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Wallabies 2020

Brumby Runner

David Wilson (68)
Rennie is all about workrate - Cheika talked about it quite a bit when he was at the Tahs and Rennie at the Chiefs, the Chiefs were seen as the standard to be challenged. Possibly Rennie is doubling down on it in his first season, to make a statement for all players heading in to 2021 - work hard or go home.

Perhaps a case of quantity rather than quality.
 

fatprop

George Gregan (70)
Staff member
So you are saying Hooper should go for goal more but the kicker is a 65% (granted there are reasons) and not back the lineout? You do realise he did both during this match.

I've got a better idea why don't the players just execute their skill areas. BPA throwing straight, Phillip calling the right jumper, jumper catching it and the rest of the forwards correctly setting the maul.


You still take the points, it is a test match ffs.

Have we not watched proper, winning test sides, take those points, build that score board pressure etc etc If the kicker misses, you restart and continue to build that pressure
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
You still take the points, it is a test match ffs.

Have we not watched proper, winning test sides, take those points, build that score board pressure etc etc If the kicker misses, you restart and continue to build that pressure


Is it that simple? I think the art of test match rugby is to know when to take the points, and know when you have your foot on the throat of the opposition and you need to go for the kill.

Now the former scenario is far more likely than the latter scenario, but I don't think you should take the points 100% of the time. I thought Hooper judged it pretty well on Saturday, my only criticism being we might have opted for a few attacking scrums instead of lineouts.

One of the things that made McCaw a great captain (and the ABs a great team) was the ability to judge this really well. The ABs didn't always take the points, they knew when to pick their moment and put it all on the line.
 

Joe Blow

Peter Sullivan (51)
1st half within 12 points either way take the 3. Later on if chasing or well ahead kick to the corner or take a scrum midfield in their quarter.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
The poor calls were early in the game where it felt like we were well on top but couldn't convert it into points. We opted for lineouts a couple of times and came away with nothing.

Before halftime we turned down two wide shots, took the lineout, drew a final warning from Williams on the third penalty and then took the three that was in front of the posts heading into halftime.

The accuracy of the kicker is certainly an issue. There's no doubt we take more shots at goal from outside the 15m lines if we have a higher percentage goal kicker. Whether we should be taking those shots at goal regardless of our percentage chance of hitting them is another question altogether.

The concept that this is all just something Hooper decides on a whim is ludicrous.
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
1st half within 12 points either way take the 3. Later on if chasing or well ahead kick to the corner or take a scrum midfield in their quarter.


Again though it's not that simple IMO. What if you've been attacking, you have a pen 5m out, you've just drawn a yellow card and have a dominant scrum? In that scenario it doesn't matter much whether it's the first half or not, the prudent option might be to take a scrum and try and really cash in.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
It's also a big release of pressure if you take the shot at goal and miss.

I'd be really interested to see how exactly they weigh up the decisions based on the position, game situation and who our kicker is. I also wonder how much analytics has gone into that process and how much of it is around perceptions of the chance of success.

I have no doubt if we had a 90% kicker we'd be taking a shot at goal pretty much every time.

It is very clear that we aren't taking any shots at goal within 10m of the sideline.
 

formerflanker

Ken Catchpole (46)
Is it that simple? I think the art of test match rugby is to know when to take the points, and know when you have your foot on the throat of the opposition and you need to go for the kill.

Now the former scenario is far more likely than the latter scenario, but I don't think you should take the points 100% of the time. I thought Hooper judged it pretty well on Saturday, my only criticism being we might have opted for a few attacking scrums instead of lineouts.

One of the things that made McCaw a great captain (and the ABs a great team) was the ability to judge this really well. The ABs didn't always take the points, they knew when to pick their moment and put it all on the line.
Tough gig for Sir Ruchie.
Throw the ball to a 95% kicker or set up a driving line out with the best forward pack in the world?
Decisions decisions.
 

dru

Tim Horan (67)

Nothing new there, Horan effectively berates RA for running out of ideas while he runs out of ideas. Most of it is obvious so you’d hope WR (World Rugby) will move that way anyway.

Domestic does allow more flexibility in changes, but what then in TT? Kiwis will do similar then negotiate a hybrid? Then to international with unmodified rules.

Personally I love the scrum. Stop the clock if needed but really it starts with the ref and what they see. Some need training to see better.
 

John S

Desmond Connor (43)
This is another take on the same issue:

https://www.todaystale.com/northern...fixedanddoesrugbyleaguehavetheanswers-s__fdDR

If changes are made domestically and for TT - do we then get a situation where there are effectively two sets of laws the players have to remember - the domestic/TT rules and the international rules. If any changes are made, surely they have to be pushed up the top so it's an even playing field across the RU world

(apologies if derailing thread - just replied to the one above, happy for it to be moved to appropriate thread)
 

Cancelled Account

Desmond Connor (43)
I’m torn. Agree that we need to speed aspects of the game, more so for the fans but don’t mess with our scrum. Our scrum defines our game. Maybe we need to look at the style of reffing,
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
To me the best thing to do with scrums is just stop the clock after a reset until the ball leaves the final scrum. Effectively you are limiting the time used for each scrum sequence to a single scrum. Everything else creates other issues.

I don't think you should tinker with the number of substitutions. There is already an issue where particular players play too many minutes across the season. Lowering the number of subs from 8 to 5 would really exacerbate that and take away development opportunities for younger players.

The changes in Super Rugby AU this year were fine because they didn't materially change the game and are easy to revert in and out of at different levels. Future changes should be along the same lines.
 

dru

Tim Horan (67)
I think our internationals can be expected to deal with different rules/interpretations. The style and nature of the game is different anyway.

I just think that RA are on it, albeit understandably considered in what the do.

Reffing is definitely an area for innovation. And the scrum a clear target.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
I think our internationals can be expected to deal with different rules/interpretations. The style and nature of the game is different anyway.


You just don't want to do something that materially changes how the game is played. I.e. experimental breakdown laws that substantially change what players can do and therefore how teams play.

That would have the potential to put us at a substantial disadvantage at test level.
 
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