RWC - Wallabies v Italy - 11th September 2011
- Thread starter Lee Grant
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Tordah
Dave Cowper (27)
He's certainly one of your most consistently good forwards. I rate him higher than Polota-Nau.
He's very good at slowing the ball down, lying just long enough on the wrong side to slow it down, but short enough not to get penalised.
Scotty
David Codey (61)
I think they actually changed this at half time. More inside balls. I was calling for it as the Italians were slow at covering tight but spreading well to cover us wide.
Slim 293
Stirling Mortlock (74)
Ant had a very poor game and will be dropped for JOC (James O'Connor)...
McCabe had a quiet first half with a few good runs to get over the gain line, but his defense and counter rucking led to some nice turnovers in the second half...
C
chief
Guest
He was good in fragments. However Rolland certainly flawed him on numerous occasions particularly in promising circumstances.
disco
Chilla Wilson (44)
Good 1st hit out for the wallabies the Italians really slowed our ball up in the 1st half which made a typical NH shit fight which is what the Wallabies needed.
Referee was a annoying but I must say I was disappointed with the back chat from a few Aussies who got marched.
Referee was a annoying but I must say I was disappointed with the back chat from a few Aussies who got marched.
Ignoto
John Thornett (49)
Other than AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)'s try, I thought he had a very quiet game and was very very ordinary under the high ball.
They spin it wide a lot early and the defensive side drifts (Italy did quite well in the first half)
That works defensively as long as the inside players works across to defend the inside.
But when they tire the insides don't work as hard to cover and Aus uses inside ball against the lazy defenders
Makes sense to me
Athilnaur
Arch Winning (36)
I was pretty happy with the first half of the game. We ground the game along in poor conditions with a slippery ball and got Italy contained, started to show signs of good dominance in the last ten. Couple of breaks that didn't quite go our way. Nice platform for second half despite the low score.
Felt for Ant, but I reckon it was Dean's gameplan to pull him early in second half once we had Italy contained. Ant made one error and wasn't alone there with that soapy ball, the Quade clash was just bad luck, and he atoned in great style with a great tackle. Think we will see JOC (James O'Connor) back to wing, Ant/AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) continuing to switch at outside centre depending on our need for defense/attack.
Forwards competed well today, very happy with the lot of em. Wish I could say the same of the ref. Samo...Worth his weight in gold.
I was also rapt with Quade's game, he played with a more composed game today, which was exactly what we needed in those crap conditions. Great to see.
Ioane. I reckon he is the best winger in the world right now.
Bench came on and stepped up beautifully, the lot of em. Life's good
Felt for Ant, but I reckon it was Dean's gameplan to pull him early in second half once we had Italy contained. Ant made one error and wasn't alone there with that soapy ball, the Quade clash was just bad luck, and he atoned in great style with a great tackle. Think we will see JOC (James O'Connor) back to wing, Ant/AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) continuing to switch at outside centre depending on our need for defense/attack.
Forwards competed well today, very happy with the lot of em. Wish I could say the same of the ref. Samo...Worth his weight in gold.
I was also rapt with Quade's game, he played with a more composed game today, which was exactly what we needed in those crap conditions. Great to see.
Ioane. I reckon he is the best winger in the world right now.
Bench came on and stepped up beautifully, the lot of em. Life's good
Well, I'm very relieved. That was a critical game for the Wallabies in this RWC campaign.
Forget the win, that's assumed. The key to this game was the scrum performance.
Had the Italians dominated the scrum, and had that domination lead to a stream of penalties and kicks, and had that become a talking point, then the Wallabies would have been crucified by refs for the rest of the tournament. All the 50/50 calls would have gone against them. The refs would have been looking for problems, imagining them into existence. We've seen that before.
Instead, except for one notable exception (thanks Higgers!!), the scrum was solid particularly when the starting front row were there. Scrum-wise Slipper looked a little off the pace when he came on.
Rolland still pinged the Wallabies once on suspicion, and I guess we'll have to live with that given our history, but at least the Wallaby-scrum-problem meme got no further oxygen this time around.
There was only downside in this game. Luckily we got through it with no damage done.
Forget the win, that's assumed. The key to this game was the scrum performance.
Had the Italians dominated the scrum, and had that domination lead to a stream of penalties and kicks, and had that become a talking point, then the Wallabies would have been crucified by refs for the rest of the tournament. All the 50/50 calls would have gone against them. The refs would have been looking for problems, imagining them into existence. We've seen that before.
Instead, except for one notable exception (thanks Higgers!!), the scrum was solid particularly when the starting front row were there. Scrum-wise Slipper looked a little off the pace when he came on.
Rolland still pinged the Wallabies once on suspicion, and I guess we'll have to live with that given our history, but at least the Wallaby-scrum-problem meme got no further oxygen this time around.
There was only downside in this game. Luckily we got through it with no damage done.
