Jesus you really all are a bunch of miserable pricks.
I thought we didn't play too bad at all - aside from stupid handling errors in the Irish 22 - we did pretty well and the signs are promising.
I disagree that our attack looks better with Quade on the field. He, for me, is the Australian attacking psyche manifest, and I don't think that is a good thing. Too often he'll go for the miracle long ball (the wrong option when we have an overlap) or look to offloads / flick passes. These are the spices of a good attack, not the main course.
I still have too many memories of the World Cup and other times he's let us down. He's not bad. He's actually pretty good. On his day, he's amazing. But he's not the messiah everyone thinks he is. I would say he's still distinctly 2nd in the pecking order for the flyhalf, and for a good reason, but that is all very susceptible to change.
Foley, I thought, did pretty well. He had a hand in a lot of our better attacking moments, and can you all please stop whinging about his defence? It's not that bad. I would go as far as saying it's markedly better than any other first choice 10 we have (this doesn't include Lealifano or To'omua, as they are chosen as centres). His kicking wasn't amazing, but as others have pointed out, its a team sport and thus he can not bear the blame for the loss. Everyone has a bad day with the boot every now and then, and if several other plays missed tackles to let in tries, knocked balls on at crucial times, gave away penalties. Apportioning blame in that regard is not constructive.
To'omua played well and showed some good physicality, and was extremely reliable in clearing the ball.
Tevita Kuridrani - holy moly what a revelation he's been. This time last year I was a huge sceptic. I thought he had concrete slabs for hands but he's really proved me wrong. The only quarrel I have with his game is that he's not the best lateral defender. That being said, he smokes people when they run it straight at him and he's the penetrating runner the Australian back line revolves around. Hope he's fine for next week.
Phipps continues to show why he'll be the 1st choice 9 going into the WC. Who would have thought? Speight also looked promising, and showed a bit of the class that we've all come to expect of him.
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) didn't look amazing, but the experience and level headedness he brings to the team is something we probably all under appreciate. If i'm not mistaken, he has more caps then the rest of the starting back line combined?
Izzy was Izzy. I'm more and more confused as to my opinion of him. He's a penetrative runner, but I'm starting to think he's more suited to wing then fullback. His decision making is subpar, his defence positioning is likewise, and he's certainly not the best kicker in the team. I wouldn't mind seeing AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) / Cooper / Beale start there, with Izzy on the wing.
Now to the important stuff, the forwards:
Kepu and Slipper are the best props we have, followed by daylight. A good performance from both of them, and the front row is looking dependable even with Fainga'a (our 63rd choice hooker) starting. He's really impressed me, as I haven't always been a fan.
Rob Simmons and Sam Carter are slowly winning me over. Emphasis on slowly, and thats probably only because the other options are a bunch of numptys. I would take Etzebeth / Retallick / O'Connel / Lawes / Douglas / anyone over these guys, but they're improving, and that can only be seen as a positive.
Jones had me cringing at the start of the game with his honker of a pass and two turnovers through poor body height. Thought he was destined for a shocker, but I didn't notice him a huge amount for the remainder of the rest of the game, and given his known work rate, that only bodes well for him. McCalman was huge, and is starting to chip away at my Palu / Higgers man love. Hooper, as always, was an energiser bunny. How was he not nominated for IRB World Rugby player of the year?
As for replacements: Quade had a decent impact. That offload had be salivating, but I feel like he's still a work in progress as he returns from injury. Genia was a bit meh. The replacement props were reliable, as were Shatz and Skelton, who had some good moments with the ball.
Beale, on the other hand, was quite average. Fielded two good bombs, but too lateral in attack. He needs to play a lot wider to be effective, at about 3rd or 4th receiver, where he can look to put himself into space. He runs extremely good support lines, but he's susceptible to trying to do too much.
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In summary, not a terrible performance. We were beaten by the Paddy's, who are on the up and up and playing with a confidence and belief they haven't had for a while. Combined with that, they have some terrific players (Sexton, O'Connell, their hooker was particularly good tonight, as were their 15 and 13).
Contrastingly, we're 4 games into a new coaches tenure, with a squad he didn't pick, after an exceptionally tumultuous period, learning new patterns and playing philosophies, with a handful of injuries.
I personally thought tonight was a terrific game to watch, and the outlook really isn't that bad. You lot need to find a bit of positivity and drop the petty provincialism. It's really getting out of hand. I literally can't take half of you seriously, and it's making me tired of coming back to this site (a place I was first attracted to because of how informed everyone was).
Let's hope the boys get fired up for next week, as it should be another cracker of a game. Carn Australia.
