B
Bobby Sands
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Anyone able to make the video link work?
Looks like Australia might be blocked .
Struggling. Have got Eng V Sa working,
Anyone able to make the video link work?
Looks like Australia might be blocked .
Geo blocked!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Georgia, Ire, Nz, Eng, Aus is my parlay in fact.
For those who didn't get to see the match and want a quick summary. (spoiler alert).
Australia picked a big side, with Tui, Rodda, Leota all starting, plus a hefty front row with Uelese at 125kg at hooker. That meant an 80(!) kg advantage at scrum time. The tactics were pretty obvious from the outset: punch it up big and hard, and wear the Scots down.
All started well, with the Aussie fwds getting plenty of play in close, leading to an early try for Lomax. But Scotland hit back against the run of play, scoring one beautiful try in the first half off a big run by their 8 (Miller), and other pretty opportunistic one when the ball squirted out the side of a ruck and the winger picked it up and ran it in. The Aussies had been dominant but trailed 7-12 after 20 minutes, and could’ve felt it just wasn’t going to be their day, much like in the group stages.
But they stuck to the game plan. They kept it in hand, often even when well in their own half, and as the match progressed the size of the Aussie runners wore the Scottish defence out. They didn’t have it all their own way, though. In the second quarter, Scotland had three very kickable penalties, all from roughly 30m out and more or less in front, and missed them all. Halftime score 14-12 to the men in gold.
The second half was all Australia. As the Scottish defence tired, the Aussies were able to throw it about a bit, with one magical counterattack unleashing Tuipulotu for his second under the posts (definitely youtube that one). Tuttle began to stretch the attack wider, and the points inevitably followed. A positional swap between Magnay, who moved into 13, and Jurd, who shifted out to the wing, helped too, as it brought just another big body closer to the action. Jordan Jackson-Hope scored a lovely individual try late on to put daylight between the teams. Despite a late and unexpected surge from the Scots, the U20s held on for the win, 19-28.
Scotland clearly have a couple of real talents out there, especially Cummings (5 and captain) and Ally Miller (8). Both look like they’ll be playing test footy soon. The missed shots at goal also cruelled them, while they performed very well at the scrum given the huge weight disparity.
For the Aussies, there was a lot more structure to the attack than in previous games, helped by the ability of their ball runners to get over the advantage line and keep their feet long enough for the support to arrive. That said, the big forwards were slow to realign in defence around the fringes and Scotland made most of their yardage there. The lineout was, overall, very good. Discipline was again an issue. Aus gave away easy kickable penalties, Tui got a yellow for a heedless high tackle, and Magnay (yep) charged into a player in the air and was simply lucky that the Scot landed squarely on his feet. Ffs.
Best were Tuttle, Lomax, and Rodda, with Vui looking decent off the bench and Leota not too shabby either. I maintain what I said earlier on this thread: there’s some real talent in this team, it’s just a question of getting the most out of it.