Wallabies vs Wales - Suncorp Stadium June 9

[Tangawizi]

Only Vuna's first game last night and 2nd season of Rugby but he seems to need to work his positioning in defense a lot. Kept missing tackles after being caught out and then racing in too fast.

I think the welsh will target him next week if he's picked.

 

[Lee Grant]

Reddy

Pocock as hooker? It was only whimsy.

Yeah I would play KB (Kurtley Beale) at 10 based on his play there for the Rebels but not for all time: only until QC (Quade Cooper) comes back. He will attract the backrowers and of a sudden folks will be talking about how guys next to him on any given play improved that day. He is a rainmaker.

AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) at 15? I've often said that AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) is one of the most valuable Wallabies we have had since he arrived on the scene. His ability to play 3 positions at the highest level is uncommon. We will judge him better when he retires or his powers fade and he is no longer there.

I don't rate JOC (James O'Connor) as highly as others as a 10 but I am not sure if they are wrong. There is a bit of Giteau in him. Gits was always looking for the outside break, and JOC (James O'Connor) always looking to step everybody in front of him whilst he had the chance of playing in a position where he got the ball so much.

Both he and Gits overlooked the role of facilitating other players: to make them better than they were; to add team value at the expense of their individual value. Beale showed a lot of that in his flyhalf gig at the Rebels and Dan Carter does it year in, year out.
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[Lee Grant]

Cyclo, I would say many of us are guilty of posts sent late at night when we're either engulfed by the euphoria of a win, or wallowing in the disappointment of a loss, (added to being "tired and emotional"), which on reflection, we question the wisdom of our action!

Any hard drink involved Doug?

 

[Lindommer]

This week New Zealand beat Ireland, Australia beat Wales, South Africa beat England, Argentina beat Italy and France didn't play. The only NH team to win this week: the mighty Scots, over Australia on Tuesday, or should that be the lowly Scots? Scotland, stone motherless last in the recent 6 Nations.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Anyone notice the fight right on full time?

 

[Schadenfreude]

This week New Zealand beat Ireland, Australia beat Wales, South Africa beat England, Argentina beat Italy and France didn't play. The only NH team to win this week: the mighty Scots, over Australia on Tuesday, or should that be the lowly Scots? Scotland, stone motherless last in the recent 6 Nations.

More people play Cricket in Scotland than play Rugby - so lets not judge them too harshly.

 

[DPK]

Happy to get a win against what is a good side.

I think the Welsh team looked a little tired. I may be wrong, but as they're at the tail end of their season I think they could be forgiven for running out a little ragged.

That said, their time together meant that their combinations were tested and practised, whereas the Wallabies haven't had the time together this year to forge those combinations.

Scrum looked steady and I was impressed by the way our pack got to the breakdown quickly with good effect.

The Wallabies played well but I think it would be pertinent to keep in mind that the way Wales play, and the way you have to play to beat them, is different to the type of scrap the Wallabies will have in the 4N.

 

[the sabanator]

The best thing is nobody is whinging about the refereeing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Craig Joubert had the whistle last night and he seems to be far and away the best whistleblower in the world.

 

[Slim 293]

The best thing is nobody is whinging about the refereeing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Craig Joubert had the whistle last night and he seems to be far and away the best whistleblower in the world.

Funny you should say that...

On another infamous board there are quite a few Welsh fans whinging plenty about Joubert...

I thought he did a great job, and not because we won....... but because I didn't take any notice of him the entire game.

 

[Mr Doug]

Any hard drink involved Doug?

Yes Lee, hence my inclusion of the phrase "tired and emotional"!

 

[Bardon]

Joubert is a top class ref but it also helped that both teams were focused on playing open running rugby and put their efforts in that direction.

 

[Mr Doug]

In an era where the French and Scottish strips mimic the ABs (no doubt to make them look more intimidating), it's great from a viewing perspective, (both live and on TV), to see the mix of colours when gold plays red and white! Unsure if I like the Wobs new green and gold "board shorts", but it does make the Qantas logo more obvious, so perhaps that's the motivation!

 

[Bruwheresmycar]

The best thing is nobody is whinging about the refereeing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Craig Joubert had the whistle last night and he seems to be far and away the best whistleblower in the world.

I like the way he refs. His positioning is almost always perfect as well. Even with the TMO in pro games he still gets himself positioned in the in-goal to view every try.

I think arguably the best 3 refs in the world were on yesterday, made for some good test rugby.

 

[Ruggo]

Soley through a bit of rotation I would like to see some rotation. I would like to see Palmer start, a young lock start (Douglas me thinks) and Ant Fainga'a to start. TPN did some fantastic stuff but more is just a more complete package.

 

[DPK]

I'd rather see them use these games to settle on a solid XV and let them forge some consistency. As little changes as possible.

 

[Muttonbird]

Congrats to the Wallabies on the win. I thought the unavailability of Cooper, Beale, and O'Conner would really hurt but it looked like the unavailability of Gatland hurt more. Pretty average from the six-nations champs. One thing is, without knowing the scheduling in the NH, June seems too summery for rugby from their point of view. It's the equivalent of SH tours to Europe being played in December. They need to shorten their domestic comps up there. Also, if there's to be an break in the S15 for Internationals, then let it be earlier, in May. It would be much better for us.

Solution: All NH competitions need to be finished by early May.

 

[liquor box]

Kafe describe it as a butchered try.

There is no doubt in my mind it was. He had to see the welsh winger coming and should have known that AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) had a better angle to the line (not to mention that AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) is a better finisher)

I must have missed him say that. I must have made a mistake because I was wondering if the whole "conflict of interest" that was brought up during the week stopped him having a go at a tahs player.

Oh well, good on Kafe, he saves Fox Rugby in my opinion

 

[daz]

Someone in front of me stood up as Horne was getting the ball, so I missed the 'butchering'' but I thought for certain it was a try with AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) outside him. Pretty unforgiveable really.

No, you saw Horne get the ball. So, you did not miss the butchering.

What you missed was how he butchered it.

 

[Lee Grant]

if there's to be an break in the S15 for Internationals, then let it be earlier, in May. It would be much better for us.

Solution: All NH competitions need to be finished by early May.

Much better for us or not - they have the TV audience and thus the financial clout up there. This is generated by a long season.

And the French would never tour - the clubs run French rugby, in effect, not the national union.

No use typing out the words saying it should be the other way around. None at all.
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[liquor box]

Nice summary Lee. I don't think Timani is the option at 2nd row, but we need a bit more grunt in the scrums so either Sharpe or Simmons has to drop out. I would probably drop out Sharp because he can come on late in the game and add a bit more leadership when things start to get panicky, as they usually do at crunch time for the Wallabies.

Vuna is definitely not ready for test rugby. His positioning in defence was indecisive last night, and he will get caught out by the ABs who will target him very well.

It will be interesting what team changes will be made for the All Blacks, there is a lot of talk about what changes will be made for Wales but would Deans be blooding younger guys against Wales to see if they could handle the All Blacks?

I wonder if we could look at 10- Barnes 11-Digby 12-Fainga'a 13-McCabe 14-AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) 15-Beale against the All Blacks, it would be a tough backline to break through. All very good defensive players with an attacking fullback to try to score some points as there would not be much attacking backline moves.