Wallabies vs Boks Bloemfontein

[Thin Thighs]

Just watched my recording .... - snip

AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) proved I am a muppet by passing several times, and effectively too. Keep doing it mate!! His defence was huge - stopped players in their tracks. I liked the changes - Moore, McCalman and to a lesser extent Chisolm.....
.

Do not be so harsh on yourself Cyclo. I think the constant theme of "the Men in Gold are starting to listen to G&GR" may have been motivating factor. Probably not but there is nothing better than the "I told you so", or "You read about it here first" feeling.

Methinks AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was going for a PB after receiving Gaggerland feedback - I thought his count last night was 3 and a dummy, but will await the stewards decision once all the analysis has been done by the backroom boys.

 

[cyclopath]

Thin Thighs - I am more than happy to be proved wrong. I am a big fan of AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), but was frustrated that he was not playing to his potential - being able to make breaks is so much more potent if the offload can happen. Gave me a glimpse that he can do that - I hope he keeps it going. His game was very good all round. Massive defense.

 

[Thin Thighs]

Speaking of muppets, Watching the replay on Fox, Just seen Mr W Barnes give the "held up" signal before going upstairs to ask about Moore's try. Should have been the "Timeout" T sign and the "going upstairs" TV square sign.

While Barnsey didn't have too bad a game, I think it was a relatively ordinary performance for a top level ref. At least he was consistent with his more questionable calls favouring no side.

 

[Reddy!]

Have just been watching the replay on Fox and on reflection the South Africans were actually quite good in the first half - the Wallabies were just clinical out wide.

 

[Epi]

What was up with the Bok fans booing Habana? They really are feral. That would like us booing Timmy Horan or someone if they were a bit out of form.

 

[barbarian]

What a game, dont want to repeat too much of what has been said before. Well done lads, did us proud, really gutsed it out. A few observations:

We saw the return of the backline move! The Boks couldnt believe it, and neither could I. The best was Barnes' dainty inside ball to Mitchell running a cracking line. It isn't harlem gloetrotter stuff, but it works more often than not.

Fainga'a's yellow was possibly the stupidest I have ever seen. Ten to go in a tight 3N game. The tackle was already made. IRB are cracking down on speartackles. I hope he gets a ban for sheer idiocy. If we had lost that, I wouldnt be surprised if Rocky or Robbie had floored him in the sheds. I would have.

I have converted to the anti-Rocky camp. Not as a player, as a captain. We looked rudderless out there today.

 

[Slim 293]

I'd love to know how many tackles AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) made in the game...

Rewatching the first half right now and he's everywhere... great game after an average effort last week...

Chisholm should be given another chance as well... didn't do anything of note but seemed to be more solid in the set piece than Mumm... just needs to work on his handling and would love to see him run the ball up a bit more...

 

[chief]

I think Barnes had a pretty good game. Piertsen should have been Yellow Carded and so should have Pocock so it was evened out there. It was a pretty good performance, probably the best we've seen this Tri-Nations.

 

[JJJ]

Nothing post-match has been put up on rugby365 I note with amusement. No match report, no captains' speeches, no player ratings. They're taking this badly. I imagine they had to rewrite their articles a few times over the course of that match, but they always seem to manage it when their boys win. Wonder if the editor got their pieces in, consulted his legal staff, and told his journos to go away, punch a few walls, sleep on it and try again tomorrow.

 

[todd4]

I think we can put to bed the arguement that JO'C can't/wont pass.

I think he proved last night he has a more than capable passing game.

 

[cyclopath]

I think we can put to bed the arguement that JO'C can't/wont pass.

I think he proved last night he has a more than capable passing game.

Did you mean AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)?

 

[Gnostic]

What a game, dont want to repeat too much of what has been said before. Well done lads, did us proud, really gutsed it out. A few observations:

We saw the return of the backline move! The Boks couldnt believe it, and neither could I. The best was Barnes' dainty inside ball to Mitchell running a cracking line. It isn't harlem gloetrotter stuff, but it works more often than not.

This is what we have been calling for, for a long time. Traditional Oz rugby backline play. There were well constructed set moves and dynamic interplay from backs supporting and working hard to get into the support position. Is this the death of the "play what's in front of you" mantra and a return to what we have always done best, "Structure"? It was also noticeable in the defence, everyone knew where they were supposed to be and who their man was.

 

[todd4]

Did you mean AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)?

No I meant JO'C

Not this thread, in other threads posters were critical of JO'C for not having much of a passing game or pehaps being too selfish with the ball.

 

[cyclopath]

No I meant JO'C

Not this thread, in other threads posters were critical of JO'C for not having much of a passing game or pehaps being too selfish with the ball.

Fair enough. I asked 'cos I was pretty vocal about AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)'s passing limitations, and he showed that he can indeed catch / pass / draw well. I hadn't noticed it was such a deficiency in JO'C's game as some had thought. They both did well last night.

 

[Lance Free]

Tackle stats are:

Robinson 14 Moore 17 Slipper 14 Ma’afu 1 Rocky 17 Chizz 12 Sharpie 14 Bam Pocock 19 (missed 3) McCalman 13 (missed 4)

Genia 8 (missed 3) Cooper 5 (missed 3) Gits 8 AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) 10 Shmoo 6 JO’C 5 (missed 3) KB (Kurtley Beale) 4 (missed 1 if you're interested) Burgess 4

Ma'afu's isn't a mistake....

 

[vidiot]

Slipper does pretty well for a youngster 'not of international standard'. Unfortunately Saia Fainga'a did nothing to prove Dwyer wrong.

 

[Crow]

WTF was Ma'afu doing on the field? 1 Tackle?

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Watched the replay this morning and even though I knew the result I was hanging on the edge of my seat throughout. I have to say that the quality of the men in gold was first class in that opening half. The passing, the positional play, the angles, everything was what we've been imploring these guys to do all season. It was absolutely sublime. But it wasn't just the backs, the pigs really got stuck in too.

Predictably the Boks found something in the second half and really, really stretched us. I felt a twinge of guilt after the game when we snatched it, but its happened often enough to us over the years, so bugger it.

As a neutral observer it must have been gripping stuff, as both teams played the kind of expansive, yet powerful game that makes us love this sport. It's a pity in some respects that they didn't do it at the same time. This ranks up there with the Sydney test in 2000 in terms of entertainment.

I haven't wiped the smile off my face all morning.

 

[Lance Free]

WTF was Ma'afu doing on the field? 1 Tackle?

I think they pulled him because of his workrate. To put some perspective in this stat he was only on for the first 22 mins. But even so....

He did one good thing - he offloaded the ball to Sharpie for the Squeaky try (I think it was).

 

[chickenkebabs]

Hi all.

Once again we looked a like bunch of bumbling amatuers in the secong half. Much work to be done if we're to be regularly competitive against the AB. Great to win in SA but I wasn't convinced.