RWC - Wallabies v Ireland - 17th September 2011

[barbarian]

My drunken letter to the Wallabies- http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/a-drunken-letter-to-the-wallabies/

I have just had enough. Like Qwery I saw this coming a fair way off but it doesn't make it any easier to stomach.

 

[League Legend]

Mccabe played well. The game was lost at the breakdown, and set piece. Ireland knew that to win the had to nulify genia- and thats what they did. why is this thread punishing the midfield. the playmakers, beale and cooper were impatient and made poor decisions. Why was Palu and higginbotham wasted on the bench. Also o'connor is a great player - outstanding cover tackle after quade passed it to ireland.( a shame he is a knobhead)

 

[dudebudstud]

i was at the game and all i have to say is WHAT THE FUCK?!

 

[kiap]

Player ratings from the S-M-Hurled (Paul Cully: Fairfax, September 18, 2011):

AUSTRALIA

15. Kurtley Beale. 6 - Most dangerous Wallaby back by a distance. Magnificent take in first half from own up and under.
14. James O'Connor. 5 - Showed tremendous pace to chase down Bowe and prevent an intercept try but had no chances on attack.
13. Anthony Fainga'a. 4 - Threw one dreadful pass into touch with Wallabies chasing the game.
12. Pat McCabe. 4 - Held up twice in the tackle as Ireland won the tactical battle in contact zone with mauling tactics. Struggling to dominate the advantage line.
11. Adam Ashley-Cooper. 5 - Defended manfully in busy No. 10 channel and looked a threat with limited ball. Not a night for wingers.
10. Quade Cooper. 4 - Addiction to miracle ball came back to haunt him with late intercept pass to Bowe. Frailty under the high ball in fullback position exposed.
9. Will Genia. 5 - Badly let down by his struggling pack and was rag-dolled by Ferris. Couldn't get the quick ball he thrives on.
8. Radike Samo. 4 - Brisbane heroics seem a long time ago. Strangely anonymous. Time for Wycliff Palu.
7. Ben McCalman. 4 - Had massive boots to fill and fell short. Highlighted the absence of genuine openside back-up to Pocock.
6. Rocky Elsom. 4 - Has he left his best form in Leinster? Well beaten by his former mates in the back-row battle.
5. James Horwill. 4 - Outpointed comfortably by opposition captain in the tight stuff and was seen lazily lingering on wrong side of ruck twice. Got away with one, not the other.
4. Dan Vickerman. 4 - Efficient at the restarts but discipline was again lamentable. Gave away two penalties.
3. Ben Alexander. 3 - Scrum was ambushed disastrously by fired-up men in green. Comprehensively lost his battle with Cian Healy.
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau. 3 - Unsurprisingly well short of his best after injury lay-off. Beset again by familiar lineout wobbles on his throw.
1. Sekope Kepu. 3 - Technique problems highlighted by Italy game resurfaced disastrously, especially on Irish ball. Could not keep his side up. A major, major worry.

Bench:

James Slipper. 3 - Could not stem the bleeding at scrum time.
Rob Simmons. 4 - Replaced Vickerman and made an impact but the game was already slipping away.
Wycliff Palu. NR - Brief spell but created a turnover at scrum.
Scott Higginbotham. NR - Big Queenslander had little time to do any damage.
Drew Mitchell. NR - A welcome return in the worst of circumstances.

NR = no rating

IRELAND

15. Rob Kearney. 7 - Used thunderous left boot to good effect. Matched Beale's up-and-under effort with one of his own.
14. Tommy Bowe. 7 - Nearly scored from 90m after picking off Cooper intercept. Dangerous on the counter-attack.
13. Brian O'Driscoll. 8 - Pumped up the troops and was fulcrum of mighty defensive effort.
12. Gordon D'Arcy. 6 - Injury forced him off prematurely, but had been a willing runner.
11. Keith Earls. 7 - Irish back-line defensive structure creaked at times, but held firm.
10. Johnathan Sexton. 7 - Made one nice incursion with neat footwork and held nerve after early kicking woes.
9. Eoin Reddan. 7 - Distribution was crisp throughout and compared favourably with the world's best in Genia.
8. Jamie Heaslip. 7 - Whole hearted but discipline let him down at times.
7. Sean O'Brien. 9 - Got the Irish going forward with his muscular carries and huge work rate. Man of the match.
6. Stephen Ferris. 8 - The big Ulsterman revelled in the contact and memorably monstered Genia at base of scrum in first half.
5. Paul O'Connell. 8 - Vintage performance from the Britsh and Irish Lions captain, showed some nice hands in close.
4. Donncha O'Callaghan. 7 - Outshone by others in the pack, but contributed to mighty forwards effort.
3. Mike Ross. 8 - Gave Kepu a hugely difficult night as Ireland turned the screw at the big moments.
2. Rory Best. 8 - Excellent at the scrum, prominent around the park. Could do no more.
1. Cian Healey. 8 - The Wallabies said their scrum woes were over. They aren't.

