And a good morning to you G&GRs. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there for yesterday. And boy what a Father’s Day it was with Test rugby back on the agenda, two cracking games of rugby to watch.
So let’s look at the two games, say farewell to one of the legends of the game, and then have a bit of an ‘Old Man Shouting at Clouds’ moment. So pretend you’re working hard, grab a big cup of you know what ☕, and let’s get it on.
South Africa 31 defeated New Zealand 27
If you haven’t already read Yowie’s excellent match review, do yourself a favour and head here.
This game had ‘soooooo’ much hype leading up to it, and just like the airline overflight of the stadium, it delivered in spades. The pre-match hype, the fireworks, the anthems, the Haka, the fireworks during the Haka. It had it all!
The Kiwis came out with afterburners on and took it to the Saffas. The Saffas smashed back, just as hard. Both teams wanted to prove who was the top dog. It was clear that both teams had done plenty of homework on one another. They had trained game plans to target the weaknesses of the opposition. Rassie wanted to put on a coaching masterclass, and Razor wanted to prove he was worthy of the mantle of ABs head coach.
This game is worth watching in full with two of the world-leading teams going at it hammer and tongs. The only things that weren’t world-class in this game were the referee and the TMO; the adjudication of this game was sub-standard. Especially compared to the last two rounds of adjudication. The Saffa try in the first half was clearly fumbled and neither the TMO nor Andrew Brace the Welsh whistler blower picked it up, even when Scott Barrett saw it on the screen in the ground and asked for it to be reviewed. In addition to this, there were bucket loads of coming in from the side, clearing out past the man, hands on the ground when attempting to pilfer, they were’nt called. The main beneficiary of these decisions was South Africa.
Don’t get me wrong, it didn’t decide the game, New Zealand’s poor discipline was responsible for that. Having a 10-point lead with 15 mins to go and blowing it was very un-All Blacks. However, I was neutral watching that and it pissed me off. If I was a Kiwi fan I would’ve been apoplectic. There wouldn’t have been a big enough run-up to come in off for a total spray. But alas I didn’t have a dog in the fight, so it just pissed me off. The whistle-blowing the previous two rounds had been world-class. Then this round they trot out Brace and Doleman and it was 2nd 15s kind of stuff. Very disappointing for the game, the players, and the fans.
Wallabies 20 defeated Argentina 19
If you haven’t already done so, read my review of the game and rate the players here.
I have just finished watching the game for a second viewing. It was much less stressful than watching it the first time, already knowing the result. But it enabled me to focus on a few more of the finer details of our performance.
We certainly lost the kicking duel. The Argies were able to turn us around and got far better distance out of their kicks than the Wallabies did. Our lineout functioned pretty well and placed the Argies under a significant amount of pressure at times. Our scrum has certainly got a lot more clout to it when Bell and Tupou are on the paddock.
Our decision-making at times was pretty average. Gordon and Wilson, I’m looking at you! Who really thinks running down the blind side right on the edge of the touchline is a good idea? Our discipline is on the improve, and our penalty count was lower than our last couple of outings. When we are able to keep it low like that under pressure (i.e. against New Zealand or the Bokke), I’ll be happier.
But we gritted it out and achieved a victory, in bad conditions against the Argentinians in Argentina! That is a step up for the Wallabies, especially considering where we were 12 months ago. Let’s see if we can build on that for next week. Two in a row on the road would be a great build.
Farewell and Thank you – Agustín Creevy
The Argentina v Wallabies game saw the last time that Agustín Creevy would represent Los Pumas. Agustín started his rugby career at the San Luis Rugby Club, in La Plata, Buenos Aires. He made his Argentina debut aged 20 against Japan in 2005. Regarded as one of the nicest guys in rugby, we won’t see him grace our screens in a Los Pumas uniform again. Agustín achieved 110 caps for Argentina and is the most-capped Los Pumas player. Retiring from the international level at 39 years of age, he’s been playing at the top level for two decades.
Take a bow Agustín, and tip of the hat. You are a legend, and I along with most other Wallabies supporters have loved the spirit with which you’ve played the game and represented your country and your sport. We hope to see you still involved in the game in some capacity in the future.
Old Man Shouting at Clouds
Well, my shouting at clouds will be no hard guess, the whistle blowing!
As mentioned previously, the last two rounds of the Rugby Championship refereeing were top grade. Then they decide to trot out Brace and Doleman. I’m not going to run a train over these two, that’s for everyone else to comment on. But the standard was a clear step down from the previous two rounds. It would be interesting to hear what other G&GRs thought of it. The G&GR crapparazzi were running hot on it, so I knew I wasn’t on my pat malone there.
As a PSA, make sure you vote for the Wallabies players in the game review so that RAWF can include it in Tuesday’s news.
Anyway, enough of this old man dribbling crap Over to you G&GRs. Have at it.
