France v Australia

[It is what it is]

The idea of a fast pre planned lineout doesn't work if the defenders can just hard man mark the only two jumping options

If you run a full lineout, you have the options of ball height, speed and depth along with arranging all lineout participants in whatever position you like, plus the ability for them to be moving.
If you can't make a call to do whatever you like on the way to a lineout with so many options available to you then I give up.
Ever wondered why SA win so many lineouts on their own ball, and on our ball against us?
They have one of the most predictable (and simple) lineouts in world rugby but execute it perfectly. We have one of the slowest and most cumbersome lineouts, and get distracted by what the defensive lineout may or may not do instead of focusing on what we need to be doing.
Hey if things are so tough, also have a predetermined plan B call ready before you arrive.
I'm sick of watching us get stage fright in set pieces.
All good teams win their own set piece ball, and the great ones win a little bit of the others or at least disrupt it.

 

[Brumbieman]

You were talking about one lineout now your talking about five. You blamed the freekick on Simmons. Without knowing what the call was. Without knowing whether Fainga'a was waiting for a front jumper or weather a jumper was waiting for Fainga'a.
Clearly you have nowhere near enough information to make any kind of informed decision so you used an unfounded prejudice to make one.
Then to top it off you moved the goal posts when you were found out.

Eh....


My point was that Simmons, as the lineout general, bears the blame for a shambolic lineout, not the thrower.

 

[BDA]

Haven't written any comments yet about the game but here goes.
- Pretty entertaining test match, with both teams fronting up physically. Most neutral supporter were saying this was by far the best test match of the weekend and I'd have to agree.
-The Wallabies certainly didn't embarrass themselves. The game was clearly won on the back of some magnificent, committed defence by Les Bleus.
-The Wallabies performance in general was very disappointing. On countless occasions we made stupid errors that cost us. The fact that we were still in with a chance of winning at the death illustrates that we should/would have won if we had played better.
-The scrum battle was back and forth through-out. I think we did another good job of dispelling the myth that we are week in that area.

-I again think Cheika made some bad calls going into this match. The Backrow is not balanced. We lacked go forward. I would have preferred to see the likes of Jones at 6, rather than McMahon. For all of Skelton's immaturity and downside, it is clear (like last week) that is wasn't until he came on that the Wallabies started to get over the gain-line. I realise Cheika is hamstrung by the personnel available on tour but this needs to be addressed. I spoke before the game how the wallabies should be keeping the ball out of their 22 at all costs. Yet we conceded 10 POINTS from trying to run the ball in our own 22!!! unbelievable! Cheika cant be totally blamed for poor execution but it doesn't take a dummy to know that the French were going to pray on our mistakes in our 22 if they were to have a chance at winning. This was perhaps the most disappointing thing for me.
- Some of our players were very poor. Hooper made little impact, McMahon was invisible, as was Lilo. Folau was uncharacteristically poor.
- The front row was great, as was Simmons.
- I thought Horwill was pretty average, but I'd have to watch again. He seemed to make a number of costly mistakes (dropped ball and bad missed tackles)

 

[Quick Hands]

Most of our players had bad points. Lot of dropped ball, lot of missed tackles, some fairly poor tactical awareness by the backs and fairly poor effort by the pigs. 18 turnovers FFS!


I really don't understand where this expectation of perfection comes from. This isn't 1999-2001 where our professionalism was so far ahead of the rest of the world in combination with some all-time legends of the game.

This is a Wallaby team missing several top-line players, who are feeling their way under (yet another) new coach.

I've always believed you learn a lot more from a loss, and we've got two games on tour to rectify it, finishing with probably the toughest ask of all - England at Twickers.

So let's be objective about the negatives, point out the positives, and look at the WALLABY TEAM as representing AUSTRALIA.

For fuck's fucking sake.

And many of the errors came from the fact that the French played well.

Sometimes the opposition force errors and poor options.

 

[The Snout]

One thing can tend to feed off another in Rugby and other sports as well.

ie. If you are getting over the ad line then you are confident in executing other areas, aka the lineout. If your attack is going nowhere then frustration creeps in and other areas are affected. Just something to consider. I'm not a believer that something goes to shit for no reason after all that practice. Pressure does things.

My main concerns with the team are when Plan A in attack isn't working, there seems to be no ability to adjust in game to a Plan B. They seem to need to get to the shed to be able to take stock. At this level I expect players to know after 20 minutes that 'nup , this ain't working' and a quick nod/chat from the halves to the outside backs that 'Not good boys, lets try Plan B', kick chase or whatever it may be.

Same with defence. After getting flanked a few times early on I'd hope the outside backs or team in general can have a quick chat while a break in play and figure out at least better coverage.

On field leadership to adjust really needs some work. Not just shitting on Cappy Hooper here, I expect it from the senior players and players in general. It's a national level side.

