2012 Rugby Championship Game 1 Australia vs New Zealand - 18 August

[teach]

The level of negativity is quite amazing.

Is there a more negative group of sports fans than Australian rugby followers?

Try being over here when the All Blacks don't win by as much as they were expected to, or heaven forbid, lose.

 

[waratahjesus]

Do people really think that a team should be picked on form come every round of test matches?

Their isn't a country in the world of rugby to my knowledge that would change more than a couple of guys (if everyone is fit) at any time other than during a massive rebuild.

The nucleus of any side has to remain constant. If any coach had to build new combinations every time he took the team out for a run they would never reach their potential.

 

[biggsy]

Do people really think that a team should be picked on form come every round of test matches?

Their isn't a country in the world of rugby to my knowledge that would change more than a couple of guys (if everyone is fit) at any time other than during a massive rebuild.

The nucleus of any side has to remain constant. If any coach had to build new combinations every time he took the team out for a run they would never reach their potential.

This team will change a few times through this series,

 

[humanbeast]

I want Australia to win, can't see it happening though

 

[Lee Enfield]

The reason there is so much negativity, is because for the last decade we have been subjected to a roller coaster ride from the Wallabies and there has been more downs than ups. Deans was hailed as the saviour of Australian Rugby, yet the roller coaster is still going. Every year it starts with the players talking the talk and every year it ends with the same bitter disappointment of the bark being worse than the Wallabies bite. Each year we make the same mistakes, do not learn from them and hear the same old tired excuses being trotted out.

One thing is clear, Deans is not the mesiah, he is just a very naughty boy.

To be positive, the Wallabies won 3 in a row for the first time in ages and found a way to win games they would have lost previously.

 

[Schadenfreude]

The Darkness by 18.

Australia will score no tries.

Wallabies to scale the dizzying heights of mediocrity.

 

[Scoey]

Nail on the head. This is the team I would have picked (and I think most people to be honest).

This is the curious thing. I feel that the majority of people upset with the selections would only change one or two players. So how can it be such a basket case disaster?
Here's a thought. We have the youngest (?) team getting around or we did at the RWC. The emergence of the Gen Y'ers en masse is having a distinct impact on how players go about everything. A lot of older coaching methods simply don't work. There's some big personalities in our squad. Are they all gelling like they should? Are they willing to die in a ditch for the guy next to them? I don't know.
Some things change but some stay the same. And a champion team will ALWAYS beat a team of champions. Hopefully we're heading toward a champion team soon. I think it's closer than most think.

 

[waratahjesus]

The Darkness by 18.

Australia will score no tries.

Wallabies to scale the dizzying heights of mediocrity.

The Darkness by 18.

Australia will score no tries.

Wallabies to scale the dizzying heights of mediocrity.

Scale? Most people will say that is we're we have been for a while.

I'm quite buoyed this year, as Australians we don't view NZ as the dominant force they are in rugby. We see them every year and due to the fact we know our country is so much better. we often carry this feeling towards the sporting arena and end up disappointed due to it.

I'm buoyed this year cos most of the talk from players hasn't been about winning but rather there desire to win. Continued reference to how disappointed they are from the world cup and how much losing hurts. It fills me with joy that even the most debated and ridden players have the same emotional investment that I do and that to me, that means there gonna represent the jersey how it should be. No matter who they are or where they are from.

 

[TSR]

Not directly related to the thread, but I think we all need to lighten up a bit.

Loved it Swat. Good work.

 

[twenty seven]

I feel, sadly, very negative about this team.
Yes we have the players but I don't feel selections are right.
My biggest concern are two who have so much pull and weight in the Wallabies - Deans and Nucifora.

 

[Braveheart81]

Last year when we won the 3N, people were saying it was meaningless because New Zealand and South Africa hadn't picked full strength sides because they were preparing for the RWC.

This year, our selections are being called ridiculous because we've left out Cooper who was 10 in our victory against the ABs in the 3N.

Cooper's poor performance against the ABs in the RWC semi-final and the RWC in general is being blamed entirely on Deans. Cooper's good performance in the 3N is entirely Cooper and has nothing to do with Deans.

There are so many arguments being run that are completely circular.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

The reason there is so much negativity, is because for the last decade we have been subjected to a roller coaster ride from the Wallabies and there has been more downs than ups. Deans was hailed as the saviour of Australian Rugby, yet the roller coaster is still going. Every year it starts with the players talking the talk and every year it ends with the same bitter disappointment of the bark being worse than the Wallabies bite. Each year we make the same mistakes, do not learn from them and hear the same old tired excuses being trotted out.

