Wallabies v Springboks - Suncorp, Brisbane, 10th September 2016

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Quade was good and did not overplay his hand again. He always looks better with a big runner outside of him. Either of the TwoKs would work or maybe Hodge. He and Kerevi will do well at the Reds. I would like to see Quade with both Ks and Folau giving him lots of options to put in holes.
Having said that Foley did some good things as well but I doubt that 12 is his long term position.
Ultimately I think we will see Quade with Beale at 12.

I have a suspicion that QC (Quade Cooper) will light up that Reds attack next year with Kerevi and others hitting his flat ball at pace. When he gets his passing game right there are few better distributors in the game for mine. He could have made the 2K midfield work against England, even though I'm not a fan of playing two big centres.

 

[Moono75]

I think Izzy was taking some inspiration from GWS tonight attacking the high ball. Interesting game, the boys stuck tight and came away with the win. Foley nice game at 12, Coleman snags a meat pie representing the Force. A minor pre game distraction with an axe attack at the Inglewood Hotel.....but hey thats how we role over here in Perth. Beware Pumas!

 

[Moono75]

The first, probably, in 80-odd years anyway.

Ford brothers in the 20s/30s, Jack and Eric.

The first, probably, in 80-odd years anyway.

Ford brothers in the 20s/30s, Jack and Eric.

Not actually brothers. The left head was called Jack, the right Eric. A common mistake. They're Tasmanian

 

[ForceFan]

For those who thought David Pocock was quiet - a comparison with Hooper.

POCOCK:
Ruck Involvements: 54 Total - 34 Attack/20 Defence (32% of team's DRIs)
Turn Overs Won: 2 (1TOW/10DRIs)
Tackles: 8/8 - 100%
Carries: 10 carries for 18m - 1.8m/carry
5 Passes

HOOPER:
Ruck Involvements: 29 Total - 19 Attack/10 Defence (16% of team's DRIs)
Turn Overs Won: 2 (1TOW/5DRIs)
Tackles: 13/14 - 93%
Carries: 8 carries for 10m - 1.2m/carry
3 Passes.

Clearly in this game the plan was for Hooper to apply the tackles.
Pocock's Ruck Involvement was impressive - he's entitled to be a bit tired towards the end of the game. (He had 31 Ruck Involvements in 2nd half)
Douglas also had 29 Total Ruck Involvements (All supporting ball carriers).


Leading Backs: Foley - 15T - 12A/3D; Hodge - 14T - 13A/1D.

Hooper's 13 tackles were game high for both teams.

Pocock has averaged 39 Total Ruck Involvements/game in TRC.
He averaged 35 TRIs/game in SR2016.

Hooper has averaged 26 TRIs/game in the TRC.
He averaged 27 TRIs/game in SR2016.

It's a shame that Ruck Involvements aren't taken into account when selecting MOM.


+ Numbers updated with latest ESPN stats (Sunday 0735 hrs WST)

 

[Groucho]

Well done Wallabies!

 

[Groucho]

A woeful game from SA, the worst they have played this season - and yet the Wobblies only just won - because they were slightly less shit than the Boks.

Its hard to imagine which other teams the Wobblies could beat playing that badly.

Of course the backline looked a bit more cohesive and creative, but that was only because the wobbly forwards were less bad than the Boks.

The only real improvement was the kicking for touch by Hodge, and Genia's kicking before he lost the plot in the last 20 minutes. QC (Quade Cooper) was the usual mixture, DHP looked better - but it was against weaker opposition.

Its very hard to imagine the Wbblies having enough to beat the Pumas, if the Pumas play like they did against the AB's in the first half they will be about 40 points ahead at half time!

The two results certainly seem to confirm the view that the AB's are now better than all comers by a bigger margin than ever, their response to the Pumas in the second half was clinical. It looks like the Wobblies, Pumas and Boks are all much of muchness at the next level down - with the Pumas looking the most improved.

Man, you are such a concern troll.

 

[TSR]

I thought our kicking game was much better. Still plenty of room for improvement, but much better than it has been.

 

[KOB1987]

Gordon Bray on Ten said he wasn't the first, but the first for a very long time, but no idea who it would be

2 brothers in the 1930s

 

[Tip]

Mostly, the fact that we had a little more space than the All Blacks give people. Good for the confidence.



