NZ v Australia.

[JJJ]

1. We're still getting caned at the rucks. Brown was awful and I don't think a backline of Elsom, Pocock/Waugh, and Smith will help there. We need big guys who can clear the rucks and counter-ruck. I dunno how much of that is part of their game-plan -- so many times when we have possession and NZ are counter-rucking you see our forwards standing back just watching. I don't know what the hell they think they're accomplishing. Maybe they want to keep their hands free to charge off down the wing?

2. Elsom put in a huge effort to last the full 80, but I think he might've stuffed his knee up again. He looked pretty ginger on it at one point. I wouldn't be surprised if Deans rests him for the next game just to be safe. It's not as if we're still in the running for any silverware after all.

3. I'd been hoping Baxter had genuinely turned a corner in the scrums and was just paying for past indiscretions. It's hard to argue that after tonight though. I dunno if it's just Woodcock who has the wood on him, but I think Deans is going to give more and more game-time to Alexander at TH. Of course, the fact that the brumbies will probably stick him back at LH for the S14 won't help his development. From memory we only got the better of one scrum tonight.

4. One nice break by Giteau but he was bloody awful with the boot (goal-kicking aside). I agree that Barnes @10 and Giteau @ 12 is a better option. Especially since Deans is pushing for a territory-oriented gameplan.

5. Sharpe's had his last chance as a starter, surely? He's pretty much to Aussie rugby what Mark Waugh was to Aussie cricket - just does enough to keep in the side and only really performs when his spot is in danger (instead of when his team needs him to).

6. It'll be interesting to see how Deans plays the remaining matches of the trinations. On the one hand he won't want to damage the confidence of his players any more (and minimise the media-fallout), but on the other hand he might feel a bit freer to experiment a bit.

 

[spectator]

Disappointing result that, and the fact that we couldn't get across the line bothers me.

With the Bledisloe gone and buckley's chance in the Tri Nations it might be time for a few changes. I will go left field and suggest a Reds 9, 10, 12 combo in Genia, Cooper and Barnes, just to give Gits a bit of a break. Hynes to start on one wing and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) at 13. Retain JOC (James O'Connor) at fullback, and due to his ability to make yards Mitchell on the other wing. If Gits is to start I would give Cooper a slot on the bench. Reason being, not enough x factor at the moment from the playmakers. He may lose games for us, but heck we're losing anyway.

I thought the forwards were ok tonight and wouldn't change tto much, maybe Palu for Brown.

 

[Reddy!]

Trying to name my preferred team here...Fuck Sharpe, Baxter, Burgess, Brown. Sick of waiting for players to perform.

1. Robinson
2. Moore
3. Alexander
4. Horwill
5. Mumm
6. Elsom
7. Smith
8. Palu
9. Genia
10. Barnes
11.
12. Giteau
13. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
14.
15. O'Connor

Fuck this is hard, I'm sick of having below par players in the backline, it's meant to be our strength FFS. I am REALLY missing Tuqiri and Digby right about now, as they would be my starting wingers.

 

[naza]

Problems / Solutions

Ruck None
Tactics Sack Deans & Giteau
Back 3 None
Intangibles Experience

 

[naza]

Fuck this is hard, I'm sick of having below par players in the backline, it's meant to be our strength FFS. I am REALLY missing Tuqiri and Digby right about now, as they would be my starting wingers.

Another Wallaby fan suckered into the myth of the quality of the Australian backline.

Tuqiri and Digby are exactly the opposite of what we need.

 

[chriscullen]

Wallabies 2009 season is gone, Deans should give Oconnor and Genia runs for the rest of the season to give them experience at this level. Hynes played well, always dangerous to me unlike Mitchell who Ive neved rated as he is always prone to having brain explosions(similar to rokocoko). It is a shame that All Blacks out of form or dropped can play NPC at the moment to regain form however the wallabies have only club rugby or training to attend.

 

[Reddy!]

Fuck this is hard, I'm sick of having below par players in the backline, it's meant to be our strength FFS. I am REALLY missing Tuqiri and Digby right about now, as they would be my starting wingers.

Another Wallaby fan suckered into the myth of the quality of the Australian backline.

