Author: Bob Dwyer

Bob’s run-down of the weekend’s test

Bob Dwyer overlooks the shamble of a loss against England

Bob Dwyer picks his Wallabies team for the Spring Tour and evaluates their chances

Bob Dwyer looks at the positives and work-ons from Dunedin

This week Bob enjoys admitting he was wrong!

Bob Dwyer pinpoints just where it went so wrong for the Wallabies on Saturday

Bob Dwyer looks over the Wallabies one point defeat of Argentina in Perth

Bob reckons it’s time to make changes and lay down the law

Bob Dwyer says better from the Wallabies, but points to what’s needed

Bob Dwyer looks at last Saturday’s clash between the All Blacks and Wallabies and doesn’t like what he sees

Bob Dwyer looks at the Super Rugby final and season overall for Australian rugby

I have to say that I frequently disagree with a lot that Rod Kafer says during his commentary, but this week I was so strong in my support of one particular comment that I have used it above as the title of this article. He is spot on. Way too often, we just take the easy option and kick possession away, hoping for an opposition error or a flukey bounce, while frequently wasting genuine opportunity. Wales, ranked seventh in the world, can run the ball from their own 5 metre line, in the 12th minute of the match and do so with…

There is an old saying, ‘A win’s a win!’, suggesting that no matter how you achieve this positive result, it’s acceptable. I’ve never liked the saying and I don’t agree with the sentiment – and I’d hazard a guess that the Wallabies camp is far from accepting of this performance. All day long today, I’ve pondered just what I can say about this match and our performance. Generally, I’m full of thoughts and ideas about the game, but not so today. I kept saying over and over to myself, ‘But nothing happened!’ And that was about it! Sure, we dominated…

They say that a week is a long time in politics

The Wallabies were totally dusted last night in Paris. I can’t think of one single aspect of the game in which we held any degree of superiority over this new French side. Our scrum was demolished. France had a slight advantage at the lineout. They overwhelmed us at the tackle contest and their defence totally obliterated our attack. I perhaps overstate their defensive efforts, because our attack is non-existent and has been for some time. Worse still, it’s getting steadily worse. We must make some changes before the game loses all credibility amongst Australian supporters. Seventh-rated Ireland, themselves another ‘new’…

I thought it was a pretty strange game. Sure, the Wallabies ended New Zealand’s long winning streak and they must get credit for this, but neither side played much quality rugby. Certainly, neither side created much. Neither side constructed any continued attacking play – not with well executed ‘starter plays’ nor quality support play that could open up opposition defences. Consequently, no tries were scored – and this was the first time the All Blacks had been held tryless since 2004. But the game is not just about attack and we can certainly give credit for committed defences on both…

The Wallabies came home strongly in the second half to extend their winning streak over the Springboks to five on the trot. This is in total contrast to their recent record against the All Blacks and a number of South Africans have asked my opinion on how this is so. ‘We can beat or hold our own against pretty well all other teams, but rarely against Australia. Why is this so?’ They are puzzled and frustrated. Well, here’s my shot at an analysis. The Wallabies are not short on courage and will tackle all night. We’ve seen numerous instances of…

The Wallabies are the number two-ranked team in world rugby. This may well be so, but, on the evidence of last night’s match against New Zealand, they are so far behind the world champions that I would be surprised if they can even see them. It’s not so much the results of these two Test matches that concern me, it’s our performances – or should I say lack of performances – that have left me, and I’m sure thousands of other Wallabies fans, feeling totally gutted and searching vainly for a solution. The simple truth is that there is very…

A near full house at ANZ Stadium was full of expectation

The Sharks knew that they had to start well