New Zealand v Australia - Auckland - 23 August 2014

[Oldschool]

Let's get realistic. How are we going to win the Bledisloe back when rugby is the number 4 or 5 sport in Oz?

The AB's are simply amazing - and I don't think rugby is their 4th or 5th sport.

That's a cop out, 20 + mill people in Oz, 4 + mill in NZ.
Wallabies need a couple of country hard nuts in the tight five that can dominate, until they do it will be a difficult road.

 

[Bardon]

Let's get realistic. How are we going to win the Bledisloe back when rugby is the number 4 or 5 sport in Oz?

The AB's are simply amazing - and I don't think rugby is their 4th or 5th sport.

You're right the Wobs should just give up there's no way they'll be able to mould a team that's greater than the sum of it's parts. If only the Wobs could turn the clock back to 1990s before AFL and RL existed and by default rugby dominated in Aus.

While we're at it England, Ireland, Wales and France should just give up too. Rugby will never be number 1 in those countries so I don't know why we even bother. Let's just arrange a presentation next week to award the ABs the RWC. It will save all of us non New Zealanders the expense and disappointment of next years tournament in England.

 

[Viking]

Betham was patchy in NRC Thursday night. Sure, McCabe was not the best, but we got bitch-slapped up front and on the D-line. As ever, the real cancer in Oz rugby when the acid is applied is up front and in the hard stuff.
That said, a few backs showed little to inspire.

How do we get our players to start out-muscling their opponents? Is their a lack of strength and conditioning in Aus compared to NZ? It seems to be an on-going problem.

 

[louie]

Bit premature. We need to see improvements in his selection but he has just coached us to 7/8 wins in a row. The guy clearly knows his stuff. His whole tenure has been an upwards trajectory. He deserves to take us to the 15RWC.

The ABs at Eden park is probably the hardest challenge in world rugby.

You can mark yourself against the best in the world, in which we've gone backwards, all other results don't really matter. There was not a single part of the game in which we where on par with the AB. That's very bad. Very.

Let's get realistic. How are we going to win the Bledisloe back when rugby is the number 4 or 5 sport in Oz?

You could have said the same about the tahs in relation to sydney. That's just a lame excuse.

 

[Beefcake]

Geez lads, firstly, no team is world rugby would come near to the darkness the way they played tonite. secondly, the wobs were competitive but they are still a med to long term project with a young team - thirdly, you wont grow any combination or improve confidence by chopping up your team every week - your expecting too much too soon and win the France series is hardly a great indication they are maturing as a team given the second test of that series. fourth, well its the darkness and lastly, Michael Lynagh stated tonite that Mik Hooper was the Wobs best centre - magnificent player.

 

[biggsy]

This was a total flash back to when Beale played at 10 for the Tahs. Beale is not a 10s foreskin. Never has been never will be. Lateral running, shuffles to ball to static players, no penetration and no backing up that was the hallmark of his play for the Tahs this year when he didn't have the prime decision making responsibilities.

Thank you,
I got rolled over the coals the for saying Beale is not a 10 period.
But I did find tonight when Phipps and foley came on he looked a little better, He gave izzy a good ball which he would not have done if he had the full pressure of being the wallabies 10 and key play maker.

 

[Pfitzy]

Simmons too. Our locks just aren't physical enough. Always seem to get out muscled in contact.

I keep getting told that Simmons is a lineout general. And we won just about all our ball (1 got picked off?). He also pushed scrums well against the Frogs - and our scrum was great tonight when everyone was out there.

But as Retallick and Whitelock have shown, just being good at set piece isn't enough.

AND if Simmons is a lineout general, why aren't we stealing more opposition ball? He doesn't appear to be very good at reading opposition ball.

So you have two options: 1) Simmons lifts his game around the park; 2) we find someone else to run the lineout.

I will note also that Carter was pretty lazy around the paddock too.

 

[Train Without a Station]

There were at least 2-3 penalties in that maul that could have been called. His was the softest, but maybe the dumbest too.

Penalty. Yes. Fine. He did it. You can argue about the severity but the fact was he briefly grabbed the leg and raised it. If he didn't they wouldn't have been about to be penalised. But the yellow card for that offence as dangerous play was ridiculous. Lacked intent or carelessness.

 

[Train Without a Station]

I keep getting told that Simmons is a lineout general. And we won just about all our ball (1 got picked off?). He also pushed scrums well against the Frogs - and our scrum was great tonight when everyone was out there.

But as Retallick and Whitelock have shown, just being good at set piece isn't enough.

AND if Simmons is a lineout general, why aren't we stealing more opposition ball? He doesn't appear to be very good at reading opposition ball.

So you have two options: 1) Simmons lifts his game around the park; 2) we find someone else to run the lineout.

I will note also that Carter was pretty lazy around the paddock too.

I agree the line out was subpar.

