Wallabies v England in Melbourne, 18 June

[The torpedo]

Is there an award for making the 1,000th post on this thread? Also, is this the most posted-on match thread in G&GR history?

Wallabies vs England RWC 2015 is number 1 at 2,033 replies. This thread isn't even on the 1st page when sorted by replies

 

[Brumby Runner]

I liked DHP's eagerness to get involved. He really roved and kept trying things and was largely effective. He did make some mistakes but at least he was trying things.

Horne on the other hand, a team leader, was largely anonymous and barely sited off his wing.


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Agreed. On two or three occasions DHP got the Wallabies to within a metre or two of the tryline just through sheer guts and determination. Such a pity most of our forwards don't have a fraction of his drive with ball in hand.

 

[Brumby Runner]

This. Digby when he was playing with the reds was always on Quade's inside shoulder ready to take a pop pass. We need to get a winger who always hangs off Foley's inside shoulder ready for a little inside ball. But the damn gameplan has the wingers bugger off to be with the seagulls and just spin it wide all the time. This may work in Rugby Challenge but it doesn't in real life.

Tomane to the rescue? Can't happen fast enough.

 

[proton897]

Like Dylan Hartley?

I wouldn't blame the captain for the performance but what a crap game across the board. The thing was Australia made England look good. The ref didn't help but I know it appeared they didn't have a game plan and lacked the leadership to change it when what they were trying wasn't working....Australia must eat humble pie. A tough ask to play England 6 nations champions who are at the end of the season with a team that is lacking cohesion and in the middle of the super 15 competition. That comes down to the administration by the ARU. I expect lean years for Australian football they lack depth, Enterprise, Leadership and I'm sorry to admit direction I hope they climb out of it for the fans sakes they of all people looked extremely disappointed on the sidelines. Lets admit noone likes to be beaten by winging poms especially a group that has a traitorous ex pat at the helm who never really offered his own country much it seems....

 

[proton897]

As recently as 10 June 2016:

"Michael Cheika has confirmed the Australian Rugby Union is actively trying to lure Quade Cooper back home."

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/rugby/a/31812055/michael-cheika-trying-to-bring-quade-cooper-home/#page1

Australia need to learn to play as a team then you won't be seeking has beens for answers. Pay more attention to where the space is and how to get there don't change direction when something doesn't work once and what ever you do 'DONT PANIC CAPT MANNERING' it looks embarrassing. Games go for 80 mins not 70

 

[proton897]

As recently as 10 June 2016:

"Michael Cheika has confirmed the Australian Rugby Union is actively trying to lure Quade Cooper back home."

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/rugby/a/31812055/michael-cheika-trying-to-bring-quade-cooper-home/#page1

Even after calming down from last night, I can't believe these guys are highly paid professional players. The skills displayed by players in the amateur era are far superior to those of these professionals.
1. Phipps is so poor at his basic skills, can't believe he is an international half when he doesn't even posses the basic requirement of an accurate pass.
2. Foley can't kick for touch, can't create diddly squat, can't kick goals reliably, has a poor passing game and is somehow an international 10. If he needs a 2nd playmaker outside him to be effective, then he is a passenger in the team. The reason we didn take the shits at goal is because the captain/team have no trust in him to kick the bloody goals.
3. We have a 15 who can't kick, and as such we end up being pinned deep in our half cause he can't kick us out of it. Then once pinned, our 10 can't kick us out either so in the end we concede stupid penalties to relieve the pressure as 3 points are better than 7.
4. We have a 7 who plays so wide so much we end up having no presence at the breakdown after a few phases both in attack and defence.
5. We have a tight 5 who seem totally incapable of showing any controlled aggression and confuse aggression with dirty niggle.
6. Time to try new combinations. Frisby and lilo at 9/10, Kerevi and Folau at 12/13, move DHP to 15, start Morahan at 14 and pick Hooper at 11 since he plays there most of the time.
7. No wonder Cheika wants Quade back, he would have unleashed our backline last night with that amount of possession and forward momentum.

