TRC Round 1: South Africa v Australia, Sunday 21 July 1:05am AEST

[Braveheart81]

What I haven't been able to filter from reading the forums about our defensive system is;
- Were the usual musical chairs employed?
- Did anyone have to be hidden ?
- How did their halfback score 2 tries and nearly a third and Nick White still get good player ratings for his contribution?
- Was LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) too slow for #6 ?

I have not been a fan of Nathan Grey's previous defensive gameplans and I would like some informed opinion on the matter.

I haven't rewatched the game but I would say generally our defence was better organised. There wasn't the obvious musical chairs going on. Foley's tackling stats look bad but he was in the front line and generally did a solid job slowing down a big runner even if he ultimately fell off the tackle and someone else had to finish it.

It's not one halfback's defensive job to mark the other. Regardless, the first try Jantjies scored was from a break where he was the support player receiving the last try. I think his second try was DHP's fault who left his wing to pointlessly join the ruck to allow Jantjies to stroll over in the corner.

The first try we gave up was on turnover ball. The Springboks exploited an overlap well and didn't allow us a chance to shut it down.

The second was from a break after a scrum. Our front row didn't disengage fast enough and get in position out wide and allowed a break down the shortside a phase after the scrum. South Africa got close to the line and scored a phase or two later.

The third was out wide after Tupou had been binned. We got stretched for numbers.

The fourth was Jantjies blindside snipe.

The last try was a tired Kerevi who had just made the previous tackle falling off Reinach close to the line. Hodge should have taken him rather than staying on the outside (where he and Beale were covering Etzebeth and Gelant however Etzebeth was probably too deep and slow to really get involved).

Linespeed needs to improve substantially but there was nothing overly complex nor crazy about what we were trying to do and largely I thought it held up.

 

[Up the Guts]

I would be very interested to see some analysis on the Defense patterns and systems used.

Some comments I have heard are;
- No linespeed
- Some confusion
- TK virtually invisible (in attack).
- Hooper was seagulling.
- 2 front rowers with concussion.
- Good kicking tactics.

What I haven't been able to filter from reading the forums about our defensive system is;
- Were the usual musical chairs employed?
- Did anyone have to be hidden ?
- How did their halfback score 2 tries and nearly a third and Nick White still get good player ratings for his contribution?
- Was LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) too slow for #6 ?

I have not been a fan of Nathan Grey's previous defensive gameplans and I would like some informed opinion on the matter.

I’m not going to pretend to be an informed opinion but to me our problems seemed to be two-fold.

Like last season our cover defence wasn’t much chop. They converted two line-breaks into tries in the first half. The first try we failed to react to a turnover and left a prop defending out on the wing. The second try they used a set play to snap back to the blindside and caught us short. Part of this could be down to unfamiliarity with combinations, another part maybe that our structures are too rigid and unadaptable.

The second issue is that we tend to fan out in defence rather than rush up as a line. We actually didn’t have as many missed tackles as SA (and we made more line-breaks etc.) but they were making easy metres down the field in the second half and allowed Jantjes time to put up clever bombs.

On the whole, our defence wasn’t a complete disaster like it was in some of the Bledislode matches the last few years but we can’t afford to let teams convert line breaks to tries so easily, particularly when we don’t do the same. I’m more positive about the defence than I was this time last year and the year before.

 

[Braveheart81]

I actually thought the Wallabies adjusted to the way the Springboks were playing as the game went on far better than we have for years.

The three changes I noticed after we spent the first 15 minutes getting smashed by the Springboks defence were:

1. Nic White started running with the ball off the ruck which although it was largely sideways, helped hold the rush defence charging up on the forward pod/Foley/Kerevi because they had to cover his run and players running off him.

2. Foley stood noticeably deeper and so did Kerevi and it meant Kerevi could slice through the rushing defensive line more easily.

3. We had forward runners taking an angled line back towards the ruck (ultimately trying to get tackled in front of the previous breakdown) which negated some of that outside rush defence. Ultimately we need to improve that by having more support runners for the guy on that angle where there's a real chance of making a break.

 

[Braveheart81]

Like last season our cover defence wasn’t much chop. They converted two line-breaks into tries in the first half. The first try we failed to react to a turnover and left a prop defending out on the wing.

The first try starts at 28 seconds into the video.

We've just lost the ball at the breakdown and the Springboks have an overlap. They have 5 on 3 in the front line and our 3 are Slipper, Arnold and Naisarani. Hodge is back deeper and then Banks is the last line.

We had to shut it down earlier and I think what needed to happen is Naisarani had to bypass covering Elton Jantjies and shift out to Esterhuizen. Arnold had to slide and cover Jantjies. If Beast can run through a hole closer in we're far more likely to be able to cover it.

Esterhuizen and Nkosi are both clear through it is easy to draw and pass Hodge and then Banks can't do anything about the second line or support runners (Herschel Jantjies) receiving the final pass from Nkosi.

If it only ends up being Nkosi making a break then Hodge should have him covered and the move gets shut down.

 

[Strewthcobber]

It's kind of the same situation that LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) got into last year against the ABs. On turnover he or Isi aren't really equipped to deal with multiple fast players running at them (but who at 110kg+ is!). It's where the too slow comments come from

Wasn't the case this time (Hooper was near the ruck) but a lot of the time in the Pooper it'd be Hooper, and or Poey/Samu on either edge who probably deal with it a bit better. It's one of the drawbacks with a more traditional backrow under a 1-3-3-1

Primary way is for Kepu to secure the ball initially thought!