One thing is clear, Deans is not the mesiah, he is just a very naughty boy.

To be positive, the Wallabies won 3 in a row for the first time in ages and found a way to win games they would have lost previously.

Got it in one. If there was a steady upward trajectory I think we'd be a bit calmer about it. Instead, we've had some great performances, some bloody terrible, baffling selections, strange game plans and a host of other confusing developments.

If things were on the up, we wouldn't have lost twice to Scotland and once to Samoa.

 

[Ash]

I can understand the negativity.

Not a strong side on paper, in fact it looks like one of the weakest we have fielded in the last few years. I choked when Deans claimed that our attack was now the best it has been for a decade, after not selecting the best attacking five eighth to instead select two defensive centers.

Too many players selected on past reputation and potential rather than form. Some of those players looked flat out unready for 80 mins of pro rugby in the last few SupeRugby games. These are not things you turn around in a few short weeks.

Picking a defensive backline, yet selecting a more attacking forward pack that looks way too short on work rate.

But I choose to look at this clusterfuck positively. It has given me such low expectations for the weekend that I will take a 25 point hiding as a moral victory.

One comment on the TPN v Moore debate - you surely take the guy in good form, right? Both fabulous players, not much between them. But one is in form and one is not. TPN was probably the worst player on the park in that first half vs the Reds.

 

[Braveheart81]

Got it in one. If there was a steady upward trajectory I think we'd be a bit calmer about it. Instead, we've had some great performances, some bloody terrible, baffling selections, strange game plans and a host of other confusing developments.

If things were on the up, we wouldn't have lost twice to Scotland and once to Samoa.

If the Wallabies weren't improving, would we have won our last four games against the Springboks and three in a row against Wales this year?

We played a second rate team against Samoa and didn't front up on the day and were completely found out.

We had a couple of days preparation against Scotland in Newcastle, had a lot of inexperienced players due to Super Rugby commitments and played in abominable weather.

As disappointing as those losses were, I think using them as the basis for an overall assessment on the Wallabies is quite misleading.

In terms of our overall position, major injuries to Quade Cooper and James O'Connor have really hurt our ability to maintain and development our ideal combinations.

 

[Scotty]

The Chiefs side won't dominate the All Blacks and the Sharks won't dominate the Springboks.

You could argue for Simmons to be starting ahead of Timani and most people think Cooper should be in the 22. Aside from that though, there's not a lot of Reds players who can count themselves overly unlucky.

We will be in with a shot when the Boks pick 8 cheetahs and the ABs 8 highlanders though.

Can't wait.

 

[Athilnaur]

Not to mention that we David Pocock and Bryce Lawrence beat the Saffers the last time we played them, in the RWC quarter-final.

Finished your editing for you.

Catching up here on the furore. A legitimate view would also be that with a diff ref we'd have won by more.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

If the Wallabies weren't improving, would we have won our last four games against the Springboks and three in a row against Wales this year?

We played a second rate team against Samoa and didn't front up on the day and were completely found out.

We had a couple of days preparation against Scotland in Newcastle, had a lot of inexperienced players due to Super Rugby commitments and played in abominable weather.

As disappointing as those losses were, I think using them as the basis for an overall assessment on the Wallabies is quite misleading.

In terms of our overall position, major injuries to Quade Cooper and James O'Connor have really hurt our ability to maintain and development our ideal combinations.

Point well made and it's actually 5 on the trot against Wales (the streak is about 8 overall) in the last 12 months. It's not just the losses, but the general feeling of two steps forward, two back. I don't feel like we are a better footy team than we were at the beginning of last season. Maybe we are in terms of performances, but that's not the vibe. And it's all about the vibe

 

[No4918]

We will be in with a shot when the Boks pick 8 cheetahs and the ABs 8 highlanders though.

Can't wait.

You taking the piss?

1. Oosthuizen
2. Hore/Strauss
3. Makintosh
4. Retallick
5. Hoeata
6. Thomson
7. Brussow
8. Manu/Johnson
9. A Smith
10. Goosen/Slade
11. Gear
12. Burleigh
13. Ellison
14. Leroux/Poki
15. B Smith

 

[thierry dusautoir]

I can somewhat handle the back line but I can'T forgive the forward pack. No Moore and the shittest lock in aus history in timani. Backs are only as good as there forward pack.....and ours is not good.

P.s slipper should be in as well

 

[Richo]

You taking the piss?

Spider sense tells me he was having a go at the Waratahs, or at least the number of them selected.