Bench:

Ronan O'Gara. 7 - Replaced D'Arcy and kicked the two penalties that sealed the match.
Connor Murray. 7 - Thought he had scored a late try to blow out the score, but was called back for offside.
Tom Court. NR - Came on late and was part of a staunch defensive effort on Irish line.
Andrew Trimble. NR - Andrew Trimble. Got on to the pitch in time to be part of the Irish celebrations.

 

[pete88]

My drunken letter to the Wallabies- http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/a-drunken-letter-to-the-wallabies/

I have just had enough. Like Qwery I saw this coming a fair way off but it doesn't make it any easier to stomach.

This can ONLY end well, please file under "Gold" when you sober up. Love watching all you keyboard warriors getting stuck in.

 

[potogold]

My drunken letter to the Wallabies- http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/a-drunken-letter-to-the-wallabies/

I have just had enough. Like Qwery I saw this coming a fair way off but it doesn't make it any easier to stomach.

dude,im irish, and it seems like you are going a bit hard on us. ill blame it on the drink! but seriously, its not like the result is completely out of the oblivion. you only beat us by 7 points last july in australia, and you drew with us the year before ( a drew mitchell intercept being your try). you lost to england in november, and we thumped them the same season.

so what im saying is,,,, its not like you lost to italy. you lost to ireland,, who have been there or there abouts on your heels for the last few seasons.if australia really are amazing they should have beaten us , however i would just point out like many irish said, they do have big games in them, this was one.................. Your team is better, but only when playing the way they play. if it was fluid and open there was only one winner.

what does everyone expect?. would YOU people on this forum rather play amazing and lose, or play boring and win. i know what i would choose, thats reality. australia had no plan B same way NZ didnt have plan b against france. shit happens, and australia didnt prepare for shit hitting the fan.

i will be sympathetic, because i know exactly how you feel. sure we lost to argentina, struggled against georgia and romania in the last RWC. its a bloody bitter pill, but australia wil be better because of it. no BS, because they WILL learn :thumb

 

[BarneySF]

"i will be sympathetic, because i know exactly how you feel. sure we lost to argentina, struggled against georgia and romania in the last RWC. its a bloody bitter pill, but australia wil be better because of it. no BS, because they WILL learn."

Well posted pog and well done. You represented here.

The problem with this bloody team is that there have been TOO MANY TEACHABLE MOMENTS and I'm wondering whether this team knows how to learn.

 

[François]

Sometimes I find hard to believe Robbie is the same guy who coached the crusaders to so many Super Rugby title.. A man of very few words.. Does he even communicate with his players at half time, or ever ? Why did the wallabies kept kicking possession away when clearly it was their main problem ? Why doesn't he use his bench earlier ? He looks like a very slow decision maker. And McCalman... biggest selection mistake of the year. The guy plays second row or number 8, why make him a openside flanker out of the blue against Sean O Brien ?

 

[Beefcake]

I'm a Kiwi and I can say Lawrence was horrible BUT both teams were stuck with him so I don't think either team were advantaged by his inept reffing tonight.

If this is an example of top shelf refereeing im afraid of what lays ahead... BLawrence was ghastly and should have never reached this far out of the pond...

I follow the minnows who consistently get terrible calls especially against tier one team but this example was repulsive to say the least especially during the RWC as the world is watching and must be cost him his whistle... even demotion onto a commentary panel somewhere in the NESB communities....

 

[Sandpit Fan]

If this is an example of top shelf refereeing im afraid of what lays ahead... BLawrence was ghastly and should have never reached this far out of the pond...

I follow the minnows who consistently get terrible calls especially against tier one team but this example was repulsive to say the least especially during the RWC as the world is watching and must be cost him his whistle... even demotion onto a commentary panel somewhere in the NESB communities....

The problem is that he is inconsistently inept. It's a lottery as to whether a team ends up getting the rough end of the pineapple. Bad as he was, we can't blame him for losing, we managed that all on our own.

Got to laugh at all the vocal micks that are jumping in with both feet on the blog! Enjoy it while it lasts boyo's.

 

[Skippy]

Not saying Beale was poor but seriously how can someone who excels at running rugby, at counter attacking, whose come through the Randwick club (running rugby) and no doubt has had drilled into him 'the ball in the hands is the greatest form of pressure'.... love the chip kick and grubber kick so much??

He's got a nasty case of the Berrick Barnes kicking bug from last season and early Super 15 this year.

Hope he can get it sorted. Just trying too hard and I think this whole moving Cooper to 15 thing is really screwing up Beale's game and 'head' as he seems now to have no patience. It's like Cooper and him are playing a game between them to see who can pull someone magic out of their arses and out do each other.

