RWC: Australia v Fiji - 23 September 16:45, Millenium Stadium(24 September 1:45 AEST)

[something]

how gnarly is this shot! the 2 people you really don't want above you in that situation

 

[cyclopath]

Horne's mistake was dropping the flat, cut out pass from Foley in the first half when we were under penalty advantage and he would have scored if he caught it.

That's the sort of play we want our wingers making to finish tries.

Aside from that he was pretty good.

Myriads must be shrinking these days.

 

[Braveheart81]

Myriads must be shrinking these days.

The Great Myriads of Gagr were certainly much more prolific in days gone by.

 

[jollyswagman]

I've been as vocal a supporter of Quade Cooper as many, but I'm sorry, I cannot buy into this mantra that we cannot win without him playing. I know he's had fewer opportunities to show his hand of late, but his form in recent years, in between injuries, has been patchy at best, and nowhere near this "match-winning" level that is his upside........

I will assume that my earlier comments are what you are referring to Cyclo, and fair enough. My comments aren't meant to be read as "one-eyed pro QC (Quade Cooper).....our savior" so to speak. More so that I am having a hard time, as you said, believing in the current combinations unlocking any solid defense. Call it a wing-and-a-prayer but we need one of our #10's to be in top class form, along with at least 2 or 3 other backs to be in top form. My personal preference for QC (Quade Cooper) at 10 is I feel his mediocre form is on par with Foley's better form and would be running him out to start hoping that he will be able to pull the rabbit out of the hat. (I believe QC (Quade Cooper) has a rabbit in his hat....Foley I am not so sure about.)

Folau is solid but to be honest he is wallowing in somewhat of the "Mr Reliable" form right now. He needs to step up onto the big stage and be counted. I think it was Bob Dwyer that said something along the lines of a team needing 3 or more players in a team to be putting their hand up to be counted as "world 15" form. In my accounting we have Hooper & Pocock and probably Folau on a good day but those three alone aren't going to get it done for us. We need our halves to be unlocking defensive lineups and putting 50 on the minnows. We need to mongrel from our forwards and at least one winger with electric speed that can create something from nothing given the chance. I can't recall seeing one clean backline move from a set piece against Fiji. Sure the opposition may be wondering what to do with the Pooper but I didn't see anything from our backs that would have anyone too worried. I think England are in a similar boat to us and Mike Brown is about the best of their lot. NZ on the other hand have a handful of backs that can tear any team apart on the day.

I was feeling really positive coming into the tournament, and up until the 50 minute mark I was still feeling the same. I was down with the conservative, safety first, simple stuff game plan for a while but was expecting things to open up at the end. Given the strong finishes we has seen during TRC, the last 30 minutes against Fiji were the opposite of what I was hoping to see.

 

[Gillys_ghost]

Foley continues to play solid footy without a doubt, his defence was good all night, and im happy to have a player whos consistently ok in the side but he needs someone else to create oppotunities cause he doesnt do it, if Giteau starts to do the playmaking then i think the Foley/Giteau combo can take us to the final, if not, maybe we should have gone with the Cooper/To'omua.

 

[wamberal]

Foley continues to play solid footy without a doubt, his defence was good all night, and im happy to have a player whos consistently ok in the side but he needs someone else to create oppotunities cause he doesnt do it, if Giteau starts to do the playmaking then i think the Foley/Giteau combo can take us to the final, if not, maybe we should have gone with the Cooper/To'omua.

One important factor in the equation is, "who is the most reliable goal-kicker?"



I guess that is Foley right now.

 

[jollyswagman]

I can't help feeling that with the Foley Giteau combination we have two players doing what one #10 should be capable of. Now this is not a direct criticism of Foley rather that I am thinking that a Foley To'omua combination may be more fruitful. We seem to be completely lacking in a "directness" in close and having to rely on a lumbering forward to hit the line. By the time the ball is getting out to TK all of the space has been burnt up up wide and we are having to change the direction of play. When To'omua has come on late during TRC we have seen the difference his direct running off #10 has made in keeping the defense from drifting too quickly and also maintaining the space out wide. This is irritating for me as I think we need to have Gits out there for his experience.

