BabyBlueElephant
Darby Loudon (17)
Good find! Sexton is one of those players whose commitment to the game is ridiculously high. Almost as high as Wilko's I would say, so I wouldn't be surprised by his attitude in the interview.
Ireland v Australia
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Good find! Sexton is one of those players whose commitment to the game is ridiculously high. Almost as high as Wilko's I would say, so I wouldn't be surprised by his attitude in the interview.
Pfitzy
Nathan Sharpe (72)
OK, I've watched the game. Players I'd like to make comment on:
The forward pack I'm going to talk about as a group, because the improvement this week in terms of physicality was notable. Sure Jones made a couple of bloopers, and we had a scrum was that balls due to poor second row binding.
They actually put down a pretty good platform when they didn't have an Irishman tangling their feet, and a bit of sharper play from the backs could have made a special evening. Lineout was good - I agree with the earlier comment about targeting Rory Best. He really is awful.
Slipper had his arm bound all night and should have got some love from the officials. That call from Owens on the sideline in the 75th minute was fucking awful, as one example. Not that I expect ANY official to give a Wallaby scrum any love these days.
Phipps played more like the Phipps of old than of late. Some shocking passes there. But the speed of delivery went down noticeable again when Genia came on.
Foley's confidence under the high ball was terrible. Needs to practice that if he's going to defend at the back, as well as his kicking under pressure. He found grass with one kick, but I think there was a lesson in Sexton's aerial attack too: the kick doesn't always have to go far to be good.
For someone who is apparently Jesus according to all reports, To'omua had a poor second half. Within the first ten minutes he'd turned the ball over three times. He had a good game overall, but several people here are carrying on like he was the faultless paragon of flyhalf play. Not surprisingly they're the same people who refuse to give Foley any credit. To'omua even missed a kick for touch going for too much distance... wonder where I've heard that before?
Speight was too upright. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) made a couple of mistakes but at least covered up when required. TK was good but didn't see enough ball before his injury. Folau was used as a threat, not a weapon.
Cooper, who is apparently God, isn't much chop under the high ball either apparently and . Ran laterally on a couple of occasions too but was clearly on Ireland's mind and created hesitation when he got the ball.
And just for the Foley haters - QUADE DEFENDED AT HOOKER IN THE LINEOUT. So shove that up your collective arses.
The main issue in the second half is Ireland changed their D line, and we didn't change our tactics. Just like we did against the French - going straight to channel 2 with ruck ball that isn't lightning fast over the gain line is just going to get you smashed. Should have busted them in close then let Cooper run wild late.
Hooper's captaincy continues to dither - the Irish were lazy as fuck rolling away and we should have either been putting the shoe into them or talking to the ref about it. Probably both.
Jackson made some hometown calls followed by some bizarre away calls (that scrum where the Irish 7 is pinged while Jones is happily doing the same thing on the other side, for example). But its Jackson so you can't expect too much. That one in the 63rd minute against Slipper when Henshaw was already offside is a fucking joke, though with 25+ left on the clock the game was there for the taking.
Irish had zero in attack except chip n hope, or run players into our defence and cut out behind - this is Schmidt taking a leaf out of Gatland's book but its not going to win them a RWC.
Physicality of the forward pack is getting there and just a couple of moments you'd like to change with the backs, and that was a comfortable win. We're on the cusp of something good here. The performance reminds me a little of the Tahs late in 2013 - bar a couple of decisions under pressure, the game was won.
So against England we need to fake going to second receiver, hit it up in close, and then second phase go wide and make them pay.
The forward pack I'm going to talk about as a group, because the improvement this week in terms of physicality was notable. Sure Jones made a couple of bloopers, and we had a scrum was that balls due to poor second row binding.
They actually put down a pretty good platform when they didn't have an Irishman tangling their feet, and a bit of sharper play from the backs could have made a special evening. Lineout was good - I agree with the earlier comment about targeting Rory Best. He really is awful.
Slipper had his arm bound all night and should have got some love from the officials. That call from Owens on the sideline in the 75th minute was fucking awful, as one example. Not that I expect ANY official to give a Wallaby scrum any love these days.
Phipps played more like the Phipps of old than of late. Some shocking passes there. But the speed of delivery went down noticeable again when Genia came on.
Foley's confidence under the high ball was terrible. Needs to practice that if he's going to defend at the back, as well as his kicking under pressure. He found grass with one kick, but I think there was a lesson in Sexton's aerial attack too: the kick doesn't always have to go far to be good.
