Australia v England @ Twickers 17 Nov 2012

[Bairdy]

A big difference this week was that the backline took four steps backwards which allowed the centres extra seconds to run at, and assess "what was in front of them". This is why AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and Taps looked so much better than last week's debacle of dropped balls and misdirected passes.

I'm woundering if I should attribute the fantastic 'back to the wall defence' we saw last night as one of Deans' legacies. I think so.

Attribute it to the players themselves I think.

 

[thierry dusautoir]

Was a good game but far from the wallabies best....honey badger sealed his position as attest winger. I take back what isaid about Robinson he strummed well but TPN was subpar scrums looked better for Moore but I understand he was seeing stars.

AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) played well but I stand by comments he needs to pass. Tapuai why not as classy as he is of th reds showed goo glimpses of why he should be in the team.

Timani is useful for now but I would say no chance of retaining his spot when horwill is back to fitness. Phipps was pretty average outside of setting up that try.

P.s fuck our lives once Palu is gone he really makes a difference in my eyes

 

[thierry dusautoir]

P.s McCabe's neck is fractured........reckon he will be ble to come back from thAt.....mentally and physically

 

[maxdacat]

A 3rd vs 5th should be the foregone conclusion

where would be the fun in that?

 

[Dan54]

TD, strange you would say that about AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), was having a beer with coach of seniors at our rugby club on Friday and he asked why players like AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper),McCabe, Fainga'a etc who get paid 2-300,000 a year or whatever cannot do a decent 25m spiral pass, yet he pointed out a couple of our club boys who actually pay $250 a year can do it quite happily at full pace, it has been the downful of Wallabies outside backs a bit this year I believe.
I do have to say (like everyone) that young Hooper is a bloody good player, personally I would pick him ahead of Pocock, I think he tackles better, and actually runs better support lines. And I not knocking Pocock, who I think is bloody good, just like Hooper's all round game!!

 

[Inside Shoulder]

TD, strange you would say that about AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), was having a beer with coach of seniors at our rugby club on Friday and he asked why players like AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper),McCabe, Fainga'a etc who get paid 2-300,000 a year or whatever cannot do a decent 25m spiral pass, yet he pointed out a couple of our club boys who actually pay $250 a year can do it quite happily at full pace, it has been the downful of Wallabies outside backs a bit this year I believe.

says it all really: if you havent got the basics in NZ you dont get beyond a certain point until you acquire them.
here when youre young and faster/bigger than your opponents youre earmarked for greatness in 1 of 3 oval ball codes and you have to get your basics coaching on tour with the wobbs!

 

[thierry dusautoir]

Agreed dan makes you think. It's the one thing stopping those guys from being undistiputable choices .......I really wish hooper was 3 inches taller so we could throw him at 8 no questions asked. But realistically next international season when we have horwill and hopefullyy jumping lock we could utilise the both of them. Because pocock's game isn't as rounded as hoopers but his breakdown work rate is unparalleled

 

[fatprop]

Part of the Telegraph Uk's game ratings from Ackford for Aus (nice to see an outside opition)
Berrick Barnes
Gave the Wallabies options. A cute early drop goal showed what an intelligent footballer he is and he played astutely throughout. 8
Nick Cummins
The play seemed to come down his wing most of the match. Finished off his try professionally and muscled through tackles all game. 7
Tatafu Polota-Nau
A liability. Great work ethic but just made too many mistakes on the carry and throwing in to his jumpers. Replaced by Stephen Moore during interval. 5
Dave Dennis
Was one of Australia’s principal ball carriers. Got better as the game went on. Very efficient in all that he did. 7
Digby Ioane
Could not get into the game at all in the first half and was replaced by Drew Mitchell before the end. Ioane is a better player than this. 5
Kurtley Beale
An individual who had to be watched all the time. Never predictable, always entertaining. He and Barnes worked well together. 8
Ben Alexander
Australia’s Adam Jones. Without him the Wallabies do not have a platform. Scrum wobbled when he went off inside the last quarter. 9
Michael Hooper
Just wonderful. Benefited from the work of his front five but did more than anyone to force the victory. 10
Adam Ashley-Cooper
Thumped up the middle once or twice but well contained by England’s defence in the first half. Different story after half-time when he was excellent. 7
Nick Phipps
More of a runner than a passer. Phipps injected the gas for the try by Cummins and handled the pressure well. 6
Sitaleki Timani
A strange match. Did not notice him until you looked hard into the dark places and then he was everywhere. 8
Wycliff Palu
Caught the first kick-off and then ploughed forwards for the rest of the game. A hard, tight performance. 8
Ben Tapuai
Not afraid to try things. Tapuai mixed his game up well and coped with the physical exchanges. A creditable performance. 7
Benn Robinson
Much more like the decent prop we know he is. Stopped all chat of a Wallaby scrum disaster and turned it to scrum triumph. 9
Nathan Sharpe
Well over a hundred caps and way past his stated retirement date but the old boy still has it. Bloodied but unbowed. 8

 

[qwerty51]

You'd think we'd won by 30 based on those ratings..

Sitaleki Timani
A strange match. Did not notice him until you looked hard into the dark places and then he was everywhere. 8

ugh what??

