Wallabies v All Blacks Christchurch Sat 7 August, 2010

[Viking]

Lost again! pissed off about that but could be worse. Our attack is just too predictable and lacking so much go forward. However with Cooper back i think he will add so much to the backline, our backline attack with cooper IMO is one of the best in the game. We are nearly there! cant wait till next game with coops back. Maafu got smashed at scrum and i still dont think robinson is 100% but i recon he'll be peaking come sping tour time. Lacking go-forward and muscle in the tackle, Farrrrrk i wish TPN and Palu were here! Kurtley went better then i anticipated at fullback, but still would be better off with Horne/Chambers 13 and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) Back at fullback. Injury list is killing us.

How do u guys think A.Fainga went?

 

[Scarfman]

Good debut for Ant. Nothing spectacular, but was encouraging. 10. Cooper 12. Fanger 21. Giteau

 

[tragic]

I'll take 20-10 for an away game with 7 of our first 15 unavailable. In years gone by we had no backup to cover for injuries. Now we have some depth.
I'm tipping the wallabies for the RWC next year. We are still improving, the ABs have once again peaked a year to soon......

 

[RugbyReg]

Fangers did some good hits, but was out of position a few times. Also, simple dropped ball. Unforgivable.

Would've loved to have Diggers, Cliffy, Kev, TPN and Benny A!

 

[Viking]

Scratching my head as to why Kaplan didn't send Woodcock off - that was as deliberate a dirty hit as anything Bakkies Botha did, pretty fucking low act for mine.

Yeh was a fucking dirty act, deserved a yellow. Howvever i was actually happy he didnt get sent off. I read somewhere that players were complaing at Refs and were pleading to make the tri-nations state-of-origin like when coming to penalities. Its the hardest Rugby comp in the world and i personally think it should be Ref'd like one too.

 

[Groucho]

And we found out that Beale can keep pace with Carter and Jane.

Indeed. I'd like to gently wipe that in the face of the many Beale haters in the Australian rugby world. "Slowest international back" pfft.

 

[Ruggo]

Same old useless offenders for me. Brown, Mafu, Mumm, Elsom and Gitau. Kaplan was woeful. That was a complete soft cock performance at the breakdown. No runners hitting the line at steam and no variety in where we make contact with the line. Surprisingly Beale was solid in defence though offered little bringing the ball back. His tackle on Donnelly was a beauty. Good to see Hodgson get a run. Gitau never took the ball to the line and the backline was unthreatening. Thank christ we have Cooper coming back. Now have the balls to clear out Gitau to make way for him.

Scroreline may have been closer but that was bloody disappointing

 

[Scarfman]

Well, Saia was making himself a bit at home in the "roll away" position. Can't blame Woodcock too much. Full credit to Fangs, he kept on doing it for the rest of the game.

 

[Viking]

After tonights Results, main thing we are missing are dominant tackles/aggression in the tackle, Go Forward, and strengh/aggression at the breakdown. I think with Horwill, Alexander and Especially TPN, Palu back in the squad, we will be bloody hard to beat!!

 

[rhyso]

Pretty happy with that overall, which is a nice feeling as I was preparing for a miserable day.

We kept them to 6 points for the last 50 minutes or more, which isn't bad. On the flip side, we didn't score through that period, and didn't look like scoring.

The ABs never really got out of third gear, and didn't need to, except for a couple of occasions defending their own line, where they did well to close us down, steal our ball, etc. There wasn't a moment where I felt we were gaining control of the game, but around the 60 minute mark we did get to what felt like parity. We kept it close enough that we could have stolen it, we just didn't create enough opportunities or capitalise on the few we had. Quade would have made a huge difference on that point. Gagger also suggested a drop goal may have turned things around in the 3rd quarter - I agree.

There were a few mental lapses like The Myth's run down the sideline and some bad positioning for the early tries, but otherwise we were more focused than last week.

Anthony Fainga'a rushed out of the line for the second AB try and didn't get his man in the first, so it wasn't a great start. He also got bounced a few times by Nonu. Aside from that he was fairly good and I think Deans should find a way to give him time in the remaining games. The Bledisloe and Tri Nations are gone and we need to give our promising guys some experience in tough matches. The same applies to Hodgson - he didn't get much of a chance today but Brown was ineffective and isn't going to improve in the next few games.

 

[Sandpit Fan]

Fangers did some good hits, but was out of position a few times. Also, simple dropped ball. Unforgivable.

Would've loved to have Diggers, Cliffy, Kev, TPN and Benny A!

Got found out by Nonu a few times. Not the debut he would have been looking for I reckon, he slipped off Nonu at least twice that I noticed.

 

[Blue]

Yeah, trouble is we never really looked like getting over their line with phase play. At least they hardened up from last week.

Scratching my head as to why Kaplan didn't send Woodcock off - that was as deliberate a dirty hit as anything Bakkies Botha did, pretty fucking low act for mine.

