Australia Vs. England, Twickenham, 2nd November 2013

[hughbert]

Genia needs to be dropped. Let's not get erect at 15 flashy minutes off-the-bench (What happened in SA) when he is so far from being able see what's wrong and how to correct it, it's not fucking funny.

He's never been a competent kicker. I'm sure he's appeared so in the looseness of Super rugby but he should be totally banned from kicking at test level. It's a fundamental issue with his game and his inability to acknowledge it suggests that he's either very dim, caught up in the 3 year old press about him being the best in the world, or the wallabies don't watch the tapes of their own matches.

I was prepared to give Link a pass until now because of his inheriting the shitpile from deans. But he's 8 tests in now and for all the talk off accountability, we'll likely see Genia again when they play the next home union test. There'll be some bullshit about dropping Genia for White for the Italy match , the game will be scrappy because our scrum will get raped, and Genia will be selected for Ireland because of some renewed fire in his belly or something.

Rinse, repeat. Genia hasn't looked like he'd make an ITM cup side for 2 years. So sick of hearing about how he's back only for him to bottle it at almost the first opportunity.

 

[Muttonbird]

Harsh, but fair.

 

[Hairy Test Eagle]

I'd like to see White on again, not just because Genia had an ordinary game but because he's a pretty safe halfback. And get rid of the box kick, more often than not they are pretty damn ordinary.

 

[daz]

Forget everything you know about Wallaby history, personality clashes, toxic environments, Deans, everything. Forget it all.

We have had time to prepare, consider and plan. We have been game-hardened.

We lost to a team that played 20 minutes of actual rugby and looked even more disorganised than us.

Yes, the refs were a blight on the game and should all burn in hell, but that is not the real reason we lost.

It is all laid at the feet of Link, and he is solely responsible for that fucking disgrace of a "game". No-one else.

 

[RoffsChoice]

It is all laid at the feet of Link, and he is solely responsible for that fucking disgrace of a "game". No-one else.

I give some blame to the team, but the majority does go to Link. I'd say our plan wasn't suited to a test at Twickenham but it doesn't look like we had a plan.

 

[Richo]

It is all laid at the feet of Link, and he is solely responsible for that fucking disgrace of a "game". No-one else.

I didn't see Link out there being anonymous in the collisions, dropping balls, failing to bind, or falling off tackles. Yes, he needs to shoulder a chunk of responsibility, but there were a lot of players who were rubbish.

We seem to think that the Wallabies are a tweak or two away from challenging the All Blacks. But that's not the case. We simply don't have the cattle, especially in the forwards.

 

[I like to watch]

We certainly don't have the cattle to take on the opposition pack, one out.
Forget trying to play like Fiji play 7's.
Get the piggies to hunt as a pack,and I believe we will instantly see an improvement in collisions and effectiveness.
It's not like spreading them across the park is paying dividends.
We scored one soft try last night,one pass off the ruck,from a poor missed tackle.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

<snip>
Then we have 3 forwards interchanging passing in their own 22 while going sideways: if god had wanted them to pass he would not have made them forwards.

One of your best.

I may be using it in due course, if I may?

 

[USARugger]

Get the piggies to hunt as a pack,and I believe we will instantly see an improvement in collisions and effectiveness.

Even if we could just get 6-7-8 playing in unison we'd be seeing the dividends paid at the breakdown. I've said it a million times before but Pocock got a shitload of help ascending to the throne by playing with a loose forward trio that worked together. Especially him and Elsom, the two of them were clearly working in tandem and would just devastate the opposition as a result come the collision zone or breakdown.

It's a team game, why can't we even get 8 guys looking like they train together or want to be on the field together?

Maybe it's time to throw these lumps on an island in the Torres Straits following the EOYT and let them 'bond' over their own mutual survival.

I'm going to keep things quiet until after the next test but I'm really not sure if I should be angry or depressed after this one.

 

[Blue]

Well on the bright side the All Blacks are going to tear this Pom side a brand spanking shiny new A grade bumcrater of legendary proportions. You'll be able to sail an oil tanker through the thing sideways.

 

[Braveheart81]

Well, that was atrocious. Reffing blunders aside, the Wallabies fell apart in the second half and didn't deserve to win.

Genia was the worst player on the park. He should be dropped. White and Phipps should play against Italy. So many skill errors and even more incredibly bad decisions.

