The November International Test Window has come to a close. Wow! What a test window it’s been. They were fantastic games. There’s nothing better than test match rugby. And particularly for Wallabies fans, we see more than just green shoots, we see real progress, we see hope. But, as Wallabies fans, it’s the hope that kills you. So let’s have a look at the Ireland v Wallabies game and the Wallabies year so far.
Firstly, congrats to the permanently drunken and disgraceful Oirish, who henceforth will be referred to as the Irish. The was a genuine test match. And I don’t think anyone from the Northern Hemisphere will be saying the Wobs will be easy beats for the BIL tour next year. The spice is now there.
So strap in, grab a big cup of that beautiful brown stuff ☕ (and no Hoss I am not talking about the substance in your favourite German Scheiße movies), and let’s do the G&GR business.
Ireland 22 defeated the Wallabies 19
I’m not going to do a minute-by-minute recap, but just look at the points that stuck out to this old lock.
What do the stats say? – 58% possession and 69% territory – What does this tell us? For me this says the Wobs could’ve come out the other end of this game with a scoreline not looking like the one that was. The Irish were well dominant in many facets of the game, but couldn’t capitalise the way they could have. The Wobs on the other hand made use of their possession, and when in defence pressured the Irish into making more mistakes than usual.
St Joe’s comments
The more I hear from this guy, the more I like him. Calm measured, realistic. Not a psychotic, like our last coach, and not a stark raving ‘arse clown’ like the Cheikmeister. This is what Aus rugby has been dreaming of for the last decade. RA should be doing everything in its power to ensure that this guy stays til the end of the RWC 2027. All this bullshit I hear about Oz rugby needing an Oz coach is just the biggest load of palaver that I think I have ever heard. Just utter bull 💩.
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this guy is the messiah. There are still some serious limitations with the cattle St Joe has to work with. But for what we have, he’s able to develop a game plan that works to our strengths and helps to nullify the weaknesses they have. So as far as I’m concerned, with he’s done in the five or so months he’s had this squad is close to a miracle. And long may it continue. All hail St Joe!
Ireland’s lineout is a mess – In watching the game, the one thing I noticed was that the Oirish lineout was utter dog 💩. Man, it really sucked. It made the Wobs lineout last week look good. I’m pretty sure Venus de Milo Snr (Andy Farrell) will have to go to the broader BIL squad to fix that lineout issue.
Fraz is the King! – 22 tackles, no misses. That says it all. Fraz missing last week really hurt us. This guy is the starch in our defence. Then add his turnovers. Fraz is da bomb. We better make sure that the European teams or the Japanese don’t start coming and throwing massive amounts of euros or yen at this guy, because it’ll happen soon. We need to lock this guy in on JAS type of money.
Our defence held – As opposed to last week, our defence held, and held well. A lot of that is the reintroduction of Fraz-da-Bomb. Man, that guy is an animal. There were still some minor issues, but as a whole our defence held. This is the building block that St Joe now has to work with, and I think there’s a really good foundation here. Fraz wasn’t alone. The Ginger Ninja, in comparison to his last week’s effort, had a pearler in defence. Sideshow Bob, and even Tongan Thor, had great defensive games. This was a marked improvement on the Haggis eaters’ game.
Wobs restart – The kick off receipt was a concern for the Wallabies. Our failure to retain possession on the restarts got the Irish back into the game, and in this humble author’s opinion was probably the main reason we weren’t able to close the game out. While JAS was trying hard, it just didn’t seem to come off. This is a key work on for next year.
Old Man Shouting at Clouds
My ‘Shouting at Clouds’ is aimed at one thing, again: the refereeing.
I’ll preface this with the fact that it didn’t cost us the game. The pizza-loving referee, Andrea Piardi, was all over the shop like a mad person’s shit. However, it affected both teams equally. But by god, there were some absolute head-scratchers during this game. No wonder the players don’t know whether they were Arthur or Martha.
One week, two players collide head on head and it’s an automatic 🧀. This game, play on. WTF? No wonder fans and players are confused. Seriously. The touchies on this game can’t be let off either. There were at least two times that you saw players’ feet in touch, and yet it was play on.
This game wasn’t up to standard as far as international test matches should be. I’d love to get KARL’s opinion here, but that game was a real head-scratcher And it isn’t just me, the G&GR craparrazi was going off its collective head.
Anyway enough of this old man’s dribbles, Over to you G&GRs. Have at it.
