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IRB U/20 Tournament and Oz Squad

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daz

Guest
Matt Toomoua is all class. After the RWC, we are going to see players like Berrick Barnes move to the NRL, Matt Giteau will take his pension to France.

I'm not in the same league as many of you when it comes to the deep inside knowledge of rugby and the elite juniors who play, but like art, I know what I like; this kid is special. I am really looking forward to the U20 Oz semi tonight.

And for the record, I bet my hat that Barnes goes to France the very second after the final whistle is blown at the end of the Wallaby RWC11 campaign.


What Gits does, I could care less about.
 

Nusadan

Chilla Wilson (44)

Thanks Reg...and looking at the England team support staff...there's more of them than us Aussies, i.e. baggage master and psychologist...(and media handler whilst we have two head coaches)...the Pommies will need afterwards all the help they can get after getting whupped by us!

Edit: looks someone else beat me to it...great minds and all that :)
 

Ash

Michael Lynagh (62)
Hmmmm...isn't the Aus v Eng semi match supposed to be streamed now? I can't seem to find where on the U20 IRB webpage...
 
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daz

Guest
It is not on for another 90 minutes Ash. SF1 followed by SF2. Live telecast on Foxtel starting 3am AEST.
 

Sandpit Fan

Nev Cottrell (35)
Nice work from the guys, 28-16 final score, poms got over again on the final whistle. Now to see who we will play in the final.
 

Langthorne

Phil Hardcastle (33)
Very promising stuff from from the u20s. To'omua did well again, although he was far from flawless. The front row were pretty dominant most of the time (they are big 20 year olds). White at number 9 looked very promising - good pass in front of the man, on both sides, plus a good runner too. A couple of the 7s stars, and Monahan, looked very flash in the backs. Quirk, Schatz, and the locks (Paterson and ?) really piled into the rucks with aggression and pace.

Watching NZ v SA now - it looks like the mini All Blacks, but you never know.


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chief

Guest
NZ is leading 22-0. It is going to be a hard ask to beat the baby blacks. These guys look the real deal.
 
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Geeves

Guest
Only caught the last 15 min against the Poms but nice effort that. Well done on progressing through to the grandfinal. Toomoua was exceptional in his control.

Good solid defence with hard hits that put the player to the ground.

The worst thing was that bloody English commentator. I have heard one sided dribble before but his constant love affair with the side was nauseating.
 
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daz

Guest
Managed to stay up to watch the game. It was a thoroughly enjoyable game to watch from both teams, and they deserved to have a bigger crowd.

Our line-out was ordinary, but the work at the breakdown was fantastic. Good to see these beefy kids throwing their bodies into the fray. But, there were two thoughts that occured to me during the game:

1) If these kids are the future of Wallaby rugby, I honestly have a warm fuzzy feeling of comfort. (Especially for our potential future front row stocks.). Very impressed.

2) I was greatly surprised by the excellent standard of play from the Pom kids. Some of the running and passing was as good as I've seen at any level. The first try for the Poms was the result of two sweeping throws out wide; the second of which was a bullet pass that would have done Larkham proud! Extraordinary stuff. Does that get coached out of them as they progress to the senior team, or are we seeing Pom rugby about to undergo an infusion of exciting talent?

All in all, full marks to both teams for putting on a show worthy of national colours. Good luck to our boys against the Kiwis in the final.
 

Jets

Paul McLean (56)
Staff member
You would expect the English to play very well as a team. They have a U20 6 Nations campaign that they play in as a build up to the U20 RWC. I am surprised that the European teams don't go better as a result of this.

Also good to see the young props going well. PAE is back next year as well.
 

RedsHappy

Tony Shaw (54)
1) If these kids are the future of Wallaby rugby, I honestly have a warm fuzzy feeling of comfort. (Especially for our potential future front row stocks.). Very impressed.
.....

All in all, full marks to both teams for putting on a show worthy of national colours. Good luck to our boys against the Kiwis in the final.

Thanks Daz, and some great posts here.

Like you I am not a 'deep specialist' in Aus rugby, but I assess like you that these results in the U20 and the recent Sevens are potentially the very omens of skill, depth, passion, intensity etc we need for a genuine and sustained revival of rugby in Australia (ie, most particularly, we begin to win the big silverware again and display great consistency of entertaining play). It could the right, deep-enough, wave is coming.

All in all, it's terrifically encouraging to see what's there in the Sevens and U20.
 

