Wallabies vs Scotland - 5 June 2012

[TSR]

Agree. Palmer was very effective. Probably will have the most lasting and important impact from this game. He is a TH who can lock down the Wallaby scrum for years to come.

I thought Timani, Dennis, Higginbotham & Moore all did well too. In tough conditions they toiled hard.

However whether its attitude, composure, killer instinct, whatever - we lost and I still can't work out how we couldn't score a single point in the second half.

 

[Mank]

Why make a comment like that if you haven't seen the game? That screams of looking for reasons to criticise the ref. The Scots dominated the last couple of scrums and were trying to march forward to get into drop goal territory. Wallaby scrum faltered and deserved penalty given...as Kafe mentioned in the commentary.

You have to wonder why a prop like Alexander was brought on in conditions like that. Great mobility for a prop, but certainly not what was required in those conditions!

I made the comment because on balance, I feel I could have been correct. Most scrum penalties to me are refs guessing, and especially given the context it seemed a likely candidate. I was curious what others thought of it, hadn't seen it, and since this is a discussion board, I posted, received a reply and accepted it.

We all good?

 

[TSR]

Actually, one reason we lost is that the Scots defended very well, and they deserve credit for that.

 

[nathan]

I know we're all about playing the ball not the man...but we can make exceptions for ball bags yeah?

Robbie, thanks for picking up where we left off in October, I'm really looking forward to the rest of the international season.

 

[Sandpit Fan]

Scotland used a rush defence to limit his passing options, and my Idiots Guide to Fly-Halfing says in conditions like that with the wind and rain you have to turn them around.

Running directly into the defense wasn't going to help.

Tru dat. If the forwards weren't getting through, the backs certainly were no chance.

Poor bastard can't win. Blamed for kicking too much for the Waratahs, then for not kicking enough for the Wallabies.

 

[grievous]

Anyone watch the Munster game last year in he wee small hours?

Very poor conditions then.

Was it as bad then as it was tonight?

Are our lot unable to play in anything other than fine weather and calm conditions?

It would seem that we have that reputation, quite a chink in our armour considering the teams we play that have regular weather like this. Has it ever tried to be addressed? Even when we knew what we we face in NZ reguarly? Have our camps in Tassie I say.

 

[SaderCheif]

whoa. i wasn't expecting that.

 

[Garry Owen]

McCabe to come back in at 12 with AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) at 15, Tomane to retain his spot. Barnes to retain 10 if Cooper remains on the couch, otherwise should be benched.

Barnes didn't even fire a shot. Our backs didn't look like they had any game plan? Why would the selectors continue with him when the Tahs have been struggling, but the Brumbies have been firing? Surley you'd lead with the Brumbies flyhalf?

Wait, ...Dingo's been selecting from the bottom two franchises since he arrived. Why quit now?

 

[Blue]

Genia was suffering hypo thermia standing at every scrum. He was struggling. Why was he not replaced?

All in all the Wobs spent about 40 minutes in the Scotland 22. The pick and drive got them close but between Pocock, Barnes and Genia they should have decided to vary it a bit once they got nowhere. There were a lot of passes two out that stuck. Should have had guys running some angles. It was all too predictable. Easier said than done, I know but not once did Barnes have someone run off his shoulder.

 

[cyclopath]

Barnes didn't even fire a shot. Our backs didn't look like they had any game plan? Why would the selectors continue with him when the Tahs have been struggling, but the Brumbies have been firing? Surley you'd lead with the Brumbies flyhalf?

Wait, ...Dingo's been selecting from the bottom two franchises since he arrived. Why quit now?

Which Brumbies flyhalf, pray tell?

 

[TSR]

Barnes didn't even fire a shot. Our backs didn't look like they had any game plan? Why would the selectors continue with him when the Tahs have been struggling, but the Brumbies have been firing? Surley you'd lead with the Brumbies flyhalf?

Wait, ...Dingo's been selecting from the bottom two franchises since he arrived. Why quit now?

In fairness, if Lilo was still fit I would 100% agree with you, but I don't think Zac Holmes has earned a call up yet.

Barnes may wish that he had though.

 

[Garry Owen]

If you pull on the gold jersey, you should be the best player in your position. With the exception of a few, the guys out there tonight were far from best in the positions.

This excuse is getting tired. How long before the coaches own up to not getting the best out of our players?

 

[Garry Owen]

Which Brumbies flyhalf, pray tell?

I must admit to not watching many of their games, but the one that played against the Rebels showed more enterprise than what I've seen from Barnes WB efforts for some time.

 

[rugbyfan]

I struggle to understand why Australia continued to put up aimless box kicks and attempted bombs when there was clear evidence it wasn't going to work - I was happy with the first 3 kicks but from then on it just became ridiculous - have a run!

 

[cyclopath]

I must admit to not watching many of their games, but the one that played against the Rebels showed more enterprise than what I've seen from Barnes WB efforts for some time.

