions at cruical times! _________ <—-(insert broken record here) so much so that its predictable to every one but the wallabies themselves.
Two stand out disasters, Giteau and Cooper, Giteaus little jink and runs, jink and grubbers or the jink and get isoloated efforts are something we see every time he touches the ball, for crying out loud man create some deception.
Quaid Cooper? geez you arent part of the beji marshal show,(anyone else noticed the connection?) he just holds the ball to long. let it go! the ball is aerodynamic, I promise.
to compound the dismal effort of these players, add a complete inability to capitalize on posession, terriority. (throw in some unforced errors there also) and you have yourself a huge mental breakdown.
A fair observation is the wallabies lack of mental toughness. evident throughout the tri-nations when they lost after leading at halftime on several occasions, and evident this morning and against ireland also.
The last try coming not from composure or resolve, but desperation. utter and complete panic, finally grounding a try in the 81st minute against oppisition whom should have been put to the sword..
and where was the Giteau of old? who time and time again slotted pressure kicks? he had left the building. you could see it on his face he was under all sorts of stress, self doubt. and when the crowd didnt help he caved.
Now I rate Robbie deans, hes done some fantastic work in the past with some formidable teams. but hes gotta go, hes either taking the wallabies in a direction that cohesively they cant achieve or hes tried to overhaul the australian style of play to the extent that it is no longer an australian style of play which is perhaps what they are missing.
alright now thats outta the way the scrums were very good I thought scotland had the rub of the ref and were very luckly not to concede more penaltys when they cleary struggled.
line outs had room for improvement, broken play was not to bad, although it would have been nice if the tactical kicks went out or counter attacking had more support.
I dont have a solution to the wallabies woes. this is rant from a fan. but what I do know is that when something is not working. (as proven by this season) then something needs to be changed..the old "if it aint broke dont touch it" rule. sadly doesnt apply here.
Good luck wallabies, theres still time before wcr.
Australia are desperate and last night shows the formula is all wrong. Find an Australian Coach get the league players out of the action and start supporting the grass roots of rugby in Australia. The kids.Until this happens youll just have to keep applying the band aids.
We’ll get the excuses re the weather being against us. I am speechless although I will say I think Rocky got the ball down as he went over the line on his back. Genia had a shit of a game and went the wrong way mostly, followed by Mitchell who showed some cowardly body language under pressure and Cooper with his hipperty hop. I’d except this loss only if WP is okay, my thoughts are with him. Deans is now definately under pressure big time.
I had to watch the match on delayed telecast through The Rugby Channel (NZ) and it’s just finished.
Firstly I really hope big Cliffy Palu is okay, so my first and biggest thoughts are for him.
Like I’ve said in other posts the problem was at 10 and 12 – again.
Despite, some unfortunate stuff over the tryline a couple of times, the forwards did their job and did it well. If they hadn’t we wouldn’t have monstered the territory and possession stats. The lineout still had a few curlies, but it’s getting back on track again. Benn Robinson was injured which is why his scrummaging wasn’t up to par. The work at the break down is solidifying into a habit.
Nothing wrong with the forward effort at all. Nothing wrong with the threequarter line and fullback.
Get rid of both Gits and Coops
Words fail me. Most inept performance I can remember. Sad comment on world rugby that the Wallabies are ranked 4th. The Dean’s honeymoon is over – its time for some tough questions. Where has the Aussie skill gone, can’t catch, can’t pass, can’t run….can’t goal kick.
Well done Scotland. Marvellous defensive effort. Pure guts, determination and basic tackling performed with precision and passion.
Australia has found yet another way to lose. Tactically we were sound but inneffectual in completing basic skills. Getting the ball down over the line (Elsom and Moore), kicking the ball between the posts (Giteau) and passing backwards (headless chook Cooper). All he needed to do was pass to Cross. But no. It had to be the mug lair cut out instead.
And will someone please stop giving Kearns any more green and gold pills. Coopers pass was clearly ok? Forsooth! He passed it from behind the 5 metre line and the winger caught it in front of it. Correct decision as opposed to that of the Fox team who continue to employ the one-eyed oaf.
If ever there was a textbook example of ’snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’, this was it.
Full credit to Scotland for playing out of their skins, but let’s be realistic here: the vast majority of the Wallabies opportunities were missed rather than denied.
Maybe it’s time to de-blinker the mollycoddled Wobblies, open them up to some of the realities of what they are achieving. Perhaps take a quick cross-section of headlines and blog entries from 2010 and tattoo them on the inside of their eyelids; then perhaps every time they shut their eyes at a critical point in a match, they can see the outcome of air-headed thinking.
