Welcome to yet another melancholy Monday, folks. Once again the Wallabies have shown promise in areas and for periods of time yet lost out on the scoreboard – plenty to choo on before Choosday! Elsewhere, the Boks have just edged out the Pumas in the TRC, including a critical incident in the first 10 seconds of the match. In the Pacific Nations Cup, Japan defeated Tonga and Fiji beat Samoa. In the Summer Series, Scotland have defeated Italy in Edinburgh. Here’s hoping we can pull ourselves out of a collective Bledisloe-less stupor.
WALLABIES v NEW ZEALAND
The All Blacks have once again secured the Bledisloe Cup with a 38-7 win over the Wallabies. A packed crowd of 83,944 (I was one of the 40k Aussie fans mixed in with 40k Kiwis, photo above is from my seat though it doesn’t do the view justice) filled the MCG as the visitors ran away with the game in the second half.
The Wallabies were hampered by a pair of yellow cards to Marika Koroibete and Taniela Tupou. Tupou (ribs) is rubbed out for at least the next test in Dunedin (and maybe more) and captain for the match, Allan Ala’alatoa, ruled out with what The Masked Avenger believes to be the Wallabies Achilles heel: the Achilles tendon rupture!
We started pretty bloody well. From where I was, the Wobs probably won the first 20-odd minutes, apart from a certain Barrett bulldozering Tate, who was uncharacteristically slow AF and harked back to the days of shite service. Pleasingly, we looked quite good over the ball and pressured the Kiwis into numerous penalties. Indeed, an Aaron Smith pass missing, at least, four players to go directly into touch had me believing. Gee, we even led the match at one point, too.
Shortly after, Marika managed to get himself a slice of cheese for cynical offside (didn’t help he spent most of the first 20 minutes shadowing Marky N’s wing – lack of trust?) which followed with a disastrous turn of events for one of the nicest blokes in world rugby, Allan Ala’alatoa, who suffered a RWC-ending Achilles rupture before the tournament even began.
The second half was seemingly all one-way traffic with the Kiwis able to take their chances that the Wallabies continually gifted them. Losing Nela (both in the front row AND as the second slice of cheese) effectively ended the Wallabies’ chances. What was most disappointing was the nature of the loss. Indeed, while I’m sure it’ll be denied until the next coaching messiah for RA is appointed, it appeared as though the Wallabies gave up.
So, in salvaging the positives out of this game:
- Young Tom Hooper was immense (30 tackles – seven more than Frost with 23 and 10 more than Bobby with 20, and zero PKs conceded).
- Bobby V was excellent (tackles above and power running resulting in a try, eventually!).
- The lineout functioned a lot better (13/13).
- For some reason, there were still glimmers of hope until the dying stages of the first half. Unfortunately, rugby is an 80 minute game.
- Being at the game meant I didn’t have to suffer through yet another example of unprofessional and incompetent ‘commentary’ from Stan Sports.
The not so good:
- Carter was disappointing. Indeed, for a player selected for his physicality, he only made four tackles and missed three more!
- Tate did not take his chance at all. While there were glimpses I counted at least two grubber passes and a few that even Carter was reaching over his head for. The Craparazzi chat thinks there may have been a head knock missed post-Barrett tackle.
- Missed tackles across the board (248/289 = 86% success rate)
- 16 turnovers conceded (against 9 from the ABs)
- Only the Wallabies could ‘win’ a penalty count yet still have more players in the bin than the opposition. Granted, a significant number of the Kiwi PKs were when they were on attack. Nonetheless, the attitude of poor execution (and being shit cheaters) is endemic.
- Winning the territory and possession game in the second half, and doing nothing with it!
- The maul was terrible. There is no excuse for this with the size of players we have.
- Poor decisions – we were outrun, outkicked and out-passed.
- Eddie Jones is still going for the war on words with mungo ball, I stopped caring months ago. But here is the latest article.
So, where to from here? The front row stocks are right back to where they were – empty. We have, effectively, lost our top two tighthead props for X amount of time. Further, reports are circling that M. Hooper’s baby cow injury may be worse than first though, putting his RWC in jeopardy, too. This is all before taking on the Kiwis on their home turf, the Frogs in Paris and the Bill in 39 days. I have a spidey-sense that the nightmares of the 2007 RWC in France are coming back.
Significant questions must be asked of Eddie Jones and his coaching team, too. While it still may have been the right decision to terminate Dave Rennie the promises from a now conspicuously silent Hamish McLennan and RA Board are a long distant memory.
SPRINGBOKS v ARGENTINA
South Africa have managed to grind out victory in a “proper Test match”, edging Argentina 22-21 in their final Rugby Championship fixture at Ellis Park as coach Jacques Nienaber hailed their defence and composure under pressure.
The trophy had already been won by New Zealand earlier on Saturday following a 38-7 victory over Australia in Melbourne, but the Springboks’ success earns them second place. See Reuters report here for more.
One significant incident came in the opening phase of the match, with starting Boks nine Grant Williams copping a hip to the head from a Pumas player. As ever, the Saffas have been up in arms about how the referees are biased/shite/cheats, etc., and how it would have been red if it was them. What is always overlooked is the evidence in front of them. The Pumas player attempted a charge down. Camera angles show that he was successful in charging the kick down. Therefore, there is no foul play.
That all being said, this is the type of charge down that I think should be eliminated from the game. I shall dub it the ‘cannonball charge down’. A similar incident from CJ Stander on Patrick Lambie a few seasons ago essentially ruined the young man’s career. If you’re going to charge down, you must stay front on and control your jump forward, sort of like a long jumper. Any twist to the side, like the above, ought to be punished severely, irrespective of the success of a charge down. Similar to entering a ruck from distance with speed and no control over one’s body, so this is similar.
JAPAN v TONGA
Japan got back to winning ways Saturday night as they beat Tonga 21-16 in the second round of the Pacific Nations Series at Hanazono Rugby Stadium.
More than a year since their last test win — against Uruguay on June 25, 2022 — the Brave Blossoms looked more creative with ball in hand and better organised in defence than in recent games. But there is still plenty to work on, especially around restarts and discipline, as the clock counts down to the start of the Rugby World Cup in September. “At times we played some really good rugby and are getting back to our best,” Japan head coach Jamie Joseph said.
I must admit my frustration, once again, with the complete lack of coverage of the Pacific Nations series. It seems that any games in Japan are not covered, despite likely interest here in Australia. If the games in the islands can be put onto the broadcast then I fail to see why the Japanese games can’t be. Must be the same reason Stan quietly ditched the Japanese Top League coverage… despite the games being in an almost standalone time period!
See here for more, and highlights below.
SAMOA v FIJI
Wallabies’ RWC pool C rivals Fiji have continued an encouraging buildup to the global showpiece with a 33-19 win over Samoa in Apia.
See here for more, and highlights below.
SCOTLAND v ITALY
Darcy Graham has returned to Test action with two tries as Scotland beat Italy 25-13 in their Rugby World Cup warm-up match at Murrayfield.
The speedy winger, who missed the Six Nations Championship earlier this year because of a knee injury, proved the difference on Saturday in a scrappy game as both countries played their first international since Scotland’s 26-14 win over the Italians in the Six Nations at Murrayfield in March.
Scotland outscored Italy by three tries to one with replacement Josh Bayliss adding a last minute try and Ben Healy, battling for a place in the World Cup squad, kicking over two penalties and two conversions.
See here for more. and highlights below