I'll take the selection suggestion with a big grain of salt then.

 

[codex156]

Hey there, this is my first post here on the Green and Gold and I will admit I am a Kiwi who is a big All Blacks fan, that being said I have always had the greatest respect for the Wallabies and my favourite games have always been Wallabies v All Blacks because frankly the Wallabies have been consistantly the best team to play against in the world.

Frack England
Frack South Africa

It has always been the Wallabies that we measure ourselves against and we love victory and loathe defeat but the great thing about rugby is that you may lose today but there is always a chance to claw it back the next test match. However as of late (I mean the past few years) I have noted some disturbing trends in Australian rugby, one of my best friends is a proud Melbourne lad whose passion for the Wallabies jersey is something to behold and often it is over skype and a few beers that we watch the tests and enjoy the ribbing and commentary that two men who enjoy rugby bring to the game.

We have both noted that there is some serious issues with the Australian team, differences from that great team of yester year led by one of my favourite Captains ever John Eales (met the bloke once, real gentleman there) I mean you would quake as a Kiwi watching Stirling Mortlock or Stephen Larkham running with ball in hand. Looking up and seeing Matt Burke catching the long ball and gliding through the line with that fantastic step of his, seriously this can go on and on from my point of view.

The issues I see with this Australian team are these:

1. A Lack of leadership in the forwards: Pocock who is up there with Richie any day of the week, I think should not be Captain. Not because he can't do the job but he already has enough on his plate. He is shoring up a crap scrum, getting ball that Will Genia consistantly kicks away and tackling his ass off left, right and centre. I mean give the guy a break, he can only do so much!

2. A proper fly half: I am not going to get into the bashing of certain queenland number 10s but you guys need a level head like Larkham driving the boat and unleashing your back line. Not since him have I have been convinced that the Wallabie fly half was a real danger, I mean Cooper is brilliant but he is alot like Carlos Spencer to me, brilliant when on but when he is off he stinks. I think O'Connor has the makings of a great number 10 all he needs is time in the position and time to make it his, he can kick, run, tackle, innovate and he can lead, I think this is a fantastic combination for a number 10. Look at O'Connor during the World Cup, he was jumping up and down in some of those games begging for the ball and when he got it he was always dangerous.

3. The Scrum: I mean seriously, without a stable platform here no number 10 will ever ever look good or be able to do a damn thing, your world class back line is functioning with shit ball and they still dazzle, imagine what happens when this area is cleaned up.

Well I have been ranting here too much so going to end it here but looking forward to talking with some real footy fans

with regards,

Your mates across the ditch!!

 

[ACT Crusader]

I think based on some of the comments here, people may need to press rewind and watch the game again.

In the 2nd half when the Wallabies had possession, for the majority of it they were in their attacking half. Why the "kick to the corners" comments when you're in attack in your own half??

Genia's play was poor. I thought he should have been dragged. He was noticeably struggling in the conditions and that was affecting his play I thought.

He didn't play on instinct and got the case of the Weepu of over thinking the play from each ruck and it caused extra slow ball.

It was obvious that OZ were playing a narrow attack and I can imagine that running on to ball with charging defenders would be very high risk from slow ruck ball, so it was a safety first approach. But like Horan I would have like to have seen the ball spread after a couple of phases at least and trust the backs to secure ball.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Poor bastard can't win. Blamed for kicking too much for the Waratahs, then for not kicking enough for the Wallabies.

Yeah I thought the same... but doesn't that mean his problem is decision making, not skill execution?

When I watch him play for the Tahs he seems to kick without purpose - just because nothing else looks like a good option.

Tonight, some tactical short and long kicks should have dismantled, or at least given some hesitation to the rush defence.

The most generous thing I could say is maybe he didn't get enough ball to work it like that, and running to the line a couple of times is important as well.

 

[RedsHappy]

Frustrating from Aus there. Huge space on the far side for them to exploit but a number of players including Genia standing around waiting for something to happen and keeping it on the crowded side of the pitch. Also where is the shout from the players standing in the midfield to get them to move it out the other side.

I'll be howled down, but much of what you refer to highlights Pocock's captaincy weaknesses IMO. He's the "follow me" leader type, not necessarily the "now I'll be boss and make the tough calls" type, at least for now...

 

[Brisbok]

I made the comment because on balance, I feel I could have been correct. Most scrum penalties to me are refs guessing, and especially given the context it seemed a likely candidate. I was curious what others thought of it, hadn't seen it, and since this is a discussion board, I posted, received a reply and accepted it.

We all good?

I thought it was a very strange comment to make, for someone who had not watched the game. Trying to create controversy where there actually wasn't any. I think referees give us fans enough reasons to be critical of them without us going looking for areas to criticise them.

If I hadn't watched the game, I would be more interested in how certain players or groups of players performed, rather than whether or not the referee got all his decisions correct, and I certainly wouldn't try steer the conversation down the path of referee performance and whether or not he was to blame for a loss.

Each to their own i guess.