Wallabies - how not to lose, rather than win

[I like to watch]

No, I think you and ILTW missed my point (or I made it badly).

I was trying to say that RD has done well to bring in good backup players. Additionally, he has had the second string guys for long enough that they should be familiar with the Wallabies gameplan, and therefore transistion in when needed with minimal fuss.

The fact that no-one actually knows what the gameplan is, is the problem. The players look confused.

But maybe that's just me.

But you can't expect the back up guys to have the same impact as the stars, otherwise they would be the stars.
Just as RD can't teach the back up guys to do what Genia or QC (Quade Cooper) can do with the ball in hand.
Link can't teach QC (Quade Cooper) to tackle like McCabe.
You can't make a silk purse out of a pig's ear.
Not everything is the coach's fault.Whoever the coach is.

 

[daz]

But you can't expect the back up guys to have the same impact as the stars, otherwise they would be the stars.
.

Lordy Jeee-sus Mary and Joseph. I don't expect that at all. I really don't. That is not my argument.

 

[Gagger]

I believe, it comes down injuries.

The Wobs lost their threat units and were left with their steadying units, so our defence improved and our attack struggled

The only real threat ended up being Digby for many tests and it is easy to mark up the only threat.

Except that this gameplan started on the eve of the World Cup, where we pretty much had all our threats. I think it was a conscious decision and the injury toll has just re-enforced it.

Actually, re-reading my article there's a third option that I guess I just assumed everyone saw - this isn't a cunning plan, it's what a bunch of gutsy players do when left in a mess

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I think we have become what many of us think England to be.
Not pretty, I'll agree, but I'd rather be #2 in tracky-daks than #5 with a nice frock on.

That makes me want to stick a pencil in my eye and end it all. To be mentioned in the same breath as England with respect to rugby depresses me. They practically define the art of trying not to lose.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Except that this gameplan started on the eve of the World Cup, where we pretty much had all our threats. I think it was a conscious decision and the injury toll has just re-enforced it.

Actually, re-reading my article there's a third option that I guess I just assumed everyone saw - this isn't a cunning plan, it's what a bunch of gutsy players do when left in a mess

Yep, as I've been saying for months. We're winning based on courage and togetherness as a group, not on any great skill or strategy. I love that these guys have so much ticker, but some finesse wouldn't go astray. Sport is entertainment after all.

 

[cyclopath]

That makes me want to stick a pencil in my eye and end it all. To be mentioned in the same breath as England with respect to rugby depresses me. They practically define the art of trying not to lose.

Indeed. I hope no-one misinterpreted my original post as indicating I am particularly happy with that style of play at all. I would much prefer to be playing a style more like the All Blacks mix of brute and flair. Still, better to be winning some and being #2 right now, with RWC seedings up for grabs, than 5th for instance. Onwards and upwards I hope.
Don't forget, our 1999 RWC was hardly pretty, but it was effective, and who among us was unhappy to win it? It's not all bells and whistles at Test level.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Don't forget, our 1999 RWC was hardly pretty, but it was effective, and who among us was unhappy to win it? It's not all bells and whistles at Test level.

I'd like to think that we played a lot more attractive footy in that campaign than we have this year! Your point is well made though. Winning is better than losing, you are right, but fellas please at least try and run the ball occasionally!

 

[cyclopath]

I'd like to think that we played a lot more attractive footy in that campaign than we have this year! Your point is well made though. Winning is better than losing, you are right, but fellas please at least try and run the ball occasionally!

Not in most of the tournament. But bloody effective.

 

[The Rant]

I'd rather be #2 in tracky-daks than #5 with a nice frock on.

Can't agree with this mate. I don't a fat rat's arse about #2 or #5 apart from knowing it helps for WC draws. I want to watch great rugby and style/tactics is a big part of that. It's not just the wallabies. Our opponents are also more conservative than they used to be. I love a contest and a low scoring game is fine is the quality is high - but our tactics over the last 15months are just so anti our natural game and the result is a spectacle nowhere near as exciting as rugby can be.
Deans is driven by fear of losing and this is rubbing off on the players. They're not backing themselves. Fear is the only explanation for his shit use of the bench - which he hardly ever uses as a strike force, rather as a last resort.

