Wallabies vs England, Sydney, 3rd Test, 25 June @ 8:00pm

[ACT Crusader]

Genia & Quade are probably better

But not without their issues too.

Credit to both sides, they played pretty good attacking footy. Some poor execution by OZ did gift possession to England, but OZ also put England to the sword in attack.

England's forwards were superb. The subbing off of the young openside from Rotorua Boys high just before half time and bringing on Lawes proved to be a genius move by Steady.

 

[Tomikin]

sigh ill say missed Tomane Beale (mostly) and To'omua forst 2 games.. not alone without Douglas and Poey..

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[Istanbul]

Given McMahon has showed what he can do in the backrow can we all agree to never pick Palu again once Hooper is back!?!?

 

[Tomikin]

Foley missed one touch finder for a penalty, and about three in general play from the 22. To'omua missed 1 from general play.

That is a basic failing of our playmakers and needs addressing before the next Test.

Moore needs to chill the fuck out as a captain a bit more. Not going to get far with that attitude.

That call at the end was the difference between two score margin and us having a lineout at the other end and a chance to win it. Nigel bottled that one when Hoopah was all over the ball, on his feet. Wonder what Rolland will say about that, after criticising Joubert during the week?

But superior discipline and composure from England across the series made them deserved winners, at least in the first two games.

Can't say we didn't have our chances, at least in Brisbane and Sydney. We just weren't smart, or disciplined enough.

Well done England. Too early to give Eddie the knighthood yet, but maybe if there is a second grand slam

Positives for us: scrum a lot better. Young blokes coming through are looking alright. Thought Coleman was great, DHP too

Work-ons: leadership - particularly ref management, discipline, kicking.

The rest of it was OK for a team with three different selections in three weeks, some injuries and a bit of farting around in between.

Cheika will need to tweak a few things in terms of game plan before TRC. The second-channel ball is very predictable and doesn't work on a team with a good defensive line.

Thats probably the best post ive ever seen you write.. ared you sober

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[Gillys_ghost]

i thought Coleman looked very Eales-esque in his mannerisms - just the way he runs the ball and carries himself. he played pretty well as well

 

[The torpedo]

OT but play this team for Bled 1:

1. Slipper
2. Moore (c)
3. Kepu
4. Douglas
5. Simmons
6. Fardy
7. Pocock
8. Houston/McMahon/Palu
9. Genia
10. Cooper
11. Tomane
12. Giteau/To'omua/Lealiifano
13. Kuridrani
14. Folau
15. DHP
16. Polota-Nau/Chibba/Ready
17. Sio
18. Holmes
19. Neville/Skelton/Coleman
20. Hooper
21. Pickle
22. To'omua/Giteau/Lealiifano
23. Kerevi/Taqele/Morahan

 

[Scotty]

Foley missed one touch finder for a penalty, and about three in general play from the 22. To'omua missed 1 from general play.

That is a basic failing of our playmakers and needs addressing before the next Test.

Hard to see what they are going to address.

'Look boys you've got to kick it out'

How do they not know that already? How does Cheika keep Foley on in a situation where he completely screwed up at least 5 kicks?

 

[JJJ]

England are looking a much better balanced side all-round than us at the moment. Great tour from them. Hopefully Cheika has answered all the questions he had leading in and can produce a more settled team for TRC, though I doubt it.

 

[Viking]

How many runs for the other two, just out of curiosity?

Falou 13 runs 72 metres = 5.5 metres per run
DHP 13 runs 61 metres = 4.7 metres per run
Horne 4 runs 13 metres = 3.2 metres per run

 

[Gillys_ghost]

you know its a weird as fuck match when Simmons is better in the collision then Skelton...

 

[The torpedo]

you know its a weird as fuck match when Simmons is better in the collision then Skelton.

TBF the poms did seem to be targeting Skelton when he had the ball

 

[rod skellet]

England has Farrel and we did not have Pocock. That was the difference.

And the rub of the ref did not go the way of the wallabies for 2 tests in a row which kills us when the opposition has a kicker like Farell.

We need to find a real strong kicker. Well done England but we only just lost each game.
Australia has the talent but finding another Matt Burke is critical.

The game has to many subjective penalties for us not to have a 90% kicker.

 

[Bardon]

Given McMahon has showed what he can do in the backrow can we all agree to never pick Palu again once Hooper is back!?!?

I don't think you'll every get everyone on here to agree on a selection. From the five years I've been here I've learned that even your brightest talents are one poor performance from the dreaded "should never play for Aus again" tag .

Conversely players previously tagged as such and discarded the previous season are 3 to 4 good Super Rugby performances away from being not only the solution to the teams problems but quite possibly the secret to life, the universe and everything.

