Wallabies v. Springboks, 18th July 2015, Suncorp, Brisbane

[the sabanator]

Wallabies had 62% possession according to Fox Sports. I think it's disappointing we didn't win by more, we comfortably should have won that game if a few more went to hand.

 

[hammertimethere]

The execution in attach was poor for about 50 mins save for an isolated few good passes from Cooper (see AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)'s try).

Genia is injured, Phipps starts. No problem there. Probably would have happened anyway, To'omua was excellent, absolutely excellent. He is the foil that Cooper needs, not Giteau,

Cooper and To'omua are the best combo out of any possible permutation of 10/12. Absolutely 100% and completely. Gits is an option off the bench and for mine he MUST without a doubt prove that he is superior to Lealiifano in order to claim that spot. Otherwise Christian should be there.

 

[SonnyDillWilliams]

The bloke should be in James Bond movies ... Chewing on a cable

 

[Groucho]

Question on the scrum. Was it our reserve props who were just that bit better or was it the reserve Bok props that were just that bit worse, or maybe a bit of both.

On the plus side of the scrums, even though the Boks looked like they had the edge I was happy at least with the low amount of collapses. The Benns would have fell apart. Maybe we are 5-10% weaker as a pack but the props do a good job not to collapse half the time.

Sio and Holmes are two darned good scrummaging props.

 

[shanky]

How do you quote someone else's post, on this here dang website?

 

[Groucho]

So basically the question of whether to persist with Cooper comes down to whether you're in light blue or red. Cool.

Bullshit.

 

[Lorenzo]

He had a decent game champ despite what you think. It was their first solid hit out and were trying some new combinations and structures. Some they executed and were more effectively than others but at the end of the day the got the job done. Every player has "gaps in his game" but what players like Giteau, Cooper, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) bring to the table is a hell of a lot more than any "gaps" or short comings. It is vey easy to point out a bad pass, missed tackle or dropped ball but what is much harder to identify during a match is the positive impact that these guys have in terms of organizational skills and the confidence that they impart on the players around them. As was widely touted, this was a very experienced wallaby team in terms of caps and that showed through tonight. I would hope that Cheika doesn't do as many here are suggesting and rush back all the same faces and combination we have been watching for the last few years.

Sorry, but that's pretty much all bullshit.

In which "combination" or "Structure" is it ok for Giteau to repeatedly lose the ball in contact and put passes into touch (that shaquille o'neal wouldn't have caught)? I mean, he was responsible for 3 clear turnovers because he can't pass the ball or get tackled properly.

Your waffle about "experience" and "confidence" is the same shit we've been hearing about Shane Watson for the last decade. A player brings no observable benefit to the team so his supporters bring up immeasurable woo-woo like "experience" and "leadership".

We've won 1 meaningful trophy in the last decade. There is literally no one in the country that should be retained merely because of their "experience", "leadership" or the way in which they supposedly impart confidence on the other players. What nonsense.

 

[SonnyDillWilliams]

Be curious to know the line-out call, when it goes to him ...

Yum Cha .... All you can eat

 

[Groucho]

I'd like to point out that we beat the Springboks

We BEAT the Springboks!

Fair and square!

Yes we did!


Owens had an excellent game I thought. And we won, yes we did.

Damn right, shanky. You should post more.

 

[shanky]

To SBW's point

I thought Fardy nailed it in the lineouts. Totally nailed it.

Probably means Higgers isn't as vital as everyone expects.

 

[Tomikin]

Giteau didn't "show" anything. Yeah, he passed the ball a bunch of times to other players and he made one break. Big deal. He still can't carry the ball across the advantage line because he's too bloody small, which has been an issue for his entire test career, and he's not a dominant defender (in contrast to To'omua). He's an oustanding S15/T14 player because you can get away with a hell of a lot more at that level size wise (and in every other respect).

Jesus, 93 Tests says your wrong, he maybe on his last legs but for a while there he was up with the best 12's in the game..

 

[Lorenzo]

Jesus, 93 Tests says your wrong, he maybe on his last legs but for a while there he was up with the best 12's in the game..

Shane Watson played 59 tests. Continued selection is not itself an indicator of great competence.

I don't recall him ever being nearly as effective (at test level) as the best 12s running around at any given time. He may have been the best we had available but lets not forget than almost all of his appearances have come during a time in which we have won sweet fuck all.

 

[Chunderstruck]

Watching the game and occasionally perusing the forum I was surprised at the level of negativity and criticism. I thought a lot of the WBs play looked pretty awesome, and we came from behind to steal the game from the big scary boks! Fkn unbeloivable!!

 

[Teh Other Dave]

Bullshit.

Such a compelling argument.

 

[Groucho]

Such a compelling argument.

Bullshit.

 

[qwerty51]

So we're back to 5th now.

RWC matches count for double points right? Aim has to be to get back into the top 3.

 

[Tomikin]

Shane Watson played 59 tests. Continued selection is not itself an indicator of great competence.

I don't recall him ever being nearly as effective as the best 12s running around at any given time. He may have been the best we had available but lets not forget than almost all of his appearances have come during a time in which we have won sweet fuck all.

You obviously never watched him when he was younger, to say he was never at the top of world rugby when for a while alot of people thought he was one of the best 10 - 12's in the world. 2004 and 2009 was nominated for IRB player of the year..Oh him and Poecock are the only australian's nominated twice..

You can say he played shit but to say his never been any good is wrong.. And us not winning fuck all during that time had a lot less to do with Matt then alot of our other players..

 

[Shelts89]

So we're back to 5th now.

To be fair I don't think the rankings are that important at the moment. There really isn't much between any of the following IMO; England, Aus, Wales, SA, Ireland

 

[ChargerWA]

How do you quote someone else's post, on this here dang website?

Reply button, bottom right.

 

[Tomikin]

Good win, 1st game of the year against a really good Boks side who I think are a very good shot of winning the RWC especially if Vermulan is fit.

Aussies forwards were terrible (Hooper aside) until Pocock come on & showed the rest how to clean out & support the ball carrier. Will Skelton is not good enough & was basically just a passenger.

Aussies won 18-0 with Pocock on the field, he's the best player in the country & Michael Hooper is number 2 so piss off Skelton & pick a lock who can jump & scrum.

Backs need to go straight & maybe it's time to play a big centre pairing to get over the gain line more often.

I thought Fardy/Simmions in the back had good games, workmen like and in at everything.