Sorry to hear that mate, I had great fun. We drew against them twice last year, how short are our memoriesAlthough pleased to get 3 wins in a row, I found it difficult to get excited by a game against a team that has scored only 3 tries in its past 5 Tests.
Yep and I think hence the fans which would have contained a fair chunk of league supporters would not have been excited by those games.
Playing the last 15mins against a crap Pumas team isn’t exactly a great indication of where JOC (James O'Connor) is in terms of fly half rankings.That is why we have a bench, JOC (James O'Connor) didn't do enough to deserve a start
Extra good summary Pfitzy. In particular, the issue of consecutive penalties; while the type of Valetini's obstruction is seen in every kick off against the ABs, it seems to rarely be penalised against them and others as much as against the Wallabies. But it should be easy to avoid, so just don't move laterally. It seems to be ok to move directly towards where the ball is targeted.Love winning Wallabies. Started like a freight train in the first quarter, and the Pumas were still back at the station.
Was a bit concerned we'd lost our rag after that maul try to Montoya, but thanfully Kremer had decided to out do us in the stupid mistakes arena when we were under pressure a couple of times. We managed to capitalise on those errors and our bench injection was good.
The patience in attack with Cooper and White was key to our start, but the Pumas warmed up to it and put together some phase play of their own. The frantic attack from Tate and JOC (James O'Connor) in the last quarter was the key to victory but the error rate felt a little higher on attack. Couple of questionable decisions from both of them when we had men and space to burn. Not that a bonus point try mattered, but if we want to be ruthless, we've got to hit teams so hard on the scoreboard it is still talked about in years to come.
How fucking good is Kellaway? One try, nearly another, always looking for work like Koroibete. Good sign from wingers who do the basics right without any X-Factor bullshit hoppy-steppy rubbish, and execute at a high percentage. Hungry, direct, and skilled. I also thought Hodge redeemed himself despite a couple of errors.
The mistakes overall are decreasing, but the nature of them is still a concern - Matt Philip not understanding maul laws is a big one that has happened across our Tests this year when he's been on the park. Going off our feet at ruck time - again getting better but still in crucial positions. Not so bad indivudually, but when we string mistakes together, it is extremely frustrating.
eg we score our second try then straight from the restart, Valetini is running a blocking line that maybe looked like he was going for the ball, but it still doesn't create a good picture for the ref. Three points against. From the restart, White bombs it long and out. Back to back mistakes.
Lineout was overall pretty good but I noted in both this game and the earlier game a few throws going astray. Fuck humidity. That looks like a great stadium to see a game but seriously, my fat arse better have either a fan blowing directly on me, or be sat in a corporate suite. People who live in the tropics are a special kind of crazy.
Slipper's consistency at scrum time is of mild concern - his body shape sometimes doesn't allow him to get an effective bind. His hips are too high IMHO and therefore he's easy to pop out of his bind and drop by a smart THP. Suddenly at the next scrum he's awesome and we're winning penalties. Like the lineout, the consistency wasn't there. One scrum just before halftime where we basically fell asleep and were done for not holding the weight BUT at least the lineout errors aren't a result of nobody jumping at all, so it is execution, not communication.
Fainga'a has decided to fix his tackling technique issues by using a drill you'd teach kids: get on one knee, cheek to cheek. It looks comical for a professional player, and looks lazy. At least he's not conceding penalties with cannonball tackles. Could do without the bullshit head pat nonsense tho.
Overall, forwards dominating set piece, back line firing, everyone turning up in support. Good mix of options and we're ironing out the errors. Hopefully back in less humid conditions we'll see a win that more closely resembles the margin between these teams.
That is what progress looks like, and everyone ready to throw Rennie under a bus because of some dropped ball against the ABs can probably get in line to sod off.
Mate any game of rugby is a better advert for the game tham any game of league, which is probably why I haven't watched a game of league in 20 odd years!I thought both games were better adverts for the game then the two Loigue semis were for theirs, but that's just my take on it
TT really closed down the channel next to the breakdown in this game.With regards to the progress of the team, how good was the in-ball from Robertson (I think) for Ikitau’s line break and for the second week in a row Angus Bell threw a great ball to create an attacking opportunity on the left. Some nice work which, along with Cooper’s kick through for Ikatau have the fingerprints of a coaching staff who want to craft the sort of clever, high skilled attack that Australian rugby used to be known for.
