Official Rugby Thread

[Francis]

That was a jolly exciting game. To say losing (after leading by 25 points) would have destroyed the Wallabies psychologically, is an understatement. So many times under Deans reign they've lost games after leading at halftime. They've been branded 'The Wobblies'. They've lost their last nine Tests to New Zealand, though they've lost five of those after leading at halftime and played better than New Zealand.

Beale's an interesting one. He's duplicating the counter-attacking form he showed for the Waratah's this year with the Wallabies. He's reinvigorated the Wallabies backs, and forced them to keep up with him. Last night the South Africans put in some amazing touch finders - 50/60 metres raking touch-finders, but Australia kept it up with those quick throw ins and counter-attacked amazingly well.

I loved the try where Mitchell had the ball, ran back towards O'Connor, and O'Connor made a break running a great line. He looked for support, which he got from Elsom, and they scored a try. Beale set up a try last week after some incredible work.

For all of Beale's work. He did stuff things up when he slid into the halfback role and passed it over Cooper's head! And then there was that moment that should have cost Australia the game when he slipped over and the ball hit him on the head.

But his counter-attacking was great, and his final kick was amazing. He was so positive and cool about it.

Dwyer thinks he'll end up a great player, if he fills in the gaps, improves his defence, improves a few other things, I absolutely think he could be a great player.

 

[Somerset]

Only just watched the game having recorded it last night - what an awesome encounter, IMO the best match of the Tri Nations this year. Thought Australia had completely blown it after having their 25 point lead shreded, and then the yellow card to Fainga'a. Pocock, Giteau and Beale (less a couple of bad errors) for the most part were sensational. The Australian line-out which was dominated last week stood up far better - coincidence that Nathan Sharpe played the full 80 minutes and that happened? Perhaps Australia were a touch lucky not to have Pocock's throw freekicked for not travelling five metres (which led to Mitchell's late try) but I can't really say they were undeserving of their victory in the end.

I have to comment on Bryan Habana too, being booed by a home crowd. Hes hardly looked in vintage form during this year's Tri Nations but the booing really surprised me. If the likes of Carter, McCaw, Giteau, etc. hit a poor form patch, I can't imagine home crowds in New Zealand and Australia booing such a star performer. To be honest I didn't think JP Pietersen on the other wing was any better than Habana and that Gio Aplon offered more than both of them during his 30 minutes or so on the field.

 

[ripper868]

Wallabies
Kurtley Beale, James O'Connor, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Matt Giteau, Lachie Turner, Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Ben McCalman, David Pocock, Rocky Elsom (capt), Nathan Sharpe, Mark Chisholm, Salesi Ma'afu, Stephen Moore, Benn Robinson.

Replacements Huia Edmonds, James Slipper, Dean Mumm, Richard Brown, Luke Burgess, Berrick Barnes, Anthony Faingaa.

All Blacks
Mils Muliaina; Cory Jane, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Israel Dagg; Aaron Cruden, Piri Weepu; Kieran Read, Richie McCaw (captain), Victor Vito; Tom Donnelly, Brad Thorn; Owen Franks, Keven Mealamu, Tony Woodcock.

Replacements: Corey Flynn, John Afoa, Anthony Boric, Jerome Kaino, Jimmy Cowan, Colin Slade, Rene Ranger

Looking forward to see how Dagg goes, as well as Cooper's debut vs the AB's.

Wallabies by 6

 

[Smudge]

Avatar bet, rippers?

 

[ripper868]

Yeah righto...straight up win, 1 week?

 

[Smudge]

yep sweet

 

[ripper868]

Must say...concerned by the big grin at the end of your sentence...concerned you have something waiting for me...is only an internets forum though, couldn't be that bad.

 

[Smudge]

Haha, no, hadn't thought of anything to be honest. I won't contemplate anything until after the game... don't want to jinx myself.

 

[Johnners]

Sigh, shouldn't be losing games because you're kicker couldn't hit a barn wall in International rugby....

 

[Smudge]

Oh, he can hit a barn door. But only fron the left side of the field. I've never rated Giteau terribly highly.

Can't believe we won that - Aussie outplayed us comfortably for 60 minutes.

Now, to conjure up an avatar for ripper...

 

[Hurricane]

Not sure if it was a coincidence but the ABs seemed to play better when Slade came on.

Got to feel for the Aussie fans today. Good show by Aussie today

Cruden's kicking game is questionable and may not be up to international standard.

Nonu's kicking game was annoying. He did not have a strong game by his standards/

Aussie's replacement half back did not do well in his short stint. Should've stuck wiith Genia.

 

[Smudge]

Your avatar, Ripper:

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Can't believe we won that - Aussie outplayed us comfortably for 60 minutes.

Agreed. Wasn't too impressed with the reffing though - he seemed to let too much go one minute and clamp down on a nitpicky point the next. I reckon the players had no idea where they stood.

Any strength in the call for a penalty try when Muliana tried to put the ball back to Jane on the try line, only for Jane to be taken out by the Aussie winger off the ball? Also, the Aussie tackler had his hands all over the ball as Muliana try to push it back. Not that it matters, but was pretty livid at the time.

 

[Hurricane]

Also, the Aussie tackler had his hands all over the ball as Muliana try to push it back. Not that it matters, but was pretty livid at the time.

Dirty Aussies

 

[Johnners]

Agreed. Wasn't too impressed with the reffing though - he seemed to let too much go one minute and clamp down on a nitpicky point the next. I reckon the players had no idea where they stood.

Any strength in the call for a penalty try when Muliana tried to put the ball back to Jane on the try line, only for Jane to be taken out by the Aussie winger off the ball? Also, the Aussie tackler had his hands all over the ball as Muliana try to push it back. Not that it matters, but was pretty livid at the time.