The Wallabies deserve all of the criticism that they get this week, and we can only hope that it forges them into a stronger unit rather than making them more brittle.
Yeah the Scots could be relied on for one thing and that was turning up to play and they did that with no frills.
So they deserved to win for sheer tenacity.
1. No 10 – Beale (or is it time for JOC – did I just say that?)
2. No 12 – Gits
3. No 13 – hopefully Diggers is back (or Tyrone Smith)
4. Wouldn’t Phil Waugh and Le Fuse be handy bench players on this tour.
5. QC – told you so
I thought George Smith (especially in the 2nd half) was up there with Cliffy, Marcia and the Earl. And Kepu did as he was asked.
It was deja vu all over again – the Reds were back!!!
1. Beale at 10? not a fucking chance…
2. Gits at 12 – agreed,this is where he should be for the rest of his career. In reality, where he would have been had Brittle Barnes not been injured (again)
3. Cross did OK I thought considering the shit he was dealt by those inside him. Gits penchant for running parallel to the defence instead of at it put paid to Cross’ chances. Diggers was exposed by the Irish so I don’t reckon that will be a goer.
4.Le Fuse is damaged goods, as for Phil, well probably, but openside flanker is not the problem area
5. QC fucked up big time, he does it quite a bit so I don’t think anyone would be totally surprised. The question remains, if you are going to replace him, then replace him with who? JO’C is the worst defender in the team, Tyronne has played one tour match in 2 mths. Toomua, a bit of a like for like swap. AAC, take out best attacker and play him out of position?
I think this morning’s 22 is a good as it is going to get on this tour so more of the same I reckon.
There’s only one thing worse than persisting with QC and that’s putting Beale in at 10.
Frankly I would like to see Gits given the opportunity to get a splinter in his bum from the pine. It’s not often that you can pin the cause of a defeat on one or two players. But in this instance you can and those two players last night were Matt Giteau and Quade Cooper.
From Cooper’s stupid cut out pass and failure to run better lines or penertrate himself to Giteau’s kicking and flawed option taking.
That’s where the game was lost; at 10 and 12. Yes there were some errors in a few other places, but overall everyone else did enough to win the game
There is, however, no alternative for Gits at No. 10 so he needs to stay there for the Welsh game and bring JO’C into 12. He’s had a few nightmares from fullback in test footy, but let’s face it, he was the only back to drill a hole in the Scots defence last night and he did it pretty emphatically from the single touch of the ball he got.
From that single opportunity he damned near won the match.
Digs deserves to be persisted with but he’s injured and may not be up for it again on tour. Cross did nothing wrong and if Digs doesn’t get on the park against the Welsh, Ryan will do the job okay.
Nothing wrong with any of the forwards, but it looks like Dunning may get another run from the bench and Brown at No.8.
Dunning could potentially start, I’d feel more confident with him than Kepu regardless…
Despite Gits poor goal kicking this tour, we don’t really have a backup. Is JOC or Quade next kicker off the ranks? It’s not Mitchell, Hynes or AAC. Perhaps Dunning could kick as well.
Dunning can only do drop kicks.
I haven’t seen the game and won’t get to, only the highlights, BUT…
I absolutely refuse to believe that the Matt Giteau to took apart the Super 14 and dominated in the Spring Tours is totally gone. I think its time for the guy to rest. Many of the people on this website were arguing his case as the best 10 in the world. Let him rest, get his head right, whatever.
Sounds like the forwards did their job. Ditch Cooper. Put JO’C at 12.
I’m now totally undecided about Deans. He’s got a pretty good resume. The forwards have gotten better….too bad he doesn’t seem to win any games…
JOCs injection came far too late IMO. He would have provided the speed we needed on a fairly slow pitch. I question how Deansy is using the bench.
Hi fellas
A great game. Hope Palu is OK. Bottom line; Aussie tactical and place kicking was poor and 3/4s couldn’t finish any moves – planned or opportunist. What beat Australia today was Scotland’s mastering of two of the basics. First; tackle hard and stifle the opposition. Second; never give up. if you adhere to those principles you will make your own luck. Scotland were deserving winners.
Do the Wallabies have another goal kicker? Can’t believe Gits has been nominated for IRB P-O-Y (then again, nor can he). Deans surely needs to seriously think about Gits’ role and his lack of form. QC’s little dances are starting to piss me off, too.
