Pumas v Wallabies, Rosario, 5th October 2013

[Viking]

Great game to watch!

First thoughts:
Genia & Cooper - bloody awesome! Surely they are going to be our halves going forward. Lets stop mixing and matching and stick with these two. (I actually prefer Lealifano at 10 but realistically that's not going to happen - so lets stick to these two).

Fardy - Top game. I think this guy needs to be cemented in the starting team.

Back 3 - Ran great lines, finished well, supported well. Everything we like to see in a back 3.

Kuiridrani - Very destructive and great defensive. Always gets over the gain line. Only criticism is his tendency to push a 50:50 pass, however i think thats an easy fix, so he's looking good as a long-term 13.

Others: Still can't see why Simmons is there. Still not a fan of Alexander.
Our scrum held up well at times - but that is still not good enough IMO. There is no chance of dominance. My view is that we scrummed well as a team - we made parity cos the pack worked well together, however I think we still lack either strength and/or technique in the front row. And I guess strength through-out the forwards is lacking. I'm not great at analysing scrums but from an amateurs view that was my assumption. A noticeable improvement when Robinson came on, I think he played himself into the starting team.

Going Forward I think: Front row to continue tinkering with, Genia and Cooper to be first choice. Fardy to stay in the starting team even when Higgers/Pocock/Palu return. Mowen will have to fight it out with Higgers and Palu for a start, def be on the bench though. Lealifano's boot is handy but I think there is still question marks on him. Falou definitely in the back 3, and Kuirdriana at 13.

 

[redstragic]

I realise it a stupid question. I don't watch the tahs play that much except against the reds and I can't say I remember him at 15 in those games.

 

[tigerland12]

I thought Hooper was pretty average again tonight.

Getting Pocock back next season will make a massive difference.

 

[Mr Doug]

I love the Wallabies

Many of us do, ("through thick and thin")!

 

[Ruggo]

"Haters"?
Really, I think this term is well over-used. It trivialises quite valid criticisms and opinions that can be made and held about most players at some time.
I totally agree it was great to see everyone putting in.

You are right and the choice of words was wrong, though the meaning of the post stands and it is stronger than the language used in the post.

 

[hughbert]

Great game to watch!

First thoughts:
Genia & Cooper - bloody awesome! Surely they are going to be our halves going forward. Lets stop mixing and matching and stick with these two. (I actually prefer Lealifano at 10 but realistically that's not going to happen - so lets stick to these two).

Going Forward I think: Front row to continue tinkering with, Genia and Cooper to be first choice. Fardy to stay in the starting team even when Higgers/Pocock/Palu return. Mowen will have to fight it out with Higgers and Palu for a start, def be on the bench though. Lealifano's boot is handy but I think there is still question marks on him. Falou definitely in the back 3, and Kuirdriana at 13.

Whoah whoah whoah, just whoah.

Today's performance was the best we've seen this year, by a long shot, but let's not forget how bad things were as recently as a week ago.

There's no good reason to "stick" with the two halves when they don't perform. I think what we saw today is evidence of something we've known for a while - that when provided clean, front foot ball, Genia and Cooper are capable of lighting it up. It was great to see, that's for sure.

The issue may prove to be (and I bet this is the case as I've been following this stuff for a while now, and it's almost always true) that we don't get this clean front foot ball when we play against the top 2 or 3 sides. I don't think it's terribly controversial to say that Cooper and Genia look pretty ordinary when their pack is under pressure and that White/To'omua may provide a better platform for winning tighter, tougher contests. Maybe we end up picking horses for courses?

All I am saying here is: let's see if we can carry this form into a couple more tests against Tier 1 opposition before we think we've locked anything down. This was Argentina after all, and whilst theyve kept stride with the big 3 of the RC during some of the matches, they ended up with 1 solitary point, and were giving away 28 points a match prior to tonight.

 

[Mr Doug]

The plan for me was to wake up for this game after the Bok/AB clash but slept through the alarm. I shall be watching the replay. I'm just happy we won. I really couldn't care less how we win at this point. Excellent stuff Wallabies.

I though you were unusually quiet today, AS!
Maybe you could put two ice cubes in each glass of Cab Merlot next time, or you could even try "Pure Wine" (Hydrogen Peroxide) @ 1 drop per glass or 5 drops per bottle!

 

[barbarian]

What a great game to watch. Jeez the Argies have some skills- some of their interplay and offloading was breathtaking. They just couldn't convert, and they fell off too many tackles. But I don't think they played particularly badly.

That was a MUCH needed win. We got a little bit of luck, scored one or two soft tries, and then we were away. But the best thing was our ability to convert chances into points. Our support play from breaks was much better, and our urgency in the red zone was the best it has been in ages.

Genia Motm for mine, made brilliant decisions at the ruck and ensured we kept the tempo high. Plenty of blokes played their best games in gold- Tomane, Kuridrani, Fardy, Mowen, maybe even Cooper as well.

