Bledisloe #1 - AUS v NZL, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, August 8th

[Quick Hands]

the only major issue I had last night was in the halves. Phipps had a mare and Foley did too. I'd be inclined to stick with Phipps for the moment, because I think he keeps us going forward and generally his service is pretty good (last night excepted). He does get rattled however and the leaders in the team need to get in his ear and calm him down. Foley worried me though. He wasn't flat enough, didn't present well and didn't kick that well either. Matty t on the other hand looked considerably better out there and released his outside men more effectively.

Phipps was rattled and resorted to a couple of hopeless box kicks reminiscent of his Rebels days and far too many passes to no-one. You can explain away one, but not that many - having said that, based on his play in the past 2 seasons, he deserves another chance.

Can't say the same about Foley, has had ample opportunity to grab the 10 jersey this year, but hasn't. To'omua to start.

 

[Gnostic]

^^^

Re that press conference of Cheika's.

Having endured the horrendous Deans' gobbledegook at such times during The Six Lost Years, how uplifting was it to have a coach that spoke straight, called a spade a spade, no bullshit, no PC crap, no cliches, every word made sense.

And even more important, Chek's content and description of the journey ahead was eminently sensible and seemed to bode well for the future.

It wasn't inspiring, it was designed to be humble and resolved, but, for me, given the recent Wallaby past, that ended up inspiring.

It was great to see Chieka and Moore obviously please with the result and very happy with a job well done, but also subdued and reserved with genuine (not lip service) comments about the need for improvement and consistency at the improved levels. Very happy to see they enjoyed it but even without looking at the videos they were considering the improvements. That is a massively improved attitude and I think it showed on the field.

One massive point of difference in the RC has been the Wallabies bench and the massive impact they have made when they came on. It was seen again this week and speaks to how Chieka has crafted a very complete squad mentality.

Top marks to Mario Ladesma, how long is it since we can say that the Wallabies truly dominated the ABs scrum. They could have had a few extra penalties as well.

Also top marks to Nathan Grey, 23 Psychos out there looking to put the hurt into their tackles and loving it too. I still think they offer the opposition the sideline too much given the relative lack of pace in the back three, but the effort from the cover defenders like Hooper is containing the breaks that are made.

 

[Gnostic]

I must say that a superstitious person would think there is something of a Sydney University hex associated with the Wallabies. They were well beaten by Manly yesterday for those who haven't read the Shute thread and the last time they got dusted like that and missed the final would have to be nearly a decade ago, and the Wallabies actually played some half decent rugby back then as well.

Sorry Cyclo - but I do take pleasure in Uni getting smacked.

 

[Groucho]

White and To'omua at 9/10 will do me from here on in.

Of course they will.



Continuously selecting Brumbies is like having a stopped watch. Sometimes it's sure to be correct.

This might be one of those cases.

 

[Teh Other Dave]

Still think White deserves a shot to see what he can offer. We know Phipps gives flat, quick service, which is vital for our backline, and he's had previous history of some poor decision making. I think White copped a raw deal over last year's Bledisloe, everyone seems to forget that he picked up loose ball after we coughed it up one minute before his kick.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

On the other hand he ran 90 meters (again), beat multiple defenders, took most of the bombs that came anywhere near his way, offloaded out of contact and made a few great tackles. Oh, how quickly we get used to it.

Well if you want to get down to nit picking (or is it knit picking?) half of the 90m were across field: with Foley @ 10 and him in the 13.5 channel we really need a DMG* figure.
*distance made good, for non sailors.

 

[cyclopath]

Phipps and Foley had poor games, Foley the worst of the two I thought. Phipps made some poor passes, not as many as some have stated (and I only watched the game with the benefit of a pause button and sobriety today!) but some critical errors of judgement including the yellow card. But the backline played very deep, without anyone hitting it flat and hard, and often the ball runners were a long way from Phipps (witness the pass that Mumm knocked on - no-one was within cooee of Phipps to take the ball, and all that was needed was a clean take and recycle to almost certainly score). Nonetheless, he should have done better.
Anyone who thought Giteau did anything filling at 9 to be an emergency option should look again, his passing was very loopy. I quite liked his game at 12, but really would prefer him to be a tad flatter and more direct. To'omua looked very good coming on. As did White.
I'd probably play Phipps and To'omua to start, with Giteau at 12 next week. If Phipps always played like last night, it would be a problem, but he doesn't. If White always played whole game like he did off the bench last night, he'd be a great choice, but he doesn't. But what he showed last night was excellent. If he starts next week, and I would have no issue with that, I'd love to see more of this level of play. I think between Phipps and White, we'll be well served going forward, but it's an open race.

