Bledisloe 2 2023 @ Dunedin 12:35PM Sat 5 Aug

[Dan54]

Well was worth getting home from holiday in time for that. Good test I thought, Wallabies went bloody well, and started game real good. But funnily enough, I kind of felt ABs would seal up problems. For ABs, and the Shaun Stevenson must be aan AB, I still not convinced, he makes some mares on defence, Samisoni at 2 is not as dominant as many say either. But all in all, we saw a few like Tamati williams starting (probably for last time), Finau given a run (went well, bit a few work ons) so I would guess AB coaching group pretty content.
Wallabies went well, noone really let side down, perhaps a couple of years under belt we will see some good players out of thet lot!

 

[Equalizer]

I think De Niro said it best.......

 

[molman]

The Wallabies are definitely improving. My worry is if they have enough time as a team to bring all the pieces together with our depth challenges and the injuries we've had with players out, getting injured or returning from their injuries and/or not having played a lot of rugby.

Players like Kellaway, Kerevi & Petitia are all looking better with more time. Nawaqanitawase continues to look good at this level. Not perfect all the time, but really exciting. Quade the dropped ball aside looked good. Bell is class and looked great and I felt like Hooper had a very strong game. Tate looked better in this game to me than last. His kicking is much better. His passing from the base is quick and the quality though still probably not where it needs to be does look to be tightening up.

The lineout generally was really solid, I recall one steal against the throw and that Leota fumble. The scrum was a bit hit and miss. Seemed to have them in the first half and then things started to fall apart. A fit Tupuo and AAA and I think we win that game.

 

[Digestif Palu]

The ruck penalties got me more than the advantages. No consistency and it really felt like NZ were just gifted so many in that 2nd half.

Trying to be partial, both teams collapsed mauls, no penalties. Fraser had arms on the ground the end of the first half for his penalty. We were definitely offside for multiple phases at points.

The short arm one? What was that? If he thinks it’s holding on call the NZ penalty. If not then Australia’s. If the ball isn’t coming out shouldn’t it be the team in possessions ball?

That’s my vent. Result aside, we’re definitely building and I love the selections and direction. Hooper was huge and I love that Eddie is giving the young guys time. People wanted Hooper out after a 30 min debut in SA. Ridiculous!

 

[whitefalcon]

I'm not even disappointed with that effort. I honestly thought we'd have 50 put on us. I think it also showed what might be possible.

The first half was sensational. We seemed to know how to pace ourselves a little more even when playing really fast. Unlike in Melbourne it didnt appear like we over did it.

- We seemed to have a coherent game plan with good kicking in the first half (which fell away in parts in the second)
- Pone was great, and it appears he knows how to scum now.
- Bell, like last week was epic. He is one of the first picked.
- Still not convinced on what Arnold brings. T.Hooper appeared to be a better lineout option
- Surely the T.Hooper doubters now seen what he brings. He booked his ticket to France today I think
- Positionally T.Hooper and Leota seemed messy. I think there was some confusion about who was playing the 6 role and whole was playing the 7 role
- Today might have been Tate's best game in gold
- Gordon was excellent, really really good, his kicking was much better than last week (maybe the MCG was part of the problem being an oval?)
- I'm still not convinced on Kerevi, I hope he keeps getting better but right now he isn't the player he was. I would really have liked to see what Foketi brings
- Petaia and Marky Mark (Nawaqanitawase) looked great in attack
- Marika seemed a bit quieter than normal but maybe that's because Marky Mark (Nawaqanitawase) was much more active.
- Faessler was great for a debut playing big minutes
- Was White playing the team's game plan when he came on? He seemed to slow it down and box kick far more, it seemed jarring the difference in tactics between Tate/Gordon and White/Quade
- watching the post match interviews, has Gordon's voice even broken yet?

I hate to say it, but I have some hope again

 

[SteveWA]

Again the whinging about the ref after a loss is just so pathetic.

So is the whinging about the whinging

 

[molman]

I'm not even disappointed with that effort. I honestly thought we'd have 50 put on us. I think it also showed what might be possible.

The first half was sensational. We seemed to know how to pace ourselves a little more even when playing really fast. Unlike in Melbourne it didnt appear like we over did it.

- We seemed to have a coherent game plan with good kicking in the first half (which fell away in parts in the second)
- Pone was great, and it appears he knows how to scum now.
- Bell, like last week was epic. He is one of the first picked.
- Still not convinced on what Arnold brings. T.Hooper appeared to be a better lineout option
- Surely the T.Hooper doubters now seen what he brings. He booked his ticket to France today I think
- Positionally T.Hooper and Leota seemed messy. I think there was some confusion about who was playing the 6 role and whole was playing the 7 role
- Today might have been Tate's best game in gold
- Gordon was excellent, really really good, his kicking was much better than last week (maybe the MCG was part of the problem being an oval?)
- I'm still not convinced on Kerevi, I hope he keeps getting better but right now he isn't the player he was. I would really have liked to see what Foketi brings
- Petaia and Marky Mark (Nawaqanitawase) (Nawaqanitawase) looked great in attack
- Marika seemed a bit quieter than normal but maybe that's because Marky Mark (Nawaqanitawase) (Nawaqanitawase) was much more active.
- Faessler was great for a debut playing big minutes
- Was White playing the team's game plan when he came on? He seemed to slow it down and box kick far more, it seemed jarring the difference in tactics between Tate/Gordon and White/Quade
- watching the post match interviews, has Gordon's voice even broken yet?

I hate to say it, but I have some hope again

I'm not entirely convinced on Leota. I need to watch him more closely in this game but some of the detail in his game has been off in the last games.

Kerevi isn't back to his best, but he looks a bit better in each game.

