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Wallabies v England November 1

Shiggins

Michael Lynagh (62)
Firstly, understand what phase we are in. It doesn't meet the requirements for a tackle, so that law doesn't apply.

So we are using Law 13. Players on the ground in open play.

He made an attempt to get up off the ground while diving for the try. It's fine. No ref on earth would have called back that try.
It's black and white. He has to stand up. He crawled 6m. No momentum. Watch it again. I don't care and it doesn't change anything but technically he has to stand up. I remember we got done for this not long ago. Wallaby playing trying to stand up and clambering forward on hands and knees. It was a penalty then
 

Red Runner

Ted Thorn (20)
It's black and white. He has to stand up. He crawled 6m. No momentum. Watch it again. I don't care and it doesn't change anything but technically he has to stand up. I remember we got done for this not long ago. Wallaby playing trying to stand up and clambering forward on hands and knees. It was a penalty then

isn't the difference that Paisami was tackled (was on the ground with a Pom touching him) whereas Pollock was ankle tapped so never really tackled?
 

Adam84

Tim Horan (67)
Hmm deflating game but somewhat expected
I feel. England were going harder and faster the first 20, before Australia woke up. Poor execution by Australia in the last 10% when they had a half break or were in the attacking red zone was the difference between the two teams.

some really good individual performances, as mentioned Nella played a good game, Potter had some great moments, McReight was a menace at the breakdown, Williams was everywhere… but just a few too many errors or drops in focus at key moments across the pitch.
 

Where's the beef

Larry Dwyer (12)
Angus Bell seems to be rooted to the spot when he receives a pass. Would be interesting to see his carry and post contact metres. I think he's being misused, by not running onto the ball, but presumably that's part of the game plan.
That is still one of our fundamental issues. We dont hit the ball in motion. When we do, we look great, when we don't well its just 1st phase brick wall footy waiting for us to make a mistake. It's all of them.
 

Major Tom

Chilla Wilson (44)
Gotta remember we were missing JOC (James O'Connor), Len, Hooper, Skeleton, Wright and Tate.
Looks like we got through this game relatively unscathed which is good for next week and the tour.
Thought Edmed on the whole was a lot better than he has been. The level still looks too fast for him though.
Tupou looked back to his best.
Frost back to his worse with no Skelton.
Mcreight our best.
Defensively I think we stuck our tackles but we’re still way too passive. England strolled into our half in the first half and should have scored if not for Potter’s miracle held up.
Man for man England just far better team.
 

PhilClinton

Mark Ella (57)
This game is why I am bullish about us not having playing enough top guys against Japan.

We need some attacking confidence and structure. Running in a 20pt win against Japan would have been the perfect building block. Even though this England game wasn’t great, I could still see how much better our team is with McReight and even JAS is really a huge jump on the other centre options. The biggest loss in the backline imho is Ikitau.
 

Upthemaroon!

Ted Fahey (11)
That is still one of our fundamental issues. We dont hit the ball in motion. When we do, we look great, when we don't well its just 1st phase brick wall footy waiting for us to make a mistake. It's all of them.
Which is why I think Gordon (or any other 10 that comes up at the line from deep, not just stands deep) would work well with this attack system.
 

Rugby110

Stan Wickham (3)
Gordon is no Saviour. Just go back and watch the Fiji test in 2023. We got dusted up front and carter got cleaned up. Hard day at the office with a pack going backwards.
If you go back to that Fiji game when Mark Nawaqanitawase called for the high ball then pulled out. Carter Gordon copped the blame and was pulled because it looked like he wasn’t making an effort to contest in the air.
As for Tane Edmed, he’s got composure, but he’s not the answer. His game management and ability to identify and exploit attacking gaps are still off the mark. The Wallabies need three genuine flyhalves who can steer the game, control tempo, and bring variety in attack and at the moment, there’s no clear front-runner.
We’re also lacking aggression in attack, and that’s something both James O’Connor and Carter Gordon deliver. They take on the line, play direct, and force defenders to make decisions which is exactly the sort of intent we need to unlock space out wide.
I’m looking forward to seeing what Carter Gordon can offer over the next three games. If he’s given the freedom to play his natural game, he could easily remind everyone why he was rated so highly coming through. Schmidt’s plays seem to off our halfback. It’s because we don’t have a flyhalf that can control the attack.
It’s great to see Len Ikitau and Tom Hooper back in the mix. Their composure and work rate add balance and leadership across the park.
 

TSR

Simon Poidevin (60)
We cannot beat teams like England (especially at Twickers) unless we can field most of our best players. Tom Wright is simply irreplaceable.
We’re going to have to find ways to. Wright is going to be out for some time. So is McDermott. Skelton & Hooper won’t always be available. Ikitau’s contract is such that we don’t lose too much access to him - but we still don’t have him full time. Not sure how Angus Bell’s sabbatical will impact him.

I do think Schmidt has been pushed back to square 1 a bit from sticking with a set group of players and then losing a large number in a relatively short space of time. I think it was the right decision at the time - but now the cohesion that was built has been lost. If we look back to 4 months ago we’ve lost Slipper, Faessler, Skelton, Hooper, Tizzano missing for this game, McDermott, White, Lolesio, Lynagh, O’Connor, Ikitau and Wright plus guys like Gleeson, Porecki & BPA. It also looks to be Valetini is still getting back to his best after his injury problems. Wasn’t bad today at all - but still a reasonable step down from what we’ve been spoilt with over the last 2 yrs.

That’s a lot of testand a lot of playing time together stripped out in a short space of time including two of our best halves and our first two choice 10s. My hope is that the current pain will be rewarded by more depth across the board but clearly we have some way to go. We are missing a lot of punch in our forward pack and our attack has got narrower and less accurate.

On top of all that I still think our defence pattern lets us down and unless we can get better in the air we are going to continue to offer teams easy field position and possession.
 
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