The Wallabies Thread

[Snotterbox]

My explanation for the structure was that we were looking to exploit the Irish tactic of their outside centre jamming in on a ball carrier to stop the ball from going out wide. So in a sort of rough order:

1. Folau shifts into first receiver for right to left passes (where his passing is better) and this pushes our better passes, Beale and Foley, out one so they can make a quick transfer of the ball under pressure to the player directly outside the 13 channel. Additionally, Folau at first receiver keeps the inside defenders interested and stops them from drifting across in cover in the case that the player jamming misses the tackle and they need to scramble across in defence.

2. Koroibete receives the ball in place of Kerevi who is on the wing, if the Irish defender jams in then there will be a hole to go through, you want your fastest guy to exploit this hole.

3. This arrangement was largely off lineout ball around halfway on the right hand side of the field, rather than having the blind winger standing inside the first receiver as a ball carrying option he shifted out wide. We normally had short line outs around halfway so we had a forward pod inside the first receiver as the inside option so no need for the blind winger to be there.

4. DHP stood inside Kerevi (pushing Kerevi to the wing) because often the Irish winger will follow the outside centre who jams in to try and stop the offload either by assisting in the tackle or potentially intercepting the pass. This means that any cover defence is going to be from the inside as the winger has veered from his man, often in this is the scenario you want a big bollocking winger of the Taqele or Lomu type who are harder to bundle into touch and may be able to bounce out of tackles close to the line. Also DHP is a better decision maker than Kerevi so you want him choosing to run, dummy or pass if he has a man outside him to utilise.


Certainly unusual but it definitely worked (or a very similar variation worked) the time we scored and the time Koroibete was dragged into touch just before the line, which were our two main attacking raids in the first half. I'm sure Cheika and Larkham will review it and mix it up.

A corollary of that is we play a wider game right to left. Lots more unders lines and decoy runners left to right. The difference is marked.With the obvious exception of the Folau non try.

 

[dru]

I feel like this kind of complacency is a bit of an issue in Australian rugby when we win the fans think 'everything is awesome!' then when we lose it's 'we fucking suck'.

Firstly there is a difference between "Australian rugby" and the Wallabies. Sticking to the Wallabies we have been lurching through extremes that many think have been unnecessary. The hope has been that over time that this deviating performance would not only settle down, but settle down on the high side of performance.

It has not been easy being a Wallaby fan under Cheika. At this point we seem to be on fire for going forward with a RWC in sights.

That lurching performance - the lows DO suck. And the highs can be awesome. But Awesome does not suddenly apply to "Australian rugby" which, while definitely impacted by the Wallabies (and the Women's 7's), is a much broader matter.

While we did play well last night, there are a few glaring issues that will only fester if left untreated. I think the backline structure was one (although it might be a stroke of brilliance time will tell), and obviously the lineout was very poor. While some throws were poor, I'm not sure the throws are the core of the issue with our line-out. Worst part is there isn't really any way to fix it. We could hope Timu becomes a better jumper, or that Tui will meet his potential as a 6.

Rodda and Coleman weren't bad but clearly lacked a little synergy. I don't even know if Simmons at 6 would plug the hole.

I said this earlier, but it isn't hard to see that the line out did not figure highly on Cheika's priorities. As much as I love the set piece, I have to recognise that something must give in a single week's preparation. Cheika did not ignore the line out, he just placed higher priority elsewhere. Runs on the board - Cheika was right.

He has locked in the double 7 + lightweight back row. There is no way that this does not diminish the lineout. But we pick up strengths elsewhere. To counter this he has excellent locks, including the bench. He has added Pocock as a third option (and an option for for 80min) - it was shaky but it was there. And the long throw (Hooper) which was also shaky.Also an 80 min option.

The biggest issue in the line out was communication and familiarity. The boys were not having an easy time of it. In the past being slow into the lineout was a tactic, this time it was "what are we doing again?".

Missed throws are not necessarily the thrower. An overly long throw is not necessarily the thrower. In both cases success on your own ball is impacted by timing, accuracy of the jumper, and how the lifters manage. Poor defence in the line out (Genia being taken by a barging opposition lock) is not the thrower. A flat throw, BOPA was doing this, IS the thrower - but may be the intent depending on how they are calling things. I dont like it but it is done.

The good news is that it should be a quick fix - the communication, and the familiarity has another week to improve. Another week might not be much but it doubles the time they had so far. We may see a big improvement through the Irish series.

I guess the down side is THEN the skillset improvements are slow come into place. I hope for a quick improvement then cross the fingers from there.

 

[fatprop]

Never had a concern about a winger pinning his ears back and going for the corner, it is what you want wingers to do.

 

[fatprop]

In numbers the backrow may be "light" but the Pooper play above their weight

It will be interesting to see how Timu develops, on Saturday, he worked hard defensively and at ruck time, but was invisible with ball in hand - it was like he was channeling Hanigan

 

[Strewthcobber]

In numbers the backrow may be "light" but the Pooper play above their weight

It will be interesting to see how Timu develops, on Saturday, he worked hard defensively and at ruck time, but was invisible with ball in hand - it was like he was channeling Hanigan

Slotted straight in to Cheika's system!

