dru
Jason Little (69)
Surely the pods are organised by the half.
Wallabies v Lions, 19 July Suncorp
- Thread starter Tomikin
- Start date
Surely the pods are organised by the half.
Hogan
Sydney Middleton (9)
Yep spot on. If it was Lolesio out there last night he would have copped an absolute barrage of criticism. Way too much hype for Lynagh for this game. He is a fine young player who will develop well with time but the way the media hyped him up was comical. He had his moments last night but was average at best. Donaldson and Tate got the backline flowing when they came on. They are without doubt our two best attacking halves. And to win next weekend, we will need to score at least 4 tries to square the series.
Marbig
Ted Fahey (11)
Did the media hype him up? Pretty much everything I read was saying he wasn’t ready haha
EDIT: Unless I am the media, because I was full hype
molman
John Thornett (49)
Stan were a bit hamfisted with their Father/Son pieces. He got a fair amount of precoverage focus in much the same way JAS probably gets too much, but I agree, most media seemed to be questioning of his readiness.
dru
Jason Little (69)
I thought the media view of our 10s was there is little between them, Lolo was out and at any rate has not really proven himself. That Lynagh may be the future answer but he was lucky as all things considered this was likely too early.
I'd have thought this has stood up.
For me, I'd be sticking with the halves as selected.
I'd have thought this has stood up.
For me, I'd be sticking with the halves as selected.
Strewthcobber
Michael Lynagh (62)
Derpus
Stirling Mortlock (74)
British press are always hysterical. Genuinely some of the worst in the English speaking world.
dru
Jason Little (69)
I dunno. Surely the 10 sits behind the pods as an alternate attack vector once the pods have allowed some space. Yes flexibility requires more nuance than this. Or otoh, if the forwards are so shellacked that the half can't run them, what on earth is being expected by the FH?
Strewthcobber
Michael Lynagh (62)
Pretty instructive phase at16:11 on the match clock. Wallabies go 12 phases, getting nowhere, and then turn it over.
Lynagh is so deep and so narrow for the whole period, except for maybe one phase, and the pods aren't operating well at all, they are also way too deep - a pretty poor period for the Wallabies - but then most of the first half looked like this. I could have shown pretty much any of the 12 rucks - they all look similar.
Lynagh is so deep and so narrow for the whole period, except for maybe one phase, and the pods aren't operating well at all, they are also way too deep - a pretty poor period for the Wallabies - but then most of the first half looked like this. I could have shown pretty much any of the 12 rucks - they all look similar.
TSR
Steve Williams (59)
I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed when the second test team is announced. I doubt there are going to be many changes. Valetini will come back in if fit. Maybe Skelton - but not 100% on that. I think Schmidt is conscious of what his players can and can’t do and is trying to play to match. We aren’t trying to physically dominate teams but out work them. It’s hard rugby to win but posters in here are highlighting we don’t have the players to physically match the Lions so why would we try to play that way? Bring in guys like Skelton, Tupou & LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) together and not only do we lose cohesion but we risk being the ones exposed by game speed. I think putting Gleeson & Valetini on together would get us found out. Gleeson’s work rate has improved measurably but he is still a big step down from Wilson, CDC or Hooper. I disagree Tate can’t work as a starter - some of his best tests have been starting - but at the same time we’ve seen before that just because a player off the bench looks better coming on against tired opposition doesn’t mean they are going to go better if the situation is reversed. Tate & Donno largely did their jobs off the bench and I thought Gordon & Lynagh were both fine so I doubt there will be a change there. Our starting front row were good, so I think Bell will keep coming off the bench for bowPlayers execution let us down a bit but also missed the bounce of the ball. It really can be a game of fine margins
Over the course of the game - Potters kick needed to pull up 30 cms shorter and we have a lineout on the Lions 5. Instead we end up back under the pump
- Pollards kick needed to go another metre and we have a lineout in the 22
- Faessler’s throw that got picked off by Curry needed an extra 30 cms. Lead directly to the Lions try after half time
- Lynagh’s kick at half time must have only been 20 cms short of being out and giving us a lineout in good position
- Wilson’s first kick needed to hold its line for another 30 cms & Potter probably scores
- Potter’s kick to Jorgenson bounces half a metre lower and he probably scores
- Sua’ali’i’s pass to Kellaway needed to be 30 cms higher and we don’t turn the ball over in our 22
- Wilson’s second kick needed to go an extra metre (or, even better, he just goes through the hands)
- McReight’s last penalty - I thought he did enough to get the turnover before his hand came off the ball (but O’Keefe was right there to be fair)
- if the clean out was better on the Sua’ali’i no try then I think we score next pick and drive anyway
It’s all woulda, coulda, shouda stuff but in a game where we lost by 8 if one or two of those things go our way they could’ve made a big difference
My biggest concern is our passive defence strategy - I really wish Fisher wasn’t so staunch on his style - but it is too late now to change so, hopefully, the Wallabies can just get better at it.