Actually, being smarter than everyone else is what set the Eales-era Wallabies apart from teams that were bigger or stronger at set piece.

The Laws are the Laws. If you want to form a shit maul, and play illegally, then I'm going to make damn sure I take advantage of that.

Go read Sun Tzu and tell me whether you should attack an enemy's strengths or weaknesses.

I've been saying it for years. The best defense to a maul is no defense at all. Take a step back and chill.

Game highlight for mine.

K
Both Coleman and Arnold showed they are here to stay and it was another no-nonsense workhorse display from Douglas.

Whilst I agree with the first part, let's not perpetuate the myth that is Kane Douglas in 2016.

So many minutes, so few involvements.

I have no doubt he'll improve, he's obviously shy of match fitness after missing most of Super 2016. Test match footy is not the place to gain match fitness. Coleman was showing more aggression in the tackle than Douglas, he's our bruiser.

For all the talk of a better lineout, we still turned over possession 3 or 4 times from it. Most from the top due to our jumpers having poor skill executions.

 

[Heavyd]

Just tuned into the Today show to see sport highlights. Sat through AFL and League finals highlights only then to go to EPL and then the weather. Not a peep about the Wallabies. The game sadly is all but dead to the broader general public.

 

[biggsy]

I thought Owens had a pretty good game, but reading a few rugby feeds today I was wrong.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Rugby is so not winning the media war.

 

[KOB1987]

Cheika was having a leak when Kerevi's try got disallowed.

 

[Joe Blow]

Whilst I agree with the first part, let's not perpetuate the myth that is Kane Douglas in 2016.

So many minutes, so few involvements.

I have not seen the numbers from this game but didn't he have the second highest number of ruck involvements in Bled 2 behind Pocock and a high percentage of those being effective?

From where I sit it looks like he has a huge motor and just ploughs away for the full 80 in the tight.

 

[cyclopath]

Didn't have as much of an impact on the game as Poite did which surely means he was better, if not good

I agree. Few odd ones. Habana made a tackle, never released, Owens penalised us, when the Wobs claimed he never released Owens stated "14 was not the tackler". When Sio "scored" I thought Faf had his hands on the ball which was well out of the ruck for some time before he was tackled. Looked like play on to me. His communication is clear, though. Probably not his best game.

 

[tragic]

Was at the game and yet to watch the replay but a few observations
1. It was so refreshing to have an exit strategy that wasnt 3 points and a kickoff. Discipline was much better as were hodge and coopers boot.
2. Hodge is the real deal but not on the wing. Would really like to see him get a run at FB. Folau's lack of kicking ability was very evident again last night.
3. Hard to know if it was the lesser quality of the opposition but QC (Quade Cooper) confirmed most posters assertions that his upside as a distributer and kicker at 10 is much better than foley.
4. The locks looked good. Much to this forums delight I suspect Simmons days are over.
5. Mumm is not the long term answer at 6
6. The best centre pairing is not yet established. Personally in the long term I'd like to see kerevi/ folau with hodge at FB and some pace and finishing on the wings.
7. The boks lost to the argies and Ireland. Not counting my chickens yet re no 3 in the world but stoked with the win and looking forward to the rest of the series.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Yep I accordingly gave Foley a vote as one of 3 best players

Whilst was critic of Foley's selection at 12 Cheika vindicated that on last nights performance.

DHP - he just continues to sit out like a sore thumb for me on the wing. Hodge good defensively but offered nothing in attack playing out of position on the wing. I saw a lot of votes for him by the G&G gang which surprised about.

Hooper and Pocock worked well tonight in their respective roles - the Pooper might not be dead yet.

I would be worried about Argentina next week as that first 50 minutes they played against All blacks was some of the best football I have seen all year.

 

[vidiot]

Yep I accordingly gave Foley a vote as one of 3 best players

Foley had a good game, though his combination with Strauss needs some work. I think he skipped him a couple of times.

 

[cyclopath]

Foley had a good game, though his combination with Strauss needs some work. I think he skipped him a couple of times.

I still reckon Strauss was offside for the first one, but still shouldn't have hit him. Second time there is really no excuse. He's a fairly obvious target to miss.


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[tragic]

It's a shame that Ruck Involvements aren't taken into account when selecting MOM.[/B]

Stats came out a bit quicker than usual Forcefan.
Replay a bit easier to watch this time around??