U18 Academy Games and Australia U18s

[Maul of Duty]

14-14 now.

 

[Maul of Duty]

Looks like both teams have settled into the game now

 

[Maul of Duty]

Barbarians in the corner after a few pick and goes near the posts. Good defence but just ran out of numbers. Wind is pretty strong, knocking ball off the tee. Cracking kick though and now 21-14

 

[Maul of Duty]

Grover with a couple of great darting runs leading to a nice try. 21-21 after 30min

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Aus 9 is a gem. Love seeing them pass off the deck as well. Don't waste time with your two-step into a pass.

1, 8, 9, 13 for me right now are Aus biggest threats.

 

[Maul of Duty]

Good attacking rugby, but both sides need to step up on defence at the moment. Looking to be a high scoring game at this rate

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Fantastic game though. If Super Rugby was played like this we'd have no issues with crowds or viewers.

 

[Maul of Duty]

Fantastic game though. If Super Rugby was played like this we'd have no issues with crowds or viewers.

100%

 

[Maul of Duty]

Fowlers goal kicking has been exceptional

 

[moa999]

38-21 at HT (5 tries to 3, all converted)

 

[Maul of Duty]

Barbarians have come out strong in the second half. 38-28 now

 

[Maul of Duty]

57-47 win for the u18 Aus team. some great attack but will definitely need to work on defense prior to their next game against NZ Schools on Sunday.

 

[Homer]

Uys and the backrow were immense. A lot of dropped ball and communication issues but bucket loads of talent. Defence needs some work though but the big game will be interesting.

 

[TheRugbyCyclist]

Jeez that fowler kid can play. You can tell team cohesion and communication needs to be worked on but buckets of talent on this team as said. Give them more training together and some more defensive intent and Sky is the limit for these boys.

 

[Homer]

Jeez that fowler kid can play. You can tell team cohesion and communication needs to be worked on but buckets of talent on this team as said. Give them more training together and some more defensive intent and Sky is the limit for these boys.

Fowler made some good tackles on the huge number 7 from the barbarians. He was their main go forward man and Fowler (plus others) started to line him up.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Fun game and I'm sure they feel good having got a win over there to start things.

- Defence needs to be an obvious point of attention but it became clear that was what the game was going to be from very early on.
- Line out needs attention. A couple of the missed throws looked to be a timing thing with the jump on a couple occasions.
- Backline needs to defend together. 12 was aggressive out of the line a few times without a partner. They got the ball away prior to the tackle leaving 13 and Winger stretched.

- Very good forward hit ups and quick play by the 9 to get it going. Great pass off the deck from 9 and selection of when to run himself.
- Simple use of hands was effective when there is speed and size out wide.

 

[Maul of Duty]

I expect a few changes in the line up for the next game. I believe it will be a tougher game against NZ Schools.

Definalty a good game to watch and there appears to be a really good foundation for them to build upon. Plenty of younger lads in the squad as well which will set them up nicely also

 

[Mule]

The Aust squad is tier 1, the Schoolboys squad is tier 2 in the Under 18 age group

but there's ~12 players who are in the middle and didn't get picked in either (we're mothballed for the top team, didn't make it, and weren't eligible for the other team as they weren't allowed to play in the selection tournament [ASRU]....)

 

[Homer]

Fun game and I'm sure they feel good having got a win over there to start things.

- Defence needs to be an obvious point of attention but it became clear that was what the game was going to be from very early on.
- Line out needs attention. A couple of the missed throws looked to be a timing thing with the jump on a couple occasions.
- Backline needs to defend together. 12 was aggressive out of the line a few times without a partner. They got the ball away prior to the tackle leaving 13 and Winger stretched.

- Very good forward hit ups and quick play by the 9 to get it going. Great pass off the deck from 9 and selection of when to run himself.
- Simple use of hands was effective when there is speed and size out wide.

Throwing long constantly in windy conditions wasn't smart but the kiwis marked the front of the lineout well to force their hand. Still, throwing to 6 and not 4 was weird.
Also, the positioning for kick receipt was spot on.
Shout out to the commentators who were enthusiastic.

 

[BananaMan]

but there's ~12 players who are in the middle and didn't get picked in either (we're mothballed for the top team, didn't make it, and weren't eligible for the other team as they weren't allowed to play in the selection tournament [ASRU]....)

I'm not a big fan of the PONI principle, I think players should get selected based on how they play all season and at the end of the school/club tournaments and ultimately based on form. Having said that, the named players should be over the moon they made the PONI squad and considered tier 1 players. I'm sure there are boys who would have loved to have been included whether they made the final squad or not. It's not the UEFA Champions league where if you get eliminated in the early rounds you automatically go into the Europa League. There's only so many pies one can have their fingers in. Irrespective, todays game showed glimmer of hope for the future. I thought #1 was an animal - my man of the match.