One man don't make a difference unless his name is BUCK SHELFORD or RITCHIE MCCAW I agree the players lacked the skill on the day but I think Cheika may have had a negative influence on this game. Sure a lot was at stake but have you ever seen a poor effort with all that possession for a team to get it wrong and continue to play in that way for 80 minutes the finger must be pointed off the field I think. Australia must take this as a learning curve across the board I hope they put their bodies on the line for the next one and smash the poms...

 

[Bullrush]

It's not really that surprising that the Wallaby discipline is poor when it appears that the coach seems to be unable to control himself. I'd be a little embarrassed of how he carries on if I was one of his players.

I am genuinely surprised at how Moore seemed to let the niggle get to him last nite. He is a guy I've liked for a while now but watching his reaction last nite straight after watching Dane Coles in the AB game obviously fighting to control himself against Wales was quite a stark comparison.

I hope the old Moore finds his way back.

 

[Scotty]

I don't normally complain about the refereeing but I had to protest about Joubert's three absolutely stunning calls tonight:

- The penalty against Moore when there were two offences from England in the one incident, one of which could have been a card. That would have been three points.
- The advantage expiring right on half time. WTF? Since when does penalty advantage expire? Again, three points to us.
- The shoulder charge on Foley, saying he ran off his line and drew the contact. Bollocks he did. Three points to England when the game was in the balance.

Overall I thought he had a good game, but fuck me dead they were appalling decisions. A better team than ours would have overcome them though.

The second one was even worse, because he had given a warning and even if advantage had expired he should have gone to the pocket. Wallabies would have been playing with one man up for the first 10 minutes of the second half, and there is a good chance the result would have been different.

As it was England didn't start slowing the ball down again until mid way through the second half and Joubert decided it was far enough away from the last warning to not send one of them off.

If the wallabies get quicker ball (from a combination of their own work and Joubert policing the breakdown properly), then they win that game and probably with ease.

 

[Scotty]

Great post Quickhands.

To put things in perspective, Think about Larkham back in the day. He could put in an accurate bomb, a cross field kick, kick to space out the back if needed, chip kick, And he didn't have a great amount of distance to his kicks.

He was considered a poor kicker in those days, but compared to Foley and the rest of the kickers in Aus he is miles ahead of them.

It is a good point about the bomb. I don't understand why we don't use the fact we've got one of the best takers of the high ball in the world more.

Bomb to Folau in the corner isn't a bad option when there is nothing happening after 6-8 phases.

 

[Froggy]

Yes that was a woeful performance, I was as angry as everyone else, but some of the comments on here? You've got to be joking.

Phipps was inaccurate (but amazing in defence, for those who don't bother to watch that), Foley had his worst game in gold, but suddenly they are the worst we've ever had. The same posters who were lauding his performances in the WC want Foley dropped after one (that's right, one) shocker, and in fact, everyone should all be dropped!

And Cheika, who coached Randwick to 2 premierships, Leinster to a European Championship, the Tahs to their first ever Super title, and the Wallabies to an unexpected second in the WC last year, suddenly has no idea, one dimensional, an embarrasment etc! Give yourselves an uppercut.

Look, it has been a bad two tests (despite scoring as many tries as the Poms) but this suggesting coach, captain and 10 of the 15 (or more) have to go are showing a dummy spit my 4 year old grandaughter would be ashamed of.

Have a cup of tea, a Bex and a good lie down, and come back and let's rationally discuss what went wrong and what we need to do.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Well said Froggy. Cheika can coach and the majority of these blokes can play. We played dumb footy and we were outcoached last night but there is enough good in the Wallaby setup to persist I think.

 

[Slim 293]

NO LET'S FUCKING PANIC AND REPLACE MOST OF THE TEAM WITH THE SECOND LAST PLACED QUEENSLAND REDS!!!

 

[tragic]

NO LET'S FUCKING PANIC AND REPLACE MOST OF THE TEAM WITH THE SECOND LAST PLACED QUEENSLAND REDS!!!

Hysteria right on cue
Only surprise is it didn't come sooner

 

[Pfitzy]

I've had a bit of this chat on the tweets already: why was Carter parachuted in? Logically, I would have promoted Horwill to start if Simmons was dropped, and then the bench stays with Mumm.

