RWC: AUS v ENG (Twickenham): POOL A; 6am (AEDT) Sunday 4 October

[Hugh Jarse]

The stats above suggest that the game was close.

Previous Tah Coaches used to try and reduce our beautiful game to a series of numbers that accountants can understand, and obfuscate shizzen performances.

Fail.

 

[Quick Hands]

Yep just imagine if had players like Jonathan Thurston playing Union - and do people really think someone like Thurston would not have made it - superb footballer

A lot of rah rah types said Israel Folau wouldn't make it.

 

[dru]

It's a tough one. A match like this should have some serious cut through value given it's against "the old enemy" in a World Cup tournament held in their own backyard that led to maximum humiliation for them.

Yet for all that, it looks like its still having trouble breaking through outside of NSW and Qld. For a bit of perspective the Melbourne based national ABC Sports round up program called "Offsiders" (on every Sunday morning for half an hour) gave this game all of three minutes of coverage sandwiched between about 13 mins each of AFL and NRL Grand Final coverage.

To add to that, the guy they had comment on it is a former League coach and current NRL journo.

Hopefully if the Wallabies keep producing these good news stories their exposure will continue though, as they wont be competing with our other footy codes big events

I'm with a long term commitment with the Sydney Jeep Club for Jeep Jambo 2015. It happens every 2 or 3 years this time with over 300 jeeps and over 600 people. We're basically 2 1/2 hours outside of Sydney. Big screen at Jambo site.

For the AFL and NRL finals.

Talk of the RWC is effectively zero. I was only able to watch the first half live, before needing to head out to arrange my next 4wd trip. We've been out for 14 hours. Listening to local radio. And I cruised back to the camp site to discuss how the trails worked. With little concern that I would learn the final score.

Never once had to ask people to not tell me the score. Wasn't worried about it.

Got back to my cabin (OK I'm glamping in order to be able to get the rugby) SCORE, the repeat was on 5 mins into the second half.

TV is full of the finals (League and Aussie a Rules). No cricket or tennis so we run a rough third.

 

[TahDan]

I'm with a long term commitment with the Sydney Jeep Club for Jeep Jambo 2015. It happens every 2 or 3 years this time with over 300 jeeps and over 600 people. We're basically 2 1/2 hours outside of Sydney. Big screen at Jambo site.

For the AFL and NRL finals.

Talk of the RWC is effectively zero. I was only able to watch the first half live, before needing to head out to arrange my next 4wd trip. We've been out for 14 hours. Listening to local radio. And I cruised back to the camp site to discuss how the trails worked. With little concern that I would learn the final score.

Never once had to ask people to not tell me the score. Wasn't worried about it.

Got back to my cabin (OK I'm glamping in order to be able to get the rugby) SCORE, the repeat was on 5 mins into the second half.

TV is full of the finals (League and Aussie a Rules). No cricket or tennis so we run a rough third.

Yeah, and with that insane and all time epic NRL GF finish we just had, you can guarantee that the wallabies won't get the air time the deserve now.

It's almost like North Qld manufactured a miracle full time siren leveller and 81st min win just to spite the wallabies lol


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[BDA]

The defense from the Wallabies in the game was staunch, but far too many missed tackles. If it wasn't for Pocock and Hooper defending like spider-monkeys, it might not have looked so great.

 

[Groucho]

lol you've got the inside line on all the hot goss that gets posted on PR

No, I haven't been on PR in months. I spoke to the person in question. They were pretty unhappy about the PR thread, since it was supposed to be personal. But you probably don't believe that.

 

[Joe Blow]

Great performance by our side. It was on the cards and despite England being favorites with the bookies.
Commiserations to them and their supporters. Sadly the pool of death was always going to claim one high profile side. Glad its not us but feel bad for the Orcs.
Hope there are no major injuries.

 

[Cardiffblue]

Been reflecting on the Australian performance. It was the most professionally planned demolition of the percentage game I can remember (aside from 2013 game vs Wales). Also was the first time any time in this rwc when any team has stepped up to play at full potential. Rest of the world is gonna have to step up their game.

 

[cyclopath]

The defense from the Wallabies in the game was staunch, but far too many missed tackles. If it wasn't for Pocock and Hooper defending like spider-monkeys, it might not have looked so great.

But missing some tackles is par for the course. Good defensive structure is covering those well. We had that. The structure was very good.

 

[Hawko]

Been reflecting on the Australian performance. It was the most professionally planned demolition of the percentage game I can remember (aside from 2013 game vs Wales). Also was the first time any time in this rwc when any team has stepped up to play at full potential. Rest of the world is gonna have to step up their game.

