Wallaby Bok Brizzy Post-Match post here

[the gambler]

I would pick Hardman for the next game but I would take Frier or one of the younger ones on the EOYT.

Re Barnes

I thought he was very good for most of the match. We always say about the great players that they seem to make everything look easy and have more time than others, and to me it seemed Barnes made reffing look simple. He talked to the players but he wasnt yelling or screaming, he was in good positions for most decisions and he got the majority right. I agree with Lindo that he probably should have given a penalty try as Du Preez (? the 2nd man from the side) in particular had no right to be involved in the tackle but I would give him a rating of 7.5 for the game.

 

[Roll Away Black 7]

Re Barnes

Is it me or does Gits look way out of sorts at present ? His decision making at 10 was diabolical at times. His kicking close to that.

Perhaps BB had to shoulder too much and suffered from it ?

 

[Lee Grant]

Fitzpatrick? Geez - and people were giving me a bit of stick for saying in 2007 that Fitzy would be a Wallaby one day. Now he's on most people's wish lists and he's 3rd string hooker for the Tahs. He should have gone to the Force where he could have started next year - but I digress.

We are going to have a terrific cadre of hookers after the next RWC with Moore and TPN still around and the likes of Fitzy, Charles and maybe a couple of others (like Hanson) seasoned then and biting at their heels - (I think Freier will be offshore by then) - but I wouldn't think of playing Fitzy just yet.

Freier started back in 2nd grade last week after his bicep shredding, and if he can get in a full game for Randwick 1sts next Saturday, Deans could give him a call. Moore would be pegged to play the whole game in Wellington but it would be better to have an experienced guy on the bench just in case. Mind you - Fitzpatrick would be backing himself.

I wouldn't take any notice of claims that TPN is OK. It looks like a rib cartilage to me and they are dog injuries. It's a pity because I agreed with TPN's selection as starting hooker after Moore lost his invisibility cloak under which crooked things disappeared. I can put up with a couple of crooked TPN throws because he is so dynamic around the park, both with and without the ball. If he got his throwing right and stopped trying miracle passes going to ground he'd be world class.

I thought that Fitzpatrick was a smokey for the Wallaby EOYT tour at the expense of Freier - but for one game I would have Gimli, provided he can prove a bit of match fitness next weekend.

[PS - feel free to be be making fun of me a few years down the track but I'm pegging Fitzy now to be Wallabies captain after Rocky retires.]

 

[Moses]

Freier has just played his first match back for Randwick 2nds, I think he'd want a few more games in his legs before even considering stepping up.

 

[Lindommer]

Freier has just played his first match back for Randwick 2nds, I think he'd want a few more games in his legs before even considering stepping up.

Agreed, Moses, but who else is there? For his, and our, sakes I hope he gets a run in Randwick 1s this weekend.

 

[Lee Grant]

Too late for 3N now but some clever coach sometime should cross-train Pek Cowan as a hooker.

 

[Spook]

What's Edmonds doing? He was a mega :sharpe: but played a lot better and tighter under Andy Friend. Good thrower and the Brumbies lost nothing in the scrum when he was there. Very light weight through

 

[TOCC]

I suppose you just need to look at what you actually want to take out of it, Moore and TPN are only young and quite good so its not like you need a big emphasis on succession planning at the moment, maybe the wallabies would be better off taking a experience hooker on the EOYT like Hardman or Freir which would alleviate the pressure on some of the younger guys in the pack.

 

[Gagger]

Is it me or does Gits look way out of sorts at present ? His decision making at 10 was diabolical at times. His kicking close to that.

It's not just you. He is working his nuts off though (second highest tackle count on Sat) and the rest of the skills are good. Just not in form at present.

 

[disco]

If you want massive long passes, you would pick Cooper at 10 and O'Connor at 12. But Giteau and Barnes are the most experienced and best we have atm.

I don't want massive long passes I just want Giteau & Barnes to put a good 10 metre pass out in front of the man everytime except for the AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) try the outside men were either stoppng or reaching back for the ball.

 

[Lee Grant]

How true disco - how true.

I went to the Dragons league match on Friday night at Kogarah, and the league backs have your basic 10 metre pass for team mates to run onto it down pat compared to union players. They weren't perfect, but the ratio of sympathetic passes in the league match was way higher than in the rugby test the following night in Brisbane.

I said on another thread that I was talking to George Ayoub at a Joeys match and he mentioned that the Wallabies can't pass like they could 10 years ago and we were both at a loss as to why that should be. I would rather see a pass in front of a player and he not anticipate to run onto it, than a pass at the player, which is no good unless he is standing still.

As I have also mentioned before: sometimes this year the Wallabies players have looked poorly coached in basic rugby - and I was not pointing the finger at the current national coaches. Their rugby upbringing seems inferior to the likes of the Kiwi players when they make it to the test arena.

Passing and catching - I long for the days when we were kings.

 

[Gagger]

Surely it's a bit late by the time they get to the national coach?

Plus, ours is a kiwi who's last team could catch/pass pretty damn well?

:nta:

 

[ACT Crusader]

If Fa'ainga has been playing week in week out then surely he'd get the call up over a returning Gimli.

Moore for 80minutes no matter what though.

On the passing, just a question, can Giteau even pass to his right while running with a bit of pace?My impression is he can't. He can pass to his right no problems, but when he is taking it to the line IMO he looks shaky trying to go wide to the right. No issue when he goes left though.

 

[Scotty]

Barnes passing was very poor in the first half, but it got better in the second. Lets hope it was just a glitch and he fires them straight onto the chest next game.

