Wallabies Fightback - Part 4

[Scott Allen]

In part 4 of my series I've looked at the Wallabies kicking in general play

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/wallabies-its-time-for-a-fightback-part-4/

 

[Duncher]

another goodun Austin. I wonder though are our provinces performing any better at any of these areas of the game. I suspect they are but have no idea really. The other thing is it's obviously easier to perform the skills at a lower level where there's less pressure.

 

[Dam0]

I was expecting a long kicking strategy in the first game and a more helter skelter approach in the second. In fact it seemed to be the opposite.

After Bled II, Cooper said that part of the strategy was to kick more to pin the All Blacks down the other end. If that was true then Robbie would have been pulling his hair out. There were far too many short grubber and chip kicks and hardly any kicks into the corners. If I was the Wallaby coach I would put a lot of emphasis on making good territorial kicks to pin the opposition down the other end.

 

[Brumbieman]

If I was the Wallaby coach, i'd be picking players who actually CAN fucking kick long, to 'pin the AB's in the corner".

To do that, wed have to out-kick Carter, and there is only one Australian player who can do that. Funnily enough, he plays in a position we dont have much depth in, and now that the incumbent is badly out of form and back to being a fat lazy bastard, he's needed more than ever.

Oh...thats right, Dingo fucking Deans is our coach, and is not capable of getting more than one selection right in any given week.

 

[Roundawhile]

Hey Scott, any chance you can restrict viewing of these to GAGR MEMBERS only.

If I was in the Argies coaching squad I would be waiting with bated breadth for each of you articles, because your making their job very easy

 

[Braveheart81]

A lot of the kicking problems come down to decision making. It's all well and good to go in with a game plan to kick and play field position but we showed against the All Blacks the exact wrong way to do it.

We can't kick on the first phase every time and have to go with the plan that there are only ever three types of kicks

1) A clearing kick that finds touch on the full
2) A kick where we contest the drop
3) A kick that finds open space

The third kind is the one we have been doing most poorly. The main reason being that we are just kicking down field with the opposition well set and no space for the kick to land.

There has to be some ball movement and multiple phases to create the opportunity for the territory finding kick to be successful.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

This thread and Scott's analysis is quickly becoming "Wallabies in Confidence" security level.

Somehow I have a sneaky feeling that these ideas are genetically encoded into the Darknessers DNA at a very young age.

There isn't too much rocket surgery here, but somehow our current mob just can't seem to get it. Are they too busy working on their brand, tweeterings and tattoos?

 

[mark_s]

The worst kick in that sequence was BArnes in Beld 2 when the wobbs were on the attack about 30mtrs out. He kicks back across field where not only are his team mates are in front of him (so cant chase) but the players there are the wobbs front row and are unlikely to recover the ball even if they could chase. The only thing that could of made it worse would have been for him to kick it out on the full.

 

[Scott Allen]

The worst kick in that sequence was BArnes in Beld 2 when the wobbs were on the attack about 30mtrs out. He kicks back across field where not only are his team mates are in front of him (so cant chase) but the players there are the wobbs front row and are unlikely to recover the ball even if they could chase. The only thing that could of made it worse would have been for him to kick it out on the full.

Mark - I'm with you on that kick. Watching the game live I broke out in laughter at that point - I just couldn't believe how bad it was.

I can't see any possible explanation of how he thought that kick was going to produce a positive result for the Wallabies - if it rolls into touch the All Blacks win the ball back at the lineout (because the Wallabies weren't really contesting the All Blacks lineout), if it goes into the dead ball area the All Blacks kick it back into our half from the restart and we've effectively lost 30-40 metres, the chasers are the front row as you say so no chance to regather there - maybe he was hoping the All Blacks would knock the ball on and we'd get a scrum feed close to the try line to take advantage of our dominant scrum!

 

[chasmac]

The worst kick in that sequence was BArnes in Beld 2 when the wobbs were on the attack about 30mtrs out. He kicks back across field where not only are his team mates are in front of him (so cant chase) but the players there are the wobbs front row and are unlikely to recover the ball even if they could chase. The only thing that could of made it worse would have been for him to kick it out on the full.

This is probably why Harris has been put on the bench. If Barnes' general kicking is as brainless as his previous two outings then simply sub him for Harris.
We might lose some ball playing skills, but, if he needs substitution for poor kicking then it would be because he has not been using his ball playing skills anyway.
QC (Quade Cooper) has played plenty with Harris so that isn't a problem.
Another Waratah on notice, which I think is more than fair given their relative standing in the S15.

 

[Moses]

If I was the Wallaby coach, i'd be picking players who actually CAN fucking kick long, to 'pin the AB's in the corner".

To do that, wed have to out-kick Carter, and there is only one Australian player who can do that. Funnily enough, he plays in a position we dont have much depth in, and now that the incumbent is badly out of form and back to being a fat lazy bastard, he's needed more than ever.

Oh.thats right, Dingo fucking Deans is our coach, and is not capable of getting more than one selection right in any given week.

Nic White also has a booming boot, also not selected so is now undergoing surgery.