On the other side of the ball Tupou (obviously stung by Sully’s public shaming of him) put in some great work in defence, including a couple of comprehensive stop shots, to go with his barn storming attack.
That all may be true, but it doesn't mean he has earned the right to start the next test match on his current efforts eitherPlaying the last 15mins against a crap Pumas team isn’t exactly a great indication of where JOC (James O'Connor) is in terms of fly half rankings.
I’d be very surprised if come RWC time, Cooper is seen as the standout first choice fly half for the Wallabies.
It will likely be JOC (James O'Connor) or Lolesio with the first claim on the jersey. We’ve been what Noah threw out earlier this year so I think Rennie will be keen to get some minutes into JOC (James O'Connor) and test where he is on the international stage.
Townsville put on a great show. Stadium needs to be congratulated, with the coldest beer and best food I have had at any stadium in Australia. I planned to come back to Brisvegas on Sunday, but met some hardcore Reds supporters from Townsville sitting next to us and we ended up on their boat the next day and returned this afternoon. Thanks Townsville and Eddy G.A couple of other notes -
- Really enjoy Dave Rennie’s press conferences. Not afraid to be forthright and honest, but always respectful
- I really like the Wallabies indigenous strip
- Congrats to RA for taking the games to Townsville. So happy to see them rewarded with a full crowd.
Good to see some rugby fans in league heartlandTownsville put on a great show. Stadium needs to be congratulated, with the coldest beer and best food I have had at any stadium in Australia. I planned to come back to Brisvegas on Sunday, but met some hardcore Reds supporters from Townsville sitting next to us and we ended up on their boat the next day and returned this afternoon. Thanks Townsville and Eddy G.
EDIT. Oh yeah, good WIN Wallabies.
I been saying that about the reserves warming up or more importantly running in and congratulating try scorers for a few years now. and all teams are guity I think, not just Argies!With the important critiques of the match mostly addressed, it's time to rant about a couple of minor issues.
2. Allowing the bench to warm up in the in-goal areas during the game is dangerous. My prediction of a major incident from this policy is looking closer to happening by the day. Witness the immediate swarm of happy Argies players onto their try scorer. I don't know what the incident will be, but it could be one of a try being prevented by a warming-up player, or a punch up caused by the rushing in of the hi-viz players.
3. World Rugby bans teams from advancing onto the AB haka, but allows them to advance to start their war dance. That's hypocritical.
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I’m not sure the haka stuff should even be in the rule book. I don’t have a problem with the AB’s advancing, it adds to the spectacle and shows the passion, if an opponent thinks it is smart to confront them, well so be it. Just make sure they’re COVID safe! (Tongue in cheek that bit for those who have no sense of humour).I been saying that about the reserves warming up or more importantly running in and congratulating try scorers for a few years now. and all teams are guity I think, not just Argies!
Actually you wrong on advancing haka , neither team is supposed to cross 10m line, it's not hypocritical, just don't think it strongly policed outside of WCs.
When the ABs can do what they like and fines etc only accrue to the opposition, then I stay with hypocritical.I been saying that about the reserves warming up or more importantly running in and congratulating try scorers for a few years now. and all teams are guity I think, not just Argies!
Actually you wrong on advancing haka , neither team is supposed to cross 10m line, it's not hypocritical, just don't think it strongly policed outside of WCs.
I actually think it is only WC rules,(as I have seen a few teams do it) but have never taken much notice. There are a lot of rules that apply to WC and not to other tests as they outside of WR (World Rugby) control, because they can only control what happens outside the actual playing times in WC.When the ABs can do what they like and fines etc only accrue to the opposition, then I stay with hypocritical.
They crossed the 10m line on the weekend. No worries because it's World Rugby rules not World Cup rules?
That does not compute.
Perhaps this would be allowed under "not strongly policed"?