Wallabies v Springboks Saturday 9th Sept NIB Stadium

[TOCC]

Beale to 15, Folau to wing

Folau is a very good player, but he is becoming a liability at fullback, the opposition kicks to him knowing he lacks the ability to kick effectively he will run it back 80% of the time, or attempt an average kick back. Springboks marked him well, came at him in a line causing him to start doing a hop-step just before he made contact.

Beale can pass, kick and run it back, teams will be less inclined to kick it to Beale. If it didn't leave a vacancy at inside centre it would be a no brainer

 

[KAOPointman]

Tough game, fair result! But once again I noticed almost zero constructive criticism towards our attacking playmaker, who in my mind is just another 9who simply moves the ball!
I wasn't really going to bother with Bernard's Foleys this week...I thought I'd see how the game went.....and then it started like this......:0

1min. Foley kicks off too short....not them metres!
4th min Foley kicks average restart uncontestable short ball!
7th min. Foley good conversion
11th min. Foley mops up sloppy ball well with good offload pass!
26th min. Foley good kick restart....contestable (Folou)
28th min. Foley converts Beales try.
30th min. Another good short contestable restart for Hooper.
38th min. Foley crappy chip kick under advantage (no big deal) still a poor kick
40th min. Foley converts penalty.
Half time....so far almost zero Foley impact in attack at 10, bar a couple of short inside passes!

40th min. Foley poor clearance kick straight to Janties(may have slipped a little)
47th min Foley now 4/4 conversions
51st min. Foley weirdly gives up the chase and dives on the ground....luckily the wallabies scramble very well and snuff a SA try opportunity! (very weird)
69th min. Foley kicks good conversion to tie game. 5/5
74th min. Foley throws a 5ish metre forward pass......gets lucky refs play on!

Overall....just another solid but pretty average game from our Wallaby "Playmaker". Not much direction in attack, and very very little attacking threat! For me Beale once again showed he would offer FAAAR more in the playmaker role! Technically he is our 2nd playmaker at 12......but in reality he's our only playmaker.
Easily the best game Foley has had all year!(that says a lot). :0

 

[Sully]

Anyone know what the crowd was chanting after the game?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Force!

 

[KAOPointman]

Beale to 15, Folau to wing

Folau is a very good player, but he is becoming a liability at fullback, the opposition kicks to him knowing he lacks the ability to kick effectively he will run it back 80% of the time, or attempt an average kick back. Springboks marked him well, came at him in a line causing him to start doing a hop-step just before he made contact.

Beale can pass, kick and run it back, teams will be less inclined to kick it to Beale. If it didn't leave a vacancy at inside centre it would be a no brainer

Beale has the perfect skill set to be 10(just needs time there to settle)....then you don't need a second playmaker at inside centre......you can run two big centres! The last time he tried 10 his defence was his biggest liability......that seems far better these days!

 

[Joe Blow]

Overall I thought our backs were pretty good and kept us in the game. We gave it away up front in the set piece and at the breakdown.

 

[Ulrich]

I don't know so much about moving Beale. He seems just fine at 12. Many good sides have had a second playmaker at 12. He has not disappointed there so I don't think it is fair on him to be moved.

Both teams need to work on their kickoff / restarts. Second game in a row where the Boks let in a try straight from the kickoff.

I thought the Wallabies played well in patches. The Springbok defense looks a little passive, we wait for the passes and runners to reach us before we commit to tackle.

That won't fly next week.

Hodge had a good game too I think.

Serfontein didn't have all that much opportunity with the ball being kicked away so much, but from what he offered he looked a good player.

 

[Moono75]

Truly the greatest sporting contest considered by WA locals was the Eagles v Port Adelaide elimination final. A greater sporting contest and theatrical finsh you won't see for a long time to come. That's your market Rugby, that's your competition. In WA you aren't in the game ARU.

 

[Ulrich]

There’s Marcell Coetzee, Francois Louw, Bismarck du Plessis (and his brother if you want to count him), Francois Steyn, Cobus Reinach and of course Combrinck and RJVR were not in the Bok team.

We now have a back three with a combined total of 18 caps (Habana & Pietersen surpass that individually and even sporadic Willie le Roux does).

Then we have a reserve prop with 16 caps with no start as of yet and a Hooker in his second season of international rugby and a still very inexperienced back-row.

Oh, and let us not forget Cronje also only has about a handful of caps to his name and our flyhajlf has only now started to show he can play international rugby.

Given all of that I think the Boks didn’t do too badly against a vastly more experienced unit on their turf.

 

[Ulrich]

And I forgot about Thor, who at his best can challenge Reid for a world #8 jersey.

 

[jimmydubs]

There’s Marcell Coetzee, Francois Louw, Bismarck du Plessis (and his brother if you want to count him), Francois Steyn, Cobus Reinach and of course Combrinck and RJVR were not in the Bok team..

Didn't Fran steyn eat all the pies and balloon? Or is he back in shape?

 

[Ulrich]

Didn't Fran steyn eat all the pies and balloon? Or is he back in shape?

Gave up on the pies and was good during French series. Was not selected because it was deemed he needed a proper pre-season with his NH club.

 

[Joe Blow]

Well, that does not bode well in this RC for us. We now need to beat the Pumas twice and knock off the Boks in SA and hope that the ABs can take care of SA at home and away.

None of the above is anywhere near comfortably odds on to happen.

