Spook said:
Thomond78 said:
Spook said:
Thomond78 said:
Spook said:
JJJ said:
Who's our forwards coach? The breakdown is an area where our team has consistently been below-standard. Brisbane was the one match our forwards got on top there, and when they did our backs looked far better.
Jim Williams.
Which is the bizarre thing. I mean, look at other Jim Williams-trained packs. Not what you'd describe as afraid of getting down, dirty and grunting it up at the breakdown.
Which raises the question - why is that the case? Is there something deeper in the state of the forwards coming through in Australia?
Not really, the All Blacks are just better. Some nations haven't beaten the All Blacks..
Aside from the stirring, Williams has gotten good performances out of the Wallaby pack. Consistency is missing though.
To give you an argument to the same effect, but inverted, as it were; look at the packs Gandalf coached there, and now look at the pack Gandalf is coaching here.
There's something wrong in the mentality of a lot of forwards there, lads. Seagull Syndrome is spreading...
Look mate, we are trying to compete with the All Blacks and Springboks. You are trying to bring this argument back to a Munster. There is no comparison. The Wallabies are playing the best in the world. The last time NZ visited Croke Park, they annihilated Ireland. Clearly there's something wrong in the mentality of a lot of forwards there. :nta:
As for Gandalf, the Brumbies forwards were much better this year. The scrum was one of the better ones in the competition this year for a start. Munster got knocked out by Rocky-fuelled (An Aussie btw) Leinster under Gandalf. That's not an improvement.
I would agree with what you say - but only when comparing our players to New Zealand and the Springboks as we beat the rest of the sides in the world more often than they beat us.
Rocky Elsom was on fire that day, as you know, and we had a crap day; c'est la vie. However, we also dismantled Clermont and every other pack we came up against at the breakdown, and belted the bejesus out of that Leicester pack twice, doing them at the breakdown every time (alas, you don't do three in a row to a Gaff team; the man's far, far too smart for that). You also know that the difference in that AB game last year was a sin-binning and penalty try and BBBT - who this year is most certainly not the player he was last year. Given that you lost to Wales (howya, SS...), who we then did in Cardiff, and that Ireland have won their last two home games against the Bokke, it's dangerous to make comparisons, hmmmm...?
The odd thing is, you used to have a hold over the ABs unmatched by anyone else. Every year, even when you were playing drek, you'd come up against them and turn them over at least once; it'd be completely unexpected, but much like France, you'd do the job on them when, on form and results, you had no business doing so. However, of late, that's gone, and has if anything gone to the other extreme - you can't seem to close the deal even when you should do so.
