New Zealand v Australia - Auckland - 23 August 2014

[Shiggins]

Nope, you said Melbourne. It easy..just scroll up an inch and nope, we still lose the series.

How do we lose the series when it's a draw

 

[Brumby Jack]

Doesn't look good at all.

 

[lewisr]

Doesn't look good at all.

Fuck me we can't take a trick.

 

[WTF?]

accepting that Link isn't going to make too many changes from the 23, I'd go:

1. Slipper
2. TPN if fit/Charles
3. Kepu
4. Horwill
5. Simmons
6. Higginbotham
7. Hooper
8. Palu
9. Phipps
10. Foley
11. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
12. Beale
13. Kuridrani
14. Horne
15. Folau

16. Hansen/Charles
17. Cowan
18. Alexander
19. Skelton
20. Fardy
21. White
22. To'omua
23. McCabe

and before you shoot me down about Beale over To'omua, please deliver a valid argument as to what the latter has delivered this series so far..

No shots fired here. Good back line for me. Beale looked far more composed at 12 with Foley inside. To'omua lacked in attack.

Forward pack I am not sure. We just don't seem to have the cattle to make the impact at the moment.

 

[Brumby Jack]

TPN was on the radio today and said he's a few weeks off contact training.

So it will be between Hanson and S Fainga'a

 

[NFL]

and before you shoot me down about Beale over To'omua, please deliver a valid argument as to what the latter has delivered this series so far..

KB (Kurtley Beale) is still trying to girly slap some opposition players in the tackle while To'omua was making hits.
Our defence tonight was shocking.

 

[boyo]

no disrespect to the incumbents, but I'd love to see those Morris twins as our centre pairing..

Major and Minor?

 

[KOB1987]

TPN was on the radio today and said he's a few weeks off contact training.

So it will be between Hanson and S Fainga'a

far out, I might hit the bench press!

 

[Train Without a Station]

accepting that Link isn't going to make too many changes from the 23, I'd go:

1. Slipper
2. TPN if fit/Charles
3. Kepu
4. Horwill
5. Simmons
6. Higginbotham
7. Hooper
8. Palu
9. Phipps
10. Foley
11. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
12. Beale
13. Kuridrani
14. Horne
15. Folau

16. Hansen/Charles
17. Cowan
18. Alexander
19. Skelton
20. Fardy
21. White
22. To'omua
23. McCabe

and before you shoot me down about Beale over To'omua, please deliver a valid argument as to what the latter has delivered this series so far..

Strength on contact and an ability to defend.

Beale made two good offloads and otherwise didn't look out of position, looked out of his depth. Fucking move him wherever you want in defence he will be exploited. The try after Carter's drop ball he was marking air, eventually committed to Cruden and by then it was too late and he offloaded. When savea chipped and chased Beale hung back, let savea come to him and dictate the terms instead of coming up in a one on one and limiting his options. Then there was when he played matador to Crotty. I lost interest by the second half.

I'm a big champion of Horwill's but to hang Carter out to dry completely after today is ludicrous. He was one of many average performers after two great test matches. Perhaps Horwill comes in if he has shown a lot at training but we need to get past this habit of championing players who weren't there because they didn't have the opportunity to fuck up and look bad.

 

[NFL]

Maybe the man makeup thing is to blame ?

 

[lewisr]

far out, I might hit the bench press!

To be fair I thought Hanson played pretty well. Dropped one ball I think but otherwise held up well in the scrum and our lineout was good too. So it's not a complete disaster there.

The real question is; how many changes are we willing to make when we really need to try and build some consistency in starting positions?

I think Phipps and Foley for White and Beale. Kuridrani to 13 and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) to Wing. Higgers to 6.

Before people call me out , these are all all combinations we have had in the very recent past and wouldn't cause too much disruption I feel. It still allows the team to build and hopefully refreshes their psychology.

 

[Ash]

You can do what you want with the backs, but if our forwards get manhandled again like they did tonight, and if our defensive line looks so unstructured again, we will get beaten again. Comfortably.

 

[Scoey]

I haven't read any of the previous posts so apologies if this has been covered already but these are my thoughts on the game:

1. Ugh; and
2. Fuck me!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Beefcake]

How long have we been a "young team". We've been saying this from day 1 of the Dean's era and that was 5-6 years ago. Its time to step up.

Spose if the following positions are not cemented: tight 5, 6-7-8, 9-10-12, and 11-14-15, capt or culture.. be sure its a young team (not limited to age) Step up? team gotta know what they're stepping into - McKenzie only been in for a minute and wobs are only jus grafting out their combos.. If thats the sentiment then surely pure wobs fans have been saying that since McQueen era 1998 Quality takes time

 

[KOB1987]

Strength on contact and an ability to defend.

Beale made two good offloads and otherwise didn't look out of position, looked out of his depth. Fucking move him wherever you want in defence he will be exploited. The try after Carter's drop ball he was marking air, eventually committed to Cruden and by then it was too late and he offloaded. When savea chipped and chased Beale hung back, let savea come to him and dictate the terms instead of coming up in a one on one and limiting his options. Then there was when he played matador to Crotty. I lost interest by the second half.

Sounds to me like you rolled the tape a few times and pinpointed where Beale was or wasn't and completely disregarded that there were 14 other players out there too..

who also had defensive obligations..

 

[DATFISH]

VERY VERY ORDINARY and EMBARRASSING.

Piss the half off... and swap in the bench forwards as starters.... and as for Beale....If he can't do better than sticking the fairy arm out in defence ......F%$K OFF mate.

VERY PISS POOR PERFORMANCE WALLABIES... VERY!.... EMBARASSING

 

[KOB1987]

To be fair I thought Hanson played pretty well. Dropped one ball I think but otherwise held up well in the scrum and our lineout was good too. So it's not a complete disaster there.

The real question is; how many changes are we willing to make when we really need to try and build some consistency in starting positions?

I think Phipps and Foley for White and Beale. Kuridrani to 13 and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) to Wing. Higgers to 6.

Before people call me out , these are all all combinations we have had in the very recent past and wouldn't cause too much disruption I feel. It still allows the team to build and hopefully refreshes their psychology.

I generally agree with these, 50/50 Beale or To'omua at 12 though..

 

[Train Without a Station]

Sounds to me like you rolled the tape a few times and pinpointed where Beale was or wasn't and completely disregarded that there were 14 other players out there too..

who also had defensive obligations..

Well if I'm discussing beale's issues who else would I bring up. My point is for all if them is bank on Horne to shut the play down. He didn't because he was covering Beale in the line.

 

[FrankLind]

Very happy with the emergence of Dane Coles. He was superb, and was also excellent in the England series.

Ryan Crotty looks to have made the step up to international class.

I would swap Jane for Piutau, and maybe have Tuipolotu on the bench (when fit) ahead of Luatua.

Looking forward to Nonu, Kaino and Dan Carter making their returns.

 

[qwerty51]

Foley's restarts are a hell of a lot better than To'omua's. To'omua's just go far too deep