Apart from SA, who have had to step up to survive, none of the fancied teams have HAD to step up. We'll see a different France, NZ, SA, Ireland once the knockout games start. Australia were just the first team who needed to step up to stay alive and did, but others will surely follow, especially NZ.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

rugby league certainly, more like touch football nowadays; but not so union; and if you're thinking today's players are better, think again; they were the best then and more people actually played the game in those days

Seriously, you don't think the game has changed?
Line out lifting;
Free kicks v penalties;
Yellow cards;
Tmo;
Scrum sequence;
5m from scrum;
Plastic footballs;
Assistant refs v touchies who could not report foul lay;
Tackler roll away;
Use it or lose it maul;
Taken back into the 22;
I'm not saying anything about comparing players in different eras it's merely a different game and the transitition from one code to the other is not necessarily obvious: izzie bombed a certain try, burgess doesn't get the fact that you have to think about the next phase too.

 

[Cardiffblue]

Despite all I've said about lancasters bombers I actually feel sorry for him. He's been a real gent and a breath of fresh air compared with the twats like lord bald or mj. He had built a system and a group of players that were really good. So what went wrong? Somewhere sometime after the 2013 loss to Wales he gave up on the experiment in flair he'd embarked on and reverted to the percentage game. At the same time the poodle press started singing England uber alles and thereby got up everybody's nose. Think in the end Lancaster was a victim of a system that needs sweeping away by someone with the balls to tell lord bald and carling to FF (Folau Fainga'a) off and that their day and methods are long gone if England ever really want to live up to their potential. Winning rwc the way they did through total pragmatism has become an albatross round their neck

 

[TOCC]

This isn't the thread for rugby league discussions

 

[Cardiffblue]

Apart from SA, who have had to step up to survive, none of the fancied teams have HAD to step up. We'll see a different France, NZ, SA, Ireland once the knockout games start. Australia were just the first team who needed to step up to stay alive and did, but others will surely follow, especially NZ.

Disagree only on france and Wales missing from your list. Watching france over the last five years there is no step up for them

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Despite all I've said about lancasters bombers I actually feel sorry for him. He's been a real gent and a breath of fresh air compared with the twats like lord bald or mj. He had built a system and a group of players that were really good. So what went wrong? Somewhere sometime after the 2013 loss to Wales he gave up on the experiment in flair he'd embarked on and reverted to the percentage game. At the same time the poodle press started singing England uber alles and thereby got up everybody's nose. Think in the end Lancaster was a victim of a system that needs sweeping away by someone with the balls to tell lord bald and carling to FF (Folau Fainga'a) off and that their day and methods are long gone if England ever really want to live up to their potential. Winning rwc the way they did has become an albatross round their neck

English press suggesting he lost his nerve when he nearly beat ABs with 2nd string team but then injected the premiership players for the 2nd test.
I don't follow them closely enough to evaluate that view. Others do and will.

 

[Pfitzy]

Pretty much everything has been said but I would like to point out something about the scrums:

England started very cannily by not taking the weight, and getting rewarded by Poite for it. They thought it was going to put us back on our heels in subsequent scrums, make us gun-shy, so they could put pressure on.

However, in between the short-arm and full-arm awarded against us, there was one scrum where it looked they stepped around a little - what was actually happening was the clear scrum plan from Ledesma: Marler is known for boring in, so let's help him with that.

We were playing our own little game, shearing off to the left on our own ball to attack the TH side of their scrum and put Marler in a position where he wasn't able to pack anywhere near straight, and make him look like a clown.

And it fucking worked. Like a treat.

Yeah Sir Clive, we're not intelligent. Not at all

 

[BDA]

But missing some tackles is par for the course. Good defensive structure is covering those well. We had that. The structure was very good.

true. I guess my point is that having the Pooper on the field probably flattered our structure a bit

 

[Cardiffblue]

English press suggesting he lost his nerve when he nearly beat ABs with 2nd string team but then injected the premiership players for the 2nd test.
I don't follow them closely enough to evaluate that view. Others do and will.

It's more than the players he picked. It's the way they began to play. And at the same time the vested interests started telling the world what was gonna be the outcome of rwc. He Was doomed

 

[Pfitzy]

true. I guess my point is that having the Pooper on the field probably flattered our structure a bit

Well, we better get used to it because I expect Hooper to get minimum 2 weeks for his cleanout.

Pocock back to 7, BennyMac to 8, McMahon to bench.

Nice to have options.

 

[Cardiffblue]

Well, we better get used to it because I expect Hooper to get minimum 2 weeks for his cleanout.

Pocock back to 7, BennyMac to 8, McMahon to bench.

Nice to have options.

id forgotten that brain fart in anotherwise perfect performance