Australia v England: Match II @ Suncorp 7.55pm AEST, 09/07

[Eyes and Ears]

Flat, I noticed that Leota had done 12 tackles by halftime. Hooper was poor in the breakdown, poor in captaincy - in a tight test when you are against a wall take the bloody points.
This was a test where the captain needs to lead from the front due to the guys being under pressure from a resurgent enemy...He didn't do that.

In what respect was Hooper poor in captaincy?

 

[stillmissit]

Hopefully next week we have AAA, Ikitau, Holloway and Cooper back. We need a few as we are surely running very thin all over.

McDermott needs to come on to the bench as does Vunivalu. Hate to say it but Hodge should probably start at 15 for his boot and cool head. Wright was very hot and cold and suspect Jordan P. not available due to the head knock. Slips back to LH if both AAA and Tupou on deck.

If we don't get some guys back we are in a very hard place. I don't have a problem with Hodge at 15 he is too slow for wing and not good enough for centre. Hope to see Holloway but where would he play, Leota was 2nd in the tackle count with 15 and Valentini was quiet but did a fair bit, he's not big enough for the row against internationals and Philip was one of the best forwards out there 16 tackles and 3 turnovers.
Hooper: 7 tackles, missed 1, turnovers gained 1 (I missed it as I thought he was zero)?????

 

[Eyes and Ears]

Hooper: 7 tackles, missed 1, turnovers gained 1 (I missed it as I thought he was zero)?????

Pretty sure it was in the first 10 mins

 

[Joe Blow]

I would start Holloway with Philip and leave Frost on the bench, or the other way around. Holloway will not be effective in the back row at this level, certainly not nearly as effective as Valentini, Leota and Hooper. With Neville likely out we have a big hole in the second row. The back row is solid with Samu and Wilson as other options.

 

[Derpus]

Absolutely blown off the park in the first 20. Couldn't match England's physicality and couldn't find a way to diffuse the pressure.

Game was over by then.

 

[Joe Blow]

Paisami played well but we missed Ikitaus defensive alignment and his cool head in attack

 

[eastman]

I know this won’t go down well on this forum but I still think that again we used Kerevi too much especially off first phase.

I appreciate that he has upskilled significantly with his kicking game but I still think we should be looking to involve the other backs more often.

 

[stillmissit]

In what respect was Hooper poor in captaincy?

He should have taken the points in a very tight game as 50% of Wallaby watchers would have been shouting. He failed to rally the troops in the first half when all the damage was done. That rallying was done at halftime by the coaches. His game last night was particularly poor when he needed to stand up. On attack, he made 9m for 5 carries and conceded one turnover, in defence he made 7 tackles missed one and made 1 turnover.

I have never been convinced of him as captain. I watched him in game one and he rarely speaks to the guys and they rarely speak to him, which I think is a bad sign. He strikes me as a bit of a loner.

He didn't lose the game for us that was down to 8 forwards not standing up in the first half. Lose the breakdown - lose the game!

 

[Dctarget]

I know this won’t go down well on this forum but I still think that again we used Kerevi too much especially off first phase.

I appreciate that he has upskilled significantly with his kicking game but I still think we should be looking to involve the other backs more often.

His kicking saved us multiple times last night, the man has a cannon

 

[eastman]

He should have taken the points in a very tight game as 50% of Wallaby watchers would have been shouting. He failed to rally the troops in the first half when all the damage was done. That rallying was done at halftime by the coaches. His game last night was particularly poor when he needed to stand up. On attack, he made 9m for 5 carries and conceded one turnover, in defence he made 7 tackles missed one and made 1 turnover.

I have never been convinced of him as captain. I watched him in game one and he rarely speaks to the guys and they rarely speak to him, which I think is a bad sign. He strikes me as a bit of a loner.

He didn't lose the game for us that was down to 8 forwards not standing up in the first half.

This is a terrible take.

He didn’t have his strongest game but I’m not sure his captaincy was particularly poor at all. We were coming home with a wet sail until our set piece fell to shit at the end- it was execution not leadership.

I’m not going to comment on the hypocrisy of someone on a computer forum calling him a loner but he’s also pretty gregarious from all accounts.

 

[drewprint]

He should have taken the points in a very tight game as 50% of Wallaby watchers would have been shouting. He failed to rally the troops in the first half when all the damage was done. That rallying was done at halftime by the coaches. His game last night was particularly poor when he needed to stand up. On attack, he made 9m for 5 carries and conceded one turnover, in defence he made 7 tackles missed one and made 1 turnover.

