Pfitzy
Nathan Sharpe (72)
Wallaroos v Scotland
I watched the first half yesterday before heading to Presentation Night, then the second half this morning.
Wallaroos discipline is, frankly, awful. I'm not talking high tackles - I'm talking silly penalties to give away field position. The late hit by one of our forwards on their 9. The repeated maul penalties. Parry on the deck holding a player by the ankle, right in front of the ref.
This is really basic stuff. You can't blame amateur status for not knowing the Laws and the right time to concede versus contest.
The skills are OK for a team that isn't full time, but there is still a bit of play that reflects the small pool of players we have e.g. we made the break late in the second half, and Pomare doesn't offload inside to Duck. She gets tackled and pops to Piliae-Rasabale but Pomare is on the deck at that point and the movement dies. If she offloads to Duck inside, and stays alive with PPR, that's a try under the posts and a 9-point win.
Why it is a problem: players are still a bit individualistic; they're used to being far and away the best on the park at club level, and don't rethink some of that play at Test level.
As for the red cards, the Aussie camp should be ruling that both of them are thrown out on the following basis:
Marsters' was completely incorrect; the definition of "direct" is not even up for debate here. That was head into shoulder, sliding up.
If that red card doesn't happen, Talakai - whose tackle was admittedly juvenile - doesn't come back on, and doesn't get a second yellow card.
I watched the first half yesterday before heading to Presentation Night, then the second half this morning.
Wallaroos discipline is, frankly, awful. I'm not talking high tackles - I'm talking silly penalties to give away field position. The late hit by one of our forwards on their 9. The repeated maul penalties. Parry on the deck holding a player by the ankle, right in front of the ref.
This is really basic stuff. You can't blame amateur status for not knowing the Laws and the right time to concede versus contest.
The skills are OK for a team that isn't full time, but there is still a bit of play that reflects the small pool of players we have e.g. we made the break late in the second half, and Pomare doesn't offload inside to Duck. She gets tackled and pops to Piliae-Rasabale but Pomare is on the deck at that point and the movement dies. If she offloads to Duck inside, and stays alive with PPR, that's a try under the posts and a 9-point win.
Why it is a problem: players are still a bit individualistic; they're used to being far and away the best on the park at club level, and don't rethink some of that play at Test level.
As for the red cards, the Aussie camp should be ruling that both of them are thrown out on the following basis:
Marsters' was completely incorrect; the definition of "direct" is not even up for debate here. That was head into shoulder, sliding up.
If that red card doesn't happen, Talakai - whose tackle was admittedly juvenile - doesn't come back on, and doesn't get a second yellow card.
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