Bledisloe 2 at Eden Park 18/10/20

[Dctarget]

Its kind of amazing to say it but the only positive out of of that was Hanigan.

Wilson was amazing. Hooper got two pilfers against the best. Philip & LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) has stepped up after we've lost our top 4 locks. BPA actually threw straight. Petaia looks to be ever dangerous. Lots of positives

 

[KOB1987]

Wilson was amazing. Hooper got two pilfers against the best. Philip & LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) has stepped up after we've lost our top 4 locks. BPA actually threw straight. Petaia looks to be ever dangerous. Lots of positives

Yes. And the scrum, although we've had the upper hand on theirs for a couple of years now.

 

[Forcefield]

Yeah-
- DHP in. Banks out of the side.
- Petaia in at 13. Paisami out of the side.
- Simone in at 12 for To'omua. Or JOC (James O'Connor) to 12, Lolesio to 10. Petaia's bench spot to whoever doesn't start.
- Starting pack stays the same. Simmons dropped for Hosea, Wright for Samu.

 

[Joe Blow]

We may have two extra bodies on deck.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

To'omua going off for me was the key moment.

Not sure he was gunna win Wobs the game but, yeah, it made them do some things they probably didn't want to. Losing Thor was possibly worse, though, AB scrum seemed to go much better after that.

 

[Forcefield]

Given Arnold's injury and how long Skelton has been outside the squad, the only lock I'd consider is Coleman. I don't know if I'd bother, though.

Kerevi would be handy.

 

[KOB1987]

I'd be willing to persist with Banks unless DHP is back to full fitness, I'm not convinced Hodge would have done any better.

I'm not. Hodge, DHP, JOC (James O'Connor) and Maddocks. There's 4 other options I'd rather try.

 

[KOB1987]

Given Arnold's injury and how long Skelton has been outside the squad, the only lock I'd consider is Coleman. I don't know if I'd bother, though.

Kerevi would be handy.

I think Rodda is a genuine chance, and if he's coming back to the Tahs next year then that would frank the deal IMO.

 

[Rebels3]

Honestly think JOC (James O'Connor) would of got pulled if Lolesio was in the 23. Not that I calling for him to be dropped, he’s well worth his spot in the current team but his kicking is bang average. It’s essentially lump it down the field with little aim. He needs to play with a foil and is suspect when he becomes the sole focal point as his strength is his running game. Not a natural distributor or decision maker and not ideal for him or the team if he has to be the sole string puller or without someone around him calling the shots.

If To'omua isn’t available for the next test it has to be a player that can comfortably distribute outside of him to fill the spot, otherwise you might as well go for a natural dominant half like a Harrison.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Caleb Clarke worries me as sort of player even without ball - too many players watching out for him in anticipation of damage he can do. I think he is the difference at this point to my confidence of winning a game against ABs

 

[Warpath]

I'm not. Hodge, DHP, JOC (James O'Connor) and Maddocks. There's 4 other options I'd rather try.

ppl keep forgetting Daugunu is a fullback too in the 2 games i kept wondering why rennie didn't come with a plan to push Filipo to 15 on attack and bring him back on the wing on defence, because most of the first half i saw him roving across the field in defence but the plan was changed in the 2nd half.... he has a better kicking game than Banks but he always beats 2 players with his runs which will be enough to create spaces for supporting players, Banks on the other hand didn't break a single line today, if To'omua is fit for next game

9. white
10. JOC (James O'Connor)
11. koro
12. To'omua
13. JP
14. Daugunu (fullback on attack)
15. Hodges (wing on attack)

 

[Warpath]

Couple of new players wont fix that performance. Across the board bad decisions were made, terrible hands on a dry track, shocking ruck work.

Its kind of amazing to say it but the only positive out of of that was Hanigan.

a reddit quote describes this perfectly

Hanigan is Schrodinger’s wallaby. Is simultaneously the best and worst player on the field right now.