 

[Scarfman]

I think a bit part of the passing problem is confidence in each other. These backs just aren't too sure where his target is going to be, and what he's thinking of doing, and indeed, whether he'll catch it.

Confidence and combinations will bring out these guys' high skills. Easier to say though ...

 

[Scarfman]

Two areas are a dogs breakfast though in international rugby, and they were again in this match:

• What constitutes advantage from a knock on / fwd pass
• Are you allowed to interfere with the halfback at a ruck

Agreed.

On the halfback thing, this is my understanding, although I don't have the data to hand. It was always a grey area, almost an "understood" aspect of the game that you don't grab the halfback. Then players started doing it and they (the refs, the iRB) couldn't find any rule against it. So they recently (6-12 months ago) instituted a law interpretation which essentially states that you can't interfere with the halfback.

However, my feeling is that when George Smith leans out of the ruck to play the halfback it is illegal on the grounds that he is bound in the ruck and shouldn't be doing anything.

 

[fatprop]

Wallabies flanker Rocky Elsom says work ethic is key to success

By Bret Harris
September 08, 2009

Rocky Elsom believes the work ethic the Wallabies displayed in their upset win against South Africa will help them to go the distance against New Zealand on Saturday week.

The Wallabies have led the All Blacks at half-time in their last four Tests, but have been overrun in the second half.

The All Blacks won the last Test in Sydney 19-18 after fly half Dan Carter kicked a penalty goal in the 79th minute.

But the effort against the Springboks has given Elsom confidence they could finally close out a game against the All Blacks if they got into a match-winning position again.

"It was good in a lot of ways," Elsom said.

"In the first half they had a lot of things going their way and they were playing well.

"The fact we stopped them from scoring was due to the work ethic of the boys.

"In the second half both sides worked really hard, but we came home stronger, which was pleasing. What was telling was we got out of some bad positions after they made linebreaks.

"Everyone was getting back and scrambling. You could say we were fortunate, but we made it happen."

Elsom, who made his comeback from a bruised kneebone in the Sydney Test against the All Blacks, predicted the match in Wellington would be a very different contest.

"It will be a totally different game even if the score is similar," Elsom said. "There will be different obstacles.

"We have to be prepared to play for the full game. It's not the end of the game that's letting us down, but patches during the game."

The Wallabies cannot win the Tri Nations or Bledisloe Cup but will be trying to prove their win against the Springboks was not a one-off.

The Wallabies have not beaten the All Blacks on New Zealand soil since their victory in Wellington in 2001.

"It's not a dead rubber to us," Elsom said. "We had a lot of fun on the weekend. If we dig in, we can have as good a time again."

Hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and winger Lachie Turner had rib injuries in Brisbane and will be assessed on Thursday.

 

[Henry]

How true disco - how true.

I went to the Dragons league match on Friday night at Kogarah, and the league backs have your basic 10 metre pass for team mates to run onto it down pat compared to union players.

Thats because you were watching Jamie Soward and hes a freak

 

[Lee Grant]

On the halfback thing, this is my understanding, although I don't have the data to hand. It was always a grey area, almost an "understood" aspect of the game that you don't grab the halfback. Then players started doing it and they (the refs, the iRB) couldn't find any rule against it. So they recently (6-12 months ago) instituted a law interpretation which essentially states that you can't interfere with the halfback.

Referees have always used conventions in their interpretations of the law and this is one of the good ones. Its practice has been going on longer than you say though.

Usually there are laws infringed when a defending player in the ruck grabs the scrummie.

• the main one is that you can't pull a player who is not in the ruck, into the ruck; you can only bind onto him if he is there.

• also you can't do anything, let alone grab an opposing player, if you are not on your feet. And you are deemed not to be on your feet if you have a bit of weight on your belly against other players in the ruck as you lean over to grab the scrummie.

• if these two law infringements fail, the ref can decide that you were not bound to other players to start with as you have to be and that you charged through a ruck unbound. What a crime.

It seems as though the only way to grab the scrummie legally is when you are on your feet, with no weight borne by other players, and to grab him with one arm with the other one bound.

And ..... a defender had better make sure that the ball is out of the ruck before he does his one armed grab.

It is no use saying that I was bound but when the scrummie got the ball out the ruck was over so I could grab him with both hands.

It is also no use saying that the ruck was over because the scrummie had his hands on the ball and if it wasn't over then the scrummie should be penalised for having his hands in the ruck [as they always were until referees started turning a blind eye to that 30-40 years ago.]

One ref in the TNC at Uni Oval a few years back answered a remark by a defending player that the scrummie had his hands on the ball so the ruck should have been over and he not offside, with the words: "Hands on is not ball out."

The referee would struggle to find that law in his handbook because it is not there. It is in the unwritten CORTBFBWRITWTRAHL - "Conventions Of Referees To Be Followed By Wannabe Referees If They Want To Referee At Higher Levels".

Players should not grab scrummies if they are in the ruck, however well they comply with the written law, because they will get pinged under the provisions of the CORTBFBWRITWTRAHL. These conventions are hard to toss and they pop up everywhere especially if referees are lazy or not alert. Players should follow these unwritten "laws". and the probability of getting pinged, even when they know they are in the right.

For example: they are more likely to get whistled up in their own red zone charging around to the back of an attacking ruck even though the ball has technically passed the line of last feet. It is too much of a risk, as young All Black Isaac Ross realised as he sat down after being carded at Absa Stadium.

CORTBFBWRITWTRAHL can be a bitch.

 

[Rugby Rat]

Went to Suncorp and witnessed a great game.