I have never been convinced of him as captain. I watched him in game one and he rarely speaks to the guys and they rarely speak to him, which I think is a bad sign. He strikes me as a bit of a loner.

He didn't lose the game for us that was down to 8 forwards not standing up in the first half. Lose the breakdown - lose the game!

I don’t blame Hooper at all. We had all the ascendancy, and we really beginning to eat into them ala game 1. Hooper can’t help botched kicks for touch and lineout throws. I absolutely hate it but we did an incredible job to get back into the contest to almost have them on the ropes in that match but weren’t clinical enough to finish them off.

 

[Joe Blow]

I know this won’t go down well on this forum but I still think that again we used Kerevi too much especially off first phase.

I appreciate that he has upskilled significantly with his kicking game but I still think we should be looking to involve the other backs more often.

With no Cooper at 10 I am guessing that Kerevi feels he needs to take on more of a playmaking role. DR may even be asking for it? Kerevi is playing well. They are dropping like flys around him. Hopefully Len Ikitau is back and maybe Hodge at 15 will relieve some pressure from him. Our backline last night was littered with inexperience. White and Kerevi needed to take the reins.

 

[KOB1987]

I don’t think Hooper is the best ever Wallabies captain but I wouldn’t classify him as poor either. He is definitely a good leader. If you are going to suggest someone else be captain then it needs to be an at least 70 minute player. In the current setup that’s one of the locks, Valetini, Lolesio, Kerevi, whoever the fullback is, and Koroibete. The only one of those who I would say is capable of the job is Kerevi, and we are far better off having him have nothing else to worry about except playing.

 

[Joe Blow]

McDermott should have been on the bench. He is very good at directing our play late in the game.

 

[Shiggins]

What is the law regarding the lineout try Eng scored? Itoje caught the throw at 4 and passed it straight away (whilst still in the air) to the player at 2 who was then driven over the try line unopposed as the Australian defence had formed on itoje.
Once Itoje passed it doesn’t that mean lineout over and it’s not a maul? Ie ball carrier can be tackled and multiple players can’t bind and drive him over the line?

Vunapula or whatever didn't feed the ball back so it's fine

 

[Kenny Powers]

The 50/22 call looking at the replay is pretty tough. Is my understanding of the rules correct that Australia had a ruck in Englands half the next hit up and ruck I believe was in Australia’s half and kicked from there so wasn’t taken back?

 

[Shiggins]

Actually really can't get too upset about Fainga'a's throw being called crooked as it should of probably been a penalty to Poms anyway, Wright shouldn't of dragged the player over sideline really, as whan the players knees hit gorund the player is tackled so has to be released, so maybe justice?

Nah. It was marginal. I hate seeing Players get dragged 5m into touch while they are trying to put the ball back. Players get away with dragging players way further than this. This was probably an example of what's acceptable when taking a player in to touch.

 

[stillmissit]

I don’t think Hooper is the best ever Wallabies captain but I wouldn’t classify him as poor either. He is definitely a good leader. If you are going to suggest someone else be captain then it needs to be an at least 70 minute player. In the current setup that’s one of the locks, Valetini, Lolesio, Kerevi, whoever the fullback is, and Koroibete. The only one of those who I would say is capable of the job is Kerevi, and we are far better off having him have nothing else to worry about except playing.

Although I seem to remember Kerevi did a good job as captain of the Reds. Happy to be proven wrong on this. I suspect McCright will be captain after Hooper departs, he was excellent in U20's and seems to do a lot of the talking in the Reds.

Hooper has been captain for a long time and it is not that I think him a consistently poor captain but in a game like that good captains stand up and he didn't. You cannot argue with that.

 

[stillmissit]

I don’t blame Hooper at all. We had all the ascendancy, and we really beginning to eat into them ala game 1. Hooper can’t help botched kicks for touch and lineout throws. I absolutely hate it but we did an incredible job to get back into the contest to almost have them on the ropes in that match but weren’t clinical enough to finish them off.

Agree with you re lacking a clinical finish. We should have continued to lift and didn't letting the pressure off. So the captain has no responsibility for what happens on the field, is that your view?

 

[Shiggins]

The 50/22 call looking at the replay is pretty tough. Is my understanding of the rules correct that Australia had a ruck in Englands half the next hit up and ruck I believe was in Australia’s half and kicked from there so wasn’t taken back?

The replay showed the tackle was In Aus half so it should have been a 50/22