Cooper/Beale - Just take the fucking tackle.... build phases. Plety of time to score and look the goods... but earn it and stop trying to force the issue.

Cooper? Just get some balls to match the tough stickers please.

 

[thedubs]

The problem is that he is inconsistently inept. It's a lottery as to whether a team ends up getting the rough end of the pineapple. Bad as he was, we can't blame him for losing, we managed that all on our own.

Got to laugh at all the vocal micks that are jumping in with both feet on the blog! Enjoy it while it lasts boyo's.

No worries, we will! You go off and enjoy South Africa - we'll go our seperate ways(In the RWC anyway!)!

 

[Alex-A]

Player ratings from the S-M-Hurled (Paul Cully: Fairfax, September 18, 2011):

15. Rob Kearney. 7 - Used thunderous left boot to good effect. Matched Beale's up-and-under effort with one of his own.
14. Tommy Bowe. 7 - Nearly scored from 90m after picking off Cooper intercept. Dangerous on the counter-attack.
13. Brian O'Driscoll. 8 - Pumped up the troops and was fulcrum of mighty defensive effort.
12. Gordon D'Arcy. 6 - Injury forced him off prematurely, but had been a willing runner.
11. Keith Earls. 7 - Irish back-line defensive structure creaked at times, but held firm.
10. Johnathan Sexton. 7 - Made one nice incursion with neat footwork and held nerve after early kicking woes.
9. Eoin Reddan. 7 - Distribution was crisp throughout and compared favourably with the world's best in Genia.

Really?? Irelands backs actually did something? We where beaten today by dull as fuck northern rugby. I dont think the WB's where outplayed. I would love to see the longest number of phases the irish had. The wallabies backs had a go and in a couple of phases played some intertaining rugby, but they could not finish it off. This was typical world cup boring rugby where the team without the ball wins. And a lack of creativity is mistaken for courage.

 

[Bullrush]

Boring my ass.

 

[Slim 293]

In defence McCabe was good. But he offers zero, zilch, nada, nuthin in attack. In fact both midfielders are defensive specialists and puts pressure on Cooper to "create". IMO a Barnes/AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) midfield is your best bet. 2 playmakers in Cooper/Barnes and a penetrative Centre in AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) who is wasted on the Wing.

And this is overreactionary nonsense.

He's there to provide crash ball and make the advantage line which he's done regularly for the Wallabies this year.

His ball running was also a major feature at the Brumbies, albeit from different positions.

I'm sure if he was to be given more space he can do more with ball in hand but at the moment his role is to bash it up, and smash players and he's been consistently good this year.

However, last night he didn't have the best game, and neither did the other 21 players in the team.

McCabe will/should retain his position, but after two ordinary weeks in a row Fainga'a is sure to be dumped and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) brought one in.

Although Horne might now get a serious look in with AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) hardly being spectacular.

With what should be two easy games ahead I'm sure Deans is going to try out a few things.

In regards to Barnes he will be playing flyhalf in at least one of the next two games, and I'm sure the prospect of playing him at flyhalf late in a close contest isn't such a bad prospect with Cooper's brainfarts.

 

[Slim 293]

Oh, and I think Sharpe has had his time in the wilderness.

Why oh why he hasn't at least been on the bench lately is just mind boggling.

Vickerman has provided little else aside from clearing out rucks and attracting penalties.

What was the first penalty of the game? Vickerman opening his dumb mouth...

 

[Scotty]

The team with the better defense wins. Ireland stopped us from scoring due to a range of reasons including slowing the pill down, dominant forward tackles and good back line reads and that is why they won.

I expected them not to score a try after their display against the USA, but I did not expect them to be able to hold us out.

The critical time for me was in the first 20, leading up to JOC (James O'Connor)'s first successful penalty where it seemed like it was going to be easy to pick up a try after several penalty advantages from Bryce. However they held us out and toughened up around the ruck from then on.

 

[Miyagi]

If this is an example of top shelf refereeing im afraid of what lays ahead... BLawrence was ghastly and should have never reached this far out of the pond...

I follow the minnows who consistently get terrible calls especially against tier one team but this example was repulsive to say the least especially during the RWC as the world is watching and must be cost him his whistle... even demotion onto a commentary panel somewhere in the NESB communities....

He wasnt flash but it certainly wasn't Wayne miss 17 penalties and a forward pass in a QF Barnes bad.

Never in the history of the game has a team been in their own 22 for virtually a solid 40 mins defending and not given away a penalty. Absolutely unheard of.

 

[Miyagi]

Really?? Irelands backs actually did something? We where beaten today by dull as fuck northern rugby. I dont think the WB's where outplayed.

Crikey have a bit of diginity in defeat FFS!
yes they were completely outplayed. So says the scoreboard.

 

[Slim 293]

Yeah, I think losing the match is the definitive of being outplayed....