One place he showed his superiority was a bad throw where he grabbed it out of the AB's players hands late in the second half. Once again isn't enough though. And yes, needs to steal some pill.

 

[Pfitzy]

Apart from score a try, Hooper did sweet FA.

go get in the nutbag with Shiggins.

 

[Interestedoz1]

You're right the Wobs should just give up there's no way they'll be able to mould a team that's greater than the sum of it's parts. If only the Wobs could turn the clock back to 1990s before AFL and RL existed and by default rugby dominated in Aus.

While we're at it England, Ireland, Wales and France should just give up too. Rugby will never be number 1 in those countries so I don't know why we even bother. Let's just arrange a presentation next week to award the ABs the RWC. It will save all of us non New Zealanders the expense and disappointment of next years tournament in England.

good points - but I don't think rugby was the 4th or 5th sport in Oz during the glory years...IMO we have slipped dramatically over the last 10-15 years and it is reflected in our results...

 

[jollyswagman]

FFFFFAAAARRRRKKKKK IT. I am godamn sick of loosing to those kiwi pricks. I could have handled a narrow loss but this is a tough one to take! I can proudly say that I have supported the boys in gold through thick and thin over the years but this one hurts.

 

[Oldschool]

We need to pick backline players in their correct positions, not try to get who the coach thinks are the best 7 backs on the field. There is a difference.

Yep the AB's tried that, aka Christian Cullen, Leon Mc, et al. History has proven it very rarely works.

 

[Pfitzy]

Penalty. Yes. Fine. He did it. You can argue about the severity but the fact was he briefly grabbed the leg and raised it. If he didn't they wouldn't have been about to be penalised. But the yellow card for that offence as dangerous play was ridiculous. Lacked intent or carelessness.

It was karma, because sure as hell White deserved to go off just afterwards.

 

[Fireworks]

so what do we do? Horwill back?

It's illusory. Good players look bad when they go up against players on a level above them.

 

[lpd]

What really gets to me is seeing a forward jog into contact, stop when they get there, turn side on and get driven back or go straight down, it's like they still think they are going into a tackle bag, fucking accelerate into it!!!

 

[Dan54]

To be fair it hard to blame Link tonight, after PFitzy has told us how bad Shag is as coach, you have to admit Link asked the ABs to bring their 'A' game and they did, so he obviously outcoached Hansen
In all honesty though,I thought the All Blacks played bloody well, the Wallabies got on back foot and found it hard to recover, in games like this when opposition run hot it hard to do much to stop them. I was at Athletic Park in 96 and saw ABs put on similar performance, it case of a very good team running hot. I think we all should just digest result and game before calling for anyone's head, and then decide how the Wallabies need to play to win, then pick players to suit.

 

[Ash]

Phipps and Foley fucking bossed that game when they came on. Anyone who disagrees is a cretin.

What did Foley boss?

If you mean taking the ball to the line too many times and still joining rucks when he shouldn't (like Folau's try), then yes, he sure bossed it.

He did have a good wide pass - but that was at second receiver.

Credit to the ABs - just so much better than us. Tactically they were superb - identified weaknesses in the defensive structure and took us to the cleaners early. Once they got some confidence up they were offloading and passing close to the line, exposing our shooters and defensive misalignment. Too good.

 

[Sully]

I keep getting told that Simmons is a lineout general. And we won just about all our ball (1 got picked off?). He also pushed scrums well against the Frogs - and our scrum was great tonight when everyone was out there.

But as Retallick and Whitelock have shown, just being good at set piece isn't enough.

AND if Simmons is a lineout general, why aren't we stealing more opposition ball? He doesn't appear to be very good at reading opposition ball.

So you have two options: 1) Simmons lifts his game around the park; 2) we find someone else to run the lineout.

I will note also that Carter was pretty lazy around the paddock too.

Because Retallick and Whitelock are the best Second rowers in the world and Simmons is only the best in Australia.

 

[Shiggins]

I thought the ref had a good game. Anyone attempting to put any blame on Poite for the loss is delusional and clutching at straws.

Really. Did u see Richey all over the ball never releasing falou ( not holding him up as he was on his arse) and then scoring a try. That's 7 points the darkness shouldn't of god plus a red they should of. And the kick in touch that was called in play. That's a 5m lineout we should of had. The other 5m lineout resulted In a try. That's 14 points strait up plus the 3 Richey should of have away. Too many ppl underestimate these calls. Scary that the all blacks still won comfortably even with 2 cards though. They photo probably still would of won even if Richey saw a red card. That wallaby team will never beat the all blacks. Fardy needs to go for Higgers. We need a better lock (for Simmons) our props need to learn how to pass when we have numbers. Beal needs to learn that the inside ball to izzy looks predictable after the first 3 times. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) needs to be utilised better. We need speight.

White needs the bench. How good was smith at 9!