Tuqiri and Digby are exactly the opposite of what we need.

I don't see how they aren't. They assert themselves on the game. Our backline is struggling to do that.

 

[JJJ]

I wonder if fitness is an issue? How many games now have we been leading at halftime and still managed to lose? We keep getting dominated in the 2nd half. Surely that isn't just mental?

 

[chriscullen]

From memory Wallabies have led the last 4 bledisloes at halftime and lost them all

 

[Scotty]

I thought the forwards were ok tonight and wouldn't change tto much, maybe Palu for Brown.

So you didn't think we had a problem at the rucks in the second half?

 

[Scotty]

Naza,

You honestly wouldn't have Ioane ahead of either Turner or Mitchell?

 

[spectator]

I thought the forwards were ok tonight and wouldn't change tto much, maybe Palu for Brown.

So you didn't think we had a problem at the rucks in the second half?

We were down a man for ten minutes in the second half. That's got to have some effect. And not enough credit must being given to the All Blacks forwards. We weren't that bad at lineout and in the scrums and they were just better at the ruck.

 

[chriscullen]

From the coaches mouth,

Deans felt the most obvious difference between his side and the All Blacks was experience.

"Dan Carter showed his class in the last 10 minutes," said Deans.

"He got field position and converted it into points.

"They are masters at getting home and we are working hard at acquiring that.

"We haven't mastered it yet but we are making headway. I'm sure we will get there."

Deans has now slipped to one win and five losses against the All Blacks.

There are sure to be further questions asked but he doesn't feel threatened in his job.

""I won't go belly up if that's what you are asking," he said in response to a question about his position.

He did say the expectations in Australia were just as high as in New Zealand. He felt his side had grown since last year.

"Last year we were a distant second with our ability to defend and play 80 minutes. We are not far away.

"We are playing the two best teams in the world - we are ranked third - but we are chasing hard. If we continue what we are doing we will get there."

 

[spectator]

Tuqiri and Digby are exactly the opposite of what we need.
[/quote] Which is?

 

[naza]

Naza,

You honestly wouldn't have Ioane ahead of either Turner or Mitchell?

Not if the coach is Deans, whose gameplan is for the winger's role is to kick & chase. Its calls for quick, nimble players with fullback experience who provide low error rate and field position. Hynes/Turner/Mitchell fit that best for us at the moment.

 

[Blue]

Problems / Solutions

Ruck None
Tactics Sack Deans & Giteau
Back 3 None
Intangibles Experience

breakdowns / who knows

 

[cyclopath]

Naza,

You honestly wouldn't have Ioane ahead of either Turner or Mitchell?

Not if the coach is Deans, whose gameplan is for the winger's role is to kick & chase. Its calls for quick, nimble players with fullback experience who provide low error rate and field position. Hynes/Turner/Mitchell fit that best for us at the moment.

Sorry, did our guys chase some kicks? I mean effectively? Except Hynes? Must have missed it. Hynes is not quick, but by God he knows how to use his tramlines and impressed me with his nous for where to go. And having a crack. Mitchell is a flake. Turner was ordinary. I would have Ioane in a heartbeat if fit without question, and would rather see AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) on a wing than either of the other two, and leave JOC (James O'Connor) at 15.
Despite losing some crucial breakdowns I thought our forwards did a pretty good job. It really is the shit kicking, shit kick-receiving and complete lack of any intelligent backline attack that stunk it up for us.
Good on the ABs and all that, but jeez, if we can't beat this AB team on our own patch, we are just damn ordinary.
And Brown is a prize goose and an unsustainable liability.

 

[Henry]

Ioane only makes so many meters because he runs sideways. Thats not what we need, i don't understand all this anti mitchell stuff, he didn't play badly for the most part and had a crack, making multiple decent tackles and meters. Hynes i think demonstrated why he's not in the starting team, letting the ball bounce before he caught, or tried to catch it, on a number of occasions... I don't see how Hynes was always dangerous either, he often looked lost, and does he have a kicking game? Turner and Mitchell are not below par players, on how many occasions did they get clean attacking ball in the game?

Was Barnes injured, why take him off in the second half... At least Rocky stood up.. pity hes going to the Brumbies..

