Tri Nations Game 4 South Africa v Australia - Saturday 13 August 2011 - 3N2011

[barbarian]

I didn't think Higgers did anything that showed that he had more to offer than McCalman, to be honest, either.

Yes and no. Saw him bust one tackle, which I haven't seen McCalman do all season. Saw him make a dominant tackle, which I haven't seen McCalman do all season. Did enough to get another shot.

 

[barbarian]

Sorry for replying late to this but I don't think Kepu should have been penalised as it was a attempted maul by the Boks but no Wallaby players were bound to it so Kepu could have walk around the back and joined from there, but I didn't get a good view of it to see if there was another wallaby joined or not so I could be wrong.

It was a pretty clear penalty. Even though there may not have been any Aussie players bound to the maul at the time Kepu came in, they certainly did engage the maul when it began. Once you engage the maul it stays a maul even if you all later disengage.

It was a very stupid move with two minutes left. It wasn't like the maul was rolling forward either, it was static. A headless chook act that could have cost us.

 

[barbarian]

Bruce are you suggesting that we are only criticising the ref because Marto, Kearnsy and Clarky did? That is a bit much, and drastically underestimates the intelligence of posters here. We have many qualified refs (myself included) and people who know the law book back to front. There is no doubt Lawrence was very average and made a number of poor decisions that cost the Wallabies dearly. It flowed both ways though, and the Boks should also feel a bit aggrieved. There was no consistency.

 

[Bruwheresmycar]

We are on the bad side of the penalty count for once, and everyone complains. We actually committed pretty much all of the penalties we were handed out, what is the problem? Yes, the ref missed plenty from SA's side, but i don't think that justifies playing victim card. "Oh, we were playing 16 men, whinge whinge whinge", that is soft.

 

[Worldcupnut]

One interesting thing with the ref was that the way he officiated at the breakdown and his penalties for coming in at the side and not staying on your feet. He is a kiwi ref, and you would think he would referee that way in NZ - in a kiwi style. Why then, haven't some kiwi players been whistled out of the game in NZ for not staying on their feet or coming in through the gate?

Mate, you'll drive yourself insane trying to work that one out. it's incredible how we're asked to just ignore it but, what else can we do?

 

[RuckinGoodStats]

Ahh fair enough, they just need to cut the time down and chuck them in at scrum time. There always seems to be some medical treatment required then.

Asking for longer breaks is a bit balls though. I remember watching a ice hockey game in Vancouver where they took breaks for adds. Made the game seem a little bit....shit.

I had the SA feed and they were interviewing the assistant coach and then it finshed to the 2nd half already started.

 

[Bruce Ross]

Bruce are you suggesting that we are only criticising the ref because Marto, Kearnsy and Clarky did? That is a bit much, and drastically underestimates the intelligence of posters here. We have many qualified refs (myself included) and people who know the law book back to front. There is no doubt Lawrence was very average and made a number of poor decisions that cost the Wallabies dearly. It flowed both ways though, and the Boks should also feel a bit aggrieved. There was no consistency.

Barbarian, I presume your main issue is with my last sentence. The post was intended to be very much tongue in cheek but I have genuine issues with the standard of commentary we are forced to put up with. In my ideal world professional commentators would be chosen on their deep knowledge of the game and their ability to communicate insightfully about it. I think that they should be required to gain a thorough understanding of the Laws and their application by obtaining refereeing qualifications as well as some practical experience controlling games. Instead we get boof heads who come across as if they are auditioning for spots on a rugby league style Footy Show. In my view the ABC's coverage of Sydney club rugby isn't a bad example of the sort of coverage that I think we deserve.

With regard to the last sentence it contained a heaping helping of hyperbole but I see a definite tendency to focus on perceived failings of the referee which disadvantage our side.

In any case no one really cares what a grumpy old bastard like me thinks. So I'll just continue to muddle along making mischief.

 

[barbarian]

Oh no Bruce I agree the commentators are shit. It is a pet hate of mine as well, most of them have been around the game for decades yet they still possess a lack of basic understanding of the laws.

I obviously didn't catch the irony of your last line. Apologies.

 

[BDA]

Bruce are you suggesting that we are only criticising the ref because Marto, Kearnsy and Clarky did? That is a bit much, and drastically underestimates the intelligence of posters here. We have many qualified refs (myself included) and people who know the law book back to front. There is no doubt Lawrence was very average and made a number of poor decisions that cost the Wallabies dearly. It flowed both ways though, and the Boks should also feel a bit aggrieved. There was no consistency.