Thought were possibly a bit stiff, but thought it was slightly similar to the way the AB's just stopped/lay all over the ball in the last phase before half-time. Quick ball there and it was try-time imo.

 

[ripper868]

Dear Messr Cooper

You'll be worth diddly **** in league if you continue to *****ass out of tackles like that, you'll also be worth diddly **** if you continue doing that in Union, you're a talent, no doubt, and a genuine match winner, however you are replaceable.

Dear Messr Wallabies.

Though we lost, we lost to the world number 1 by 1 12 months out with plenty of firepower up front to return (See Horwill, Palu, Alexander, Ripper) for examples, as well as some genuine weapons out wide (see Ioane, Davies, Hynes, Shepherd).

I'm loving how the teams (all of them ftr) are playing and can't see the northern teams matching any of the Southern teams, especially with this expansive side to side rugby, the big english/welsh/irish/scottish packs just won't be able to keep up imo.

EDIT: I didnt get the chance to watch the game and haven't had a chance to catch a replay...was making sure my best mate didn't die as she serenaded the toilet bowl for three hours...she owes me big time...a good word to her roommate oughta cover it...

Your avatar, Ripper:

****!

 

[Somerset]

Agreed. Wasn't too impressed with the reffing though - he seemed to let too much go one minute and clamp down on a nitpicky point the next. I reckon the players had no idea where they stood.

I've said it before and I'll reinforce the point that South Africa have some very good referees - Kaplan, Joubert in particular - and Mark Lawrence simply isn't one of them. Hes far too inconsistent to come close to the calibre of his other two countrymen I mentioned.

Any strength in the call for a penalty try when Muliana tried to put the ball back to Jane on the try line, only for Jane to be taken out by the Aussie winger off the ball? Also, the Aussie tackler had his hands all over the ball as Muliana try to push it back. Not that it matters, but was pretty livid at the time.

Certainly was a case for a penalty try though perhaps given some of the officialdom on the night that was unsurprisingly missed. To be fair, McCaw seemed to detach from the scrum early before scoring his try with 10 minutes to go so I guess those calls work both ways.

 

[Somerset]

Not sure if it was a coincidence but the ABs seemed to play better when Slade came on.

Got to feel for the Aussie fans today. Good show by Aussie today

Cruden's kicking game is questionable and may not be up to international standard.

Nonu's kicking game was annoying. He did not have a strong game by his standards/

Aussie's replacement half back did not do well in his short stint. Should've stuck wiith Genia.

Agree regarding Slade, I thought he made an impressive cameo in his 20 minutes or so on the field. That might be harsh on Cruden, who was clearly trying to replicate Carter with the 22 dropouts, kickoffs, etc.

I think if anything, the game proved that our depth of key players is not quite as strong as it ought to be. We've never going to have a like-for-like replacement for Carter so I wasn't expected Slade or Cruden to produce a mirracle performance, but Vito didn't do much to impress me and Kaino was a massive improvement when he entered; and Flynn was shaky at best with Mealamu's presence missed after his early injury. Of course theres the issue that we don't really have an obvious back-up openside flanker either.

 

[Hurricane]

Agree regarding Slade, I thought he made an impressive cameo in his 20 minutes or so on the field. That might be harsh on Cruden, who was clearly trying to replicate Carter with the 22 dropouts, kickoffs, etc.

I think if anything, the game proved that our depth of key players is not quite as strong as it ought to be. We've never going to have a like-for-like replacement for Carter so I wasn't expected Slade or Cruden to produce a mirracle performance, but Vito didn't do much to impress me and Kaino was a massive improvement when he entered; and Flynn was shaky at best with Mealamu's presence missed after his early injury. Of course theres the issue that we don't really have an obvious back-up openside flanker either.

Yeah I like this post. If we suffer injuries we could be in trouble. Rippers post worries me as well. I thought Aussie gave us a good run for the money and with a couple of strong performers they could have gone over the top.
Aussie will also lift for the world cup and play 15% better. While we are already giving it 100% . To be honest I would have preferred the ABs losing a couple of games in the tri nations just to bring us down to earth and remind us that we can lose. I can see us thinking - if we just put one foot in front of the other - we will win next year and that wont cut it. We need to play even better and take it to a new level.

I am disturbed by Nonus play. His little grubber kicks were ****e. Run the ball already that is what you are good at. Let carter do the grubber kicks.

Would like to a see a centre pairing of Nonu and SBW (provided sbw can continue to improve).

 

[Somerset]

Yeah I like this post. If we suffer injuries we could be in trouble. Rippers post worries me as well. I thought Aussie gave us a good run for the money and with a couple of strong performers they could have gone over the top.
Aussie will also lift for the world cup and play 15% better. While we are already giving it 100% .

Do bear in mind that while Australia's been without a number of its key performers (Horwill, Alexander and Ioane in particular) New Zealand's also lost Sivivatu, Hore, Ali Williams, Eaton, etc. who I imagined would all have played a role in this year's Tri Nations had they been fit.

I am disturbed by Nonus play. His little grubber kicks were ****e. Run the ball already that is what you are good at. Let carter do the grubber kicks.

Would like to a see a centre pairing of Nonu and SBW (provided sbw can continue to improve).

Certainly wasn't Nonu's best performance on the weekend; although I did think a couple of his grubbers were good options. Conrad Smith also didn't play especially well although came back stronger in the second half. I've probably been a bit sceptical of SBW but will admit watching a few highlights of the Canterbury vs Northland game, he appeared to have a very big impact (not least making the final pass for three tries).