End of Year Tour 2012

[Bardon]

Australia looked really good against England, probably the best I've seen them this year. Hard to see Deans getting sacked while that performance is fresh in the memory.

I was really impressed with the Ireland XV's performance against Fiji. Gilroy's 3rd try when he went the length of the field was something special. Ian Henderson is really looking comfortable in the green of Ireland and there were plenty of good performances by up and coming young players. Just wish Kidney would start picking them in the first team. It was a real pity that silly contractual issues meant it couldn't be regarded as a capped game.

 

[LoneStar]

Argentina couldn't quite continue from last week - France matched their physicality and Argentina kept making basic errors. Michalak directed things nicely for France too.

Did anyone actually see the Samoan scrum against Wales? It was so good in the 2nd half, it was comical. Just the irony of Samoa winning penalty after penalty at scrum time...

 

[Snort]

For me, the best aspect of the Twickenham performance was that the Wallabies played at an increased tempo and intensity. They cleared the ball quickly and attacked the line at pace and with purpose. I'm so sick of that game where the ball sits in the ruck while the forwards line up to barge forward another few centimetres - it's no use putting fifteen phases together if you just go sideways. I'll never complain about the Wallabies losing if they continue to play with the same sense of purpose as they showed against England.

 

[Shiggins]

The calls were shocking. Why is it players keep picking the ball up in an offside position and running strait through the ruck? I have seen other refs call it offside.

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

Canada lost to NZ Maori 32-19 at Oxford.
Game was televised live in Canada and full highlights available in YouTube.
End of Canada's tour.

 

[Bardon]

Very happy with Ireland's performance today. The final scoreline of 46-24 flattered Argentina a little. Ireland best performance since 2009, 7 tries to 2 in the end. Gilroy had an excellent debut, Sexton finally produced his Leinster form in green, he looked so much better standing flat. Donnacha Ryan was excellent and overall have no complaints about anyone's performance.

Set piece was solid but it was the difference in the backs that was very pleasing. Much flatter and created a lot of space. Even D'Arcy looked good and was able to use his stepping game that we haven't seen for Ireland for about 5 years. Would have liked to see Henderson get more time from the bench. Pressure is off Kidney now but if they revert to type in the 6Ns it'll be back on again. For now I can be happy with an excellent performance and hopeful that the new guys continue to get their chances next year.

 

[ChargerWA]

Robshaw - Worst English Captain ever?

 

[kiap]

Australia looked really good against England, probably the best I've seen them this year. Hard to see Deans getting sacked while that performance is fresh in the memory.

It faded very quickly.

We need another coach.

 

[Bairdy]

It faded very quickly.

We need another coach.

I'm all for replacing Deans eventually but that is a bit of cop out to just put all the blame at Deans' feet.
Fact is, Italy dominated the setpiece and had an unbelievable percentage of possession, and what was more frustating was when we got it, we would kick it almost every time and they would run it back.
It was the France match all over again; missing tackles, throwing speculative passes and constantly scrambling.

Although, what was said in the dressing room at half time obviously did not get through to the Wallabies.

 

[kiap]

I'm all for replacing Deans

Say no more.

He's had five years. If Deans gets any credit for England then he gets bagged for Italy and France. They blew a lead of 19 points and were bereft of ideas. Italy were cutting them up with running rugby, FFS. Whilst our players threw the ball away and kicked aimlessly once again. Alexander was found out but kept on way too long. The same old failings. This team has gone backwards.

 

[Bardon]

I've said for a long time that I think Deans should be sacked. My comment after the England game is more about whether I think he will be sacked in the short term and the answer to that is no. Australia definitely need a different coach in my opinion but I can't see there being a new one prior to the Lions tour.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Some of those pitches have been cutting up very badly and are not really up to International Rugby standard.

Has there been a tonne of rain over the Europe lately making them extra soft underfoot?

 

[Bardon]

There's been flood warning/flooding all over England and Wales this week and heavy rain here in Ireland so not too surprising.

 

[SaderCheif]

Good win by the Darkness 33-10. Ugly thuggery by Hore though. He should get at least 8 weeks, spoiled a good game not and too mention dangerous. The guy wasnt moving and had too be lifted off. Unacceptable.
http://www.3news.co.nz/VIDEO-Andrew...-2012/tabid/415/articleID/277987/Default.aspx

 

[Hugh Jarse]

A very skillful act of thuggery by Gimli Hore there. He will get anywhere from 3-52 weeks from judiciary.

In live speed, he nearly got away with it, but the slow mo shows how deliberate and unnecessary it was.

 

[SaderCheif]

A very skillful act of thuggery by Gimli Hore there. He will get anywhere from 3-52 weeks from judiciary.

In live speed, he nearly got away with it, but the slow mo shows how deliberate and unnecessary it was.

Yep a lengthy ban for is deserved. Not even 2 mins into the match? Its as if he was out to hurt someone. Not happy, its taking the shine off a great tour. Hope Bradley's Ok.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

The Darkness make a habit of cleaning players out at the breakdown some distance from the actual breakdown. Not sure how legal that is, but they seem to get away with it.

Bradley was "sort of" in the way on the wrong side of the offside line that was about to be established but he was still some distance away from the breakdown and was not a candidate to be "cleaned out" even if it was legal.

Even by The Darkness measure of the "zone of cleanoutable players", it could be a difficult case to argue that Bradley was a legitimate cleanout target.

The King Hit act by Gimli is something that would warm the cockles of Richard Loe's heart.

 

[LoneStar]

The French pitches were cutting up too. I've seen school fields look better and they don't even have much money to maintain it, they just throw horse crap on it.

On the actual rugby, congrats to Tonga on beating Scotland. They'll be pretty happy with that.

I caught the France vs Samoa game. Samoa outscored France, 2 tries to 1, but still lost 22 - 14. France had the better goal-kicker, which I felt was the key difference in this match. Samoa gifted France their try though, through a charge down.

I saw a little bit of the NZ and Wales match. The ABs looked convincing enough from what I saw, until the last 15 minutes.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Tonga over the Single Malts - wow.

When setting the Foxtel IQ to record last nights matches, I thought there wouldn't be much point in recording that game.

Own goal on my behalf by the sounds of it.
IRB rank 10 loses to IRB rank 12 at home. That may be enough for Tonga to climb a place or two in the rankings.

 

[Bardon]

Due to Scotland's loss and Italy only narrowly losing to Aus, Scotland are now rank 12th with Italy and Tonga climbing above them. Other movers after today are Ireland 6th, Wales 7th and Samoa 8th all moving up. Argentina dropped to 9th which is scant reward for some pretty impressive performances this year.