I have to agree. In the first half every 50/50 call Lawrence gave to the Boks and I felt some of his decisions really prevented Australi from gaining any momentum. In particular I would point to his decision right before half time to immediately rule that the ball wasn't coming out. That was a golden opportunity for us to score before half time and I honestly would have been surprised if the wallabies hadn't have scored a try from that position. If the ball wasn't coming out, it was pretty clear it was because the boks were lying all over it, slowing down the play. It was a clear penalty IMO. So that was a decision that really had me yelling at the TV screen and could have cost us dearly.

Another thing that I noticed was the line-out throwing. Honestly I'd say 3 or 4 of the Boks throws were nowhere near straight. I was surprised that not one got called back. Moore on the other hand threw the ball straight down the middle.

I thought a few calls late in the game went against the Boks, so they should also be frustrated.

 

[Tangawizi]

The KB (Kurtley Beale) wonder goal last season and last night's "super scrum" have landed the Wallabies their first consecutive victories over the Boks in South Africa since 1963. 48 Years is a long time to wait so based on our long history of failure in the Republic, I think we should all be pretty pleased with just getting the win actually.

Also, this pickandgo website is very good for looking up historical scores etc. http://www.pickandgo.info

 

[Bruce Ross]

I must confess that even I was gobsmacked by the outrageously crooked 'Bok throw to the first man in the lineout which went unchallenged.

 

[Sully]

Not 5 either Bruce.

 

[disco]

I'm starting the think that JOC (James O'Connor) may well be playing himself out of the team, assuming Drew comes back well.

It was always going to be tough to fit those 4 (JOC (James O'Connor), KB (Kurtley Beale), Digby and Drew) into the team, but if Drew is fit then I'd have him there over JOC (James O'Connor), with James covering a lot of spots on the bench.

Reg,
I've been thinking about the return of Drew Mitchell & I'd like to see him play the Baa Baas game against Canada & the easier pool games before making a decision on him returning to the starting 15.

If he does hit the ground running & returns to form then I'd actually drop AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) & move Ioane to 13.

Here is the backline I was thinking of: 15.Beale 14.JOC (James O'Connor) 13.Ioane 12.Fainga'a/ Mccabe 11.Mitchell 10.Cooper 9.Genia
Reserves 20.Burgess 21. Barnes 22. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)

McCabe or Fainga'a to start or miss out as I'd have Barnes on the bench as cover for 10/12.

 

[Bruwheresmycar]

That was pretty bad. I would think the AR was supposed to pick up that one, or maybe he wasn't. Either way the communication between those 3 was poor for a test match.

 

[TheNextBigThing]

Barbarian, I presume your main issue is with my last sentence. The post was intended to be very much tongue in cheek but I have genuine issues with the standard of commentary we are forced to put up with. In my ideal world professional commentators would be chosen on their deep knowledge of the game and their ability to communicate insightfully about it. I think that they should be required to gain a thorough understanding of the Laws and their application by obtaining refereeing qualifications as well as some practical experience controlling games. Instead we get boof heads who come across as if they are auditioning for spots on a rugby league style Footy Show. In my view the ABC's coverage of Sydney club rugby isn't a bad example of the sort of coverage that I think we deserve.

With regard to the last sentence it contained a heaping helping of hyperbole but I see a definite tendency to focus on perceived failings of the referee which disadvantage our side.

In any case no one really cares what a grumpy old bastard like me thinks. So I'll just continue to muddle along making mischief.

I agree that Brett and co are excellent but it's a lot easier to be impartial in a local competition that is exclusively the domain of true lovers of the sport. Fox is trying to leverage Rugby's status as the premier international winter sport by employing a "patriotic" flavor that errs too often on the side of abject Jingoism. Its a smart marketing ploy, if annoying to existing fans. I found myself last night missing Bray et al more than ever. The problem with Fox is that they looked at the Seven commentary team and said something along the lines of "Crowley/Buddha were everyone's favourite callers therefore lets hire six of them!"

We may not care what you say, but we love the way you phrase it. Please never take your tongue out of your cheek.

 

[ChargerWA]

But the point with commentators is that when their national team is playing, a tendancy to bias is reasonably expected. They are in theory commentating to a largely captive audience who is going for the same team.

But ours can't do it with any attempt to even be slightly even handed or give credit where it's due. When we get the NZ and SA feeds for test matches, their commentators as a general rule are much more even handed.

 

[Sully]

Murry Mexted.


That's all I'm saying

 

[Viking]

Missed the game. I have 3 questions
1. How did Higgers go?
2. Did Elsom silence his critics or fall short once again?
3. Did Samo make an impact off the bench?

 

[Sully]

Good
Yes
Yes

 

[Gnostic]

Mate, you'll drive yourself insane trying to work that one out. it's incredible how we're asked to just ignore it but, what else can we do?

Agree and add another for the first scrum penalty that went against Beast. That was a very close call IMO.