White's box kicks annoyed me in the context of the territory and how little possession we had at that point. Beside Mark's attempts there wasn't much of a chase for them either.

 

[KOB1987]

I'm not entirely convinced on Leota. I need to watch him more closely in this game but some of the detail in his game has been off in the last games.

Kerevi isn't back to his best, but he looks a bit better in each game.

White's box kicks annoyed me in the context of the territory and how little possession we had at that point. Beside Mark's attempts there wasn't much of a chase for them either.

Without being clear on Eddies view on Gleeson I think Leota might be the backrower that gets cut from the squad.He is a good player no doubt and I think the opportunity was given to him to show that he has to make the cut after a year on the sidelines, but he hasn’t delivered and he is surplus to requirements at this stage of the preparation. 2024 might be his calling, let’s see.

 

[molman]

Without being clear on Eddies view on Gleeson I think Leota might be the backrower that gets cut from the squad.He is a good player no doubt and I think the opportunity was given to him to show that he has to make the cut after a year on the sidelines, but he hasn’t delivered and he is surplus to requirements at this stage of the preparation. 2024 might be his calling, let’s see.

I really wanted to see Gleeson this game to have a clear comparison. I really have no idea what Eddie plans to do.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

DMac will surely be in the RWC squad but holy shitballz he was terrible at 1st 5. Just rogered every single thing he tried and biffed the team under the bus time and time again. Clearly not to be trusted at 10 in a knockout World Cup game ffs

As soon as Pone went down about 40 seconds into the 2nd half I thought he's been their talismanic go-forward man, get DMac OFF and NZ have a chance to run these mofos down.

A GIF montage of Eddie Jones slamming his radio down has to be in the offing. Good advertisement for the maker if the poor thing still works after all that.
"Our radios have been to hell and back. 80 minutes of enraged rugby football punishment and still trucking".

 

[Digestif Palu]

How about Pone! And Fez on debut, really good game from both.

Our centres are obviously good players but our attack seems to break down there or get very little pay. Might be partially bad tactics/structure but they are not more than the sum of their parts currently.

White and Cooper should be on the outer after the last two weeks.

 

[KOB1987]

How about Pone! And Fez on debut, really good game from both.

Our centres are obviously good players but our attack seems to break down there or get very little pay. Might be partially bad tactics/structure but they are not more than the sum of their parts currently.

White and Cooper should be on the outer after the last two weeks.

You are right but then people realise the next in the queue are Donaldson and Foley, or Hodge and all of a sudden QC (Quade Cooper) is proclaimed as the messiah. Personally i think we may as well rip the band aid off and give Donaldson some time there in the pool games. Halfback options are a bit better with Lonergan and then presumably IFL now that Jake is out.

 

[rodha]

Ab's C team gets the job done. Shows all those fringe abs are not worthy of selection. Aus choked in the 2nd half and deserved to lose. Eddie jones headset will be filing a domestic abuse complaint after that game.

 

[Tomthumb]

Wallabies have improved every game this year which is a positive, but they just can’t win the bib moments. That Quade knock on was just typical of Aussie rugby. And those scrums at the end, the less said about them the better

As always, the Wallabies are chocolate Soldiers

 

[KOB1987]

Abs c team gets the job done. shows all those fringe abs are not worthy of starting or even a jersey. real abs came off the bench and took control. Aus choked badly in the second half and deserved to lose. Eddie jones headset will be filing a domestic abuse complaint after that game.

The ABs C team with the unheard of Whitelock/Retallick second row pairing and that Savea muppet at 8. Obviously it wasn’t their best starting team, and there was a reason they had those blokes on the bench. I saw some significant improvement from our boys. No doubt the the team Rennie would have picked would have put 50 on those C graders though.

 

[Spamnoodle]

I don't know what to say anymore. The officiating is bewildering. I've played this game for nearly my entire life. I've watched countless matches. I still have no idea, from one game to the next, what they are doing. I don't think they do either. There's no other sport like this where the refs constantly make shit up as they feel like it, game in and game out.

It happens from Under 8s.

 

[Dan54]

The ABs C team with the unheard of Whitelock/Retallick second row pairing and that Savea muppet at 8. Obviously it wasn’t their best starting team, and there was a reason they had those blokes on the bench. I saw some significant improvement from our boys. No doubt the the team Rennie would have picked would have put 50 on those C graders though.

Bang on KOB, I'm a one eyed AB supporter, and I saw nowhere anyone as part of team claiiming they 'C' team. It was an AB test team! Foster always said it was team they thought was best for what they wanted! I thought it what it was, a bloody good close test, and I real happy with 3 point win!

 

[Tomthumb]

Also, referee’s these days seem to penalise a scrum just for being terrible. The All blacks had a dominant scrum, but the Wallabies weren’t doing anything illegal. It’s not illegal to go backwards

 

[KOB1987]

This one was sent to me privately, I haven’t checked it but I’m just going to put it up here:

Law 8.21 Penalty Kick: The kick must be taken within 60 seconds (playing time) from the time the team indicated their intention to do so, even if the ball rolls over and has to be placed again. Sanction: Kick is disallowed, and a scrum is awarded.

77:36 penalty awarded
77:54 decision to kick for goal
79:05 ball kicked

No grey area in the laws here.

Yet Wallabies get pinged on the attack because we took too long in a lineout??

Edit: add to that the Foley one last year which also wasn’t officially on a timer

 

[molman]

Bang on KOB, I'm a one eyed AB supporter, and I saw nowhere anyone as part of team claiiming they 'C' team. It was an AB test team! Foster always said it was team they thought was best for what they wanted! I thought it what it was, a bloody good close test, and I real happy with 3 point win!

What was your assessment of the AB's @Dan54 ?

I think even with all the depth in NZ, this game did illuminate that there are a couple of players a clear cut above in their positions.