Australia vs British and Irish Lions - 1st Test (Brisbane)

[jollyswagman]

IMHO there are three "full time" in-form 10's in Australia right now and none of them were in the squad. The question is now, which one will RD call up tomorrow?

 

[The Red Baron]

I don't think there was any great issue with JOC (James O'Connor) at 10. The backline with ball in hand looked fine. His errors were in his goalkicking which is slightly forgiveable if Lealiifano was the first choice kicker.

Sorry BH, but if you don't think there was an issue with JO'C at ten, then I suggest you watch the game again. He was anonymous, and the backline had no direction, as he was not providing any. Too often there was a unnecessary forward hitup, or Genia making a snap decision because his flyhalf was simply missing. Unfortunately, JO'C missed some crucial tackles too.

Maybe the occasion got the better of him, or maybe he isn't a 10. Either way, to say there wasn't an issue with his play is incorrect.

 

[Bad boy]

I know it won't happen but Matt Giteau at 12 or even 10 is still our best option. His games for Toulon this year have been great!!!

 

[Slim 293]

I know it won't happen but Matt Giteau at 12 or even 10 is still our best option. His games for Toulon this year have been great!!!

Matt?

 

[Braveheart81]

IMHO there are three "full time" in-form 10's in Australia right now and none of them were in the squad. The question is now, which one will RD call up tomorrow?

None of them are overly good goalkickers so I can't see any of them getting a look in.

There is one reason why we lost that game and it is goalkicking. It was the only facet of the game where we were outplayed by any margin.

 

[The Red Baron]

Matt?

To'omua?

 

[Garryowen]

Huh???

Robinson had a huge game at LHP. I can't see any changes there.

When the stats come out, I think you'll see that Palu had a huge involvement in defence both in tackles and ruck involvement. I thought our backrow worked really well. They had a much bigger influence on the game than Croft, Warburton and Heaslip.

I thought Robinson was the best player in the pack. Palu was also heavily involved from what I saw.

Totally agree however that MMM should be on the bench in place of Simmons. Pick the fucking ball up for christ's sake!

Horwill was in the thick of it but his ball security let him down on a number of occasions. He also should have done better than run into touch in the first half.

If Robbie gets the selection right for the next test, then I think we will be going to Sydney at 1 all. Ie, same pack, JOC (James O'Connor) not at ten, and a ball playing 12.

 

[fatprop]

then why the fuck wasn't he kicking?

They said during the call Lilo was first choice, so that made Barnes forth choice, whereas he would have been my first choice

 

[badabing59]

Well I'm looking forward to another 2000 posts on whether QC (Quade Cooper) should be included or not

 

[Ignoto]

I don't think there was any great issue with JOC (James O'Connor) at 10. The backline with ball in hand looked fine. His errors were in his goalkicking which is slightly forgiveable if Lealiifano was the first choice kicker.

Missing 14 points versus their 3 is what cost us the game. A 7 or 8 point win from hitting most of our kicks and no one would be questioning JOC (James O'Connor) at 10 or any other selections.

But he didn't and that's the problem. Deans picked him to execute a specific game plan, one that relied on us slotting those points. Then from what I saw in the stands he was suspect in making tackles that lead to tries. Again Deans picked him over the likes of Quade for his known defensive traits.

He looked over awed by the situation, and there's no excuse for him missing those kicks, especially whe we're competing with the Halfbot.

As Scott eluded to in the podcast, the gambles Deans made for this game didn't come off (other than Izzy). JOC (James O'Connor) was just too green to be trying to run the back line.

 

[Braveheart81]

Sorry BH, but if you don't think there was an issue with JO'C at ten, then I suggest you watch the game again. He was anonymous, and the backline had no direction, as he was not providing any. Too often there was a unnecessary forward hitup, or Genia making a snap decision because his flyhalf was simply missing. Unfortunately, JO'C missed some crucial tackles too.

Maybe the occasion got the better of him, or maybe he isn't a 10. Either way, to say there wasn't an issue with his play is incorrect.

I absolutely agree that he didn't do anything special, but I also don't think he was poor either. If you compare him to Sexton, Sexton had a couple of good chip kicks where he regathered possession but I don't think he did a whole lot else that stood out. If Sexton had been our 10, I think we would have still lost because of our goalkicking.

The game was won and lost on goalkicking. That is what it came down to.

The selection was made to pick JOC (James O'Connor) at 10 with a ball playing 12 outside him who was the first choice goalkicker. That all came crashing down in the first minute of the game.

Losing your 12 in the first minute when he is so crucial to your gameplan is critical. In the end, it turned out to be fatal.

 

[ACT Crusader]

James O'Connor had a Nathan Grey-style game at 10 tonight. Ran hard and I thought he toiled well in defence besides a couple of missed tackles. But with Lilo off he needed to change and play a more playmaking role.

He could've taken on the line more had they had that 2nd 5/8 in Lilo to set up the rest of the attacking line, but they didn't and James should've adapted.

Beale looked good when he was at 1st receiver.

