Bledisloe 1 - Wallabies vs All Blacks, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, 8:05pm

[tragic]

I'd be interested to know exactly where it was.
It could just as easily be NZ journos- rugby is their no 1 sport and their players have a much higher profile.
The Oz paparazzi would have much bigger targets in other sports if they were going to risk breaking the law for a scoop.

 

[Forcefield]

You'd think that anyone who places a listening device is pretty serious to the point that it wouldn't be easily found. You would also think if you plant one, why not plant several? You would also think that if one was found, they would look for others and since others haven't been reported it is probably a loner. I reckon someone did this so it would be found to throw a cat amongst the pigeons. Either a NZer to fire up the troops or an Aussie to unsettle the AB camp and maybe get them to move hotels?

Makes me wonder if the ABs frequently scan for bugs.

 

[Pedrolicus]

I would imagine the kind of information possibly gleaned would be of greater value to the media than the other team. Weird though.

Sent from my E6853 using Tapatalk

 

[Upthenuts]

Did anybody watch the game last night between Manawatu and Northland?


Very depressing. Fantastic physicality and wonderful skills.

northland lost

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

@mst has bunged together a match preview:

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com

Nice work & how did writing "All Blacks by 2" feel?

 

[RebelYell]

Nobody think Mitch Inman could be a stopgap 12 on the EOST, or Ant Fainga'a? Neither will be the playmaker 12 we're after, but they also wouldn't let anybody down and would allow the likes of Hodge and Godwin to be steadily introduced to test rugby off the bench.

Unpopular opinion I'm sure, but the reality is that Ant was in very good form for the first half of the Reds' season and despite Mitch's limitations he is very consistent and a great team man who won't let you down in defence and will carry hard in attack. And he's one of those types of guys whose performance would go up 20% when wearing a gold jersey, undoubtedly. Though he's not in the Rising squad, which may suggest he's looking for another joker option in France like he had with Toulon last year, unless anybody is able to shed some better light?

 

[KOB1987]

Re the bug - I reckon it was Robbie Deans

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Must be some punters putting their dosh on the Wobs, they've come in from ~3.20 to 3.05 & AB are out to 1.37 from ~1.29 midweek.

 

[Pedrolicus]

Must be some punters putting their dosh on the Wobs, they've come in from ~3.20 to 3.05 & AB are out to 1.37 from ~1.29 midweek.

Rugby league player syndicate no doubt.

 

[Slim 293]

Nobody think Mitch Inman could be a stopgap 12 on the EOST, or Ant Fainga'a?

Nope.......... well, Daz.

 

[emuarse]

There are a few ill informed opinions coming forward on some Brumbies' players.

Fardy is not out of form. His real problem is that he attracts a lot of penalties. He was probably the best of all the forwards going round in the tests against England, and was utterly stuffed at the end of the series given the huge amount of work he got through.

Kuridrani hasn't been as influential as he was a season or two ago, but he is still one of the few in the backline (Kerevi is another) who gets over the gain line just about every time he handles the ball. He did in fact have quite a strong game against the Highlanders in the quarter final, making a few incisive runs. His biggest problem will be the crabbing of Giteau playing at 12.

Alan Ala'alatoa is a very promising loose head prop, and about the only one to see him as a tight head prop apparently is Cheika. This could well prove to be a bit of a shambles and I'd hate to see Alan end up with a reputation along the lines of Benny Alexander's. I would have no hesitation playing Tom Robertson off the bench.

It seems it's very easy to forget that the Brumbies finished top of the Aus Super Rugby conference with I think two wins more than the next best side, and that both Fardy and Kuridrani played large parts in their season's outcome.

I.S Fardy was out of form and looked exhausted.



That's certainly good bait you've got there, Inside Shoulder.
Brumby Runner took it at full charge

 

[mst]

@mst has bunged together a match preview:

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com

Nice work & how did writing "All Blacks by 2" feel?

How's that false sense of security?

 

[Dismal Pillock]

NZ there for the taking iHomo.

That bloody graveyard venue.

Last men standing in midfield. Fekitoa and his mad rushes out of the line to cut off the outside gambit, ffs hope it works....

Didnt even pick a bloody reserve lock on the bench! (Liam Squire to be bunged in?)

Although Aus's backline does have a bit of a "would've looked good on paper a few years back" feel about it....

 

[Forcefield]

Nope.... well, Daz.

Don't often agree with Slim, but he has that one well covered. Inman and Fainga'a have no future with the Wallabies and you'd be clutching at straws to suggest they are likely to do a better all round job that Hodge or Godwin. I don't think Inman/Fainga'a would complement a likely Kuridrani or Kerevi 13 either.

 

[Groucho]

That's not the point, he'll get caught out on defence eventually if he doesn't know what he's doing.

Let's say he lines up at 13 at an attacking set-piece but then we lose that set-piece. He can't run back immediately to fullback he needs stay to defend the line.

And then your required to shift the fullback to wing, and the wing to centre - so the fullback needs to know how to defend wing and a winger needs to know how to defend 13.

Unnecessary shifting around. Might as well just have Folau as a roving winger he'd get his hands on the ball just the same.

Or maybe he could simply inject himself into the line more from fullback.

The overall goal for shifting to 13 is simply to get his hands on the ball more, which to be honest doesn't seem like a great deal more then previous years when he's been at fullback. So it's really not worth it unless you got another fullback in form and knocking for selection and a 13 who is struggling - both are debatable.

I think it is the point. He can only get caught out in defence at 13 if he defends there. Folau is always going to defend at the back for the Wobs. For the rest of his career. Longer. Making his defence at 13 an issue in whether he runs there in attack is inventing an imaginary question. He's obviously our best 13 in attack. The question is which of his fullback replacements or his 13 alternatives adds the most.

 

[Forcefield]

Horne defending 13, Folau 15, DHP 14 with:
13. Folau
14. Horne
15. DHP

 

[Groucho]

Go you good Wallabies!!!

 

[dillyboy]

Game on - c'mon Wallabies!!!

 

[The torpedo]

pls win wallabies

 

[Istanbul]

I'm liking the look of the wallabies line up. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) maybe a bit past his best and hoping 9 and 10 improve on the last run but overall there is a good feel about this one!