 

[Gillys_ghost]

Has Cooper even had an opportunity to kick? in our flogging to NZ in bled 2 Cooper kicked 2 out of 2 but as we were flogged, he didnt get much of an opportunity to kick any more and got 2 out of for in the only other game he kicked, so hes on 4/6 for his kicking, which isnt to bad. My problem is how little opportunit he has actually had with most of his game time at 12 which is just bizarre. Foley certainly did kick well last night and the week before but nothing Quade has done has indicated hes a poor goal kicker.

 

[Gillys_ghost]

I can't help feeling that with the Foley Giteau combination we have two players doing what one #10 should be capable of. Now this is not a direct criticism of Foley rather that I am thinking that a Foley To'omua combination may be more fruitful. We seem to be completely lacking in a "directness" in close and having to rely on a lumbering forward to hit the line. By the time the ball is getting out to TK all of the space has been burnt up up wide and we are having to change the direction of play. When To'omua has come on late during TRC we have seen the difference his direct running off #10 has made in keeping the defense from drifting too quickly and also maintaining the space out wide. This is irritating for me as I think we need to have Gits out there for his experience.

Does To'omua really offer more Control and direction around the backline then giteau though? i always saw To'omua as more similar to Foley, hes a good distributor, and has a strong running game. the difference though is that Toomuas defence is dominant and his running style is more as a crash ball runner then Foleys defence slicing with his acceleration

 

[Braveheart81]

The two tests To'omua has started this year haven't gone well. He got knocked out against Argentina and had an absolute shocker against the All Blacks.

He's been generally great off the bench.

I don't think Cheika will tinker with Giteau and To'omua in terms of their roles.

 

[jollyswagman]

Does To'omua really offer more Control and direction around the backline then giteau though? i always saw To'omua as more similar to Foley, hes a good distributor, and has a strong running game. the difference though is that Toomuas defence is dominant and his running style is more as a crash ball runner then Foleys defence slicing with his acceleration

Yeah, I do agree with you there PT. For mine it wasn't the control and direction we are lacking with Foley/Gits as with those two we have that in abundance. I am looking for some threat or penetration in close. Neither Foley or Gits can deliver that, whereas To'omua is the only one who has been able to get some go-forward in close (from the backs that is).......do we happen to have a spare Ma'a Nonu anywhere?

 

[Marcelo]

I can't understand the last penalty kick. Kick to the touch!

 

[Rugbynutter39]

I also don't get the criticism of Foley?

Thought he played well, although I still don't agree with partnering him with Giteau.....

I also thought Foley played okay so surprised by the criticism...I also thought Genia played ok game....and phipps coming on did not convince me he deserves to start ahead of Genia....

But was also surprised did not see more of To'omua.....coming on so late at 77 mins....

Been a while since seen a really big game from TK.....

 

[Strewthcobber]

I can't understand the last penalty kick. Kick to the touch!

Put them up by 15 and took minutes off the clock. It basically guaranteed the win.

 

[BarneySF]

Was I the only one who was not impressed by Douglas this match? For someone as big as he is, he sure as heck has very little "impact" at the collision. He seems to crumple upon contact in a very John-Eales-ish kinda way. Eales had an excuse in being built like a clothes lines but this is not the case with young Kane.

Totally agree. Didn't really see any transfer of weight in any collision - seemed to stop dead in his tracks when tackled in all his carries.

 

[BDA]

I like to think Cheika is still keeping his cards close to his chest. We didn't see any backline moves or tight forward play last night. I wonder if Cheika instructed the guys to play a straight bat in the second half, so as to not give England any idea as to how they might attack. It strikes me that we kept the attack fairly simple as didn't try anything particularly creative.

 

[BDA]

I can't understand the last penalty kick. Kick to the touch!

I thought it was the smart choice, as it put the game beyond doubt. If Fiji had gone on to win the game, you'd be talking about how the team didn't show any respect for their opponent.

 

[Braveheart81]

I also think the decision would have been different if we hadn't just lost three lineouts in a row.

 

[kiap]

Things I like about this match thread.

1. Not much criticism of the ref
2. Not much criticism of the tmo
3. Not much criticism of the ref

Refreshingly good

1. Jacko went okay
2. No howlers/time-wasters come to mind
3. We won

 

[tragic]

How good is it to have a forward pack that is no longer the achillies heel of a team stacked with backline flair.
Seems the pendulum is finally starting to swing the other way.
Now if we could only get both firing at once..
Well done piggies!!