 

[biggsy]

I didn't expect to much from this game with Wob's. Couldn't build on and continue from there best performance so far against the AB's.

 

[upthereds#!]

pre-game

- Horan " blah blah guys like Hanigan who offer dominant attacking running lines"

- Hoiles " blah blah guys like Hanigan who get over the advantage line"

wtf...yes he tries hard but he sure as shit doesn't make a dent at this level. It's like they are trying to ignore his stats. This is what they said before the game last night, even though V the AB's Hanigan and Moore made a combined running meters of 0...actually 0

Yes Kolisi and Kriel are smaller players aswell like Hooper and Mcmahon - but they are built like Savea and play like it, whereas Hanigan (who is bigger and heavier) plays with as much impact as wet tissue paper. He couldn't clear out Joe Powell from a ruck let alone a Springbok Forward. I have coached a lot of kids and taught a lot of students who try hard....and they receive effort awards...they don't receive MOtM, get A's and get promoted to 1st XV or extensions maths because they 'try hard'.

Even dempsey offers more around the field because he has the capacity to generate SOME force into contact thanks to his speed assisting momentum.

 

[Ulrich]

To be honest I thought the Springboks did quite poorly in ruck play and for me the back-row were fairly anonymous from the Boks perhaps until after about 50 mins.

I tried paying attention to Wallaby players' performances in the process of getting inebriated as well as supporting my team so I did not notice how good or bad the Wallaby back-row was or was not. Still seemed like a bad performance by the Bok back-row to me. Hooper did manage some things and I noticed Hodge and Beale mostly other than that.

The talk of the town around here was for the Boks not to get bogged by the Wallabies' clever tactics around set-piece and that they should dominate that facet of play and yet we struggled once more. Kudos to the Wallabies for turning a weakness into something less of a weakness at least.

I expected more of Lood from the bench. He had not played for quite a while so I figured he would be rampaging. PSdT had a good game, picking up the ball as of from nowhere and gaining metres at will it seemed at times.

Our back three were not on song at all but the most criticized player, namely Rhule, probably played the best of the three.

 

[dru]

And so the results are in: Cheika has been treading water since the World Cup.
His ability to identify talent is non existent: Dempsey scrums at 8 like a 7. At least Hanigan knows he's out of his depth and is just going the cheap shots.
What is Folau's ask for actually committing to a loose ball? $2m, $3m?
Any lessons learned from Bledisloe 1 did not stick.

Yes Cheika continues to tread water, it's a good analogy, but we are still a team beyond the Bled #1 debacle so it is the right step. Not as good as Bled #2, though that seemed likely. I think that "any lessons from Bled #1 did not stick" is a touch harsh, but Cheika continues to use get out of jail cards. Both WBs and Boks showing a move toward lighter more mobile back row, while under development, has wings on it. Not Hanigan or Dempsey (or Korczyk) though. Folau, what is his issue? Constantly preferring to avoid contact and run by passing? Hodge looked good on the wing. I like it and I'd stick with it. The bench as predicted was not international quality. Next step for Cheika and his Wobblies is to show that they have not developed a habit for losing.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Granted, and I don't disagree, but what are the other options? That are match ready? Fardy - he's left the country, can still play but we may as well learn to live without him. RHP - if he was picked we'd be saying the same things about him as Ned, too light,etc. no one else comes to mind bar developing a lock, and that's probably happening in the background, Tui would be my pick.

RHP - 118kg. Perhaps check some facts before posting misleading opinions. Obviously heavier than Hanigan and actually plays and looks heavier still. But in his absence through injury, someone else does need to step up.

 

[Ulrich]

RHP - 118kg. Perhaps check some facts before posting misleading opinions. Obviously heavier than Hanigan and actually plays and looks heavier still. But in his absence through injury, someone else does need to step up.

Relax. Your team is on the up. Stick with your combinations and build some continuity. I am not a fan Cheika, but considering where AUS Super Rugby teams where at he certainly has worked miracles. Perhaps nobody seems to notice that unless you are not Australian. The last thing you want now is to be chopping and changing weekly. Give the lads a go as they are to build some partnerships.

 

[Joe Blow]

No. The back row is way off and Cheikas plan for it is just not working. We need some bulk and aggression there.
The Boks work at the breakdown was far superior to ours.
Hanigan and Dempsey are not a part of the solution, not yet anyway.

 

[upthereds#!]

not about hanigan being too light IMO. He's the same height and weight (roughly) as Higginbotham and Naisarani - both of whom run absolute rings around Hanigan because they are faster, stronger and more powerful players. But that doesn't matter in australia professional rugby apparrently...because Hanigan tries hard........Like getting a participation medal.

The ONLY player IMO whose weight is a factor is Tom Robertson. He is not nearly forceful enough (strength x speed?) for someone of that weight. According to the player ratings, he didn't provide enough impact in the scrums or in tight ball carrying.....literally the 2 most important areas for a prop. No he's not the biggest prop going around, but there have been plenty of short, lighter props (<6ft & <110kgs) who have made far bigger impacts in a game of rugby (eg. Nicolas Mas), mainly because they are balls of power, not balls of flour.

Moral of the story - Hanigan and Robertson have no place running on for the wallabies. They are CLEARLY developing players regardless of Cheikas insistence that any player picked is picked because they are ready for Test Rugby. These guys are just starting to earn their stripes as Super Rugby players and should be POST WC wallabies.

At least Uelese made a dent - why? because he is a physical beast. Hanigan and Robertson are NOT.