Springboks v Wallabies, Loftus Versfeld, Sun 9th Jul 1.05am AEST

[Bullrush]

Players knock the ball back all the time. Happend multiple times in this game. Vunis one was touch and go 50/50. His palm was facing towards him and he tried to knock in towards himself. It went straight down maybe backwards a tad. 50/50

There was nothing 50/50 about it. That has been refed like this for a while…which is why no-one made an issue about even in the all-Australian commentary team or analysis after the game.

Almost everything you have called 50/50 was not 50/50 at all. Hodge was offside from QCs chip and Samu knocked on from restart late in the game.

 

[Wallaby Man]

One area in the review that Eddie will go off his nut with is the amount of times a loose ball was on the ground and we didn’t dive on it. Tom Wright specifically in the Boks first try had better bring a protective shield for that review, he’s going to be made an example of in front of the group. It’s not acceptable for that level. They picked up 2-3 try’s that started from players not securing possession when it’s on the ground

 

[griffins]

One area in the review that Eddie will go off his nut with is the amount of times a loose ball was on the ground and we didn’t dive on it. Tom Wright specifically in the Boks first try had better bring a protective shield for that review, he’s going to be made an example of in front of the group. It’s not acceptable for that level. They picked up 2-3 try’s that started from players not securing possession when it’s on the ground

Fair bit of shit was getting shovelled throughout as well, probably needed to take contact rather than transferring pressure on a few occassions

 

[TSR]

I actually thought our set piece with our run on side wasn't too bad. The lineout which I was suspect/concerned about with our selection choices operated much better than expected and the scrum was generally good until Kitshoff started playing shenanigans with AAA's. The kicking also wasn't particularly bad in the first half either. Uelese highlighted why he shouldn't be in an international team until he can throw straight. None of his throws looked particularly great.

Some poor kicks seemed to creep in when the Wallabies were starting to operate under pressure. You could tell a few times they maybe overcooked it a tad at altitude. The kick chase I thought was rather poor Korobeti aside. I never really felt like we were ever genuinely going to regather and players at this level are quality under a high ball, especially the Bok's who have been playing this style and in the NH for awhile now.

Our scrum was under pressure all game. Kitshoff wasn’t doing anything you don’t expect at test level. Our lineout got worse as the game progressed, particularly in defence. Our kicking didn’t produce any meaningful positive result for the whole game that I can remember. I agree the kick chase shares blame for that, but there were plenty of dud kicks.

 

[Linerunner2023]

Well that to say was just a little bit dissapointing

for next week hopefully Bell, tupou are fit and also petaia and kellaway

need Bell and Topou on the bench
Porecki is the best out of f all
Skelton - still keen to see him play these so called big games for the wallabies
Tom hooper has a tough game, not surprised to see him dropped but wouldn’t mind him get another chance / Holloway and Leota will be gunning for the 6
I would love to see Wilson and valetini at 6 and 8

on the backs Kerevi needs to start
Suli played himself out of contention
Kellaway and petaia back then hodge and Suli go, if their not Marky N at 14 and hodge on bench

tbh although the springbok is were missing a few I think that’s the best they have played for a while, their best 23 would not have played any better, and they actually used the ball and used their backs compared to the past where they relied on others making mistakes and box kicking

 

[Brumby Runner]

A player has to try and catch the ball. The can't just hit it. It was clear that Vuni was not making any attempt to catch it and this has been a yellow card for a while.

But yeah...it was a pretty bad game

I reckon you're are completely mistaken Bull. Players smack the ball in every game, to keep it from finding touch, to try to control possession when loose on the ground, even to get it out of a maul that's going nowhere. Slapping the ball is not an offence that I'm aware of and if a slapped ball goes backwards then it's play on.

 

[Highlander35]

Early morning brain thoughts

Lots of reshuffling in defence across the backs, not sure if that's the way to go.

