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New Zealand vs Australia Oct 11 2020 Bledisloe Cup

Dctarget

John Eales (66)
Congratulations to Hooper on being the fastest Aussie to raise the ton. Begs the question who beat him from other countries? I would’ve thought he’d be a fair crack to being the youngest ever?
 
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molman

Peter Johnson (47)
I cant agree.

From my perspective the Wallabies were a shambles in 2019.

The big change in the titans was that they went from conceding an average of 30 points a game to 10 points. Thats a result of structures, attitude and fitness, not because of a few positional changes in the backs.

Rennie cant just slap a new coat of paint on the team and expect to beat the all blacks in NZ.

Of course ill be more than happy to be proven wrong

I agree in so far as defence is the true showing of a quality team with the right attitude. I still cringe thinking of that 2017 1st Bledisloe cup game where the All Blacks ran rampant through Grey's mess of a defence system coupled with poor execution. I really hope Tatsey Taylor (who I really rate) has something less fickle, especially when players like Paisami concern me a little in this department.

Not long to find out one way or the other. Every game brings new hope.
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
Congratulations to Hooper on being the fastest Aussie to raise the ton. Begs the question who beat him from other countries? I would’ve thought he’d be a fair crack to being the youngest ever?
He would've been if we made it to the semi's last year. Whitelock holds the record for fastest cap.

* 8 years-67 days - Sam Whitelock (NZ, 2010-18)
* 8-117 - Mils Muliaina (NZ, 2003-11)
* 8-243 - Kieran Read (NZ, 2008-17)
* 8-259 - George Smtih (Aust, 2000-9)
* 9-59 -- Victor Matfield (SAF, 2001-10)
* 9-59 - Adam Ashley Cooper (Aust, 2005-14)
 

waiopehu oldboy

Stirling Mortlock (74)
Windy but dry in Wellywood ATM, rain band due to arrive around 5pm & with any luck it doesn't arrive until after the game :).

Edit: it's wet in Nelson (125km west of Wellington) so if anything the rain band might arrive early.
 

waiopehu oldboy

Stirling Mortlock (74)
Nepo Laulala has withdrawn for "personal reasons", Tyrel Lomax replaces him on the bench.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby...la-out-of-bledisloe-cup-opener-tyrel-lomax-in

Lomax would've been in Nelson when he got the callup, luckily it's just about the shortest domestic flight in NZ (fun fact that not many people know: Nelson, on the South Island, is actually somewhat north of Wellington which is on the North Island).
 

molman

Peter Johnson (47)
Except DMac is also the backup 10 & as Dctarget has pointed out it's a big ask for him to play say 60min at 15 then 20 at 10. Other than having had Josh Ioane in the 35 from the get-go (crazy, I know, but it was an option) the percentage call was to bring Jordan into the XV & DMac the 23. In that scenario it doesn't really matter which jersey JBar wears.

Flags a particular game plan to me. Shifting Jordie to 15 seemed the obvious change with Jordan on as you say.

Nepo Laulala has withdrawn for "personal reasons", Tyrel Lomax replaces him on the bench.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby...la-out-of-bledisloe-cup-opener-tyrel-lomax-in

Lomax would've been in Nelson when he got the callup, luckily it's just about the shortest domestic flight in NZ (fun fact that not many people know: Nelson, on the South Island, is actually somewhat north of Wellington which is on the North Island).

Falling like flies. Just give up now :)

Pretty handy replacement Lomax. Shame he decided that he didn't want to run around in gold.
 

rodha

Dave Cowper (27)
Not sure NZ are necessarily settled nor that the Wallabies ever hit the lows of the Titans. I think a lot of the success of Holbrook was from smaller changes, Taylor to five-eight, Fogarty into the starting side, Brimson finding his feet and a couple of big signings for 2021 that galvanised the belief of the pack.

We've made a lot of similar changes for the Wallabies, a change in the halves, young guys into the squad and the 23 with belief and energy, and a coach who knows the opposition very well and is capable of tailoring gameplans.

It certainly doesn't feel like we're on the same hiding to nothing that it usually does.

I'd probably err on the side of caution if I were you. Dingo was supposed to be Australian rugby's savour, followed by Link, then Cheik-mate. Unyielding optimism and lofty expectations from the rugby public at the start of each tenure followed by resignation of the status quo. The trend only continued. New coach isn't no silver-bullet fix, improvement must come from within and fortunately we are starting to see the rewards of Castle's investment in youth programmes and talent identification & retainment. Aussie U20's did well in 2019, which bodes well for the future.

Rennie ain't a miracle worker. My advice is to be realistic about results against the top rugby nations for the short-term.

Look for an improvement in the on-field structures/tactics & attitude from the Wallabies over the next couple of years, emphasis on good foundations & structures layed-down rather than the results in the short-term. Ideally what's put in place by Rennie and the coaches over the next few years should be intended towards having the team achieve consistent results in the long-term, but 4 years from now. Most likely post 2023, because this a very young squad, that will realistically only peak the following WC cycle.