RedsHappy

Tony Shaw (54)
All in all, full marks to both teams for putting on a show worthy of national colours. .....

Isn't it both intriguing (and somewhat depressing) that our rugby elite back in Australia could not achieve that in either the Perth or Gosford BaaBaas games?
 
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dbla

Guest
While I was happy to see the aus team win I am more than just a little worried after that game and after watching the kiwis. Some of the positional play out wide in defence was horrible where we would have more numbers in defence than they did in attack but men marking no one rushed up an got caught out, kiwi team will punish basic errors like that. Also the line out seemed a little one dimensional where the only clean ball was at the front, a better team (kiwis) would have pinched that ball or made it messy. The outside centre for aus needs to learn to straighten and pass if we are to get on the outside of the kiwis but most importantly if the defence in general doesn't improve than an incredibly physical kiwi side will run over us. The aus team needed to play better than they did against south africa to build momentum but it looked to me like they regressed in areas.
 
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daz

Guest
The aus team needed to play better than they did against south africa to build momentum but it looked to me like they regressed in areas.

The commentators both made similar comments about the Oz team during the telecast. Hopefully it was merely the result of a combination of trying too hard and feeling a bit tight being in a semi.

While I thought the Pom standard was good, they were unable to fully capatilise on the Oz errors. The Kiwis will not be so forgiving. Gee they looked good in the other semi against the junior Boks.
 

the gambler

Dave Cowper (27)
Great game to watch at 3am. Kept me awake till the end so they were doing something right. Switched over to the soccer after it was over and was out within seconds.

The forwards looked very impressive but as mentioned the lineout wasnt great. Can see why LG has Peterson down for a Wallaby but think Shatz and Quirk have a way to go before being the best backrow in the country as some have predicted.

In the backs gee I was impressed by Robbie Coleman. I havent been that ibig of fan of his in the Sevens but some of his running last night was electric. Hope Gits was watching so he can learn how a small 12 can play the game.

First time I have really seen Tuoa play and he does look the goods, although not sure about his kicking game if he is normally a 15. Kept on popping up all over the place though and very smooth graceful runner.

Also thought Sits (13) showed why he can be a sevens and U20 star but probably not make the step up to seniors.
 
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tranquility

Guest
just watched the replay, I didn't take notes so all comments are off the top of my head

Coleman - looks very dangerous and elusive, however he needs to distribute more. The ball died in his hands too much for a 12.

Manu - looks are good player, however seems to struggle at scrum time more than PAE. Minor thing

Situati - Has only recently become a 13. While he can easily improve his straightening and ball skills I think you will find that his strength is contact is potentially world class and shouldn't have a problem making the next step in his career to the senior ranks. Is signed to the Reds senior squad next year and is only 18 years of age.

Quirk - I am one of his biggest fans, and think he could be anything. However has been relatively quiet in the two games I have seen.

Peterson - incredibly co-ordinated. For a man of his height and proportions, he has very good control of his body shape through techniuqe and is a real weapon gaining the hard yards up the field. best lock in years.


Wasn't the most polished performance however I think this young side will actually play better against souther hemisphere sides as I think they struggled with the slowing tactics of the English. New Zealand certainley look good (as always) however I wouldn't write off this young guys. It should also be noted how young our side is - PAE, Gill, Situati, Peterson, Jones and others I am sure played Ozzy schools last year.
 

the gambler

Dave Cowper (27)
Situati - Has only recently become a 13. While he can easily improve his straightening and ball skills I think you will find that his strength is contact is potentially world class and shouldn't have a problem making the next step in his career to the senior ranks. Is signed to the Reds senior squad next year and is only 18 years of age.

Fair point. Could be the next Digby I guess and I did forget he is only 18. Not a fan of the Egerton look though.
 

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
Good post dbla; it's much what I was going to write.

Against the Boks and England, Oz was vulnerable to breakouts and especially when the ball was moved wide quickly. The wingers or whoever was covering there after Oz turned the ball over, were isolated on defence and the BBoks, in particular, took advantage.

Based on the measure of how the Kiwis played against the BBoks and how we did in the last pool game against them, we are going to be in a bit of strife in the final though you never know on the day. It's likely we won't be able to score so many tries and also likely the Kiwis will score more than the Poms did.

From the two games I have seen both teams play NZ look like the better balanced side. Oz has strengths such as the scrum, mongrel in the contests, offloading and finishing chances but the Kiwis have more weapons and counter weapons.

They should win, but regardless: it's good to see Oz have some big lads having a go up front.
 
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