 

[Newb]

thought there were times (mostly 1st half) where the forward pack showed signs of improvement and a lack of :sharpe:-ing. the AB's were the ones under pressure and forced to commit the ruck infringements. but yep, the 2nd half was another story.

had 8 ruck/maul turnovers to the AB's 4, though they had many more handling errors (4 to 11). but just shows that the breakdown and ruck are a huge liability still. and who had 3 of our 8 turnovers? dick brown....

i was disappointed that we never disrupted their lineout either after it's looked like absolute shit so far. but i thought ours looked improved with rocky as an option.

and where did the kicking skills go? too many fired directly at the AB backline with room to run. and even with the ones that found touch there weren't enough getting downfield allowing too many quick lineout takes. sloppy.

kaplan was fair and had a good game. to be honest, i felt like most of the breaks were going our way with the exception of a couple calls (one being the obstruction on carter... mystery there). the AB's could have put up more points and other other days might have.

couldn't ever breakthrough to capitalize on the phase ball even when it seemed there were options. of the 136 possessions, got above 3 phases only 8 times and never higher than 8 phases. 3 pick and drives. just no real movement. and allowed (succumbed to) the AB's to camp in our own end.

not enough killer instinct. too many almosts. sharpe getting hauled down on the line, spilling the ball to end the game on the line, etc. i loved fat cat wanting to take the quick tap after the penalty at the line to go for the try. where is more of that attitude? the "let's just fucken have a go" instinct. lacking in too many.

to lose at home to an AB's side that many would say is in a bit of a rut is supremely disappointing. it's becoming now or never territory.

those i thought deserved better for their effort: fat cat, rocky, smith, burgo, barnes, and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), while hynes and sharpe were good.

 

[mark_s]

Congrats to the all blacks for the thrilling win. We didn't deserve to lose this though and a draw would also have been a fair result.

It was real test match rugby with both teams playing it hard and tight trying to establish dominance. I think both teams had similar tactics pre game, unfortunately the wallabies never established enough dominance at the ruck to allow them to throw the ball around in the second half.

I was pretty optimistic at half time, but thought we had to dominate the 1st 10-15 of the second half to win. Otherwise I was sure the blacks would grid their way into the game as they have in the last 4 bleds now. Unfortunately we were on the back foot once Brown got binned and never really got any momentum or sustained pressure after that.

Brown deserved the bin for his tackle, even though the second man in made the tackle look worse. Very silly play by brown and he deserves to be rested for the next game. It proved to be very costly given the extra work load it meant for the other piggies and sharpe's subsequent injury, which meant Elsom had to play the full 80 even though we was pretty much out on his feet after 60 mins and needed replacing.

Sharpe was named MoM at the ground. Can anyone explain that one?

In general, I thought our kicking was very good although our chasing was only adequate. The obvious exception was Mitchells kick over the dead ball line which gave the blacks 50m. There was stark contrast with Carters kick shortly afterwards which left Mitchell and Turner under huge pressure in their own 22 due to a great chase from the all blacks. That was pretty much the difference between the two teams - Once again we lost due to a lack of composure and inability to control the game when it was in the balance.

The all blacks smashed us in the forwards last night, the lineouts were the only place we held our own. OUr srcums were poor before and after Baxter's substitution, but I think Al has played his last game now given we can't afford to carry penalty magnets. Other than the 1st and last plays of the game, Elsom played well and will be retained if he is still fit. Thought Horwill was quiet and I would love to have Brad Thorn on my team for his consistency.

Despite the last 4 results, I think we are very close to this all blacks team and both teams will need to improve significantly to be considered favourites for the next world cup.

I thought Kaplan had a good game. The Kiwis would have screamed murder if we had got away with the game, but we thought some of his early decisions were poor against us and the non-try decisions both looked to be correct. I aplaud Kaplan for not letting either team get away with too much crap at the ruck, even though it meant more kicking than otherwise. I only see two solutions to cleaning up the ruck (i.e. getting players to roll out of the way, stop them playing the ball on the ground, reducing the amount of seagulling around the ruck) the first is to bring back rucking, which will never happen, and the second is the get the refs to be very strict even if that means giving away lots of penalties and possibly even yellow cards.