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Wales vs Australia, 5 November 2016, (1:30am 6 November AEDT) @ Millenium Stadium

Joe Blow

John Hipwell (52)
Maybe he never was, just did not have any direction. It was always obvious to see he could put on big hits and was strong like his brother. It is no surprise that he looks like he belongs at test level.
He was not flaky enough to take up one of the many offers he had to play OS and instead backed himself to make the Wallabies, even after not getting looked at prior to the RWC. Best of luck to him.
 

fatprop

George Gregan (70)
Staff member
I'm inclined to think Holloway would make an excellent No 6 in the Jerome Kaino mould. But, of course, if that ever turns out it will be because that's what M Cheika had in mind the whole time and sent me telepathic messages to make sure I posted the idea on here.


Except they play rugby quite differently, Holloway will need to play much tighter and with more grunt.

His highlight real is all running out wide on the edges without the effective cleanout work and dominating tackles
 

Joe Blow

John Hipwell (52)
Timani plays very tight and in close so maybe we can afford to have Holloway or someone like Higgers at 6(or 8 with Timani at 6) who plays a little wider a la Read.
Higgers wide running and lineout ability would be nice. Hooper would have to play a little narrower as well.
 
T

Train Without a Station

Guest
I thought Foley was our MOTM on Sunday morning. Lead the attack really well and I think whilst Arnold or Coleman may have been better, I seemed to notice Foley more so.

I also think Kuridrani showed what he is capable of when he's operating with a bit of space, rather than basically getting tackled as soon as he catches the ball. I'd really like to see us go back to Kerevindrani when Kerevi is fit again and push Hodge back out to Speight's wing. Speight is the one player who's really struggled to impose himself on the game in any way these last 2 games despite the backline getting more opportunities.

But let's not get carried away with that game. Wales have shipped an average of 28 points per game in 2016 and 38.5 points per game their last 4 outings prior to this. One of those most recent outings was against the Chiefs without their top players, whilst the team we faced was missing 4 of their key players.

We were over twice as effective (frequency) in breaking the line as we were against the All Blacks but were largely dominant in the pack around the ground which enabled us to operate on the front foot. For most of the first half we enjoyed 90% possession also and ended with 68% for the entire half. I think this made us appear better than we were in that we scored tries so quickly, so it seemed that we could score 6 or 7, but ultimately when the possession evened out, we only created 1 more, with the last being an intercept.

Oddly Wales did make some big hits (I saw them smash Timani back a few times) but it seemed rather than dominate the contact area, they were only able to make the odd bell ringer and then go back to being on the back foot.

This allowed Phipps to operate with minimal pressure.

In the 2nd half (specifically around the first 15 minutes I noticed) they seemed to improve and that's where we saw the downside from Foley such as repetitive options (another kick to the winger, except around halfway and this time it was due to spotting the overlap again, throwing an intercept and aimless sideways running before distributing to somebody in a worse position to get tackled 5 meters further back.

Coupled with general kicking against the better packs like England and possibly Ireland, if our pack is under pressure it will be back to more of the same for us from earlier in the season unless we can be more composed when we are put under pressure.

Unsurprisingly Foley had a poor night with the boot. Not because he's a terrible kicker, but because he'd had a good run with easier kicks, so it was bound to even back out again at some point. This was the point where on the night almost every kick was outside the 15m lines rather than inside.

The other thing was the scrum really did not look that strong at any point and I imagine we will be more tested by other packs.
 

Twoilms

Trevor Allan (34)
Apart from Foley and Cooper (and maybe a couple of 9s) nobody in Australian rugby can pass on the run over any real distance. That doesn't preclude a move the 13 though as Kurindrani is not an effective passer and both are better than AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was/is.

KB (Kurtley Beale)/To'omua/Lealifiano all can do this, as well.

Anyone know how Lilo is going?
 

Brumby Runner

Jason Little (69)
Timani plays very tight and in close so maybe we can afford to have Holloway or someone like Higgers at 6(or 8 with Timani at 6) who plays a little wider a la Read.
Higgers wide running and lineout ability would be nice. Hooper would have to play a little narrower as well.

Agree entirely JB, but it is noticeable that Hooper plays much tighter when Pocock isn't in the side. So I don't see that as being an issue with Timani at 8 and either Holloway or Higgers playing wider at 6.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
One thing that was noticeable with the Wallabies defensive pattern was Hooper shooting up out wider to force the play back towards the middle.

It meant that Hooper missed the tackle a few times but also allowed the Wallabies to keep Wales well contained in a narrower space.
 
T

Train Without a Station

Guest
Watching the game I thought Hooper was quiet at the time and one of our weaker starting forwards.

Looking at his numbers that certainly doesn't appear the case that he was quiet though.