 

[Damo666]

On Phipp's "looking" they want to play to a pattern, the attackers should also know their roles, Phipps has been coached to expect the guy to be there, to take that extra "second" and put it on a defence that has less time to get set.

With the utmost respect, thats bollocks. The golden rule for a scrumhalf is dont throw the pass if the reciever isnt there & ready, its the first thing taught to 8 year olds.

I find the Phipps defending here quite interesting - it is like people are saying last night is the first time that he has thrown the ball over the head/at the feet/behind the intended target? (!!!).

I wish someone with more time than me could make a little montage of all the passes that Phipps has thrown away over the last 18 months or so in the Wallabies....it would go for a while.

And I'm not just slagging the bloke off - the rest of his game is fantastic, but is there an internationl scrumhalf in the to 10 nations with a worse pass?

 

[Groucho]

Well if you want to get down to nit picking (or is it knit picking?) half of the 90m were across field: with Foley @ 10 and him in the 13.5 channel we really need a DMG* figure.
*distance made good, for non sailors.

The difference between most players 'crabbing' to try to get outside defenders, and Folau doing it, is that Folau usually succeeds, and his passing step is often back in. I'll take it.

 

[Forcefield]

Of course they will.

As a neutral observer (unless someone wants to put up Ian Prior and Sias Ebersohn as potential Wallabies ), I am all for a White/To'omua starting combination. I like Phipps when he plays well, but his bad games are very bad. White deserves his chance. Phipps can earn his starting place back with an ace game off the bench (like he did against the Boks). I have never really rated Foley and surely he must have played himself beneath QC (Quade Cooper) in that one.

 

[Gnostic]

And I'm not just slagging the bloke off - the rest of his game is fantastic, but is there an internationl scrumhalf in the to 10 nations with a worse pass?

Genia, not in execution of the pass, simply because it is so slow firstly to clear the ruck then to actually be passed.

Phipps had a shocker but unless somebody else comes along who has the same work rate and defensive strength I think he is safe. Next year I think Stirzacker will get a chance to show that he can step up, or perhaps Matty Lucas who was extremely good for Manly in the Shute against a Uni side littered with Super players.

 

[A mutterer]

i actually think chieka is starting with a deliberate tactic to have the backline run deep in the first 30 - 40 (maybe 50?), especially the 10, so that when he injects his hard running bench who play flatter it amplifies the speed effect to bring us home with a full sail of wind.

 

[Pfitzy]

That was a hell of a game to be at. I believe it comes down to @Lindommer and I, as well as a mate of mine, being at the ground. We were all there at the Tahs win, and now this. Coincidence? No such thing.

Pack were awesome I thought, although it must be said that guys like Read were not near their best - whether they weren't allowed to be or we were simply not letting them is up for debate.

Scrum was a complete weapon. Jeez it was good to see that. Mumm and Horwill provided a lot of grunt, and it is clear Mumm's time in the UK, as well as Ledesma having a bit more time with the tight five, is working.

Backline was still to crabby for my liking, but To'omua fixed that and surely put himself in the box seat to start next week? White had a brilliant cameo but it will come down to whether his starting game is as good as his finishing game, or superior to Phipps' starting game. Phipps, it must be said, had some shockers in there - passing to no-one behind your own goal line is just dumb.

Fortunately we scrambled well, and the ABs were not good enough to make us pay. The end.

 

[Tangawizi]

Wallabies up to 3rd in the World Rankings after the win. Only behind the AB's & Ireland.

Which means ahead of England, the Boks & Wales.

http://m.independent.ie/sport/rugby...nd-best-rugby-team-in-the-world-31437119.html

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

 

[Groucho]

As a neutral observer (unless someone wants to put up Ian Prior and Sias Ebersohn as potential Wallabies ), I am all for a White/To'omua starting combination. I like Phipps when he plays well, but his bad games are very bad. White deserves his chance. Phipps can earn his starting place back with an ace game off the bench (like he did against the Boks). I have never really rated Foley and surely he must have played himself beneath QC (Quade Cooper) in that one.

I'm not averse to him either. I was only ribbing BrumbyRunner for serial Brumby picking.

However I think we're in danger of not realising what is working. Cheika's current big idea is to pick a starting and finishing team, where the start team isn't necessarily the strongest team, but one picked to do a job. That job seems to include running the tits off the opposition, so we can bring on our finishing team (which might in fact be our best XV) to play directly in the last third of the game.