Losing Tom Hooper early seemed to really disrupt forward plans and made things a lot more passive especially without the ball, and at the lineout. Hope it's a stinger and not a serious injury.

No sign of energiser bunny M Hooper which was always his point of difference. Might be 18 months too late for him.

Hodges kicking for goal didn't reflect what he'd produced throughout the season. Interesting that he'd been given the full responsibility rather than just the long shots. Think that's a mistake and probably messed with his head. Regardless, Foketi needs to be the direct 12 backup, Hodge is capable enough as bench cover, but no planning should occur around him starting, he looked tired quite early.

Koroibete needs to work on his tackles. Lots of seatbelts that better refs will pick up.

Stop doubting Skelton. Carrying maybe wasn't quite there yet but his defence, particularly at Maul and ruck time was legit.

I don't think Quade is the man to execute a low possession gameplan, his kicking out of hand isn't penetrative enough.

I can see why Eddie wantes Uelese from a size POV, Porecki is not a small man but still struggled, not confident Jordy is capable of stepping up to it though.

Bell and Tupou can't get back soon enough, Slipper and Ala'alatoa can't be asked to play 60-65 minutes every game.

Gods Saffa crowds look amazing.

6 Forward bench and emphasising high discipline players may be the way to go. Having said that I liked Gordon's cameo, instant energy and looking to being others into the game.

 

[Dctarget]

I just watched the game and I can’t pinpoint anyone that was absolute garbage.

Reality is we were just bashed in the collisions as a collective.

I want to agree with you but these are partially contradictory statements. Our forwards were smashed as a group but individually they were fine? Is it all down to systems? I think individually they were just weak and soft. The South African flankers made so many easy in roads. Our backrow didn’t make any metres in tight.

one player who has escaped unscathed from these threads that was dreadful is Porecki. twice he ineffectively protected our ball that lead to Bok penalties at the ruck, every tackle he conceded metres. Just a weak link around the field.

the backs were on a hiding to nothing behind that pack but duck me sometimes our kick chases were dreadful, looked like we hated trying to take the catch. Make it contestable you nonces.

 

[LeCheese]

16. Uelese - throws shit but at least that is something that can be fixed. He played well otherwise, start him against Argentina and then make a call

His throwing is consistently a big problem. How long do we wait for him to fix it?

 

[Wallaby Man]

I want to agree with you but these are partially contradictory statements. Our forwards were smashed as a group but individually they were fine? Is it all down to systems? I think individually they were just weak and soft. The South African flankers made so many easy in roads. Our backrow didn’t make any metres in tight.

one player who has escaped unscathed from these threads that was dreadful is Porecki. twice he ineffectively protected our ball that lead to Bok penalties at the ruck, every tackle he conceded metres. Just a weak link around the field.

the backs were on a hiding to nothing behind that pack but duck me sometimes our kick chases were dreadful, looked like we hated trying to take the catch. Make it contestable you nonces.

More as individuals they weren’t solely at fault but as a collective they were not impactful. Every player 5% off their counterpart which individually isn’t huge but as a collective that adds up to be a lot

 

[Dctarget]

Also, I thought BO’K was fine despite my braying pre-match.

Eddie managed Carter’s introduction to test footy well, he’s the only one that will remember that test positively. Tom Hooper’s less so, but you’ve gotta start somewhere.

I thought Kerevi was missing a bit of his acceleration, him against a tiring defence didn’t bring the results I hoped for.

Stop doubting Skelton. Carrying maybe wasn't quite there yet but his defence, particularly at Maul and ruck time was legit.

Skelton’s maul defence was class. Persist with him please.

 

[Adam84]

The laws actually state that

“Players must endeavour to catch the ball. Referees are asked to show good judgement when deciding if the player has a reasonable expectation of catching and gaining possession, and then in determining a sanction.”

that interpretation is only applied if the ball was knocked on, people are arguing that it wasn't knocked.

There are multiple references in WR (World Rugby) rule books referring to deflecting and tapping the ball; the action or tapping or deflecting a ball isn't illegal if it goes backwards.