T
TOCC
Guest
cant argue with having Miranda Kerr in the fan club... too bad she is shacked up with that douche Orlando Bloom
....actually he probably isnt a douche, im just jealous he is married to a supermodel
J
Jay
Guest
cant argue with having Miranda Kerr in the fan club... too bad she is shacked up with that douche Orlando Bloom
....actually he probably isnt a douche, im just jealous he is married to a supermodel
I wanna know what's going on in that guy at the back's head.
"Hmmm, incredibly hot supermodel directly in front of me. Great chance to have a sly perv at her arse...oh, my check out 'Baldy McSquinty Teeth Guy!'"
twenty seven
Tom Lawton (22)
1st half was heads down, bums up and hard work being done. It's not all about the fancy stuff, thats after the hard work has been done. Easy for JOC (James O'Connor) to come on fresh against players who have done 40 mins of hard yakka. The wallabies in the world cup has never been about beating the crap out of teams. It's been about cementing plays and postions and getting the whole team ready for the unexpected and a long tournament.
As for man of the match, Horwill was committed for the entire match. Watch closely. He was working hard at the start, throughout the game until the end.
Beale needs to learn to pass the ball - blew so many opportunities - although he wasn't the only one.
As for man of the match, Horwill was committed for the entire match. Watch closely. He was working hard at the start, throughout the game until the end.
Beale needs to learn to pass the ball - blew so many opportunities - although he wasn't the only one.
F
Fredfreduels
Guest
Where can I find some stats for the match (and all the wc matches if you know)?
I think it was a good first up game from the Wallabies. I like the fact that it was an arm wrestle in the first half and then we dominated the second half. I think this is better than dominating early then going into cruise control.
The scrum was good for most of the game. I'm not certain but I think it dropped off considerably when Simmons came on. I think Vickerman is an excellent scrummager (well, he's excellent at most things). Aside from that, I thought Simmons was pretty good.
The Rock had a really strong game. He's certainly closing in on his best. I think having him play 65+ and then bringing Higgers on at the end is working well. I don't think there is much contention in the selection anymore. Rocky is definitely the starting 6 and his return to form is great for the Wallabies.
JOC (James O'Connor) certainly looks to have put himself back into the first XV. It's probably a bit harsh on Fingers as he's mostly there for his defence and he really didn't get much opportunity to do that against Italy. It will be interesting to see what happens next week. I wouldn't be surprised to see AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) move back to 13, JOC (James O'Connor) at 14 and Barnes onto the bench. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) needs to do plenty of practice under the high ball during the week.
I thought Allain Roland had a very average game. Some of his interpretations at the breakdown were bizarre.
Ireland were terrible today so I'm not expecting next week to be any tougher than today. On current form I expect that Italy will progress to the quarters.
The scrum was good for most of the game. I'm not certain but I think it dropped off considerably when Simmons came on. I think Vickerman is an excellent scrummager (well, he's excellent at most things). Aside from that, I thought Simmons was pretty good.
The Rock had a really strong game. He's certainly closing in on his best. I think having him play 65+ and then bringing Higgers on at the end is working well. I don't think there is much contention in the selection anymore. Rocky is definitely the starting 6 and his return to form is great for the Wallabies.
JOC (James O'Connor) certainly looks to have put himself back into the first XV. It's probably a bit harsh on Fingers as he's mostly there for his defence and he really didn't get much opportunity to do that against Italy. It will be interesting to see what happens next week. I wouldn't be surprised to see AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) move back to 13, JOC (James O'Connor) at 14 and Barnes onto the bench. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) needs to do plenty of practice under the high ball during the week.
I thought Allain Roland had a very average game. Some of his interpretations at the breakdown were bizarre.
Ireland were terrible today so I'm not expecting next week to be any tougher than today. On current form I expect that Italy will progress to the quarters.
Jnor
Peter Fenwicke (45)
Thanks for posting my thoughts on the game, BH.
My brain would like to add it was great to finally see TPN come back onto the field and all of the reserves get a run. Was pretty happy with Burgo's performance too.
As for the 1st XV I thought Cooper had a very average (by his stds) running game but a considered and well thought kicking game while KB (Kurtley Beale) had a bit of the Gits on a few occasions too.
That might sound a bit negative but overall I'm pretty happy and thought the forwards really played well as a unit for the second (?!?!?!) game in a row. Italy were good, and looks like they would be Ireland on today's games.
My brain would like to add it was great to finally see TPN come back onto the field and all of the reserves get a run. Was pretty happy with Burgo's performance too.
As for the 1st XV I thought Cooper had a very average (by his stds) running game but a considered and well thought kicking game while KB (Kurtley Beale) had a bit of the Gits on a few occasions too.
That might sound a bit negative but overall I'm pretty happy and thought the forwards really played well as a unit for the second (?!?!?!) game in a row. Italy were good, and looks like they would be Ireland on today's games.
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