The positives & failings from Bledisloe 1 2011

[cyclopath]

While QC (Quade Cooper) didnt have the best game, this was not helped but the team around him.

Perhaps QC (Quade Cooper)'s creativity is far too illusive for the square players around him i.e current Aus blackline as opposed to Genia and Ioane who continue thrive off his trickery and deft touches. Its no surprise that when the mettle of this team was tested against the best (All Blacks), the Reddish tinge the wallabies was supposed to have, infact was shaded and blurred by other provinces such as the Brumbies.

How does Pat McCabe, who had patches of good games and Cooper, who played wing in an abysmal season for the Brumbies become the frontliners for the nations top team? Particular as tonight they offered nothing constructively to complement QC (Quade Cooper) as it was only back three that had any clue.

From memory of the game, mainly the Reds players significantly impacted the game. And surely where are the form players less the injured?

And wheres the confidence the players talked about all week. No walk with the talk and were found out convincingly.

And most worringly, the All Blacks were terrible in the 2nd half and still the Wobblies couldnt take advantage.

Eating humble pie before fronting any media to avoid heightening expectations that they could win. Theres one team, the All Blacks who has that expectation, and that team has justified this with results.

Maybe that Reddish tinge of a team may assemble in SA next week?

I will admit that a number 10 will struggle without good go-forward giving front-foot ball. A good 10 will adapt when under pressure and try to alleviate some of that pressure. Usually that won't involve flick passes on the goal-line, forward passes to no-one, slappy tackle attempts when a shoulder is needed with the arm and so on.
Quade had a shocker, and it was quite apart from whatever McCabe and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) were doing, or not doing.
But I enjoyed your post for its delicious use of irony. More please.

 

[Slim 293]

I will admit that a number 10 will struggle without good go-forward giving front-foot ball. A good 10 will adapt when under pressure and try to alleviate some of that pressure. Usually that won't involve flick passes on the goal-line, forward passes to no-one, slappy tackle attempts when a shoulder is needed with the arm and so on.
Quade had a shocker, and it was quite apart from whatever McCabe and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) were doing, or not doing.
But I enjoyed your post for its delicious use of irony. More please.

I also got the impression that it was a slighty cowardice act from Cooper as the AB defence was charging down on him and it appeared he just wanted to get rid of the ball...

It was embarrassing...

 

[mark_s]

I typed up what would have been the best god damned post on this website ever only for the computer thingy to crash while loading it. So in very brief, well done the AB 's - very impressive. Wobbs, look in the mirror and more importantly look at the AB's. The AB's attack whats in front of them, they treat every play of the game as if its the game deciding play. Conversely, we made enough half chances to win the game but converted very very few of them.

When the AB's are on song, it looks like they have snuck extra players on the field - we need to achieve that.

 

[Cutter]

Alexander owned Crockett at the scrum, and was clearing out rucks all night, including smashing Kaino for loitering offside around the ruck.

Needed more of that from some of our other forwards.

Anyways, was impressed with his performance.

I haven't rewatched it, but I thought he was ineffective at the breakdown too often. I'd say he'd lead the team in breakdown "flops" but they don't secure ball or clean out kiwis.

 

[qwerty51]

Really? Alexander was quite good at cleaning out. He smashed a few Kiwis.

 

[vidiot]

I also got the impression that it was a slighty cowardice act from Cooper as the AB defence was charging down on him and it appeared he just wanted to get rid of the ball...

It was embarrassing...

He was no chance of not being turned over on his goal line. They were already way behind. A successful pass to JOC (James O'Connor) and a break down field is a big turnaround. Thats what I thought he was doing. Holding the ball and conceding a try is just about as bad as it gets, outcome-wise.

 

[Slim 293]

He was no chance of not being turned over on his goal line. They were already way behind. A successful pass to JOC (James O'Connor) and a break down field is a big turnaround. Thats what I thought he was doing. Holding the ball and conceding a try is just about as bad as it gets, outcome-wise.

It was complete idiocy.

We were in trouble but had players coming back. All he had to do was hold his own and wait for support.

Throwing the ball away blindly on your touch line is dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.

 

[Cutter]

Our forwards were not the problem they gave our backs a good platform tonight which is clear by the try scoring chances we wasted. You don't spend 6.28 minutes inside the opposition 22 without getting over the advantage line.

The team (not the forwards) did not show up in defence for the 1st 40minutes & gave up points which the AB's didn't.

I disagree. We know that Genia and QC (Quade Cooper) need front foot ball to operate effectively. The forwards didn't give it to them. The ABs dominated the contact zone and were expert in their ability to slow down the ball. Genia was doing his best to create momentum by running to the line and trying to find runners, but, absent that, the forwards were running alone or being monstered in defence. I thought Simmons, McCalman and Elsom in particular were shown up. Either of Vickerman or Sharpe are better options than Simmons at the moment. Samo is a better option than McCalman. Higginbotham is a better option than Elsom.

Whilst our scrums were okay, I certainly don't think we dominated. Once Crocket left the field, the ABs became dominant.

McCabe is what he is, but I think the Wallabies need someone beside Cooper to help him take control in games like this one. I hope Barnes rediscovers his fitness. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) is sadly out of form.

 

[Cutter]

Really? Alexander was quite good at cleaning out. He smashed a few Kiwis.

I didn't notice it during the game but happy to be corrected if you did. He's a big, strong bloke and that is what he should be doing so I hope you're right.

 

[TOCC]

It was complete idiocy.