And I still prefer McCalman to start if he's going to be in the squad. Hard worker, knows what its like to toil and achieve through sheer grit. And he's a Number 8

 

[Viking]

Yes that was a woeful performance, I was as angry as everyone else, but some of the comments on here? You've got to be joking.

Phipps was inaccurate (but amazing in defence, for those who don't bother to watch that), Foley had his worst game in gold, but suddenly they are the worst we've ever had. The same posters who were lauding his performances in the WC want Foley dropped after one (that's right, one) shocker, and in fact, everyone should all be dropped!

And Cheika, who coached Randwick to 2 premierships, Leinster to a European Championship, the Tahs to their first ever Super title, and the Wallabies to an unexpected second in the WC last year, suddenly has no idea, one dimensional, an embarrasment etc! Give yourselves an uppercut.

Look, it has been a bad two tests (despite scoring as many tries as the Poms) but this suggesting coach, captain and 10 of the 15 (or more) have to go are showing a dummy spit my 4 year old grandaughter would be ashamed of.

Have a cup of tea, a Bex and a good lie down, and come back and let's rationally discuss what went wrong and what we need to do.

Nah i'd be proud if my daughter chucked a dummy spit after we lost to the poms!

 

[BarneySF]

It is a good point about the bomb. I don't understand why we don't use the fact we've got one of the best takers of the high ball in the world more.

Bomb to Folau in the corner isn't a bad option when there is nothing happening after 6-8 phases.

I said exactly the same thing the other day but was told we don't have the kickers to pinpoint the bomb?!?! A bomb is a bomb


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[tragic]

The problem with the bomb is a lot of teams have worked out how to get players between izzy and the catcher essentially shielding him from the ball. The bomb gives them plenty of time to meander into the running line under the guise of competing for the ball.
I'd favour the cross field kick to a one on one contest - as England did last game to their unmarked winger. Same as what quade did a few times in the 2011 season (albeit once to diggers behind their own try line) The mungos do it all the time and Izzy was unstoppable in that move for the Broncos.
Foleys got a popgun boot but his short restarts were pretty good - surely he can manage an accurate cross field kick.

 

[Dai bando]

Wow, I thought this kind of negativity was owned by the Welsh, its sunday morning and the English press will make this a hundred times better than it is, the ABs will be shaking in their boots England have 14 of the best players in the world, I can see it all now,
Well there is no one better at losing than the Welsh, which makes me a kind of expert, no team becomes bad overnight, Australia are certainly not a bad side, in fact one of the better ones,
I will say like winning losing becomes a habit, England are not a bad side, but they are not a great side either, this is where your coaches earn their money,
Eddie Jones is Australian knows what you bring to the game, what does he bring to the game, you have to beat England next time otherwise there no point buying a paper for the foreseeable future.
Chin up boys you could all be Welsh.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Funny you should mention that Dai. I now know how the Welsh folks around me at Twickenham felt in the pool game last year. Heaps of pill and no tries. It was so frustrating watching the boys continually crashing into the English defence without changing the tactics at any stage. As someone else said, what about a little pick and drive around the corner to get the Poms to commit a few more numbers to the ruck? We never got in behind England at all.

 

[Brumby Runner]

I've had a bit of this chat on the tweets already: why was Carter parachuted in? Logically, I would have promoted Horwill to start if Simmons was dropped, and then the bench stays with Mumm.

And I still prefer McCalman to start if he's going to be in the squad. Hard worker, knows what its like to toil and achieve through sheer grit. And he's a Number 8

Pfitzy, I disagree - McCalman isn't a No 8, at least not a test No 8. I accept he works hard but his impact is close to zero. Ball in hand, he is one of the least effective runners in the Wallabies' squad. I am waiting in anticipation for Holloway to regain fitness and take over the No 8 spot (remembering that Pocock is out for the rest of the tour and maybe the season, and will be o/s next year). In the meantime, try Houston. At face value, he would seem to offer a whole lot more aggression and impact than McMahon or McCalman.