Is intent enough?

[fatprop]

WALLABIES coach Robbie Deans says people are too hung up about his side's lack of tries, as Australia endures its leanest try-scoring season of the professional era.
Deans insists last Saturday's tryless 18-18 Bledisloe Cup draw with the All Blacks in Brisbane was a great spectacle and contained plenty of passages of attractive rugby.
The Wallabies have scored just 12 tries in 11 Tests this year, an average of 1.09 a game, compared to the All Blacks' 33 tries in 10 Tests at an average of 3.3.
Overall, Wallabies teams averaged 3.15 tries a Test since the game went professional in 1996 and the only other year they have scored fewer than two a match was also under Deans in 2009. Deans was asked yesterday if he'd like to see the Wallabies score more tries on the four-Test tour of Europe, which begins against France in Paris on November 10.
Advertisement
''Obviously you like to score tries but ultimately you like to win,'' Deans said. ''I think people get hung up with tries being scored and not scored. What you want to see is expansive and ambitious play and there was ample of … both of those elements last week.''
New Zealand coach Steve Hansen described the Brisbane Test as the ugliest game he'd been involved in but Deans disagrees the match was a shocker to watch. ''I don't think so. That was a great spectacle last week,'' Deans said. ''If you look at it from a written-word perspective, there were six penalties a side, it was a great contest. They deny you access to the tryline but the good thing was we were able to deny them access as well and that's the nature of international rugby now.''


Read more:http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/more-to-life-than-tries-says-deans-20121025-2882z.html#ixzz2AM12MIdJ

"The ante has gone up. Normally post World Cup it seems to abate a little bit but I think what you've seen this year is the intensity of games and the resistance in the defensive lines has been retained from the World Cup where you've got the ultimate incentive.
"It hasn't abated at all and teams are very loathe to let tries in ... it's getting harder (to score tries).''


Read more:http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/the-rugby-championship/wallabies-coach-believes-people-are-too-hung-up-on-scoring-tries-and-winning-is-the-end-goal/story-e6frf4qc-1226503394097#ixzz2AM1hmq14

I found this interesting, whilst I agree with Dean's premise, we still have to do better.

In the end defenses are getting better but our execution hasn't been great

I think that is partly down to who has been injured or not been up to previous standard, our attacking threats - the JOCs, the Genias, the Coopers, the Mitchells, the Beales, the Iaones have been either injured, fat or over run.

All we have had left is the "steadiers" with only one or two serious threats in some games. That has given the more intense defensive structures an easier go of it

 

[mark_s]

Is intent enough? Yes. Do the wallabies show intent? - no We have become risk averse since about 2003 which isnt the wallabies way. Whats more we have become what I would call rugby dumb. Maybe I was too spoilt by brumbies from 1996 to 2004 but they always seemed to find a new way (or reinvent an old way) to address a common part of the game that seemed audacious. Now we play it direct and straight with little variation - waiting for something to open up or the officials to find fault with the defenders.

Conversely, its very easy to imagine us call for a scrum after fulltime (after we had turned over the ball on the previous scrum nonetheless) during our golden years under Eales (bit like Eales pointing to the posts with no goal kicker on the field in Wellington), now its unthinkable. I use the all blacks as examples because thats what I want us to be.

As for last weeks game, it was very exciting for a spectator but only mid range as a quality test match. There has been plenty worse, including some of the wobbs games this year. I actually thought the AB's execution was poor last week (which kept us in the game). But that doesn't really matter - intent is enough if its there. See the Game from heaven in 2000, probably some of the worst defence seen in a Bledisloe yet everyone walked away knowing they had seen something special.

 

[MrTimms]

Is intent enough? Yes. Do the wallabies show intent? - no

Nailed it.

 

[Gagger]

We scored 5 out of our 6 TRC tries in the 3 matches we won this year - so tries would seem pretty important to me.

Defences may be strong - but then you would expect to still have a decent try scoring rate relative to your opposition.
The technical term for ours was 'shithouse'.

Try scoring rate in TRC:
NZ 2.6
RSA 2
ARG 1.2
AUS 1

 

[Bruce Ross]

Advanced English Comprehension 301

Question 1. Consider the following passage:

'If you look at it from a written-word perspective, there were six penalties a side."

a. Rewrite the sentence in order to make clear what the speaker was trying to say.

b. Critically evaluate the context in which the phrase "written-word perspective" was used.

(Hint: Do not spend too long on this question if you are having difficulty with it. Attempt the rest of the paper and then come back to it if you have time.)
.