For someone who is apparently Jesus according to all reports, To'omua had a poor second half. Within the first ten minutes he'd turned the ball over three times. He had a good game overall, but several people here are carrying on like he was the faultless paragon of flyhalf play. Not surprisingly they're the same people who refuse to give Foley any credit. To'omua even missed a kick for touch going for too much distance... wonder where I've heard that before?
Speight was too upright. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) made a couple of mistakes but at least covered up when required. TK was good but didn't see enough ball before his injury. Folau was used as a threat, not a weapon.
Cooper, who is apparently God, isn't much chop under the high ball either apparently and . Ran laterally on a couple of occasions too but was clearly on Ireland's mind and created hesitation when he got the ball.
And just for the Foley haters - QUADE DEFENDED AT HOOKER IN THE LINEOUT. So shove that up your collective arses.
The main issue in the second half is Ireland changed their D line, and we didn't change our tactics. Just like we did against the French - going straight to channel 2 with ruck ball that isn't lightning fast over the gain line is just going to get you smashed. Should have busted them in close then let Cooper run wild late.
Hooper's captaincy continues to dither - the Irish were lazy as fuck rolling away and we should have either been putting the shoe into them or talking to the ref about it. Probably both.
Jackson made some hometown calls followed by some bizarre away calls (that scrum where the Irish 7 is pinged while Jones is happily doing the same thing on the other side, for example). But its Jackson so you can't expect too much. That one in the 63rd minute against Slipper when Henshaw was already offside is a fucking joke, though with 25+ left on the clock the game was there for the taking.
Irish had zero in attack except chip n hope, or run players into our defence and cut out behind - this is Schmidt taking a leaf out of Gatland's book but its not going to win them a RWC.
Physicality of the forward pack is getting there and just a couple of moments you'd like to change with the backs, and that was a comfortable win. We're on the cusp of something good here. The performance reminds me a little of the Tahs late in 2013 - bar a couple of decisions under pressure, the game was won.
So against England we need to fake going to second receiver, hit it up in close, and then second phase go wide and make them pay.
BarneySF
Bob Loudon (25)
Or maybe even the round ball where we're ranked below, among others, Iraq (81); Benin (86); Haiti (93) right above us with Rwanda one place below.
I think the pessimism is partly down to not understanding how good Ireland have been playing and misconceptions about the standard we are at currently
T
Train Without a Station
Guest
Nah the pessimism is because rightly Australia have gone backwards in real terms. If France and Ireland have just gotten better, then Australia hasn't or at the same rate, therefore going backwards in the context of World Rugby.
Pfitzy
Nathan Sharpe (72)
Wilson
Phil Kearns (64)
You should all be supporting the netball team anyway, they're pretty great.
mxyzptlk
Colin Windon (37)
He's not awful, he's just inconsistent coming off injury. He did the same thing with the Lions after Hartley got yanked and he was called up -- ropey throws. But after he got some regular play in, he had a much better Six Nations (10 line outs won, 0 lost). He's only had a few weeks of play before the Australia test. That isn't an excuse -- he should be better than that, and he's still solid around the park and gets involved in plenty of turn-overs. But he really needs to work on his consistency.
The Aussies put in their rakes. Kepu nearly took off Bowe's calf at one ruck.
And Jackson blew another Ruddock penalty just a split second after Slipper stood upright in the scrum, a foot higher than everyone else. Slipper was looking right at Jackson, apparently expecting to be penalized, and Jackson called Ruddock.
Short-sighted. Defence can be turned into attack with the right tactics, and that worked for the Irish well. Schmidt has come up with a different game-plan for every test, and they scored some well-constructed tries against the All Blacks last year, and against the Boks this year. They're missing 18 internationals, including their most damaging ball carriers, so that's going to affect game-planning and preparation -- against a side who's just played a tournament and two Northern Hemisphere tests. So Schmidt prepared a side that had little time together to face a side that had months together. And in the Irish press, Sexton has mentioned a few times at least four attacking plays they started that went sideways, either through solid Australian defense or Irish errors.
It ain't Warrenball. If they score no attacking tries off attack in the Six Nations, then maybe you'll have something to complain about come the World Cup. Besides, both Irish players and press, to a person, considered Australia to be the biggest threat they'd face, so there's no sense in playing the kind of game Australia excelled at.
Otherwise, no real argument with your post. I think the Wallabies will have England's number.
drewprint
Dick Tooth (41)
To complete the holy trinity analogy; if Cooper is God, and To'omua is Jesus, who is the Holy Spirit? Beale for the spirit in which he treats the game?
the plastic paddy
John Solomon (38)
Well said, when all is said and done Ireland are the NH champions at the moment, think Aussie will beat England if they believe. Run them about and the Orcs will get tired. Gwan Australia!!!
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