The tight five barring Moore were atrocious. I'm not going to single anyone out because they were all awful. Out of our reserve tight five forwards I thought Kepu and Douglas had some decent impact, but they were only better than players who played terribly.

Our backrow kept us in the forward contest but only just. The backrow's biggest downfall was their lack of pushing and early disengagements from the scrum. Our scrum is weak and they need to help out. A few of the scrum penalties seemed to come during the second push by England which coincided with our backrow (particularly Hooper), ceasing to push in the scrum.

The backs dropped the ball far too many times and made some poor decisions when attacking opportunities presented themselves. They all did some good things but they also all made too many mistakes.

 

[rams]

AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was solid
Izzy needs to learn to offload
Moore was good but agree with some previous comments that he probably needs a rest but Faiinga is not the answer.
Timani went missing again.
Genia needs to provide better service, what ever happened to passing off the deck & there is a time & place for box kicking but I don't think Genia knows the difference.

 

[Slim 293]

Laurie Fisher ‏@LordLaurie58

5h​

Irrespective of referee calls, I'm baffled by Wallabies attitude to scrummaging. Pressure and dominance controls the whole tempo of a game.

 

[Braveheart81]

I thought Folau was our best kicker in general play which is a sad indictment on the rest of the backline.

To'omua's general play kicking was reasonable but his missed touchfinders off penalties were crucial (even if one of them was from a poor refereeing decision).

 

[Bowside]

Forget everything you know about Wallaby history, personality clashes, toxic environments, Deans, everything. Forget it all.

We have had time to prepare, consider and plan. We have been game-hardened.

We lost to a team that played 20 minutes of actual rugby and looked even more disorganised than us.

Yes, the refs were a blight on the game and should all burn in hell, but that is not the real reason we lost.

It is all laid at the feet of Link, and he is solely responsible for that fucking disgrace of a "game". No-one else.

Link can only pick the players available to him. Deans only could as well (but he had 6 years to do something about it).

That doesn't absolve him of fault. But it does make his job harder. Still a lot of coachable faults in the wallaby play.

Aus rugby is paying the price for neglecting to grow and reform the grassroots structures over the last 15 years. Everything comes back to that in some way I reckon.

 

[FrankLind]

Well on the bright side the All Blacks are going to tear this Pom side a brand spanking shiny new A grade bumcrater of legendary proportions. You'll be able to sail an oil tanker through the thing sideways.

God I hope so. They are focusing on that game I think. Two years in a row of losing the English test with the fair-weather Pom supporters at my work giving me shit for another year would be hard to stomach.

Saying that, the Frogs could tip us over. Ben Smith is no Conrad Smith.

 

[Muttonbird]

Well on the bright side the All Blacks are going to tear this Pom side a brand spanking shiny new A grade bumcrater of legendary proportions. You'll be able to sail an oil tanker through the thing sideways.

The ABs will not lack motivation for this match but I know they are now flat after an enormous effort earlier this year. You just can't keep the same intensity required to win the RC through the whole year. Also, on the back of last night's match I worry about the officiating. I think once you've secured your major trophies, the EOYT is a holiday in disguise (if not, it's a useful building exercise). It's a wonder how the players concentrate at all. I'd go so far as to say the EOYT's are nothing but circus acts at the moment, set up for the odd NH win and the goodwill that provides to their fan base.

 

[Muttonbird]

God I hope so. They are focusing on that game I think. Two years in a row of losing the English test with the fair-weather Pom supporters at my work giving me shit for another year would be hard to stomach.

Saying that, the Frogs could tip us over. Ben Smith is no Conrad Smith.

Look at the interchange for the Halai try last night. Ben Smith knows what he's doing, Frank.

 

[Moono75]

The biggest mistake the Wallabies can make will be to take these forwards to the World Cup. They have consistently proved they are not world class and they aren't likley to find a new gear and become world beaters in the next 2 years. We are recycling the same players over and over becasue coaches are afraid to make the really tough call and end careers. Play the most promising but raw rookie forward talent. Take the big defeats while they develope, but get a team in place and ready to compete at the World Cup.

 

[hawktrain]

The Wallabies kicking game was as bad as I've ever seen from an international team. Particularly Genia's box kicks which were awful (and how do you get one charged down? It's a box kick, the point is that you're protected behind the breakdown) but the kicking from the other backs was just aimless. So many terrible midfield bombs.

The other thing I noticed is how many lineout throws to the 2 jumper (from both sides) were so clearly not straight, but none of them get called.