I'm inclined to see how it plays out. Obviously we want more accuracy from Phipps, but if the team's prepared to sacrifice that for speed, then so be it. Obviously passes that cost tries are unacceptable. Equally obviously, Phipps doesn't play like that all the time. Yesterday he was poor, and has to improve on that.

Rather then "deserving to start", perhaps White "deserves to finish" because that's when we plan to capitalize on the work done in the tit-running phase of the game. In practical terms, he's probably earned himself a longer turn.

Cheika's other ideas include greater physical fitness, and more physicality. People said it wouldn't work at test level. Hopefully that's precisely where it will work.

 

[Brumbieman]

With the utmost respect, thats bollocks. The golden rule for a scrumhalf is dont throw the pass if the reciever isnt there & ready, its the first thing taught to 8 year olds.

I find the Phipps defending here quite interesting - it is like people are saying last night is the first time that he has thrown the ball over the head/at the feet/behind the intended target? (!!!).

I wish someone with more time than me could make a little montage of all the passes that Phipps has thrown away over the last 18 months or so in the Wallabies..it would go for a while.

And I'm not just slagging the bloke off - the rest of his game is fantastic, but is there an internationl scrumhalf in the to 10 nations with a worse pass?

And if we made a montage of all the opportunities that Phipps has created with fast, flat passes out in front of his target, it would go for much, much longer, and have quite a few tries in it.

Including Kuridrani's against SA a month ago.

That try was a good line from TK, but a perfect pass off the deck, in front of a target to allow him to hit both the ball, and the D line, at maximum speed and as close to the advantage line as possible.


He had a shocker, but he'll be better next week and should retain his place and allow White to finish games out like he's doing.

The bigger issue was how average Foley was. To'omua made a big difference when he came on and i'm still convinced that start him with Cooper is the best combination, with Giteau/Lealiifano coming off the bench.

Other than the 10/12 combination, I think we've found our best possible team, and i'm really looking forward to how next week goes.

We'll never face a more fired up NZ team than next week, and I cant imagine Cheika wont have the Wallabies absolutely steaming as well.

It's going to be absolutely biblical.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Oh what a load of bulldust that is.."the receivers fault"..really? The bloody grass was the receiver. He was completely rattled from the start and only got worse as the game progressed. His yellow card was a blessing as Cheik probably would have left him on the park a while longer otherwise.

His cameo off the bench against SA was great. His passing was quick and accurate and had a positive influence on the game. The match against the Argies was a step backward from that and we didn't see the same service and his decision making was pretty ordinary. Last night was a complete shocker and had we lost the match I think he would have deservedly been made the scapegoat along with Foley.

I may be stretching it here, but I think that both Phipps and Foley could have played their way out of a ticket to the RWC. We have a number of players who are in arguably better form and can cover multiple positions. To'omua can cover 10 & 12, Gits can cover 10 & 12 and possible our thrid string #9. Cooper hasn't played too badly and will most likely get some time next weekend. If he has a solid game I would not be surprised if Cheika sticks with Cooper & Gits and then keeps To'omua on the bench as his finisher and back up if Cooper or Gits goes down or if QC (Quade Cooper) starts to have some brain explosions.

The backline I would like to see next week is
White 60 / Genia 20
Cooper 65 / To'omua 25
Giteau
TK
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
Speight
Folau

Bench - Genia, To'omua, Beale? or Horne?

I like your post as it relates to Phipps. All well and good to look for excuses for the No 9 if the scrum is going to shit, but that wasn't happening last night. To try to say that Foley's poor game led to Phipps' atrocious passing to nobody or their ankles is just unadulterated favouritism.

The rest of your p[ost about the backline, I do not agree with. I can;t believe any coach, including Cheika, would not start his best options and combinations i a test match. To'omua to start at 10 from now to the RWC.

 

[Brumby Runner]

So did anyone have a White-To'omua-Giteau in their original 9-10-12 starting predictions?

Two/thirds. I have always said White is the most skillful of our No 9s, and similarly have called on To'omua to be our No 10. Giteau at No 12 was never on my wish list. He does seem to be playing better than I expected, but I'd still go with Lealiifano at 12.

 

[Sully]

I think Phipps is our starting half.

BUT

I've mentioned before that he tends to get trapped in the 'I must pass quickly at all costs" mentality.

I had a chuckle when Kaff suggested he take a few steps to see what going on instead of passing straight away. Will Genia anyone?

 

[the sabanator]

I don't think its been brought up too much, but I really hope we don't get Wayne Barnes again for a long time. Thought he controlled the match fairly poorly and he went to the pocket waaayyy too quickly on both Kepu and Smith