Well, that was so not worth getting up for. I even got up before the Wallabies game to watch the Saffas v Kiwis, that’s a few hours of sleep I’ll never get back, Bloody disappointed. At least this weekend I can’t whinge about the refereeing as it was quite good.
So let’s look at the two games, and then the Rugby Championship ladder. So log onto your puter, get comfortable, grab a big cup of you know what ☕, and let’s get it on.
South Africa 18 defeated New Zealand 12
If you haven’t already read KARL’s excellent game review, head here.
In what can only be described as a new low point for New Zealand rugby, the All Blacks have for the first time in 75 years lost four in a row to South Africa. And with that loss is likely to go the Freedom Cup and the Rugby Championship.
In what was another tightly contested game, the Nearlies again had every chance to take this game, and again, poor mistakes and ill-discipline cost them greatly. The relentless Saffers ground the ABs into the turf with constant pressure. DMac missed two easily gettable but important penalties (including a complete ‘gimme’).
The Darkness had a strong first half and were out to a 9-3 lead, but in what’s becoming an alarming trend for the ABs, they’re losing control in the second half, and are unable to regain it. Even when they had a one-man advantage they just couldn’t get the job done.
The personnel changes that Razor rang in didn’t seem to add the necessary spark to the Kiwis game. However, it must be noted Sititi had a stand-out game for the ABs. But Ratima at 9 didn’t provide much of a change, and Jordie B at fullback failed to fire. This now brings Razor’s record to 4 wins and 3 losses.
The usual AB stalwarts had unusually poor performances. Scott Barrett had some total skill failures dropping the ball cold. Mark Tele’a and Sevu Reece struggled as well. But what should be alarming to AB fans and coaching staff was that the Bokke missed 26 tackles in the first half, and 37 for the whole match, and yet the ABs couldn’t capitalise. The Blacks of old would’ve punished any other team for this, but the current ABs couldn’t fire a shot.
The NZ coaching staff have got some serious work ahead of them, and what I fear will happen is that the ABs will come into their next game all fired up, and the Wallabies will be on the receiving end of it. Just for something different!
Argentina 67 defeated Australia 27
If you haven’t already make sure you go and read RAWF’s game review and vote for the players’ efforts here.
As RAWF mentioned, this was a game of two halves. In the first half, the Wallabies put in a reasonable performance with some good attacking raids and some solid play. But at about the 31st-minute mark, something went drastically wrong. The wheels fell off and then we were treated to some wonderful play by Argentina and some diabolical play by the Wallabies.
There aren’t many players who could walk off the field at Santa Fe with their heads held high, and it will be interesting on Tuesday to see how the G&GR faithful rate their Wallabies. But in simple terms that performance was on par with some of the performances we dished out during the World Cup under Dr Evil. Except this time the coaching team isn’t at fault, this one rests solely with the players.
Coach Joe has a lot of work to do in the next fortnight to try and scrape this team back together and get them concentrating and focused for the next onslaught, which will be a pissed-off All Blacks team wanting some wins to make their TRC look less average!
The Rugby Championship Ladder
Well, there it is boys and girls. Dead last, and deservedly so. After watching the All Blacks game I was so hoping that we would win and the ABs would be on the bottom of the ladder. Akin to this year seeing the Crusaders at the bottom of the ladder in the Super Rugby series. But alas it wasn’t to be.
We deserve to be last, and that is exactly where we’ll stay. And I think now RA and Joe and Co realise the enormity of the task at hand. This is no mere fixer-upper, this is a major rebuild!
Anyway, I am still depressed. Over to you G&GRs. Have at it