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[Derpus]

In numbers the backrow may be "light" but the Pooper play above their weight

It will be interesting to see how Timu develops, on Saturday, he worked hard defensively and at ruck time, but was invisible with ball in hand - it was like he was channeling Hanigan

Got a fair bit of flat foot ball and the Irish had pretty good line speed. I think he has to improve to keep Samu out of the team, who quietly racked up the second most run meters by a forward and a timely turnover in his short time on the pitch.

 

[Joe Blow]

In numbers the backrow may be "light" but the Pooper play above their weight

It will be interesting to see how Timu develops, on Saturday, he worked hard defensively and at ruck time, but was invisible with ball in hand - it was like he was channeling Hanigan

He’s a recent convert from league. I’m sure the pace and intensity took him by surprise. The stats show he was very busy in defence and he will be better for the run. Genia needs to feed him the ball in attack so he can show his running game at this level.

 

[Strewthcobber]

It looked like Timu was part of the Sio, Kepu pod and BPA was with Rodda and Coleman.

Kind of strange that Sio had most of the runs in the former group - and the latter got most of the running duties

Hooper and poey seemed to play a lot closer to the action in attack this games as well as the "ones" in the 1,3,3,1

Maybe trying to leave space out wide for the backs? Ireland tend to play a very spread out, flat defensive line with only 2 back, so maybe they thought we didn't need the width in attack from the forwards

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[dru]

It looked like Timu was part of the Sio, Kepu pod and BPA was with Rodda and Coleman.

Kind of strange that Sio had most of the runs in the former group - and the latter got most of the running duties

Hooper and poey seemed to play a lot closer to the action in attack this games as well as the "ones" in the 1,3,3,1

Maybe trying to leave space out wide for the backs? Ireland tend to play a very spread out, flat defensive line with only 2 back, so maybe they thought we didn't need the width in attack from the forwards

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May well have been the plan. I also think the way that the Irish forwards went out of their way to hold in both Pocock and Hooper meant they were often tight because they had no choice. Impressive that they dealt with it very well.

 

[Up the Guts]

who quietly racked up the second most run meters by a forward and a timely turnover in his short time on the pitch.

Yeah I didn't even notice him carrying the ball, stealth metres from Samu. I am glad he was able to perform, it would really have screwed up his career if he didn't look up to it and was cast aside after we went through all of that to get him out here.

 

[Jimmyjam]

As much as I'm happy Timu went well, I'd be very surprised if he retains a spot in the wallaby setup when Dempsey returns and Naisarani becomes eligible. I also think Valentini will probably move in front of him when he gets more games under his belt. What a great problem going forward. Some serious Blindside and 8 depth on the horizon!

 

[barbarian]

I'm not super confident Naisirani will be around next year. He's only signed a one-year deal with the Brumbies, who now have Pete Samu on their books.

The Tahs should be throwing the chequebook at him.
.

 

[Derpus]

I'm not super confident Naisirani will be around next year. He's only signed a one-year deal with the Brumbies, who now have Pete Samu on their books.

The Tahs should be throwing the chequebook at him.
.

He's exactly what the Tahs need, as well.

 

[Bandar]

I reckon he'll go to the Rebels to replace Mafi and link back up with Wessles

 

[Zero_Cool]

As much as I'm happy Timu went well, I'd be very surprised if he retains a spot in the wallaby setup when Dempsey returns and Naisarani becomes eligible. I also think Valentini will probably move in front of him when he gets more games under his belt. What a great problem going forward. Some serious Blindside and 8 depth on the horizon!

Yeah, I think with Timu give him time, he's only had one game. He did well in defence and really made his tackles count. He'll come good.

 

[barbarian]

I reckon he'll go to the Rebels to replace Mafi and link back up with Wessles

The Rebels are miles over the salary cap this year and are going to have to make some pretty big cuts to get back under it in 2019.

Not sure they'll have space for Isi.

 

[Rock Lobster]

Bandar is on the money

 

[Braveheart81]

The good thing now for the Wallabies is that whereas a year ago it looked like the red carpet would be rolled out for Naisarani by the Wallabies and we would be desperate for him to play as soon as he qualified, he's now likely to face genuine competition to get into the team.

What a position the Wallabies would be in if we had Pocock, Hooper, McMahon, Dempsey, Timu, Hanigan, Naisarani, Valentini and others all competing to make our 2019 test team.

 

[Derpus]

The good thing now for the Wallabies is that whereas a year ago it looked like the red carpet would be rolled out for Naisarani by the Wallabies and we would be desperate for him to play as soon as he qualified, he's now likely to face genuine competition to get into the team.

What a position the Wallabies would be in if we had Pocock, Hooper, McMahon, Dempsey, Timu, Hanigan, Naisarani, Valentini and others all competing to make our 2019 test team.

Lets hold our horses on these two. Both young and promising but also extremely injury prone thus far.

 

[Braveheart81]

Lets hold our horses on these two. Both young and promising but also extremely injury prone thus far.

Absolutely, Valentini in particular.

Dempsey has shown he can deliver at test level against the best opposition though. Certainly Naisarani won't have a free ride past him.

If Timu keeps his form and fitness up he could have a bunch of tests under his belt before Naisarani becomes eligible making it much harder for him to break into the team.