Were we out-coached/out-captained last night or were those deficiencies own goals?
I'm tending to think the latter.
The use of the bench was almost Deansesque. It was clear that box kicking tactics weren't working, yet White was not hooked or no message run out to tell him to stop it.
We were far too deep in attack for too long. Might work in the dry but not the wet. Messages from the Coach should have got out earlier. Captain was also in a position to make that call as well. It happened too late.
No drop kick set up from the 77 minute mark was critical error. Where was Matt Dunning?
There didn't appear to be any change of tactics when we had the 1 man advantage, both times.
Not related to being out-coached/out-captained but two examples of poor execution that really shaped the match were:
Gilbert missing the Penalty Goal just before oranges. Most Schoolboy kickers down to the 13D's would have kicked that goal. Anyone remember his miss in Brisbane that cost us the Lions Series?
McCabe getting bundled into touch. It was pissing with rain. 5 metres from the line, you get your body height low and dive at the line. Momentum will slide you over and there is almost nothing the defence can do to stop it. Instead we choose to try a high body position twinkle toes effort that invites Savea to bundle the ball carrier into touch with little effort.
However, we took on the #1 IRB ranked team, in conditions that suited them, and came away with a draw, after being behind at oranges. We should have won and went bloody close to doing so.
The Lords of Darkness will be more upset with that result, because the conditions were to their liking, they had the best team on paper, their bench failed to make an impact, they were unable to sway the Referee as they usually manage, and their discipline let them down.