Sorry! I am just a realistic sort of guy, and there wasnt much to be positive about tonite, sheesh, they tried damn hard to lose that game in the last 10 minutes, that was nerve wracking and anything but positive!
"I am just a realistic sort of guy" is the type of dogmatic and self-righteous bullshit I hate. Take any intro-psychology course (or indeed, any intro-University level courses in the psych / arts / social study fields) and you'll come to a quick and horrific realisation that reality, atleast in terms of the human experience, is largely and profoundly subjective. Refuting the fact that you are being negative (and thus could be construed as a
pessimist) by stating that you are a "realist" has as much intellectual-grounding as those who believe that the definition of insanity is doing "the same thing over and over but expecting different results".
"Wasn't much to be positive about".
Well then, lets break that down shall we:
Lets go back to Week 1 of the RC, we'd just gone down 0-3 in a test series against England, the age old enemy, at home. It was much closer than what is now admitted, but the public didn't like it and confidence was at an all time low. We're facing the best side in the world, who had just run away with the RWC GF, and we're shitting ourselves. We run out, show absolutely no intent, and cop a beating that made the English series seem like childs play.
The next week we played them again, lost by another considerable amount but showed a bit more intent and commitment in defence. A step in the positive direction, even if it was a small one.
This week we took another, albeit much larger step. The determination in defence was far improved. We competed very well in the set piece, with the lineout being a huge improvement from the previous week, and we had periods of domination in the scrum.
We've finally found an engine room (second row pairing of Douglas / Coleman) that look like they'll be able to compete against the best of the best (Simmons and Skelton can stay in NRC-land). The forwards also gave away FAR fewer penalties than the last two weeks, and our relationship with the referee was much improved.
Most importantly, our attacking game / kicking game really lifted. We had several astute tactical kicks, and several passages of beautiful attacking play as facilitated by the Foley / Cooper axis. We mixed up the point of attack a lot. We went wide, we went inside, we attacked on the fridges, up the centre. We used bombs, cross field kicks, no look passes. The whole lot. Of course there were a few moments of stupidity (Foley's two intercepts) or lulls in attacking creativity, but thats to be expected of a team thats just come off a HUGE generalised lull, and is attempting a complete rebuild.
Most importantly, for the most part, I think that our team seemed infinitely more composed. We weren't rushing things, we didn't look terrified. The Wallabies team against the All Blacks looked like a deer in headlights. Tonight that didn't rear its ugly head until for the first 50.
In the last 30 it unfortunately crept in, but that was to be expected given the state of the game. 30 minutes to go and we were infront! Better not fuck it up! And everyone knows the best way to not fuck it up is to go into your shell. That way, if we do lose, you won't be blamed for chancing your arm. If you just catch, shovel on and kick then who can blame you? Right?
6 of the 23 had never won in Wallabies colours. The other, more experienced 17 had just been dragged through mud and broken glass since the start of the England test. They were absolutely terrified that they might lose their grip on the game. They'd cop another huge shellacking in the media, and more importantly, they'd let their coach down, placing even more pressure on him in the public eye.
That win will do a lot to help their confidence moving forward. Another win against the Puma's and suddenly this Freudian 'fear of death' will be much less of a factor.
So yeah, it wasn't perfect, but you're absolutely pipe-smoking, arm-scratching, pants-pissed and vocal-slurring off your fucking head if you think there wasn't a marked improvement and that theres nothing to be positive about.
Seriously. Nothing will please some Australian Rugby fans. Trust me, I'd know, I support the Waratahs and attend their games (I've heard people complain, after a try was scored, that it wasn't scored in a better manner).
TL;DR: You are wrong. Read a book.
