Pumas vs Wallabies, 25th July 2015, Mendoza

[emuarse]

And he has two mediocre test performances as his international career to date.

I'd like to see him there for the RWC but it's not going to happen in Bled 1.

Perhaps the question that needs to be asked, is what is the most important to us: Winning Bledisloe, or winning the RWC? If its the latter, & I'm sure it is, then you need to put Speight in to test his ability, because on his day, he is unstoppable.

 

[emuarse]

Nah Spiro Zavos, David Lord and Tah Dan reckon he's a good defender so those stats must be wrong.

Well the first two names can be wrong, but never Tah Dan

 

[emuarse]

As an Aussie expat living in the US I am forced to get my rugby news from sources other than fox or news corp sources, heck I can't even watch fox controlled news clips online from the US (without paying for a online subscription) The only hope of catching an "online video" about anything to do with Australian rugby comes via the ARU website or the Wallabies facebook account. I do read rugby news on the NZ Herald site, planet rugby and a couple of other UK based news & rugby sites and for the most part any reference to QC (Quade Cooper) contains some combination of the usual "bad-boy-can't-tackle-enigmatic-unpredictable-risky-player" crap, but I will digress and leave that alone for now..

I was trying to catch a couple of the Wallabies training videos on their facebook game ahead yesterdays match and I was bummed to read some of the shit that gets slung at the players on the Wallabies page. Some of the garbage that gets thrown at them as a team and as individuals is pretty poor in my opinion. It is a shame that the account is not managed to some effect as that sort of thing does nothing to help give the team any sense of the support that they have. I guess that is the world we live these days.

That's mainly from Kiwi expats - treat it as the garbage it is.

 

[Sully]

Here is a post on the Scrums

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/?p=83764

 

[KOB1987]

Perhaps the question that needs to be asked, is what is the most important to us: Winning Bledisloe, or winning the RWC? If its the latter, & I'm sure it is, then you need to put Speight in to test his ability, because on his day, he is unstoppable.

yes the RWC is the more important but you could turn that around and say that a win in the Bledisloe would be a huge boost to our RWC chances because of the effect it would have on the confidence of our players. I think Bledisloe first then focus on the RWC.

Essentially there are 3 players in line for one spot - Horne, Tomane & Speight. You could roll the dice on any 3 of them and you could nail the one that puts in a blinder on the night. I think Horne is the most reliable. I think the bigger issue is that Speight hasn't done enough in his test career to command a starting berth in Bledisloe 1.

If we win that one then Bledisloe 2 is a different matter.

 

[kiap]

IMO the next game in Sydney should have a fair amount of priority. It should not be merely a selection trial.

Show some faith to the home crowd and viewers. Remember there is a Bledisloe Festival happening in Sydney to promote the lead-up to the game. It's important for the team to put on a good showing on home soil to get the public coming back.

The other thing is these requirements to win, with increasing difficulty:

1. Rugby Championship: a win or draw at home (+ the Bled is alive)
2. Bledisloe Cup: 2 wins - at home and away (or a win and a draw)
3. Rugby World Cup: 7 wins in a row in the UK (maybe 6/7 at a pinch).

Put the best available team out in Sydney.

If the coach wants Henry, OK. Otherwise Speight can wait.

 

[gel]

Here is a post on the Scrums

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/?p=83764

Extremely good article.

I obviously know nothing about scrums, but why is it that for some scrums the prop goes down and it is reset as the guys just slipped, and yet other scrums the prop goes down and it is a penalty because the guy just slipped?

Based on zero research on my behalf it would seem that traditionally "dominant" scrums like the pumas or such are allowed resets and traditionally "weak" scrums such as the wallabies are instantly penalised for what appear to me to be the same thing (namely the usually tighteahd prop just losing his footing). Not specifically in this game though.

On topic to avoid @cyclopath's ban hammer: phipps box kicking was pretty good in this game. I don't really recall him kicking that often in the past but I thought they were pretty well weighted in this match.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Essentially there are 3 players in line for one spot - Horne, Tomane & Speight. You could roll the dice on any 3 of them and you could nail the one that puts in a blinder on the night. I think Horne is the most reliable. I think the bigger issue is that Speight hasn't done enough in his test career to command a starting berth in Bledisloe 1.

If we win that one then Bledisloe 2 is a different matter.

I'd say that Horne and Tomane are vying for No 11, while AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), Speight and Mitchell are contesting for the 14 spot.

My thoughts are that Rob Horne has done enough for some time to keep the 11 spot, while Henry Speight would be the best option at 14. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) is the ideal bench back. Tomane and Mitchell are then injury cover, in Mitchell's case for 14 and 15.

 

[Hawko]

Is this one of those "vibe" comments or do you have actual judiciary results that compare sanctions across the 3 nations?

The vibe says that SA and Oz don't do well at the judiciary while NZers seem to lead a charmed life. The disgraceful tackle by Fruean for the Crusaders against the Hurricanes (Milner-Skudder I think) is the prime example. Australians and South Africans were both suspended for a number of weeks for tackles that were less dangerous and he wasn't even cited. That is not the only example, but it is the most blatant.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

After seeing the footage that Gags put up on the front page of Hooper's alleged strike, I've decided that he's not guilty. Case dismissed!

 

[qwerty51]

Some more good scrum analysis

http://www.the42.ie/new-zealand-scrum-analysis-south-africa-2239798-Jul2015/

 

[ACR]

Some more good scrum analysis

http://www.the42.ie/new-zealand-scrum-analysis-south-africa-2239798-Jul2015/

Interesting analysis. There has never been anything straight about Woodcocks scrummaging, hehe. Here is what matters though.

NZ: Scrums on own feed 10-0 (100%). The scrum was never under pressure when Smith put it in. The hook always goes STRAIGHT to the back. Clean ball all day.

I probably can't remember a game where we didn't give up 1 or 2 penalties to the Bok scrum. We'll prob give 1 or 2 to Australia as well.

Similar note: Lineouts on own throw 10-0 (100%).
South Africa lost 3. AB's are okay.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Los Pumas have a way to go but with some concerted effort they may be able to match this effort from Sweden.