We were in trouble but had players coming back. All he had to do was hold his own and wait for support.

Throwing the ball away blindly on your touch line is dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.

no chance, if he held on to that ball he would have been tackled and turned over by the All Blacks considering JOC (James O'Connor) was the only one in support and he was up against Nonu and co with momentum..

 

[no9]

While Australia need to find some momentum again with a couple of changes I can't agree with bringing in 35yr old Samo as he makes errors at S15 level that will be magnified at test level such as tonight.
Higgenbotham is by far the best 6 at the moment so play him there. If Elsom has to play then move him to 8 as it might give him the kick in the arse his game requires at the moment. Vickerman is also a must and should be going to SA. I also think this team needs a captain they believe in and Horwill/Genia are the men to go to and it's time to bite the bullet and move JOC (James O'Connor) to 12 and McCabe to 13 if he handles the different defence responsibility well. If not then Faainga or Horne come into the picture.This means AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) goes to wing or the bench where his value in covering 12-15 and the high ball is usefull. This then opens a spot for a winger to come back (Mitchell).
The balance of the bench going into the RWC is equally important. If Giteau covers 9-10-12 and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) 11-15 you can play 5 forwards including a reserve 7, 6/8, 5, 1 & 2. The return of TPN, Barnes, Mitchell, Horne and Slipper all provide alternatives but it's getting tight.

 

[Slim 293]

no chance, if he held on to that ball he would have been tackled and turned over by the All Blacks considering JOC (James O'Connor) was the only one in support and he was up against Nonu and co with momentum..

No chance? I find that hard to believe. Of course there was a chance they could've retained the ball.

But throwing the ball into your own goal line without looking is just plain stupid.

I hope somebody smacked him upside the head later on for it.

 

[cyclopath]

Look, I critiqued Cooper, but he is who we have. He'll probably win more games for the Wallabies than lose. But counterpoint his game to Carter, who demonstrated why he is the best 10 going around, for the ability to do all the "simple" stuff so, so well. Kick when he has to, passing, tackling, drop-goal, penalties / conversions, turnovers - all done well. He rarely looks pressured. Quade needs to be more like that, but not completely, as it is the unpredictable nature of his good play that makes him dangerous. A work in progress.

 

[vidiot]

No chance? I find that hard to believe. Of course there was a chance they could've retained the ball.

But throwing the ball into your own goal line without looking is just plain stupid.

I hope somebody smacked him upside the head later on for it.

That seems both unlikely and a Brumbies coaching tactic. You can keep it.

 

[Slim 293]

That seems both unlikely and a Brumbies coaching tactic. You can keep it.

I don't know where the Brumbies fit into this conversation?

 

[antipodean]

I would keep Higginbotham on the bench.

His loose play makes him an ideal impact player late in the game.

Agreed Slim, he definitely looks good in a game opening up.

I thought our scrum was good. Someone said "parity" but I thought we shaded them at scrum time. Our line out was fine until Simmons went off. Why didn't we just throw it down our side like the Blacks did?

You did. I got the feeling Joubert left those calls to his assistants and they were happy enough if it was still within the channel. Especially if it was uncontested/ made no difference.

So why didn't you? Putting 60 on us just before the RWC would have been a big nail in our coffin.

Putting 50 past the Wallabies didn't help in 2003.

While QC (Quade Cooper) didnt have the best game, this was not helped but the team around him.

Exactly. There's no doubt he is a brilliant player attacking, but it's asking a lot of the 1st 5/8 to conjure up some try scoring magic every time he touches the ball. Was he standing too deep in the pocket? Sure. But that's the fault of his forward pack not giving him front foot ball which permits the opposition to rush up creating pressure on his support and cutting off his best options.

For the Wallaby's sake, a fit Barnes would want to be put back into the squad. He's one of those players who seems to slow down time, assessing and taking the best option. Pat McCabe is not an international centre. He might become one, but the time for his development is not the Tri Nations or RWC.

Yet again the Wallabies have demonstrated that the the biggest obstacle to their ability to win the RWC is their inability to string three good performances together. That's not to take anything away from a fantastic All Blacks' performance but come the RWC finals, every team will grow a foot taller and a yard faster.

 

[TOCC]

No chance? I find that hard to believe. Of course there was a chance they could've retained the ball.But throwing the ball into your own goal line without looking is just plain stupid.

I hope somebody smacked him upside the head later on for it.

There was also a chance JOC (James O'Connor) would have caught the ball with the opportunity to start a break back down field...
A scrum 5m out is probably better then the inevitable penalty Cooper would have given away holding on, or worse they try the AB's could have scored.

 

[cyclopath]

Easy, everyone, Super rugby finished weeks ago. Keep the provincial toys in the cots.

 

[Slim 293]

There was also a chance JOC (James O'Connor) would have caught the ball with the opportunity to start a break back down field...
A scrum 5m out is probably better then the inevitable penalty Cooper would have given away holding on, or worse they try the AB's could have scored.

Not when you throw a blind flick pass to nobody...

And it wasn't the only awful pass Cooper threw tonight... but it was probably the most stupid...

 

[TOCC]

Not when you throw a blind flick pass to nobody...

And it wasn't the only awful pass Cooper threw tonight... but it was probably the most stupid...

thats the opinion of someone who prefers the conservative approach....

andthere is also this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbyfe6Qv4rw

Everyone knows what Coopers like, you get the good with the bad.. dont get upset when it doesnt always pay off