duckbill
Ward Prentice (10)
Avete avuto un gran culo!What's Italian for 'you guys got fucking lucky there'?
Avete avuto un gran culo!What's Italian for 'you guys got fucking lucky there'?
Some will assume that was an improved performance because the Wallabies won..
But, it wasn't that was a worse performance against a lesser opposition, Horne, Hanigan, Smith, Foley and Moore were dissapointing. Game management was again poor, last week they kicked too much, this week they tried to run it from everywhere. Wallabies don't have the execution and accuracy to run it from everywhere.
Naiavalu looked good, DHP much improved, Hunts growing into a good 12, Timani brought more impact but had a few errors and was largely absent in the last 30mins.
Set piece is a big concern, that was close to our best front row against Italy's second choice props.
Joe Powell received 6 minutes of game time in the entire series.... utter bollocks.
Alright questions answered Cheik (reserves in brackets):
Front Row: Kepu, TPN, Sio (Ala'alatoa, Latu, Smith)
Second Row: Coleman, Arnold (Carter)
Backrow: Higginbotham, Hooper, Timani (Hardwick / Dempsey / Hanigan)
Halves: Genia, Foley (Powell, Cooper)
Wings: Naivalu, DHP
Centres: Hunt, Kerevi / Kuridrani / Horne
FB: Folau
Other back reserve being Hodge or Speight or someone.
Using the translator to whinge about the disallowed try. That's a new one (maybe fair enough though).
This team just loses crucial moments so often. It's hard to know what to do about that.
This week it's Izzy's lineout and then DHP spilling the cross kick, closely followed by (another) intercept, this time by Arnold. Another 14 points gifted to the opposition straight after last week's debacles
on that performace we could be seeing the record scoreline in the bledisloe this year, the positive is that a better wallabies team wont be the worst in the record books.Score flatters the wobblies. AIGs will destroy them. No light at the end of the tunnel, just more darkness. Well done Azzurri
This team just loses crucial moments so often. It's hard to know what to do about that.
This week it's Izzy's lineout and then DHP spilling the cross kick, closely followed by (another) intercept, this time by Arnold. Another 14 points gifted to the opposition straight after last week's debacles
I don't normal criticise TMOs etc but IMO Italy should have been granted that first try - the 'just touching' finger the TMO saw I thought was actually an illusion, it was set off the ball when the left foot was in touch.
Game was much closer than the final score line.
Just imagine if Shiggins was Italian.
Welcome to the new reality folks. Scratchy win over Fiji, loss to Scotland, scratchy win over Italy.
Now that the reserve grade test is over, let's settle back for the first grade fixture from Eden Park and note the difference in skill and intensity.
The new reality is the result of a lot of factors, the majority of them outside the specific sphere of influence of the ARU. Even if we include all stakeholders of the game, all the unions, the clubs, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all, the game's shortcomings are basically outside our collective control.
Just thought I'd get that in.