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Bledisloe 2 2023 @ Dunedin 12:35PM Sat 5 Aug

rugbyAU

Nev Cottrell (35)
I’m a bit torn about what to do at fullback. Kellaway was OK today, and he’s safe as a house, but unless he gets put in a hole he doesn’t offer a lot in attack. I reckon Eddie needs to have a look at Petaia there in the game v France knowing that Ikitau will be back.
For me Kellaway is the clear 15 now very safe and racked up over 100m in attack, kicking getting better Ikitau probably won’t be back for that game I’d have Petaia at 23
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
Ooft glad I missed this ragebait live. It's the hope that fucks ya.

The Wallabies are the perfect fluffers for the All Blacks. Roll over for an easy warmup match to the A team - identify a few areas that need tidying up. Then provide just enough of a challenge to weed a few of the scrubs from the fringe players. All Bleks have no realistic chance of ever losing a match that matters and go into the RWC fully erect.

Enough Kiwis show up in Melbourne to ensure RA generate just enough revenue to be considered a going concern.
 

Wallaby Man

Trevor Allan (34)
Other than Tupou, Skelton and Ikitau can see this being the WC team.

- Pone sealed his spot as the back up TH
- Kellaway clearly the best 15
- Petaia been very good but think he will make way for Ikitau and be the preferred 23.
- Tom Hooper made Holloway position in team in doubt, he’s now the starting 6 after that performance.
- McReight was brilliant
- Tate and Gordon will be persisted with 2025 in mind, they aren’t far off been the best in positions anyway

Good performance from team but still plenty to work on.

Kerevi and Koroibete our world class guys that get extra attention in defense and draw numbers from opponents when with ball. Both made huge difference in team.

Performance to be proud of with such a young team.
 

Linerunner2023

Jimmy Flynn (14)
- Bell was huge again and the scrum suffered when he went off! Will be one of the best props the next decade in world rugby, well in front of slipper now
- Pone was huge, is he can stat fit he and tupou can still fire the scrum
-Arnold does not offer a whole lot
- T hooper was great, seems Leota is considered the new Samu however with more height and size
- gorden some good and average moments but will improve
- Kerevi not quite yet at 2021 form but getting better each game, I have never seen him kick before but doing 4-5 per game, maybe a jones tactic?
- petaia looking good to, will he be 13 or Wing, 15 or 23 in rwc?
- back 3 great again, kellaway locked up 15
- who will be the back up say 28 to 33 men in RWC squad will be interesting
Some players have not played in months - are they still in front of say hodge, Samu, Wright?
I predict Gleeson, Donaldson and maybe pietch or Suli will miss out on 33 man squad
 

griffins

Alfred Walker (16)
Jones with some big calls to make. McReight and Gordon have to play, Faessler has played his way into the 23 and White has been below his best.

McDermott's tempo is irresistable if we can get on the front foot but White's better pass would have to give Gordon a better chance of unlocking the backline for mine. Outside of individual efforts and some decent starter plays we don't look that likely. All had good individual moments today but we still looked toothless for long periods in the second half.

Hopefully Pone is ok because that's the best game I've seen from him (before his initial substitution), albeit against an inexperienced direct opponent.
 

rugbyAU

Nev Cottrell (35)
Good thing about this game is that we know our best XV now probably the same as today except Skelton in for Arnold and Topou, Ikitau come in once their back
 

Shiggins

Steve Williams (59)
Such a good game. I though Savea should have been penalised in the lead up to that 3 point penalty at the end. He was off feet, offside, and still managed to get hands on the ball to distrupt wallaby ball for a turnover and the winning 3 points. This shows the wallabies are still a threat. This abz team was very good with some players who should be in their starting side playing. Biggest issue was the scrum in the end and the massive advantages. Wallabies have a 7 choice tight head on what fo you expect. Without all the tight head injuries wallabies win or draw this game
 

Shiggins

Steve Williams (59)
This one was sent to me privately, I haven’t checked it but I’m just going to put it up here:

Law 8.21 Penalty Kick: The kick must be taken within 60 seconds (playing time) from the time the team indicated their intention to do so, even if the ball rolls over and has to be placed again. Sanction: Kick is disallowed, and a scrum is awarded.

77:36 penalty awarded
77:54 decision to kick for goal
79:05 ball kicked

No grey area in the laws here.

Yet Wallabies get pinged on the attack because we took too long in a lineout??