Has to be a citing.

Wallabies were very unimaginative in attack.

Genia had a pretty bad match by his standards. He was MIA at the base of the ruck.

I said it last week and will say it again. The problems start at a very average tight five that cannot dominate the collision because as good as he is, Mumm brings no mongrel and Ma'afu is hardly every anywhere to be seen.

Alexander can't return quick enough but I really think the Wobs desperately need a mongrel lock.

The less said about Brown, the better. Hodgson took a lineout ball within minuted of coming on. I thought he is supposed to be too short?

 

[Aussie D]

Thought Ant Finger improved as the game wore on and his work at the breakdown is something that Oz had been missing by playing smaller "ball players". Some handy passes by him as well. Thought he was out on his feet a bit in the last 20 and should have been replaced (which was about the time he started slipping off some tackles).

I expect Gits to get a lot of hate over coming days for his game today. It seemed at the crucial stages of the game he failed to step up or made a woeful mistake.

Deans pciked the original captain invisible in his time as AB assistant coach and has continued that with captain mute. I was waiting for Rocky to get in Kaplans ear after the 'final warning' issued to McCaw and his team but when they were penalised Rocky said nothing. Poor captaincy IMHO. Kaplan will be vilified for all and sundry for not producing a card but Rocky could have given him a gentle reminder.

Kaplan needs to get his vision tested before he refs his next game as he pulled up a couple of legitimate passes yet missed some blatant ones (both sides).

Deans used his bench better this week but should have replaced Will 'guv junior' Genia and Ant Finger. Good to see the fantastic improvement in the restarts.

 

[Linus]

We defended better overall, but the attack was pedestrian. With all that possession IMO we played worse and lost by less.

You have to hope that Ant F would have to improve significantly to be a regular consideration at 12. I that he fits much better with Cooper as he does his defending and carts the ball up, but he looked nervous early and cost a couple of breaks and one of the tries. Settled down in the middle, then Nonu brushed him twice in the second half. He will be better for the experience, tried hard.

 

[Sandpit Fan]

Yeh was a fucking dirty act, deserved a yellow. Howvever i was actually happy he didnt get sent off. I read somewhere that players were complaing at Refs and were pleading to make the tri-nations state-of-origin like when coming to penalities. Its the hardest Rugby comp in the world and i personally think it should be Ref'd like one too.

Don't have a problem with that concept, but the line has to be drawn somewhere. Nothing wrong with some vigorous rucking and cleanouts, but dangerous shit like that needs to be carded or it will escalate. As Blue said, I think he will be fronting the beak, and should get a holiday.

 

[Gnostic]

Definitely right about Giteau. As I've posted many many times Giteau is not a 10. The attack was pedestrian because he offers no options and no threat from 10. At 12 he is a different proposition altogether and we saw that against the Boks. The WBs would have been better served with Barnes at 10 even though he is much more conservative than Giteau his kicking is assured (forget the charge down last week the pressure on him came from Giteau who held the pass for an eternity) and he can pass equally as well out of either hand.

Also look at JOC (James O'Connor) on the wing, he was targetted for two tries tonight and last week as well because he struggles positionally. Notice the ABs did not attack down Mitchell's wing.

If the citings are to be consistant the Myth has to go for at least 4 weeks. Shoulder charge into the back of a sitting player, is dangerous foul play. Ma'afu's late handbag push on Woodcock after the incident was just stupid.

Kaplan proved the point that the ABs get multiple warnings for penalties and commit acts of foul play and still do not suffer sanction. I wonder if the taste of victory beer can wash the ass flavour from Mcaw's tongue.

 

[Gnostic]

One thing I forgot to mention, I am sick to death of the NZRU selecting singers for the Australian National Anthem (as shitty as it is) who cannot either memorise or read the words. This is as much an insult as if the wallabies dropped their dacks and mooned the Haka. If that is the best they can do the RWC will be a debacle.

 

[Harfish]

As a Kiwi, I'm disappointed Woodcock didn't go for that. I can understand the players' frustration at seemingly innocuous tip tackles and shoulder charges resulting in yellow cards, but what Woodcock did should be shown to all referees with "this is what the yellow card was introduced to deal with" flashing up on the screen every second. It was cheap and calculates, hopefully a couple of weeks on the sideline are in his future.

 

[Groucho]

I think if Genia was fighting for the halfback possie then he might start playing better.

I'd pull him from the first Saffa game. Put some fire in his belly.

 

[Gnostic]

I think if Genia was fighting for the halfback possie then he might start playing better.

I'd pull him from the first Saffa game. Put some fire in his belly.

I wonder if he is fully fit Grouch. I also question if he was getting any help from Giteau at 10. On one occassion he had the ball at the back of the ruck for at least 20 seconds and he was looking around for Gitau. Genia doesn't have that problem with Cooper or Barnes. Part of why I argue Giteau is shit at 10.