 

[Derpus]

Given Arnold's injury and how long Skelton has been outside the squad, the only lock I'd consider is Coleman. I don't know if I'd bother, though.

Kerevi would be handy.

I disagree with all of this. Skelton is still one of the form locks in Europe - Coleman is not.

Kerevi will not fix our missed tackles or defence.

 

[Warpath]

I disagree with all of this. Skelton is still one of the form locks in Europe - Coleman is not.

Kerevi will not fix our missed tackles or defence.

maybe not, but will up your attack, Australia failed today due to poor attacks and finishing, not defence, the moment To'omua left, there was no one running the backline so players that injected pace in space were not getting the ball ..marika made 2 clean breaks once To'omua left but nothing on the other wing, one thing Kerevi did beautifully was what Clarke did today, broke lines, pulled in players, made metres, only difference, Caleb does not have an offloading game, Samu does.

 

[Slim 293]

maybe not, but will up your attack, Australia failed today due to poor attacks and finishing, not defence, the moment To'omua left, there was no one running the backline so players that injected pace in space were not getting the ball ..marika made 2 clean breaks once To'omua left but nothing on the other wing, one thing Kerevi did beautifully was what Clarke did today, broke lines, pulled in players, made metres, only difference, Caleb does not have an offloading game, Samu does.

Yes, defence had nothing to do with it.........

 

[rugboy]

maybe not, but will up your attack, Australia failed today due to poor attacks and finishing, not defence, the moment To'omua left, there was no one running the backline so players that injected pace in space were not getting the ball ..marika made 2 clean breaks once To'omua left but nothing on the other wing, one thing Kerevi did beautifully was what Clarke did today, broke lines, pulled in players, made metres, only difference, Caleb does not have an offloading game, Samu does.

Really? we missed forty tackles! Banks, Daugunu, Paisami and Koro all missed as many tackles as they made (combined 12 made and 12 missed) The backline Total was 23 missed. Too many turnovers as well with 13 of them shared between numbers 10-15.

 

[BDA]

There honestly must be something in the water at eden park.

The accuracy in defence was horrible. It seemed like the players were so keen to be physical in defence that they just threw the tackling technique out the window.

The loss of To'omua hurt the team but didnt effect the result. Ultimately there were just too many wallabies who had poor games. Hanigan had a few moment but he was otherwise pretty ineffective. I thought hooper had a pretty average outing based on his lofty standards. He made a lot of tackles but missed some crucial ones too. Koribete fumbled his way through the game. Piasami was pretty unimpressive. Wright looked off the pace when he came on. In fact none of the replacements (save for petaia) made a positive impact when they came on. Any chance we had of winning the game was over when gordan came on. The attack just became pedestrian. Really would prefer powell or mcdermott in that role.

The most frustrating part is that the wallabies were able to put themselves into scoring positions regularly but just couldnt execute. There's no reason they cant beat this all blacks side in 2 weeks.

 

[ACT Crusader]

Another hard fought Bledisloe despite the scoreline.

The Wallabies lost their shape defensively after halftime and the ABs used pace and ball movement to take advantage. Playmaking out of 10 and 15 made a difference for the ABs.

The space out wide closed up as well and the Wallabies didn’t get the metres in the middle of the park that they were getting last week through a combination of White and the tight forwards.

I don’t think playing at Eden Park and the record means anything to how the Wallabies approach the match or their actual play, but for the ABs they do seem to lift and play with a bit more intensity and effort. One of those intangible things in sport I guess.

 

[Warpath]

Yes, defence had nothing to do with it...

defence wasn't the reason Australia lost today, the inability to FINISH any attacking move was.

 

[Derpus]

defence wasn't the reason Australia lost today, the inability to FINISH any attacking move was.

I think it can be both.

Personally, i reckon if you plan is to outscore the All Blacks in an open game you are fucked from the start. A slow, attritional, tight game is your only hope.