 

[KOB1987]

His throwing is consistently a big problem. How long do we wait for him to fix it?

It’s either that or waiting for Lonergan to grow a few inches. Hooker is a massive problem for us, we are literally looking for ways to polish turds.

 

[Dctarget]

that interpretation is only applied if the ball was knocked on, people are arguing that it wasn't knocked.

There are multiple references in WR (World Rugby) (World Rugby) rule books referring to deflecting and tapping the ball; the action or tapping or deflecting a ball isn't illegal if it goes backwards.

Is this what happened with that Welsh guy two years ago? Where he knocked it down, everyone stopped and he jogged to the try line?

 

[KOB1987]

And as expected - the media take for this is painful.

Wallabies back on the Fox Sports front page - “Wallabies thrashed by second string Springboks side”.

I dont care about that, the ’second string springboks’ thing was going to get wheeled out win lose or draw, especially by Fox.

 

[KOB1987]

Is this what happened with that Welsh guy two years ago? Where he knocked it down, everyone stopped and he jogged to the try line?

That one actually went forward though.

 

[LeCheese]

I thought Kerevi was missing a bit of his acceleration, him against a tiring defence didn’t bring the results I hoped for.

I’m not sure Kerevi got a touch during structured attack, which may be partly why he seemed to lack impact

 

[Digestif Palu]

I didn't think T Hooper was bad. From memory his defensive issues were because SA had numbers, we kept getting caught out numbers wise on that far side in particular. That's a team defensive issue, not a Hooper issue. Might be mistaken though. Anyway I wouldn't say he isn't up to scratch from that performance, again debut against arguably the worlds best pack at Loftus. Basically setting him up for failure.

 

[Adam84]

I don't know, I found the T Hooper selection quite baffling and nothing he did in the limited time he was on the field changed that opinion.

Sure he is a big guy, but didn't do anything else today that really stood out as being at test level.

 

[dru]

Our scrum was under pressure all game. Kitshoff wasn’t doing anything you don’t expect at test level. Our lineout got worse as the game progressed, particularly in defence. Our kicking didn’t produce any meaningful positive result for the whole game that I can remember. I agree the kick chase shares blame for that, but there were plenty of dud kicks.

Agree with this.

In the scrum AAA wasn't simply losing out to "shenanigans", he occasionally simply just lost out to Kitshof. Once both bench front rows were on there was pretty clear dominance to the Boks. Got to feel for Nonngorr, but he needs to step up more to be at this level. Congrats to the guy on his cap and he knuckled under with determination. But we will all breathe a sigh of relief when Tupou returns. And Bell.

Thought our lineout started fabulously. Tom and Frost working with Porecki generally held our own throws and forced Bok errors on their throw. For me, the Tom Hooper experiment was an unbridled success. Unfortunately losing Tom early had a big impact on our jumper options, and once Arnold was on our throwing (Uelese) was off. Possibly a combination of throw + set up. Either way we were dominated. I'd be looking at the Skelton selection and I'd want to see more from him in able to justify the forced selections. Or at least I'd have a better recognised jumper than Samu as bench 6.

Add in poor results from our exits, and the penalties, and we were in for punishment. Delivered comfortably by tear Boks. Total territory dominance by the Boks against a Wallaby game plan that was, well... territory.

Some of the results of this can be seen by the involvement of the halves. The total number of passes from White, Cooper, Tate, Carter was 44 (ESPN). Reinach managed 60 on his own. Can't see how we can blame this game on White and Cooper (thought they were contributors to the kicking game).

When fans say, that Hodge has to go, let's not forget that he allowed both Kerevi and Carter on the bench. They've both received the kick-out they needed. I'm not sure we should again rely on the Hodge boot for points, White would do fine I think. But the utility from Hodge does not change with this game.

It was a shocking result, but I'll wait judgement for sea level and as we see more of the first 23 being available.