Bench impact also outstanding. Particularly Saia and Fatcat.
.

 

[FilthRugby]

Watching the replay on One now. A good game. Scott Fardy, Moore and Hooper are instrumental in the Wallabies forwards, have easily been the most consistent players in the side this year, or specifically for the Rugby Championship. Backs playing well, which is great to see.

Only downside is the defence from both sides, if you look at the tries Izzy scored, very poor front up one-on-one tackling from the Pumas.

Overall good game to watch, I know the Wallabies will definitely gain a lot of confidence from it.

 

[Ash]

I realise it a stupid question. I don't watch the tahs play that much except against the reds and I can't say I remember him at 15 in those games.

FYI, Foley spent a season at fullback for the Tahs before switching to 10.

 

[hughbert]

Given the standard of some of their other backline players (the 13 comes to mind), it's frankly implausible that Contepomi is the best available 12. They carried him today and they've been carrying him for a while. That's no space for a 36 year old man no matter how much of a legend he is.

 

[Ash]

What a great game to watch. Jeez the Argies have some skills- some of their interplay and offloading was breathtaking. They just couldn't convert, and they fell off too many tackles. But I don't think they played particularly badly.

Hernandez impressed me, had some sublime touches from the back. He's a great player when he gets the chance.

That was a MUCH needed win. We got a little bit of luck, scored one or two soft tries, and then we were away. But the best thing was our ability to convert chances into points. Our support play from breaks was much better, and our urgency in the red zone was the best it has been in ages.

We took our chances instead of bombing them. Against the Boks and ABs we can't afford to drop balls even from half chances. This time we were much more clinical in a challenging environment and it was great to see.

Genia Motm for mine, made brilliant decisions at the ruck and ensured we kept the tempo high. Plenty of blokes played their best games in gold- Tomane, Kuridrani, Fardy, Mowen, maybe even Cooper as well.

Bench impact also outstanding. Particularly Saia and Fatcat.
.

I'd go Fardy, watching it again via the replay on One and he's been huge.

 

[Ash]

Downside for me was our one on one missed tackles. Too many in Test rugby.

Folau, Kuridrani and Tomane all had great games on attack, but need to work on their defence. Tomane tends to misread and rush up or in when he needs to stay out, Kuridrani has too many one on one misses for a 13 and Folau is a good one on one defender but he tends to be slightly mis-positioned and sits back on his heels, meaning he is too easily stepped.

Other upside is Fatcat at 1. Slipper can hold up the loosehead side, but Fatcat can attack it. Would love to see Slipper to TH and Fatcat at 1.

 

[FilthRugby]

Bench impact also outstanding. Particularly Saia and Fatcat.
.

Honestly couldn't agree more, both players were excellent. Fat got a good try in the end. Saia was a menace at the break-down along with Mowen and Fardy. Great to see Foley get a meat-pie on debut, hopefully we'll see him in a few more tests to come.

 

[Ruggo]

The key for us in this game was we stamped our mark on it early and it allowed us to play the way we wanted. It was great to see us coherent.

What I liked about our backs was the balance. We have some decent ball runners in Tomane, Izzy, Kuindrani, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and a 10 with a good passing game alongside a 12 who is proving to play a diverse role with the skill to distribute and play direct. They gelled and we were hitting gaps at leasure. Support play was good and I liked Cooper getting stuck in, frequently looking for that second touch. This all created space for Genia and allowed him to play with more instinct in attack.

Just a coherent performance all round.

The forwards showed mongrel and ticker. It was great to see them get stuck in. Fardy is here to stay me thinks, even when other players return from injury. A back row of Pocock, Fardy and Higgers is mouth watering in my view. It was good to see us work our way through our scrum issues and make improvements. I liked that we felt confident in that second half to take on the Argies with only a seven man scrum when Simmons was in the bin. Like our backs, our pack hunted like one unit and was coherent.

I hope we take this confidence forward.

 

[emuarse]

If the pigs get some go forward and the 9 doesn't hop, skip and jump before passing, and the 10 isn't deep in the box, it's a nice theory. I can't recall any 9/10 combos delivering fast, front-foot ball to the outside backs of late. Would be nice.

And so it was nice!

 

[cyclopath]

And so it was nice!

Indeed! I was happy to be well wrong.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

The Jinx worked superbly @Cyclo, ably assisted by all the negative energy that was vented in the build up to this game.

 

[emuarse]

.against an absolutely woeful effort by the Pumas, of course it flatters the wobblies and makes them look better.

Why is it that when the Wallabies lose a game , they are playing woeful, and when they win, the other team is playing woeful?

To me, the way I see it, is that when a team is winning, they are playing better than the other team, not that the other team is necessarily woeful.

Although possibly if a team wins with in excess of 50 points, then possibly the other team is woeful.

Egads, I enjoyed writing that

 

[Brumby Jack]

Martin Landajo has been cited for stomping on/near Fainga'a and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)'s hand