 

[thierry dusautoir]

Yeh I am not taking much merit in those ratings.....I actually thought while Beale did the job of a normal Flyhalf he wasn't really that outstanding.....well at least not in our best 5 players

 

[Dave Beat]

Taps is a 12, and finally we pick him as a 12 in position - played a good game.
Barnes @ 15 it has been suggested before he would benifit from the extra time and vision and he played a good game.
Beale, Quade, JOC (James O'Connor) all have different assets for fly half and suite diferent game plans (and coach).

 

[Paradox]

Great comment this:

Sitaleki Timani
A strange match. Did not notice him until you looked hard into the dark places and then he was everywhere. 8

 

[Dan54]

IS, my club is in Brisbane, though the ones in my local club back home were same

 

[mark_s]

It was great to see us playing with intent. Pigs were good. Taps, barnes and cummins were strong in the backs. Both tries had question marks BT the end result seemed fair to me.

 

[cyclopath]

As much as I am the president of the local chapter of the ABE club, we shouldn't get too carried away with a victory over the 5th ranked team in the World. 3rd vs 5th should be the foregone conclusion that it was.

Obviously it is always a bit harder to win away from home, but the 5th ranked team of Soap Dodgers was never going to beat us.

I see parallels of previous RWC (1991 IIRC) when Campo did the old Brer Rabbit on them and embarrased them into trying to play an expansive game which they famously failed to execute.

One wonders how much of the Soap Dodgers failure occurred in the build up when they started to believe the hype in the media about the poor Wobs performance against the Garlic Munchers. According to many, all they needed to do was turn up in their new seasons colours and stand around for 80 minutes and the Men in Gold would simply part like the Red Sea for the Israelites, allowing the vaunted Englanders to stroll over the chalkline for countless 7 pointers as is their divine right.

No, it should not. If you look at current rankings, apart from the ABs, I find it hard to say who among the Bokke, Wallabies, Poms, Frogs etc are really "better" than the others.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I think we've finally seen the value of a good 12 playing in his right position. Taps was very good last night I thought. Did everything asked of him and actually created doubt in the mind of the defence. I love McCabe and everything he brings to the Wallaby jumper, but we've seen the difference after last night and it couldn't have been more stark. There was actually some intent to run and pass and do some of the things we've come to expect from a Wallaby backline.

It wasn't awe inspiring by any means, but it was a good foundation to build on. Where the hell has that been all season? Barnes, to my utter shock, has also worked at fullback. He and KB (Kurtley Beale) mixed it up pretty well and Berrick's boot was mostly very dependable.

The pack were also terrific. It's not often the boys walk off the park against England and you can confidently say that we had the better of the forward battle. We beat them in the scrum and definitely at the breakdown. Alexander's great play in the loose is now almost matched by solidity in the set piece and that's very pleasing. Timani has also come of age as a test footballer this season. He was very solid in the tough stuff, as was Cliffy. The only blemishes were a couple of wobbles in the scrum and some poor lineout work in the first half that cost us.

The only other thing I'd say would be that we got a bit stage fright in the red zone. We were all over the Poms in stages last night but didn't get full value points wise. If they had been more accurate themselves we probably would have lost. There is also the small matter of kicking possession away and trying to defend our way to victory in the last quarter. I never want to see us do that again. The Badger showed the way at a couple of crucial moments by running hard and straight. We got forward momentum and suddenly some tired bodies were back pedalling. The opposition can't score if they don't have the ball and on the front foot.

Gripping contest though. It was great to get the win and both teams, while lacking a bit in the execution, at least looked like wanting to attack.

 

[Bowside]

I though Barnes played his best game of rugby in a long time. If he can keep knocking over kicks like he did last night I think he should stay at 15 for the both the wallabies and tahs for the foreseeable future.

AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) always plays better at 13, and tapuai showed why he should have been playing 12 from the start.

Phipps did some good things, but he's still not up to it, and I stand by that.

Happy we beat the poms.

 

[barbarian]

I think we've finally seen the value of a good 12 playing in his right position. Taps was very good last night I thought. Did everything asked of him and actually created doubt in the mind of the defence. I love McCabe and everything he brings to the Wallaby jumper, but we've seen the difference after last night and it couldn't have been more stark.

Last night also disproved the theory that our backline defence would fall to pieces without McCabe. I haven't seen the stats but from what I saw Taps was incredibly solid, with a few dominant hits thrown in.

I dare say that was our best backline defensive effort for a looooong time- between KB (Kurtley Beale)'s incredible consistency, Cummins' bell-ringers and Taps and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) in the centers we had the poms covered almost everywhere- did they even make a line break?
.

 

[tranquility]

I also agree that while Taps wasn't our best player, or probably even in the top three individual performers his contribution to the fludity of our game was easily noticeable. Isn't it also interesting to note his efforts comparatively at 12 and 13?

12 is so much better for him, because it allows him to use to his skillset to create space for those around him. It is also fantastic to have a left footed kicking option in midfield. His footwork, ball-skills and strength in contact make him a very sound prospect at inside center.

 

[cyclopath]

Last night also disproved the theory that our backline defence would fall to pieces without McCabe. I haven't seen the stats but from what I saw Taps was incredibly solid, with a few dominant hits thrown in.

I dare say that was our best backline defensive effort for a looooong time- between KB (Kurtley Beale)'s incredible consistency, Cummins' bell-ringers and Taps and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) in the centers we had the poms covered almost everywhere- did they even make a line break?
.

No, they did not. According to stats I have seen. Of course, stats may lie.