Hopefully Lilo will be back for test 2 and the game plan that I think was on the cards will be seen.

 

[The Rant]

Was a bit concerned about how much space sexton was finding behind our line. He looks like a really average flyhalf, but just gets the job done. JOC (James O'Connor) was fairly ordinary but not terrible. There was one moment he panicked with the ball and couldn't make a decision, but you get that every game with QC (Quade Cooper).
Loved that beale came on and just seemed to own it. Always feel for guys who kick. If beale couldn't kick we would just talk about his impact which was large.

Can someone explain why we picked barnes if he wasn't going to kick? He won us last years wales series going toe to toe with halfpenny in the kicking department?

 

[jollyswagman]

I reckon RD's back line next week will be:

9 - Genia
10 - Cooper
11 - JOC (James O'Connor)
12 - Lealifano
13 - AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
14 - Folau
15 - Beale

I just can't see RD pushing KB (Kurtley Beale) anymore after tonight. He won't put that added pressure on him plain and simple. With the JOC (James O'Connor) experiment going so wrong tonight and the general public's criticism of the call beforehand, RD will err with the general consensus and pick Cooper at 10. If he doesn't and we lose the series in Melbourne because of a misfiring backline that will be the end of him. Maybe tonight was the nail in his coffin regardless of the series outcome.

 

[whatty]

Great game of rugby, will be tough to come back from a loss like that.
A star has certainly been confirmed in Folau.

 

[USARugger]

Huh???

Robinson had a huge game at LHP. I can't see any changes there.

When the stats come out, I think you'll see that Palu had a huge involvement in defence both in tackles and ruck involvement. I thought our backrow worked really well. They had a much bigger influence on the game than Croft, Warburton and Heaslip.

Should have been more clear, I would be happy with either Slipper or Robinson at LHP. Not saying Slipper needs to start with Robinson as a sub.

Palu made 8 tackles and missed 3. Robinson made 9 tackles and missed 1. Moore 10/0. Alexander 3/1. Douglas 10/1. Horwill 10/0. Mowen 10/2. Hooper 14/1. Slipper 1/0. Kepu 1/0. Gill 3/0.

Sorry, but a lot of you are still living in 2008 when it comes to Palu.

Stats are already out.

 

[Brumby Jack]

Quick notes:
Israel Folau had an outstanding first half
The forwards lifted their game after getting shunted backwards at knots at that scrum
We should have kicked off to Israel Folau's wing more on restarts. The man played AFL FFS! Contesting the ball makes it 50/50
We also needed to get him into the game more in the 2nd half
Goalkicking, as painful as it is, helped cost us the game. 14 points left on a field in Test Rugby is criminal, no matter who the opposition is. The Lions goal kicking coach stand behind their kicker every shot at goal whilst ours is on a couch back in South Africa and gives tips over Skype!
Injuries were the other reason we lost. Running Hooper at 12 takes a lot of adjustment at Test level. I know he has played there for Manly but Tests are different.
Also, picking players in positions they don't play at their province will never work

 

[jollyswagman]

None of them are overly good goalkickers so I can't see any of them getting a look in.

There is one reason why we lost that game and it is goalkicking. It was the only facet of the game where we were outplayed by any margin.

Mate there are a hell of a lot more reasons we lost other than goal kicking. If we had someone playing 10 we may not have needed to rely on our kickers to win the game for us in the first place.

 

[The Red Baron]

I absolutely agree that he didn't do anything special, but I also don't think he was poor either. If you compare him to Sexton, Sexton had a couple of good chip kicks where he regathered possession but I don't think he did a whole lot else that stood out. If Sexton had been our 10, I think we would have still lost because of our goalkicking.

The game was won and lost on goalkicking. That is what it came down to.

The selection was made to pick JOC (James O'Connor) at 10 with a ball playing 12 outside him who was the first choice goalkicker. That all came crashing down in the first minute of the game.

Losing your 12 in the first minute when he is so crucial to your gameplan is critical. In the end, it turned out to be fatal.

And there is the problem. Whether intentional, or whether you have just blindly stumbled across it, our gameplan apparently revolved around a rookie 12. Not a smart move I would have thought.

JO'C is generally a reliable goalkicker. To say that our gameplan was double stuffed because our first choice kicker went down (again I remind you, our first choice was a rookie) is ludicrous. JO'C should have been quite capable of making the step up.

The cold hard fact is that he was not able to. I never once compared him to Sexton either. Although now you have brought the subject up, Sexton controlled his backline really well. He knew when to run, kick and pass. I daresay that he would have kicked goals too, if required.

Please don't present anymore strawman arguments to me.

 

[ACR]

I tend to agree that Deans has handled Cooper poorly but 'dag nabbit' (or some other old person expression) it's a two way street. Cooper has done absolutely NOTHING to help his own situation. Not willing to change his game even slightly for international rugby, whinges about it all in a tweet.

+ he just plain old doesn't play that well, for every good thing he does he makes some mistake a second later. That tackle 'attempt' in SA is enough for me not to pick him for another couple of months, lol.

Put To'omua or Beale at 10.