Wallabies versus Wales- SFS

[Paradox]

Amazingly from you, it's a NSW conspiracy to undermine Aus rugby. You throw a bone at the end to obfuscate, but clearly they were all the issues. Good then.

Funny thing is that I disagree with paradox that Palu was good! 3 dropped balls in contact, one spilt pass and lazy defense to get in position before the welsh try.

Higgers was also poor for similar reasons. Dennis good when he came on. There was also a definite case for Moore getting a start in one of the tests at least.

Disagree about Kepu though. Thought he only got subbed due to the injury he was carrying and it was Robinson that struggled more at scrum time. Kepu was pretty good.

Fair point on Kepu. I thought Palu played himself into the game despite dropping the ball quite bit. He tried to get involved and dented the Welsh defense. The forwards on balance were rubbish. Higgers was decent in contact and lineout but lost a bit of pill. Pocock won that game for us.

As for Cyclopath, get your hand off it. The players I listed all played poorly and given that NSW players comprise most of the Wallabies team and that the Wallabies played like crap, they are going to cop some stick. Are you suggesting the likes of Horne, Timani and TPN actually played well?? As for NSW conspiracies, I'm sure those NSW players did not conspire to play like shit . Horne and Timani have done nothing to deserve a place in Australia's representative team based on their performances for Oz or NSW. Simmons deserves to start over Timani and once we see JOC (James O'Connor)/Cooper fit, hopefully Horne will dissapear for AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) at 13. Moore is better than TPN. Deal with it.

So in summary I'm pushing for the selection of one extra Brumby in Moore. Wow, that is really parochial and not based on form, logic or reason. I could argue for more Brumbies based on form but I don't want to be condemned/banned by the delicate NSW mods on this site who see through one eye (To be fair only Barbarian and Cyclopath). The rest of you are doing a great job

 

[Schadenfreude]

Perfect summation of Horne's efforts.

 

[Brumbies Guy]

Perfect summation of Horne's efforts.

Even the touchy thinks he almost blew it again

 

[Karl]

Even the touchy thinks he almost blew it again

So was it a fair try or not?

 

[cyclopath]

Thanks for the lecture on being one-eyed, Paradox. Your grasp of irony is superb, although the "Internet hero tough-guy" persona is pretty puerile.

 

[redstragic]

12 test matches played between the 6 nation teams and RC teams. Pretty convincing. 9 wins and a draw to the south.

 

[wamberal]

So was it a fair try or not?

Check the newspaper.

 

[Sully]

You forgot Scotland.

 

[redstragic]

You forgot Scotland.

I got that one, the Argies only played France twice? Or was it three times?

 

[qwerty51]

Italy then France twice.

So 10-1

 

[Scarfman]

Speaking of ball hogs, I think it was AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) who made a line break, then had 2 inside him in the open, but chose to take the ball into contact. Absolute horrible.

 

[Sully]

Anyone watching Conrad Smith play would realise how well an out centre can play and set up those around them. Horne and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) are no where near that.

 

[Athilnaur]

I expect most of us on G&GR want to see our midfield get a lot better at passing!

Ath.

 

[gel]

Wallabies passing has been pretty kack for a while really, with the odd game here and there where it clicks.

There also doesn't appear to be any set moves at all from what I can tell. The wallabies of the 80's and 90's always had those electric moves with runners going every which way before someone would scream through off a crisp, clean pass to break wall like defenses.

Relying on the stars to do their thing doesn't help if they aren't playing, or are misfiring (which is likely to happen under pressure defenses).

Horne shouldn't have been named in the squad leading into the series based on his form for the tahs, but pretty harsh to say it was a mistake given he scored a try in each test match. Was Simmons or sharpie calling the line outs in game 1 & 2? TPN threw much better in those games and I'm wondering if it wasn't the throwing, but the calling?

 

[Jiggles]

Watched the game three times now, and I get more and more frustrated every time.

If we excuse the obvious lack of a game plan, the inability of Barnes-McCabe-Horne to construct any meaningful line breaks, and the laziness of the forwards, and the inability to re-align in attack and defense at pace, then the biggest concern is the lack of basic rugby skills. Catching and passing at pace, backing up after you pass, coming out of the line together & communicating in defense are things done pretty well by most 4th grade teams.

What on earth is going on?

If it wasn't for moments of brilliance form Will Genia and David Pocock, we wouldn't have won this series. I wasn't impressed at all throughout and I think we will have a tough time of it in the 4Ns.

 

[It is what it is]

The Welsh wouldn't make the Super Rugby semi's, 6N champions or not.
Teams that would beat them include Chiefs, Stormers, Bulls, Crusaders and Reds.
They would also struggle against the Brumbies (at full strength not the mob who played them the other week), Waratahs, Hurricanes and Sharks.

 

[Brumbies Guy]

The Welsh wouldn't make the Super Rugby semi's, 6N champions or not.
Teams that would beat them include Chiefs, Stormers, Bulls, Crusaders and Reds.
They would also struggle against the Brumbies (at full strength not the mob who played them the other week), Waratahs, Hurricanes and Sharks.

I call bullshit

 

[barbarian]

So I just rewatched the game. In short I can't understand all the negativity on here. Overall I thought we played well against a good Welsh defence. It was a high standard game where both teams played positive rugby, and did it pretty well. I am happy with our effort.

I thought all of our players did well, no-one had a shocker. TPN's throwing was a bit out but not disastrous, and not all of our lineout losses were his fault. It's also worth noting Moore had a bad throw as well. We dropped a few balls but no-one did any more than others.

I know I'll get crucified for saying this, but Sita Timani had a good game. His offloading ability is something we lacked, and it was an asset on Saturday. He created one linebreak and almost did another. Made 9 tackles and missed 0. A couple of runs. Dare I say an error-free game? Look he wasn't man of the match but there is a bit there to like IMO.

Our centres were once again solid without being brilliant. They are very good in defence but leave a bit to be desired with ball in hand. But we know that. They are serviceable international centres. They certainly don't let anyone down. But we lack a bit of spark certainly.

Beale added something that we have lacked the last few weeks. JOC (James O'Connor) will add more of it. Digby and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) were both pretty good, certainly very enthusiastic.

In short I think all is pretty good in Wallaby world at the moment. We just polished off the Welsh 3-0 and had you said that to me at the start of the series I would have laughed. All were close games which we won in the final ten minutes through composure, execution and good decision making.

So I'm pretty happy- something I now expect to be slammed for in following posts...
.

 

[barbarian]

Oh and one more thing- I thought Joubert was fine.

 

[Brumbies Guy]

Timani had a good game. I went into the game doubting his selection like most of the others here, but he played well, especially in defence. Think others are still fixed on all the pregame talk, because you can't really knock him from that game.