Perhaps it was a matter of the pack around him just playing better than usual and overshadowing him on this occaision. When usually no matter the opposition he maintains that level of play whilst others struggle.
 

fatprop

George Gregan (70)
Staff member
Watching the game I thought Hooper was quiet at the time and one of our weaker starting forwards.

Looking at his numbers that certainly doesn't appear the case that he was quiet though.

Perhaps it was a matter of the pack around him just playing better than usual and overshadowing him on this occaision. When usually no matter the opposition he maintains that level of play whilst others struggle.


Always a good sign to see Hooper "appear" weaker, it means that the rest of the pack is doing better, because Hooper is always doing what he does each week test in and test out, his effort simply doesn't change
 

Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
Well, that was good watching. Never allowed Wales into the game to the point where they could only kick ball and hope.

Great games from Foley, Coleman, Arnold, Hodge, Moore, DHP, TK, and Timani at the top of the pickings.

The rest were all pretty good though I didn't see much of Pocock due to us not having much defensive work in the first half. Speight was also a bit absent and maybe has to look for the ball a little more.

Should have had 50 though. Welsh defence in close was terrible.

Samson was allowed to bind Sio's arm all night, which was the cause of the scrum issues. Disappointed our locks didn't dominate as hard as they could have in the scrum, but in the lineout and around the park Coleman and Arnold smashed it. 15 Tests between them? Shit... Chalk them up for 50 at least.

As expected, we got space in the attacking line that we don't get against NZ and the backline had it singing.

But the piggies fucking owned it.

Wales had nothing on attack and could barely win clean ball.

Good win - for once we didn't even let them have a look
 

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
Tackle stats are good, not that we were particularly tested:

Coleman 14 (1 missed)
Hooper 12 (3)
Moore 11 (0)
Kuridrani 11 (1)
Foley 8 (1)
 

Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
Oh another point: nothing demonstrated Wales' inability more than the 5-2 overlap they had attacking our line in the last quarter, when the pigs decided to try and outmuscle us.

Just like RWC2015 all over again
 

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
While Mrs Wamberal and I were delighted with the Wobbs' long overdue return to some sort of decent form, it was a bit sad to see Wales perform like that.



Were they that bad because we were so good? Or vice versa?
 

Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
Were they that bad because we were so good? Or vice versa?


Rust more than anything - their first game of the new season really.

We also kept the ball away from them for long stretches, which meant their unfit front rowers were a big weakness for them. Look at the number of times we cut the line and you see a single-digit jersey grasping the air.

They did not use Roberts sufficiently at 12 when they DID have the ball, and there was no subtlety to not using him i.e. screen runners.

Did George North run it at all?

Nup. They just went one-out and tried to assert themselves, and it failed.

Their defence was mostly good in terms of set phases, and their smaller men scrambled well, but their pigs got dished up.
 

Ignoto

Peter Sullivan (51)
Anyone know how Lilo is going?


I think he was due or has now already had a bone marrow transplant. Who know's the outcome for him, but I would daresay returning to professional rugby probably won't happen for him. Unless he goes to Lance Armstrong approach I can't even imagine the amount of knocking around his body has taken from the chemo + recovery.
 

Scrubber2050

Mark Ella (57)
Wales were up against it with possession and momentum.

I don't really give a crap about them, it was pleasing to see some really dominant displays by the backs and the tight five.

For all you Bernard haters - suck it up big:)
 
T

Train Without a Station

Guest
Wamberal it's probably a bit of both.

Undoubtedly we were good, but anybody expecting a strong challenge from them would have been ignoring their 2016 record.

They've won 3 games this year (Scotland @ home, France @ home & Italy @ home) whilst conceding 28 points on average.

Compound that with 4 of their first choice XV out, with one going down in the warm up and it doesn't paint a threatening picture.

I think Scotland may be a bigger threat and Ireland certainly.
 

Scrubber2050

Mark Ella (57)
I think he was due or has now already had a bone marrow transplant. Who know's the outcome for him, but I would daresay returning to professional rugby probably won't happen for him. Unless he goes to Lance Armstrong approach I can't even imagine the amount of knocking around his body has taken from the chemo + recovery.


Hopefully Lilo retires from rugby gracefully and takes up a non playing role at the Brumbies.

He has a wealth of experience, needed.
 

Strewthcobber

Simon Poidevin (60)
While Mrs Wamberal and I were delighted with the Wobbs' long overdue return to some sort of decent form, it was a bit sad to see Wales perform like that.



Were they that bad because we were so good? Or vice versa?
Yeah I wonder what the situation would be if the Welsh team had been together for 3 months and the Wallabies had had two training sessions together.

Still, did the job against what was put in front of them. And made a bit of a statement while doing it.
 
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