However, really nice to see Smithy have a good game – in a team that did not operate in the well oiled way seen last week.
I’m a Elsom fan, but there was a decided lack of captaincy and on field direction out there last night. Historically it takes time for captains to adjust to their job. Also someone needs to reef Giteau up the rear end, not for his kicking as those things happen, but his 5/8 oerformance was woeful condeming the team to loss of its major firepower of outside backs. Cross had a great game.
I agree completely that we lacked on-field leadership. Deans must have said the right things at half time because the first 10 minutes of the second period the boys looked sensational and totally dominated.Then they went back to the headless chook stuff.
Cross didn’t have a good game. Did you notice him rushing up out of the line every time in defence? The ABs BOKs or most other teams would have run through the hole created every time and scored.
QC and Cross are not up to it.
Gits must stay but clearly misses the direction of Barnes.
And he was crying in his milk after he was not originally chosen as VC.
Word on the street (well foxsports anyway…) says that cliffy has been cleared of any major concerns. http://bit.ly/6B5o21 (in the video)
Other than that. FUCK.
shattered.
Fucking Scotland…
fucking shocker! As an Aussie living in the US Im always having to defend my boys against the likes of Poms, Kiwis, Irish, Boks, and Yanks! Im done. These cunts deserve all they get. What happened to the Aussie Battler spirit? Maybe we should bring in some real Aussie warriors(League players) to the mix.
We’re trying to play a tactical, territorial game but the whole point of that is maintaining pressure, and how can you maintain pressure that way when you lose so many line-outs?
At one point I’m pretty sure a Scottish player let a Wallabies touchfinder find the line when he could’ve stopped it, 5-10m out from the Scottish line. He did so because it was a safer option to concede a line-out within striking-distance than to pick the ball up and play it. How much of an indictment is that of our set-piece?
What a joke this game was! Apart from the two fair tries disallowed: Mitchell’s and Elsom’s. Australia Played incredibly shit.
Keep the scrum coach. Get a good kicking, lineout and backs coach.
Get Gerrard out of Japan and play him in flyhalf. Apologize to Sharpe and Mortlock for ever pretending the players filling in for them are any better.
Get the IRB to fix the interpretation of the scrums and rucks, the tackler never rolled away and there was hand in the ruck constantly, despite the ruck being formed…?
Pick an team of the best 15 players, who gives a shit about the positions. If weve got 3 openside flankers who gives a shit, the backs are worse than a retarted forward in the backline anyway.
my hopes sunk when i saw burgess and rich brown come on for palu n genia. SHIT those guys are a band of error fucks. need some composure, wallabies!! gits needs to chill at flyhalf and be more larkham-esque, need to see more of ACC and his runs, wallabies have lost the edge.
HOWEVER- this team is very young, and may begin to peak around 2011 where it counts- im concerned about the experiences the young guys are getting- sure, they are getting game time, but all that game time are losses!!! bring back gregan larkham and latham to have a SMARTEN THE BLOODY HELL UP session to the back line to get some consistency going.
Quid pro quo. The Wallabies used their traditional tactic of obstruction (”running the decoy”) and it didn’t work. The Wallabies have a long history of interfering at the breakdown, and refusing to put the ball into the scrum while dictating to the ref. I didn’t like to see the Scots doing it, but it was just desserts for a team which has got away with it too long.
The Wallabies once again looked over-coached. Give someone the ball and point him straight at the line and the opposition will crack. That’s how the Wallabies have won games.
The “fair tries” were given a fair viewing and found wanting.
You can run a decoy without obstructing and every team does it. Tactics weren’t the problem, because there were none.
What a BS comment. ABs do this all the time and never get pulled up for it. Back to school Professor.
Yep, you can run the decoy legally, you can push the boundary or you can just plain obstruct. The Wallabies are masters of all three.
When George Gregan was playing, can you remember any time when he actually put the ball in the scrum when told to by the referee?
I recently checked some old posts, and I think it was in 2003 that the Scots were called back from an open tryline, when playing the Wallabies. So perhaps there is some poetic justice.
I failed to see how elsom’s try was held up as i could clearly see the ball on the ground, the only thing obstructing the view was the reff.
To see a player going for the tryline, then to see a ball on the ground is not the same as seeing the player put the ball on the ground over the tryline. This is the doubt that the video refs had, I suspect.
I have no strong feelings either way, but I was surprised that the video replays were limited to 2 pretty shonky angles, that were both obscured. It wouldn’t happen in a first grade rugby league match, so it certainly shouldn’t happen in an international union match. More cameras, more closeups, more slow-motion replays were needed.
