2012 Rugby Championship Round 3 Game 1 Australia vs South Africa - 8 Sep

[Dan54]

I not defending him 4918, as I said it was stupid,and Ibelieve he will and should get a couple of weeks. But just out of interest mate I did watch it a few times and was surprised that Sharpie did not even flinch, so do not be so quick to call me a liar next time huh?

 

[Scotty]

I doubt you did watch it a couple of times if you don't think Sharpe saw it. His reaction was immediate.

Intent is the issue and that looked obvious enough, should not matter if he missed.

I thought shipperley being taken out in the air was a lot more dangerous, yet the ref ignored it saying 'he didn't touch him'. I wonder how he magically got horizontal then?

 

[Athilnaur]

But they have to be contestable, we need better kicks and a far better chase. Our wingers and centres simply don't work hard enough at creating pressure at contact and chasing. We need the essence and competitiveness of Tom Carter ((without the niggle and more talent) or the ABs backs) throughout the backline.

 

[Scotty]

I thought Owens was pretty good in the first half but then had his pedantic northern hemi hat on in the second. Tpn might have been a little from the side but Digby had already picked up the ball so it had no impact in play.

The penalty on slipper was also over the top and if he was consistent with that there should be another 5 or so for the same thing every game!

Also a couple of penalties that went against the boks at scrum time that seemed very random (or at least not obvious who was at fault).

Contrast a couple of obvious forward passes and illegal clean outs that we're ignored in the second half and we saw he turned into the stereotyped nh ref pedantic random penalty generator. A shame after his good first 40.

 

[Hairy Test Eagle]

I thought the referee wasn't to bad. Defiantly a better option than Kaplan. There's always going to be a few decisions that don't go the way they should such as Shipperley being taken in the air and a few questionable scrum penalty's. I thought he did very well policing the ruck.

 

[fatprop]

McCabe adds the defensive quality and a better running/passing game, but not the work we need in chasing and contesting kicks & working hard enough to give ball carriers options, our wingers and centres simply don't do it enough and our kickers don't kick execute well enough.

The wingers should be looking at tapes of Habana, Jane et al if they want inspiration.

Kafe showed the ABs on phase 6 having diamond attacking structures set up in the backs, that takes real effort and commitment we are simply not showing.

 

[H...]

well wasn't that first half just dreadful?

Barnes is a liability. Either he or the coach is directly responsible for the chip kicks deep in our own territory and it's just insane.

 

[Braveheart81]

Barnes and Cooper both kicked terribly in the first half. Thankfully in the second the rate of kicking dropped massively and we used the ball more. Barnes still put too many long kicks straight down the middle to be caught on the full in the second half.

Barnes' saving grace was his goalkicking. Kicking 6 from 6 was a major part in us getting home. If he'd even missed the conversion from the sideline and we'd only been 5 points up, it would have made going for goal a viable option for the Springboks in the last 10 minutes.

 

[flat_eric]

It will be good to have Barnes sit out the next few games (aside from his goal kicking). I haven't heard about his injury but surely it's somewhat serious given the way he carried on last night. His kicking out of hand at times borders on atrocious and his decision making under pressure is not much better. Quade will continue to improve but Barnes will always be the same player.

 

[qwerty51]

It looked like cramp, nothing too serious. Barnes should play fullback next week imo.

 

[Paradox]

Barnes should be demoted to the bench if McCabe and JOC (James O'Connor) are back. JOC (James O'Connor) to wing, McCabe to 12.

 

[H...]

barnes should be on the bench at best.

 

[qwerty51]

We can't drop Barnes, his goal kicking is outstanding, has been all year. It's that much of an asset.

 

[H...]

Isn't Harris a legit goalkicker? I'd rather have him than barnes.

 

[qwerty51]

He's even worse than Barnes..

 

[H...]

Is he? does he have a chip-kick-in-own-22 problem?

 

[Braveheart81]

Is he? does he have a chip-kick-in-own-22 problem?

Cooper was doing that too in the first half. Both of them were shocking in their kick selections.

 

[H...]

Barnes managed it twice in the first 10 minutes. Cooper maintains his place in my side but only just, I'm not prepared to keep watching barnes be shit just because "Cooper wasn't great either".

 

[Hairy Test Eagle]

Does anybody know when O'Connot is expected to return? I'd love to see him playing outside Quade. Barnes just limits his options and kicks the ball away so we don't have ball in hand.

 

[Ruggo]

Barnes had a good night with the goal kicking but he is nowhere consistant enough to be classed outstanding. JOC (James O'Connor) has a boot to rival Barnes.

I thought the Wallaby forwards stood up. I haven't voted yet but Samo takes the three points for mine. Slipper added amaizing value also when he came on. Tamani also had a good game and he has picked up his breakdown work load immensly which is great to see. If we can sort the issue of who runs the lineout I can see him and Kev making a formidable locking combination.

Shipperly had a fantastic debut. Although young is is ghoing to be a very complete player with his strength, speed and workload. What he does is read the game very well and his decision making when to get involved is generally very accurate. I think he can take a lot of pressure off Digby with these attributes.

Beale still doesn't look right and I hope he comes good.