Edit: add to that the Foley one last year which also wasn’t officially on a timer
What a joke. Wallabies lose a test because of this but it's fine for the all blacks to waste time as they like. The inconsistency around time wasting is such a massive issue. No one will even entertain this as a moment in the game tho.
 

stillmissit

Chilla Wilson (44)
Pretty much this plus angling in, standing up or wheeling all options. Most of the time the reversing and wheeling is more pronounced so the ref has their pick of infringements. Last scrum Wallabies went back a bit and the scrum wheeled slowly before just going past 90. They may not have clearly infringed but they like to reward perceived dominance with the prior scrums counting against them.

The advantage was pretty standard. Yes they gained 25m but the ref correctly surmised the ABs would want the penalty and opportunity to kick for goal to take the lead so advantage hadn’t accrued. Only change I noticed this year is you don’t get 20 phases and they will end advantage claiming it has accrued (I think prematurely for goal line penalties) or call no advantage and go back before play has broken down (the more correct option where the free swing is limited to say 5 or 6 phases).
NOt sure what it is now but when I ref'd it was up to the ref how long the advantage lasts.
 

stillmissit

Chilla Wilson (44)
The silver lining this test season has been emergence and selection of some fine young players, some of whom have either stepped up or confirmed their billing.

Bell, Gordon, Kellaway, Marky Mark (Nawaqanitawase) (Nawaqanitawase), Hooper, Petaia, Faesler, McReight are all blokes you can build a test team around.
Yes, and if you have a strong backbone of players it is far easier to build a strong team as long as the foundations are of players who work hard and have good ideas when they are under pressure.
 

KiwiM

Nev Cottrell (35)
An excellent test match.

A real win-win for both Wallabies and ABs in terms of RWC build ups.

Wallabies can take huge confidence from that going into the World Cup and ABs can take great confidence in a come back win.

Wallabies have a far better idea of their starting 15 & the ABs answered a lot of questions in the final spots for their World Cup 33.

It worked in the ABs favour but not a huge fan of the super long advantage from scrum penalties, was taking the piss, however it shows the importance of set piece at the RWC with some of these northern hemisphere refs.

I was surprised in a bad way at how rubbish DMac was and pleasantly surprised at how good Finau was in the second half.

Need to re-watch the game to get a better look at the Wallabies but the loose forward balance seemed to work really well.
 

stillmissit

Chilla Wilson (44)
Ooft glad I missed this ragebait live. It's the hope that fucks ya.

The Wallabies are the perfect fluffers for the All Blacks. Roll over for an easy warmup match to the A team - identify a few areas that need tidying up. Then provide just enough of a challenge to weed a few of the scrubs from the fringe players. All Bleks have no realistic chance of ever losing a match that matters and go into the RWC fully erect.

Enough Kiwis show up in Melbourne to ensure Rugby Australia generate just enough revenue to be considered a going concern.
It was such a poor selection if RA had an option. They know there are heaps of Kiwi's who will fill the stadium v Sydney where it is hit or miss.
Obviously the Bledisloe is not that important to RA or they would have set it in Brisbane.
 

Viking

Mark Ella (57)
Keen to hear more from those that said Hooper wasn't up to it physically.

Nawqanitawase has been unreal again, but they've all been good. Big test of mental resolve now.
I doubted T Hoopers physicality at test level after week. But it just goes to show he is capable of playing a more direct game. I think it’s the last we will see of passive players like Holloway, or Hanigan barring injuries. Impressive by Hooper. Well at least the first half.
 

John S

Chilla Wilson (44)
An excellent test match.

A real win-win for both Wallabies and ABs in terms of RWC build ups.

Wallabies can take huge confidence from that going into the World Cup and ABs can take great confidence in a come back win.
As much as people say it's a "win" for Australia, it still is a loss, and to claim it as a win is like kissing your sister.

Sure, it's shown everyone that we are on the improve, but it still sucks we lost, and we were the ones that lost it.

It's going to take another few days for me to get over the defeat. At least it was early enough in the weekend that I can put a brave face on for my NRL following work mates on Monday
 

Mr Pilfer

Bob Loudon (25)
Lots of positives but we won’t go far in the World Cup if our scrum gets destroyed once we take our starters off. Tupou coming back is crucial.

Just always feels like facing the inevitable playing the all blacks, scrum penalty even if the scrum stays up, then give them advantage until they score and if they don’t score come back for the penalty and they end up scoring anyway
 
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