Nice review of the match. We really are missing that accurate goal kicker or even just a guy that can kick them under pressure. Mortlock looks to be the best of the lot atm, if he can find his way back into the side it would be worth leaving the kicking duties with hi,
I’m not sure why the press seemed to assume the Wallabies would win. They haven’t been winning, and a determined Scottish side was always going to be difficult to beat. Forget all the crappe about the grand slam which was being spouted.
Personally, I thought Wales would really give the Wallabies a tough time. The Aussies did themselves no favours with poor handling, but Scotland was surprisingly resilient when they began to attack in the late 2nd half after a heavy defensive effort.
Glad to see a referee who is willing to call a forward pass.
Australia’s traditional fitness, which usually guides them home in the last 10 minutes was not only missing, but was undermined by the injury to Paru, which gave the Scots time to recover.
Jesus wept….Is burgess really the 2nd best 9 we have?? I’m struggling to remember if a single one of his passes went to Gits chest, I can certainly remember them going everywhere else. FFS – there must be better blokes running around bush rugby, let alone the Brisbane & Sydney comps.
The only advantage of living in the sandpit is that the game was on at 9pm for me. I would be filthy if I had to get up at 4am to wathch this shitful display.
Yes Burgess is the next best option. Apart from Kingi no other halfback was on tour and Kingi wasn’t on the bench. Burgo had to go on, because Genia was injured.
Burgo may even get to start against the Welsh and that will piss Gits off more than anything.
Storm clouds are still hovering.
I’m glad Burgess is getting this attention. He came on and immediately started spraying passes to Giteau and taking risky options with his little darts. When he executed his regulation dropped ball (how the F* do you drop this much ball when you’re a half back!) at the critical time, I somehow knew it wasn’t going to end well.
This guy is simply not up to scratch.
As for Brown, and I’ve said this all along, lazy. No intensity, no go forward, nothing to offer. He’s a back row Baxter.
If there is one positive thing to come out of this clusterfuck, its that we scored when we needed to after composed, determined lead up work by the forwards. If we could bring this attitude to the other 80 minutes, we might avoid this type of disaster.
That is Burgess for you, isn’t Valetine injury free? Should have brought him on tour as Burgess hasn’t been up to it at all this season. Until he fixes his passing game, he should be no where near the side.
Fucken hell.
The only stat that matters is one on the top right. Scotland 9, Australia 8. Also Giteau’s miss was symptomatic of the Wallaby’s entire performance. However he is still a world class player, he’s just hit a bad run of form.
First off congratulations Scotland, great victory for you and thanks to every Scot in Edinburgh who rubbed it in my face
The difference on the night… heart
They had it all and we had none.
Giteau- you have to learn to underplay and wait for your opportunity rather than trying to create something everytime you have the ball
QC – enough said F off
Pocock – i miss you
AAC – please move to 13
JOC – please understand how hard this is… well done
Rocky – become the leader we know you can be
Cliffy – get well soon, you are a legend and even if you cant play please get well
If we take anything away from this game it has to be that without heart and passion you are nothing and with it you can do anything
Once again Scotland well done you derserve it
Nicely said Rocky.
JO’C is a 12 and should be there. He’s still very young, but IMHO he’s got the goods for a class act at 12.
I totally agree with you about Gits underplaying. Maybe he’s so pissed off about the rest of the backline he keeps trying to do it himself…
I’ll tell you, if they announced that for the next test they were flying in Latham, Horan, Burke and Larkham I’d be really excited.
don’t forget domo arigato mr gerrardo!
And hot off the press from J O’Neill, he is adamant that Robbie’s staying, but those below him need to be reading the situations vacant columns now. He didn’t actually say that, but the implication is there.
There is also a hint that the player group are in for a big rev up too.
To give the Scots their due, they played like there was no tomorrow, but when they went for a shot at goal in the dying stages of the game instead of the corner I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The way their maul was working they were in with a huge show of scoring a try from the lineout.
A try, converted or not, would have put the game absolutely out of reach. And it wouldn’t have mattered a tinker’s cuss that Gits missed his conversion attempt.
This thread just gets funnier and funnier.
Watch out when you move down south………. There be Dragons there !!!! Wallaby meat…. YUM !
Well that was terrible, the Scots completely deserved thier win. No idea how the Wales match will turn out – they looked terrible against a semi-pro Argentina yesterday, but Williams is dangerous for sure.