 

[cyclopath]

Can't agree with this mate. I don't a fat rat's arse about #2 or #5 apart from knowing it helps for WC draws. I want to watch great rugby and style/tactics is a big part of that. It's not just the wallabies. Our opponents are also more conservative than they used to be. I love a contest and a low scoring game is fine is the quality is high - but our tactics over the last 15months are just so anti our natural game and the result is a spectacle nowhere near as exciting as rugby can be.
Deans is driven by fear of losing and this is rubbing off on the players. They're not backing themselves. Fear is the only explanation for his shit use of the bench - which he hardly ever uses as a strike force, rather as a last resort.

Right now, we ought to care about being 2 and not 5 - RWC seedings over the next month are finalised. Being 5th is not so flash.
After that, as my later post said, onwards and upwards.
Plus, I'm not endorsing the style, but will temporarily accept the resulting position.

 

[Bowside]

Right now, we ought to care about being 2 and not 5 - RWC seedings over the next month are finalised. Being 5th is not so flash.
After that, as my later post said, onwards and upwards.
Plus, I'm not endorsing the style, but will temporarily accept the resulting position.

To be the best you have to beat the best I reckon. WC seedings are important but they are not the be all and end all.

I think these stats reinforce why we are not number 1. This style of play is working for now but the minute we come up against a 'complete' team we crumble (v boks away this year, v the all blacks in every game but the last). Likewise, when we are taken out of our element or taken by surprise we also crumble (v samoa, ireland, scotland).

The games played stat also goes some way towards explaining the injury crisis.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Correlation does not equal causality.

 

[Bowside]

Correlation does not equal causality.

Yes, but you can't put that many injuries, especially soft tissue injuries, simply down to bad luck.

Well you can. And then you can spend the next however many seasons wondering why we are so unlucky with injuries.

 

[qwerty51]

Because we play more rugby than anyone else.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Not in most of the tournament. But bloody effective.

Dunno about that, I'd lay money on the fact that our tries per game would have been higher in 1999. Knockout rugby is tighter and our defence back then (as it is now) was suffocating, but we still played with more flair. Timmay was player of the tournament after all

Anyway, that was then, this is now.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Why is that?
$$$$$$$


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Schadenfreude]

Yes, but you can't put that many injuries, especially soft tissue injuries, simply down to bad luck.

Well you can. And then you can spend the next however many seasons wondering why we are so unlucky with injuries.

I was more taking to the original stats. Just because we seem to win when the opposition scores two tries doesn't mean we should let everyone score two tries.

 

[Brumbieman]

Its all well and good to look at ths positive's, and there are plenty.

However, they don't cancel out the fact that this team is looking utterly baffled when they actually GET the ball. If we're lacking the instinctive freaks, why are we not playing a more structured attack? Guys like McCabe, Fainga'a, Tapuai, Ioane Harris etc are no mugs. They can pass a ball, they can draw a man, they can run STRAIGHT rather than drift sideways, they can still be coached into getting forward momentum before going sideways.

There is no excuse for the aimless 'pass the ball through the hands from one side of the field to the other before anyone actually takes a forward step' rugby we're playing. They can still be taught how to align on a deeper angle, and hit the ball at pace, from depth.

THAT comes down to Deans, and he's failing.

 

[Brumbieman]

And I should probably add: I'm a flanker. Not a very good one. The only thing i'm decent at is tackling and breakdown work.

If you gave me the ball and asked me to do anything more than a draw and pass, i'd laugh at you.

And yet I can still look at this team and think "wtf, I taught my under 14 team to align deeper than that, and actually have some runners switching up angles/running ONTO the ball, passing to where the man is going to receive it etc etc, how the hell is a $1 000 000 a year international coach incapable of getting professional rugby players to do that?"

 

[Joe Blow]

KB (Kurtley Beale) was looking pretty good with his distribution in the last 2 outings. The open running try scoring rugby will come with a 5/8 getting front foot ball who is reading the game well and a couple of blokes outside him who can grab a half opportunity and make something of it. The return of Genia will also give us some more options next year. He was our only attacking weapon against Wales and when QC (Quade Cooper) came back he never really got his game together.
It is good to see our up front game in order and our defense almost back to it miserly best. We also now have very good depth in almost every position. The last piece to the puzzle is the try-scoring.