 

[kiap]

Robbie the Riddler strikes again.

 

[ChargerWA]

We scored 5 out of our 6 TRC tries in the 3 matches we won this year - so tries would seem pretty important to me.

Defences may be strong - but then you would expect to still have a decent try scoring rate relative to your opposition.
The technical term for ours was 'shithouse'.

Try scoring rate in TRC:
NZ 2.6
RSA 2
ARG 1.2
AUS 1

Wow, we scored the least trys yet still came second. It appears our dour play dragged all those around us down as well.

 

[Gagger]

Here's why I reckon we came 2nd http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/infographic-how-the-wallabies-came-second-in-trc/

 

[qwerty51]

Massive credit to the coaching staff and players that identified goal kicking as a poor area of Australian rugby and worked on it. The results speak for themselves, we won games on the back of better goal kicking.

 

[ChargerWA]

Waratahjesus, is that you?

 

[Athilnaur]

To the op, no. But it's a lot better than no intent.

The bigger Q Is when will we see intent and execution where the execution is at least creditable.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Certainly our kicking and defence were good during TRC, but our lack of attack really hurt us at times. Under Deans we appear to have either lost the desire or the method (or both) in getting over the try line. I've never seen it as bad in my nearly 30 years of watching the Wallabies. We seem to have no clue out there. And it's not like we lack possession. Getting our hands on the pill isn't a problem, working out what to do with it seems to be.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Here's why I reckon we came 2nd http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/infographic-how-the-wallabies-came-second-in-trc/

At least, on those stats, an historically pathetic aspect of our game has been addressed.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Troy]

Surely the attack will improve the more time the newbies have in their positions. KB (Kurtley Beale)'s only had 3 games at 10, QC (Quade Cooper) gets back to his best & challenges for 10, JOC (James O'Connor) returns etc, as well as the injured players coming back. I'd hope the tries would follow.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Surely the attack will improve the more time the newbies have in their positions. KB (Kurtley Beale)'s only had 3 games at 10, QC (Quade Cooper) gets back to his best & challenges for 10, JOC (James O'Connor) returns etc, as well as the injured players coming back. I'd hope the tries would follow.

It's not just that -- it's the formation in attack and the personnel in those positions, as well as a seeming lack of attacking patterns of play. Our game plan seems to revolve around trucking the ball up in the midfield and hope for a line break. If that doesn't work, we just shovel it sideways until we run out of width. With all the three amigos in the team together it only improves marginally: we still rely on those guys to do something individually brilliant. It's not good enough.

We ran a first phase move in Rosario and it worked brilliantly. Why the hell don't we do more of that?

 

[I like to watch]

We ran a first phase move in Rosario and it worked brilliantly. Why the hell don't we do more of that?

Maybe because when they ran it, my kids could tell you who made the defensive error immediately. When even Schoolkids know these moves, any professional Test side should have no problems defending the set piece.

 

[Braveheart81]

Maybe because when they ran it, my kids could tell you who made the defensive error immediately. When even Schoolkids know these moves, any professional Test side should have no problems defending the set piece.

Isn't that entirely the point of this sort of move?

The reality in set piece play is that each attacker is marked by a defender. The aim is to deceive the defence (or just one defender) into making the wrong decision such that one attacker is left unmarked.

The aim for the attacking side is to then make sure the unmarked player gets the ball at the right time so they can take advantage of the gap.

The faster and smoother that the attacking side executes the play, the smaller the defensive error required to create a break.

 

[I like to watch]

The point is that if Schoolboys know what each defenders role is, professional players should be able to defend it with their eyes closed on the set piece.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

The point is that if Schoolboys know what each defenders role is, professional players should be able to defend it with their eyes closed on the set piece.

So no international team ever scores on first phase? The fact that defences are very good shouldn't be a reason to not try things. We might as well just kick the air of the ball and wait for penalties in the opposition half. Actually, that's pretty much what we do now.

 

[It is what it is]

So no international team ever scores on first phase? The fact that defences are very good shouldn't be a reason to not try things. We might as well just kick the air of the ball and wait for penalties in the opposition half. Actually, that's pretty much what we do now.

Agree with you TBH, and also remember BO'D's try from a scrum against the Wallabies in Ireland, and some of the AB's recent set piece tries against us too. The RWC try the AB's scored from the lineout being split was a beauty.
Simple is often best - a slight of hand, a run around, a shift in running angle etc.
If Test players can make schoolboy errors in passing, kicking and catching they can surely make them in defence too.