TSR
Andrew Slack (58)
I'm struggling to think of any of Cheika's judgement calls which havent been a success.
RWC 2015 Final - Australia v New Zealand, Twickenham, Sunday 1 November, 3:00 AEDT
- Thread starter Hugh Jarse
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EatSleepDrinkRuck
Larry Dwyer (12)
Viking
Mark Ella (57)
We are not better at defence. Did you not watch the South Africa game? The All Blacks were ruthless on defence, the only thing going against them was their discipline by giving away silly penalties.
zer0
John Thornett (49)
Groucho
Greg Davis (50)
I did watch that game! I'm an enthusastic follower of World Cup games.
Are we better at anything, Seb?
Groucho
Greg Davis (50)
Meh. We play a high-risk defence. A high proportion of those missed tackles were in the rush, which is the risk we take. We then scramble well. Tries conceded = 0.
redstragic
Alan Cameron (40)
We are better at bleeding, mateship (the inclusive, non patriarchal, non mysogonistic kind) and wearing green and gold and proudly belting out an ordinary national anthem. How much blood have the Wobs spilt in the name of rugby in the Championships and RWC? Must be all the ACDC the boys are on ATM that makes them want to run through brick walls.
We are also better at eating pizza after the match, the change room is piled high with them.
Groucho
Greg Davis (50)
In all seriousness, I can't believe you guys are talking down our defence. Apart from the obvious mistakes against the Scots, it's been heroic. That Argie attack out-scored New Zealand in Pool C, and put 43 points past Ireland, who had the equal best defence in the pool stages. We kept them tryless by outstanding scrambling defence.
They did indeed. Missed tackles as an isolated stat is a bit limited sometimes - it probably varies significantly with the structure of the defence. Obviously, if you miss no tackles, it's probably awesome, but what if you also allow 3-4 clean overlaps where a player never gets close to being tackled but scores? It would be more meaningful, but probably a massive pain to code, to look at the outcome from each missed tackle in terms of metres and / or points subsequently gained.
I'm not saying missing 30 tackles is good, but it might not be the whole story. The lack of tries scored by the Pumas is probably of some significance. The Wallabies have obviously scrambled well at crucial times, which has to be some positive metric in defence terms.
In any event, I haven't seen anything in this RWC to say we have a better defence than the ABs, but it is pretty damn good.
Redsman
Allen Oxlade (6)
Well according to the dozen kiwis or so I happened across today in downtown QLD - Aussies may as well not even show up... the bleating tracksuit pant wearing kiwis (thx marto for that reference) have it in the bag already... or do they... ??
I think aussie supporters should just take the opportunity to stir the kiwis' anxiety levels this week as much as possible... as it really is quite hilarious...
odds are that AIG will prevail (or will they???)
Im sure the kiwis are sad poor ol joubert thrown under the bus by IRB...
for that reference) have it in the bag already... or do they... ??I think aussie supporters should just take the opportunity to stir the kiwis' anxiety levels this week as much as possible... as it really is quite hilarious...
odds are that AIG will prevail (or will they???)
Im sure the kiwis are sad poor ol joubert thrown under the bus by IRB...
Redsman
Allen Oxlade (6)
would prefer to see To'omua at back with KB (Kurtley Beale) off bench... KBs defence = suss
Rugbynutter39
Michael Lynagh (62)
Started organising some mates to go watch final live - sure a lot of similar plans being made across the country
How good is it to have the wallabies in the rwc final....
How good is it to have the wallabies in the rwc final....
Spruce Moose
Fred Wood (13)
Agree here but think to help defence wouldn't mind Mitchell starting 15 and Horne coming back to the wing (if fit) to sure up defence, then bring Kurtley off the bench.
But hopefully Falou continues to improve and he gets back some of that magic. Any word on Gits? Assume he was injured if coming off that early.
Tahspark
Ted Thorn (20)
To add to Groucho's almost comprehensive list of things we're better at:
David Pocock
Is there a better example of a player missing two injury enforced seasons then returning at international level to be such a dominant force? I'd like to see that. This bloke wants to hold Bill aloft big time and it's going to take many staunch ABs to stop him.
Dewald Nel
Cyril Towers (30)
How is it that Grant Fox, a current All Black selector, is told the identity of the referee before it is made public? And why does he then make it public? Was he told officially? Does he have a deep throat within the referees appointments ranks?
It all sounds a little odd to me.
Fox says that the All Blacks were informed before the semi-final that Owens would be in charge of the next weekend's finale.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/nigel-owens-referee-rugby-world-10326695
The real question is, why does it matter? It was the worst kept secret of the world cup - if the Aussies didn't know it by last week Tuesday, I'd be more concerned with myself if I were them than I would about the All Blacks already knowing who the ref is.
Besides, I'm guessing Aus got the same information at the same time. Fox just felt compelled to out it for some reason.
Samson
Chris McKivat (8)
It's going to be a very very long week. Let the darkness talk it up, keep our powder dry and hope we can detonate it come the wee hours Sunday morning. I know we are the underdog and don't deserve to be on the same paddock as them ( a kiwi told me) but I can dream of glory.....quietly.
Pfitzy
Nathan Sharpe (72)
You know whose fault that is? Fuckwit Bandwagon Aussies from the period 1998-2001.
From 1998, Aussies who would barely give a knob of rancid goat shit about rugby suddenly found the kiwi in their office/school/place of work and decided to hammer the shit out of them about choking, after hearing some kind of news about some game in 1995 where they "choked" as well.
Now a whole generation of kids has grown into teens/20s with one purpose in mind: glorifying NZ rugby with a handy sideline in smashing anything Australian while they're at it.
At that point, everything else like underarm and all that shit came back up like an old corpse.
redstragic
Alan Cameron (40)
Pfitzy you forgot Gregan pointing out to the All Blecks in 2003 that they had to wait 4 more years.
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