 

[chasmac]

I thought that was probably Simmons best test for the Wallabies. He carried the ball often and with authority. He hit a lot of rucks and made a few tackles.
If he can increase the physicality in his game he will be our world class lock. He's the closest one and most top line locks take a while to get there, as he has.
He did miss a couple of crucial tackles.
We all know he has very good lineout skills and that he is our best scrum lock right now. If he starts to use his size more often as he did today he is going to be bloody good.
I think he consciously stepped up for that test.

I thought he was good but had a couple of shockers.
Getting held up off the phase after a kickoff in the 2nd half was pretty crap.
Nearly repeating it 3mins later at least shows he can learn.
Getting palmed off in defense by the big reserve prop was gold.
Lineout management has been discussed.
Overall; pretty good. He has certainly improved this year.

 

[cyclopath]

Eh..


My point was that Simmons, as the lineout general, bears the blame for a shambolic lineout, not the thrower.

Unless the thrower is someone you don't like, such as TPN, who gets caned whenever lineouts go astray.
I find it hard to see how you can be adamant it's 100% the caller, when there are multiple variables - caller, thrower, lifters and other jumpers etc. It just can't be that black and white, surely?

 

[Lorenzo]

But I don't think that reverting to kicking was necessarily going to be the answer either. We showed we could make yards, but we were trying to make them in all the wrong places with a rushing French defence.

That match was as ripe as they get for the use of sensible kicking.

 

[Scrubber2050]

That match was as ripe as they get for the use of sensible kicking.

Suppose we could piss off Izzy and get Moggy into the mix ????

Wadda ya think????

 

[Biffo]

Suppose we could piss off Izzy and get Moggy into the mix ????

Wadda ya think????

may i interrupt, please?
no fcukkin way.
clear?

 

[cyclopath]

may i interrupt, please?
no fcukkin way.
clear?

Have we trans-Mogg-rified?

 

[Ruggo]

It is all to easy to blame individual players but as a team we played a shocker. My god the Skelton substitution was a shocker. It ripped the guts out of an all important team dynamic and we struggled massively from that point on. Our lineout died with that replacement. McCalman and Simmons became our only two genuine options with McMahon only half an option. McMahon is just not proficient enough to pressure the front of the French lineout on their ball. It all became very hopeless. McMahon should of been the player to come off for this reason alone.

The French were good. they bitched us big time in the physical contest and credit to them for that.

Owens was hopeless. I don't blame him for the loss but nobody likes to see a game crapped on by refereeing like that. That MacMahon tackle thing was bull and ignoring the French third man in was terrible. Hooper did SFA as an advocate for his team during this incident either.

I thought Cooper added value when he came on and he should have come on when Horne did. Horne came on to combat Basterau but I think we could of isolated him as a weekness by splitting our backs between Foley and Cooper and isolating him in defence, creating the space to exploit his terrible lateral movement and ability to turn around quickly.

We could of used our assets much better in this game.

 

[Quick Hands]

Have we trans-Mogg-rified?

I think that Mogg has become the 2014 rugby version of Godwin's Law. I think it's a sign that this thread has reached it's use by date

 

[oztimmay]

So I missed the match on the weekend; 4 day wedding that starts with a bucks day, unconscious work day, wedding and wedding after-party on the mornington peninsula. My liver is only starting to forgive me.
Someone want to me ol' timmay the 5 second wrap on what happened against the frogs? Who was bad/good, what went well and what needs work?

 

[cyclopath]

So I missed the match on the weekend; 4 day wedding that starts with a bucks day, unconscious work day, wedding and wedding after-party on the mornington peninsula. My liver is only starting to forgive me.
Someone want to me ol' timmay the 5 second wrap on what happened against the frogs? Who was bad/good, what went well and what needs work?

I think you're gonna have to read it for yourself. Have a drink first!

 

[oztimmay]

I think you're gonna have to read it for yourself. Have a drink first!

Fark! 56 pages. I WILL need a drink before that. I'll have a skull every time a see a foley v cooper comparison.

 

[cyclopath]

Stuff that. Drink every time you read "Skelton". You'll need a liver his size to get through it!

 

[oztimmay]

Stuff that. Drink every time you read "Skelton". You'll need a liver his size to get through it!

I can picture it now..

 

[Pfitzy]

Someone want to me ol' timmay the 5 second wrap on what happened against the frogs? Who was bad/good, what went well and what needs work?

We made a fuckload of mistakes, played too wide most of the time, were shit under the high ball for some reason, and couldn't tackle a 21yo kid with a stupid haircut.

We put on some good maul and scrum work in the first half, scored a couple of nice tries, and still only lost by 3 to a fired up Frog side.

Doom and gloom merchants have the knives out for Cheika and NSW in general. Realists are rueful about missed opportunities.

Fucking finito.

 

[qwerty51]

Just as well Folau was poor in front of 6 million French. Price gone down slightly maybe..

The comments surrounding Thomas' try are really interesting, all the Aussie supporters bemoaning the tackling, only some and the neutrals all praising the outstanding individual brilliance to score it. I bet if it was Folau scoring that try no one would mention the defence.