Over the course of the game - Potters kick needed to pull up 30 cms shorter and we have a lineout on the Lions 5. Instead we end up back under the pump
- Pollards kick needed to go another metre and we have a lineout in the 22
- Faessler’s throw that got picked off by Curry needed an extra 30 cms. Lead directly to the Lions try after half time
- Lynagh’s kick at half time must have only been 20 cms short of being out and giving us a lineout in good position
- Wilson’s first kick needed to hold its line for another 30 cms & Potter probably scores
- Potter’s kick to Jorgenson bounces half a metre lower and he probably scores
- Sua’ali’i’s pass to Kellaway needed to be 30 cms higher and we don’t turn the ball over in our 22
- Wilson’s second kick needed to go an extra metre (or, even better, he just goes through the hands)
- McReight’s last penalty - I thought he did enough to get the turnover before his hand came off the ball (but O’Keefe was right there to be fair)
- if the clean out was better on the Sua’ali’i no try then I think we score next pick and drive anyway
It’s all woulda, coulda, shouda stuff but in a game where we lost by 8 if one or two of those things go our way they could’ve made a big difference
My biggest concern is our passive defence strategy - I really wish Fisher wasn’t so staunch on his style - but it is too late now to change so, hopefully, the Wallabies can just get better at it.
molman
John Thornett (49)
He doesn't look like the most vocal character. Hard to tell sometimes on TV with the close crop shots so dont' always see the full picture of whats going on all the time.
Strewthcobber
Michael Lynagh (62)
I don't really disagree.
I'm a bit shocked by how poor the pods operated yesterday looking at it again this morning. The pods are unstructured and all over the place. It's a very "unlike-Schmidt" performance. I just can't imagine if Sexton (say) was on the field in gold directing traffic in a Schmidt coached team that they would ever have looked as poor structurally
molman
John Thornett (49)
We made it so easy for the Lions defence. No really good options in play. So static and the Lions all set and ready to rush again and again.
TSR
Steve Williams (59)
How much hype did he actually get. There were a couple of articles about him following in his father’s footsteps - which is a fair and obvious thing to highlight. In the lead up to a Lions series where 10 has been one our most contentious positions surely that’s expected.
Aside from that all of the articles I read were pretty cautious in their assessment of the selection.
For what it’s worth I think Schmidt will be reasonably happy whilst obviously looking for him to grow over the series.
Drew
Bob Davidson (42)
But what did you think of the jerseys???
molman
John Thornett (49)
I'd have to go back and look, but the setup seemed better in the Fiji game. Especially that first 20..30mins from what I can recall. You pencil that down as a Lolesio v. Lynagh difference or something else?
Strewthcobber
Michael Lynagh (62)
Lolesio is probably the best "system" 10 we have, and he just has far more experience at running the show at test rugby than Lynagh has. Lynagh will probably get there, but I think we probably saw why he isn't Schmidt's first choice right now, and some of the things he needs to work on to get to test quality. He has all the skills and especially the courage.
We were also missing our usual bulk carriers out there, which won't have helped thing. Nick Frost led the carries last night. Probably not the ideal person out of all the options that could be playing