Ok, my 34 cents.
Stop whining you big bunch of fannies. It was the first game under a a new coach, with 4 debutants in the back line. Against New Zealand. We would probably have beaten everyone else.
I see a lot of positives in it:
We scored 28 points against NZ. Lealiifano is dominating that kicking tee (touch wood). All of NZ's points came directly from our mistakes. Very easily corrected mistakes. They didn't come from multiple phases of pressure or momens of total domination against the entire wallabies team.
Beiber: went in for the first try, probably should have stayed out. However, as its been said it took a magical offload to get that ball out, and 90% of the time that ball would have either been intercepted and run away for 7 points, or died in Crudens hands and Berber would then have been in n ideal position to get into that ruck and try and slow it down. The rest of the game he was good. Made a lot of meters, combined well with Cooper at the end, and was generally ok. Hasn't played a test match on the wing for two years, so I'm prepared to give him a couple of games to get back into the swing of it.
Mogg: wtf? Why the hate? First mistake Moore dropped a stock standard offload, after taking an excellent high ball under pressure. His offload to no one was clearly just a fuck up (gee, when was the last time one of our backs threw a speculative offload and it didn't come off), thinking AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was just inside him. His high ball work was excellent, positioning excellent, commitment to everything was good, just some poor execution. I counted maybe 3 kicks that he got, and one of hem was a pearler that gained us 40 meters.
Why the hell is everyone calling for his head? Grow a bloody spine. How the hell can our TEAM improve if never actually pick one and stick with it? NZ are so good because the core of this team has been playing together since before Dingo even started as a coach, and they have played more or less the same team for 6 years. That is why they dominate and know how to win. If we change our team again, how do we get combinations to form? How do we get the players to work as a group to achieve things? If you work out a tactic in one game with your centre partner, how the hell does it help the team if he isn't around next week?
This team is the best team we have put out in years. If it isn't good enough yet, you don't fucking change it, you keep playing it and work on each thing they do wrong until they are the best. Jesus h Christ. We got poor service at the ruck from genia, which flowed on to To'omua, but why? NZ dominated the breakdown and slowed down all our ball. Do you really think that link hasn't identified that and spent the whole week working on accuracy there and at the clean out, to make sure we get quick ball?
Mogul is the next Chris Latham. He will continue to mix shockers with moments of genius for the next few years and once he settles into that jersey, he will own the rugby field like Latham did. Give the kid a chance to actually work on his game improve his performance, like every single other player in international rugby has been allowed to.
To'omua: again why the hate? It was his debut test for fuck sake, what did you expect? He nailed his tackles, distributed well, kicked reasonably well and didn't have a howler. Bloody fantastic, I can think of far worse debuts! All he needs to do now, and I'm sure he's been practicing this, is mix it up a bit. A few inside balls, taking the ball to the line more and suddenly our attack will look much more threatening. Everyone hails coopers attacking game but try and cast your minds back to his debuts for the reds and wallabies: for all his skills he couldn't run a back line and anything he created was just total individualism. Too us has already started much, much more effectively. I guarantee Bernie has been on the phone to him all week giving him tips, as would link and cooper and everyone else. Give him a chance to come out in a few days and take it to the line more.
Other observations: sio needs more game time, horwill was shat all over by Simmons and the other 2nd rows out there, what's wrong with him? Start blaming him and genia for our backs being under pressure all night! Madness was AWOL and apparently injured which explains a lot. Mowen was a bit quiet but ran our line out well. Needs to practice his scrum clearance. Hooper was good, but he doesn't compete at the breakdown like gill, and I think early on we need gills ability to go toe to toe with ruchie is crucial. I'd be starting gill and letting hooper run amok with fresh legs after 50 mins. Genia was terrible, try aside. White looked much, much better when he came on. Lealiifano and acc need a bit more time to gel, the defense is not hugely strong yet but will get there. They need to be more aggressive. Folau needs to go looking for work. Fardy was awesome when he came on, can't wait to see him start.
All in all, I'd give us a 6.5 for the game. We were down by 3 points with 20mins to go, and in the first game with so many new faces, that's a damn good effort.
I reckon we will win this week, by 5 or less, and I reckon Mogg and To'omua are going to be at the forefront of it all.
PS im typing this on an apple product, an iPad. So please excuse all the typos and random words. Who invented this piece of shit product and then had the temerity to advertise it as something that would improve the quality of your life? What a fluffybunny.