Just don't expect them to suddenly become world-beaters overnight, because at the end of the day you're still playing the 1st and 2nd ranked sides in the world respectively, regularly. Rennie can't be made a scapegoat for not getting a non-rugby nation (a sport ranked behind ballroom dancing) not defeating rugby obsessed strongholds (NZ, SA) on a regular basis.
 

dru

Tim Horan (67)
Given NZ are ranked #2, and have some legitimacy in thinking they should dominate the top ranking; and Aus is ranked 7: you’d expect a 4 game series to be dominated by NZ without being too surprised to see the WBs get one.

If it were a 4 game series Aus v Fiji it would be the same. And in rankings we are closer to Fiji than NZ.


FWIW you would expect us to travel well against South Arica, not lose much on the rankings to Arg and the ranking system will deal Aus well with a 1:3 result from NZ.


Covid should see us improve through the RC.
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
Flags a particular game plan to me. Shifting Jordie to 15 seemed the obvious change with Jordan on as you say.



Falling like flies. Just give up now :)

Pretty handy replacement Lomax. Shame he decided that he didn't want to run around in gold.

He wouldn't get a run (except for injury), IMO.
 

Penguin

John Solomon (38)
I cant agree.

From my perspective the Wallabies were a shambles in 2019.

The big change in the titans was that they went from conceding an average of 30 points a game to 10 points. Thats a result of structures, attitude and fitness, not because of a few positional changes in the backs.

Rennie cant just slap a new coat of paint on the team and expect to beat the all blacks in NZ.

Of course ill be more than happy to be proven wrong

I fail to see any correlation between a lifelong shambles of a mungo team in a sporting landscape best resembling a desert and the best Rugby team Australia can put on the field on any given year. It's not even comparing apples with oranges. More like comparing durians with pineapples
 

Up the Guts

Steve Williams (59)
I'd probably err on the side of caution if I were you. Dingo was supposed to be Australian rugby's savour, followed by Link, then Cheik-mate. Unyielding optimism and lofty expectations from the rugby public at the start of each tenure followed by resignation of the status quo. The trend only continued. New coach isn't no silver-bullet fix, improvement must come from within and fortunately we are starting to see the rewards of Castle's investment in youth programmes and talent identification & retainment. Aussie U20's did well in 2019, which bodes well for the future.

Rennie ain't a miracle worker. My advice is to be realistic about results against the top rugby nations for the short-term.

Look for an improvement in the on-field structures/tactics & attitude from the Wallabies over the next couple of years, emphasis on good foundations & structures layed-down rather than the results in the short-term. Ideally what's put in place by Rennie and the coaches over the next few years should be intended towards having the team achieve consistent results in the long-term, but 4 years from now. Most likely post 2023, because this a very young squad, that will realistically only peak the following WC cycle.

Just don't expect them to suddenly become world-beaters overnight, because at the end of the day you're still playing the 1st and 2nd ranked sides in the world respectively, regularly. Rennie can't be made a scapegoat for not getting a non-rugby nation (a sport ranked behind ballroom dancing) not defeating rugby obsessed strongholds (NZ, SA) on a regular basis.
Thanks, chief, you're right, I shouldn't say anything remotely positive about Australian Rugby till after 2023, maybe 2027 just to be safe.

What a way to miss the point, I've not suggested anywhere that we're going to suddenly start regularly beating the ABs overnight. I am optimistic that our general performances will be better though. Miss me with the condescending "we kiwis are still way above you" posts.
 

The Honey Badger

Jim Lenehan (48)
I fail to see any correlation between a lifelong shambles of a mungo team in a sporting landscape best resembling a desert and the best Rugby team Australia can put on the field on any given year. It's not even comparing apples with oranges. More like comparing durians with pineapples

Who is the Durian? they stink
 

waiopehu oldboy

Stirling Mortlock (74)
Rain radar looking ominous:

IMG_1050.JPG


Moving west quite rapidly now, could easily hit Wellywood by kickoff. Or not, Wellington's weather is funny that way :).
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
I cant agree.

From my perspective the Wallabies were a shambles in 2019.

The big change in the titans was that they went from conceding an average of 30 points a game to 10 points. Thats a result of structures, attitude and fitness, not because of a few positional changes in the backs.

Rennie cant just slap a new coat of paint on the team and expect to beat the all blacks in NZ.

Of course ill be more than happy to be proven wrong


The big thing will be to shore up that defence, because you can't be asking yourselves to score 35+ to win every week, especially against tier 1 opposition. Having a good defensive system means that you can have an off day with ball in hand and stay close enough through taking the points when they're on offer. Grey's defensive system was lacking big time and by the end of Cheika's reign we were playing some irredeemably dumb footy. I'd like to think with the people (Taylor, Wiesmantel) we've got involved with the team now a lot of those shortcomings will be addressed.
 
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