New Zealand v Australia - Auckland - 23 August 2014

[Gnostic]

Horwill would not have done any better out there unfortunately. Higgers definitely in for Fardy who is struggling to repeat his 2013 performances.

I'd bring Phipps and Foley in too. McCabe is a shit winger, experiment did not work.

The bloke who got away from the 2007 RWC with his reputation intact despite the pack capitulating totally to England. Please pull the other one, the most overrated lock in history.

 

[lewisr]

I generally agree with these, 50/50 Beale or To'omua at 12 though..

I Just feel that generally To'omua has fronted up for us and he is a person you can generally trust not to fuck up. He is just the kind of player I think you persevere with and retain as a long term player to develop incumbency just like the All Blacks do. They are masters at choosing the right players to stick with and when and where to chop and change.

Shuffling him around doesn't do much good for usm he has proven time and time again that he can match the best at this level and had an off game where the whole team was generally crap.

Beale is a good footy player but I hope we can put the flyhalf thing to rest.

 

[Spewn]

accepting that Link isn't going to make too many changes from the 23, I'd go:

1. Slipper
2. TPN if fit/Charles
3. Kepu
4. Horwill
5. Simmons
6. Higginbotham
7. Hooper
8. Palu
9. Phipps
10. Foley
11. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
12. Beale
13. Kuridrani
14. Horne
15. Folau

16. Hansen/Charles
17. Cowan
18. Alexander
19. Skelton
20. Fardy
21. White
22. To'omua
23. McCabe

and before you shoot me down about Beale over To'omua, please deliver a valid argument as to what the latter has delivered this series so far..

Please, no more Palu. The big lumbering oaf experiment is over. And no Alexander or Cowan. Problem is who to replace them with. Beale can't tackle. McCabe offers nothing on the wing.

 

[KOB1987]

Well if I'm discussing beale's issues who else would I bring up. My point is for all if them is bank on Horne to shut the play down. He didn't because he was covering Beale in the line.

I think it's totally reasonable to point out his errors but it's unreasonable to make out that they were our major flaws, he certainly wasn't our best player but he was by no means our worst..if you want to play the blame game then I'd point the finger at the pack, excluding Hooper, Slipper and either hooker..the rest were hopeless and lame and had our backs on the back foot all night..you were a forward I think and you should know that momentum comes from the front..lay off Beale a bit, it's fair to criticise him I don't have a problem with that, but you seem to have an agenda in singling him out..

 

[qwerty51]

Ok genius replace Palu with who? McCalman? I'm sure he would've had a massive impact out there.

 

[Highlander35]

Duh. Alcock.

 

[Aussie D]

KOB, I thought Kepu was okay for us as well. Held up his side of the scrum and rolled up his sleeves to do some work. Palu and Fardy failed to make an impact all night, unless you count the impressions they left in the turf when they were steamrolled by an All Black or simple dropped passes.
To be honest I think half of our problems would be fixed by simply passing in front of the man, too much static runners and guys reaching behind for the pass to get good momentum, besides our shocking body height, which should be in the players DNA by the time they hit first grade rugby, let alone super rugby or test rugby. Hopefully Link gives the players nothing but basic skills practise for the next two weeks to iron out these problems - no point doing a triple loop double backflip run-around play if you can't catch, pass or retain the pill.

 

[Aussie D]

Alcock? Are you serious? Maybe as a reserve 7 if we have an injury or two but no sane person would ever suggest him for the starting wallaby 8.

 

[Highlander35]

No I'm not serious, his name was brought up seriously in one of the threads (either optimum 23 or Wallaby watch) and I was referencing that.

 

[Oldschool]

I thought Palu made a great impact on AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).

 

[KOB1987]

KOB, I thought Kepu was okay for us as well. Held up his side of the scrum and rolled up his sleeves to do some work. Palu and Fardy failed to make an impact all night, unless you count the impressions they left in the turf when they were steamrolled by an All Black or simple dropped passes.
To be honest I think half of our problems would be fixed by simply passing in front of the man, too much static runners and guys reaching behind for the pass to get good momentum, besides our shocking body height, which should be in the players DNA by the time they hit first grade rugby, let alone super rugby or test rugby. Hopefully Link gives the players nothing but basic skills practise for the next two weeks to iron out these problems - no point doing a triple loop double backflip run-around play if you can't catch, pass or retain the pill.

you are right, the front row in general were pretty good..which is an amazing stat for us!

 

[Train Without a Station]

Bit of a joke that's been thrown around

 

[KOB1987]

Bit of a joke that's been thrown around

ref Alcock I think..

 

[TahDan]

Well that was disappointing... Reminded me of the Rugby League World Cup Final - only in reverse of course.

It's funny when you watch these sorts of games though. I actually didn't end up feeling too cut up about it because the team just got so comprehensively outplayed.

Ultimately I felt the Wallabies just really lacked intensity in this match. Our defence seemed disorganised and at times almost meek... I'd half expected them to come out with a real bodies on the line attitude like the Blues did in Origin, so to see them just falling apart like that was disappointing.

If there was thing thing the League boys showed in Origin this year is that it's possible to overcome a more talented team if you WANT IT more. The Blues killed themselves making tackles in Origin 1 and hung on for an absolute classic. The Wallabies by contrast here were sloppy and even lazy in both attack and defence. For mine there was a distinct lack of passion.

 

[Merrow]

I thought Palu made a great impact on AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).

Only tackle he made all night.

 

[Quick Hands]

Really. Did u see Richey all over the ball never releasing falou ( not holding him up as he was on his arse) and then scoring a try. That's 7 points the darkness shouldn't of god plus a red they should of. And the kick in touch that was called in play. That's a 5m lineout we should of had. The other 5m lineout resulted In a try. That's 14 points strait up plus the 3 Richey should of have away. Too many ppl underestimate these calls. Scary that the all blacks still won comfortably even with 2 cards though. They photo probably still would of won even if Richey saw a red card. That wallaby team will never beat the all blacks. Fardy needs to go for Higgers. We need a better lock (for Simmons) our props need to learn how to pass when we have numbers. Beal needs to learn that the inside ball to izzy looks predictable after the first 3 times. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) needs to be utilised better. We need speight.

White needs the bench. How good was smith at 9!

I saw the whole game and with respect you're clutching at straws. I don't mind bagging the ref where it's needed (Peyper last week), but tonight's match was decided by the players and the margin was about right.

 

[TahDan]

I saw the whole game and with respect you're clutching at straws. I don't mind bagging the ref where it's needed (Peyper last week), but tonight's match was decided by the players and the margin was about right.

Exactly. And if there's one thing the All Blacks showed, it's that if you're good enough the ref doesn't matter. They actually took the lead back when they were a man down, whilst we let in two tries.

 

[Quick Hands]

If we beat them in melbourne then we draw the Bledisloe and all of a sudden it's not that bad.

Really? Lose 51-20 and totally outplayed in every aspect of the game and it's not bad?

 

[liquor box]

Simmons too. Our locks just aren't physical enough. Always seem to get out muscled in contact.

I think it must be a coaching issue in Australia. All of our S15 teams seem to have the same issues, being held up in mauls and losing the ball and poor body height.

 

[liquor box]

There was not a single part of the game in which we where on par with the AB. That's very bad. Very.

I thought we smashed them in the anthem