If rugby every brings in soccer style squad numbers that player would have to wear number 42 that is until the wheel turns full circle and they are once again universally proclaimed as being sh!thouse and should never play for Aus again.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Very frustrating at the moment, because so many players look really good, especially in attack, but then the the flaws crack open under pressure, and we lose 3 zip despite scoring enough tries and points and having the possession to do so much better.

Fundamentally, the problem seems to me to be that our only real exit plan when stuck down our own end is to give away points and take the kick off.

 

[Viking]

Hard to see what they are going to address.

'Look boys you've got to kick it out'

How do they not know that already? How does Cheika keep Foley on in a situation where he completely screwed up at least 5 kicks?

This is what annoys me. It is not a one-off problem. It is habit - Foley is a poor kicking. He can't fix it in a week. He needs 12 months of kicking practise.

This is a known issue.

Their should have been and could have been tactics in place to releive pressure of him. Eg. A box kick, or a second kicker - Easily could have used DHP more. Tonight To'omua could have been used more, but for some unknown reason they keep giving it to Foley.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Owens never gave a decision our way, Foley had a shocker with the boot and Phipps was slow and inaccurate.

But there is one man more than any that lost that game for the Wallabies and his name is Michael Cheika.

- picked a second rower that didn't deserve it on form and isn't fit enough to last 60
- refused to take off Foley or Phipps off despite pretty poor performances
- didn't have adequate exit plans - we have a bloke in DHP that can kick long and accurate but we aren't using him
- his big play to get the win at the end is to bring on a winger!

Lost

The

Plot

I very much agree that the loss can be completely attributed to Cheika's poor selections. GThe killer was having Skelton in the side. After Simmons was forced off, the scrum and lineout went totally to shit, as any Brumbies' fan could and did tell the world at large - Fardy is not a lock and no scrum has ever been strong with him in the second row. But of course, I keep forgetting that fans don't know anything - we are just couch coaches, and Michael Cheika is next to all-knowing and all-powerful.

That's my rant.

I am very happy to note however that Sean McMahon surpassed all of my expectations. Wish he was a bit taller and a bit heavier. Cliff Palu again showed that he has little to offer at this level.

Rob Simmons had a poor section of play leading to England's first try bit after that was as goos as I've ever seen him. Coleman was quite strong also and had an impressive first test.

Matt To'omua was outstanding for a player who hadn't been on the park for some time. Michael Hooper and Izzy Folau were the picks of the Aussies and DHP again was very good.

The less said about Phipps and Foley, the better, apart perhaps from it's been good knowing you, so long.

Cheika has had a godd kick up the bum courtesy of Eddie Jones, and he must swallow his pride and stubbonness before the RC comes around.

 

[Viking]

Very frustrating at the moment, because so many players look really good, especially in attack, but then the the flaws crack open under pressure, and we lose 3 zip despite scoring enough tries and points and having the possession to do so much better.

Fundamentally, the problem seems to me to be that our only real exit plan when stuck down our own end is to give away points and take the kick off.

I think its tactics more then anything.

Cheika has his "finishers" come on - but sacrifices set-piece to do so. England know this. They immediately kick for the corners and pressure our line-out - twice as effective as they have been doing all game - it cracks and the pressure keeps building.

Their is no way relieve pressure unless we hold the ball, but it's tired players making erratic decisions.

And then you got idiot decisions, like Foley chip kicking it, those he should have done at the start of the game not at the god damn end when we should be avoiding line-outs at all costs.

 

[TOCC]

I would be angry right now but that outcome was predictable, Foley didnt improve his tactical kicking through the week, Phipps didn't change his habit of making crucial mistakes, Skelton hasn't turned into a lineout jumper nor has he improved his fitness to that of an 80min player...

All of these were highlighted and mentioned by others and myself in the week leading up to this match...

Granted picking only 2 lineout jumpers and selecting Skelton was exacerbated by the Simmons injury, but one area which could and should have been addressed is Foley's tactical kicking, its absolutely atrocious at the moment. Missing touch on a penalty 2 weeks in a row just doesn't cut the mustard at test level.

 

[Viking]

The Skelton selection was a huge selection blunder.

It was always more likely to fail then it was to succeed given how disruptive it is to our setpiece and how good England are at kicking to corners and pressuring line-outs and scrums.

A high risk, low reward (even at his best it is just a bit of extra go-forward) - which in the end did not even reach the little reward and was a big failure.

I am really starting to wonder about Cheika.

 

[KOB1987]

Basically we're a bees dick, a few injured players, a kicker, and the rub of the green away from being s VERY good team.