 

[Finsbury Girl]

Somehow shipping FIVE tries is not "too bad". Jesus wept.

 

[Braveheart81]

Somehow shipping FIVE tries is not "too bad". Jesus wept.

OK, let's just rate our attack on the number of tries scored and our defence on the number conceded and not discuss it any further.

How and why things happened is apparently a totally irrelevant part of analysis.

 

[chasmac]

Somehow shipping FIVE tries is not "too bad". Jesus wept.

Any Analysis. I'm looking for knowledge and understanding. Its more interesting than slagging players and boosting your own personal preferred player

 

[Juan Cote]

When the Wallaby captain makes the statement post match that “we showed a lot of different pictures (in attack) but the reality is those things didn’t happen and we were left with them doubling our points.” analysis is not required.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I think Hoops has a future in corporate management with statements like that.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

I think Hoops has a future in corporate management with statements like that.

"Our risk analysis cost benefit slide rule ratio impact predicator forecast multiple numerical scenarios for the 4th quarterly however personnel logistics resulted in a negative net loss byproduct in terms of western market forces haha, I said Western Force in there get fucked."​

 

[Derpus]

I think Hoops has a future in corporate management with statements like that.

I always thought that was the point of playing Rugby eh, the corporate contacts afterwards.

 

[Purce]

The thing about DHP’s performance was he actually bungled the easiest aspects of the game that had nothing to do with being a winger. Dropping a ball with the tryline in front of him, getting sucked into a ruck when he should have sat as the pillar, throwing offloads in contact in his own 22m, these aren’t really positional screw ups. His finish for the first try was actually pretty clinical as he had a bit of work to do, he also was safe under the high ball all night. Not a good performance by any means but I can’t really criticise him as a winger per se.

That said, I’d like to see Beale at 15 with Banks at 14 and Koro at 11 this week. JOC (James O'Connor) to 23.

I agree with pretty much all of this except for the pillar thing. A fulltime winger knows that are they are the defensive edge and should really know to stay out in that situation at all times. His finish for that first try was class... someone with more pace could have done it a different way but he found his own way. Even after that performance I would still rather him on a wing than Hodge.

 

[upthereds#!]

Kerevi got big stats as 12, perhaps his huge numbers also explains why the player outside him had almost 0? Did Kerevi do an amazing job as a 12 as a key cog of a wider team, or are his numbers inflated because he actually did a poor job as a key cog as part of a wider team?

 

[KOB1987]

Kerevi got big stats as 12, perhaps his huge numbers also explains why the player outside him had almost 0? Did Kerevi do an amazing job as a 12 as a key cog of a wider team, or are his numbers inflated because he actually did a poor job as a key cog as part of a wider team?

Bit of both. He made some good metres but forgot to pass on several occasions.

 

[Up the Guts]

I agree with pretty much all of this except for the pillar thing. A fulltime winger knows that are they are the defensive edge and should really know to stay out in that situation at all times. His finish for that first try was class. someone with more pace could have done it a different way but he found his own way. Even after that performance I would still rather him on a wing than Hodge.

Yep, a winger should definitely know to stay out there, probably even more so than others. I was trying to say that really any player regardless of position should be expected to stay out of the ruck when there’s no one defending short side.

 

[fatprop]

Kerevi got big stats as 12, perhaps his huge numbers also explains why the player outside him had almost 0? Did Kerevi do an amazing job as a 12 as a key cog of a wider team, or are his numbers inflated because he actually did a poor job as a key cog as part of a wider team?

I think the Boks did a great job of limiting his off loads

 

[Joe Blow]

I think the Boks did a great job of limiting his off loads

And he is not a good distributor. That late pass to LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) was pretty bad. It was a try for all money but he was considering going himself until it was too late. I think he was also guilty of pushing a few passes when we gave the pill away, as were others.
Foley and Lealiifano need to cut him out every now and then to bring TK into the game.

 

[Tex]

Couple excerpts from Brett McKay's piece on The Roar:

Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Rory Arnold, Izack Rodda, Sekope Kepu, Folau Fainga’a, Jordan Uelese, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Taniela Tupou, Rob Simmons, and Jack Dempsey all carried four or fewer times each.


Kepu, Uelese, and Simmons didn’t carry at all. Tupou and Dempsey carried once each.


From the bench, Uelese, Johnson-Holmes, Tupou, Simmons, and Dempsey carried just five times for one collective metre between them. No Australian forward managed an offload.


So why was that? Why is the Wallabies game-plan such that noted ball-carriers like Tupou and Dempsey couldn’t make a metre between them from the bench?In fact, the Wallabies only offloaded nine times for the match in total. Three of them were Samu Kerevi, and three more were Kurtley Beale off the bench.


How is it that Salakaia-Loto would only carry three times for a metre, or that Rory Arnold coming off arguably his best ever season for the Brumbies was only used for four pick-and-drives that didn’t add up to a metre, and didn’t once offload?

 

[Slim 293]

It's just another example of our coaching/tactical issues...........

I staunchly maintain we have the players to be more successful, but their talents are being wasted at this level.