RWC Pool D: Wallabies v Fiji, Sat 21st September, 2.45pm AEST, Sapporo Dome

[Finsbury Girl]

we weren't though. We started poorly, modified the game plan and came home with a wet sail to trounce them. There were some great performances and some poor ones. We got maximum points against the 3rd ranked team in our pool, what more would you like? I don't think I've ever read a positive comment about the Wallabies from you.

If the expectation is someone just needs to turn up to the office then I suppose you might be satisfied.


My expectations for my national team are obviously a lot higher than yours. The performance is certainly not of the standard of a team that aspires to be top 2 in the world.

What I will say is this, if I had staff that continually underperformed like they have, they'd be out the door.

I've not had much positive to say about the Wallabies as in the past 4 years there hasn't been much to praise. Frankly I'd find it astonishing if anyone is happy with the continuing decline of the Australian footy team.

 

[Braveheart81]

If the expectation is someone just needs to turn up to the office then I suppose you might be satisfied.


My expectations for my national team are obviously a lot higher than yours. The performance is certainly not of the standard of a team that aspires to be top 2 in the world.

What I will say is this, if I had staff that continually underperformed like they have, they'd be out the door.

I've not had much positive to say about the Wallabies as in the past 4 years there hasn't been much to praise. Frankly I'd find it astonishing if anyone is happy with the continuing decline of the Australian footy team.

In the other thread about judging the Wallabies RWC performance you said it was binary. Either we win or we fail.

I guess that doesn't apply here.

The margin of victory was actually 3 points higher than our first match of the 2015 RWC against Fiji.

 

[Finsbury Girl]

Bill is binary goal. We are a million miles away.

 

[tragic]

What I will say is this, if I had staff that continually underperformed like they have, they'd be out the door.

What if they were the best available staff despite their failings?
You’d shut up shop? Or shuffle the deckchairs and go backwards?
Not sure your tenure would last long .

 

[barbarian]

Bill is binary goal. We are a million miles away.

Why do you set yourself up for disappointment like that? Setting a goal that is 95% unlikely to happen. This is supposed to be fun, right?

It's like being a Greens supporter and expecting them to form Government on election day.

Never mind. It's a match thread and I suppose it's getting things off topic.

 

[cyclopath]

Bill is binary goal. We are a million miles away.

Fark, you make me seem optimistic.

 

[Braveheart81]

Bill is binary goal. We are a million miles away.

So we're 1/7th of the way to our goal. Excellent!

 

[Spruce Moose]

When is the hearing for Hodge?

Unsure but if he receives a long term suspension from the citing lottery commission are we allowed to get a replacement into the squad as if he were injured?

 

[Slim 293]

Unsure but if he receives a long term suspension from the citing lottery commission are we allowed to get a replacement into the squad as if he were injured?

Nope.

 

[Finsbury Girl]

So we're 1/7th of the way to our goal. Excellent!

I love your optimism!

 

[tragic]

I’m still perplexed about this whole Hodge tackle saga
Frame 1- hodge is wrongfooted and it’s a line ball whether arms or shoulder will contact first
Frame 2 - First contact is definitely arm to arm. No shoulder or head contact yet.
Frame 3 - Yato leads with his chin/chest/arms wrapped around the ball. Hodge braces himself but hasn’t moved. This is the point chin and shoulder collide
Frame 4 - Hodge is poleaxed but the damage is done.
It’s a classsic Pacific Islander sidestep gone wrong with an accidental clash.
If that’s a red card and suspension then I’m watching the wrong sport.

 

[Dctarget]

In that third photo, is his right shoulder not making contact with Yato's head?

 

[formerflanker]

I agree, we need to resist the urge to select players based on their performance off the bench. Most players will look good coming off the bench against Fiji when they are tired. This is the reason Beale is now playing FB, because he had a great cameo off the bench, and probably that is the position he is best suited and should stay.

DHP should be fullback. Judging by the first week this is going to be known as the tournament of the box kick.

I know of a bloke who is good under the high ball.
Oh wait......

 

[Tomikin]

Good win. We knew Fiji would come out firing, and we knew if we hung tough we'd come away in the last 20-30.

Our tactics in the first 25 minutes were bizarre, but I'll put that down to early tournament nerves and over-enthusiasm. Once they settled down it was really one-way traffic.

I'd caution against making changes for the Wales game. The guys on the bench had a far easier job than the starters, which was why LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto), Genia, To'omua, Uelese etc. looked so good.

I'd also keep Pocock starting. The game pattern didn't suit him, we were either getting steamrolled (first 30) or holding the ball ourselves. In a tighter struggle against Wales I expect him to make a far bigger contribution than what he did.

You can't win the Cup in the first game but you sure can lose it. We did everything we needed to do, so I'm pretty happy. Even if I was about to have a heart attack at the 45 minute mark.

This is exactly how I feel.. FFS we won, Fiji probably came out with there whole World Cup on the line, we coped the brunt of a team who's spent 2 years targeting this game. We hang tough, then gave them the stick towards the end.. Anyone saying that getting a bonus point against Fiji is easy doesn't watch rugby. We won, we are on to next week, minimal changes maybe Genia... But other then that we really did the job needed, and in the end easily ..

Onwards and upwards lets go Wallabies.

 

[tragic]

In that third photo, is his right shoulder not making contact with Yato's head?

Correct - it’s the point of contact that did the damage.
But Hodges shoulder doesn’t move across all three frames. Yato barrels into it.
Where do you draw the line?
When a prop pick and drives at the line and his head contacts a defenders knee is that a red card?
What about if he goes under the defenders arms and strikes head vs hip?
Or is it just a shoulder that is taboo.
Hodge is basically a speed bump in an awkward position caused by Yatos change of direction leaving him wrong footed.
He definitely uses his arms but yatos body position in contact is head/chest first.

 

[tragic]

And no citing or media furore for a very similar contact with vunipolas chin.
At least common sense prevailed on one occasion.

 

[Up the Guts]

This is exactly how I feel.. FFS we won, Fiji probably came out with there whole World Cup on the line, we coped the brunt of a team who's spent 2 years targeting this game. We hang tough, then gave them the stick towards the end.. Anyone saying that getting a bonus point against Fiji is easy doesn't watch rugby. We won, we are on to next week, minimal changes maybe Genia. But other then that we really did the job needed, and in the end easily ..

Onwards and upwards lets go Wallabies.

Not so much on here, but elsewhere it seems the exact people who were talking up Fiji's chances of beating us are the same ones saying we played poorly and the victory means nothing.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Not so much on here, but elsewhere it seems the exact people who were talking up Fiji's chances of beating us are the same ones saying we played poorly and the victory means nothing.

Overlooking things like Fiji aren't actually a bad team with time and preparation. And if we manage to knock off Wales will look to throw the kitchen sink at them.

 

[barbarian]

One thing I noticed from rewatching the first half: I really like the little touches James O'Connor has at 13.

Specifically, he is really good at straightening our backline attack, fixing defenders and putting his outside men in space. It's not highlights package stuff (often it's just a case of taking one or two steps before passing) but it's really effective and it's something we have never been particularly good at.

It seems his first instinct is to pass, which is a big shift away from 13s we've had in the past - TK, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) etc. Not having a dig at those two though, who were doing their jobs in a different backline.
.

 

[Sully]

Yes. Had to watch a replay and had heard how 'crap' JOC (James O'Connor) had been. When I watched he was very good just understated.