16 July 2024 #001. Week 2 of the early test season.
How was that for a weekend of test rugby!
Another cracking weekend of rugby, with test matches galore across the globe. You can read Bris’s summary of it here.
Bris wasn’t able to cover the Wallaroos game, so I’ll provide a quick summary of it to kick off the article. Then I’ll put together an international team of the week from the games involving the Rugby Championship teams and round it out with some news of the day.
Wallaroos v Black Ferns
The Wallaroos played their first game at Ballymore on a glorious Sunday afternoon in Brisbane. No glory to be had for the Wallaroos and they’ll have to wait a while longer to break that hoodoo.
The first half
The Wallaroos had some early possession but couldn’t make any inroads, and an uncharacteristic error from Friederichs gave the Black Ferns possession, and they went to work with strong carries, good hands, nice running lines and support play had the hooker Ponsonby running a great line and scoring their first try within 5 minutes.
While the Wallaroos got some possession, another error led led to more strong carries and support play by the Black Ferns (this was a theme that would last throughout the afternoon), and they were over again in the corner with the openside flanker Sae finishing an excellent passage of play. A sideline conversion for 14-0.
The Black Ferns were on the board again twice more in quick succession, and while there could be an element of luck with kicks going to hand for Tui, and then Vahaakolo, teams do make their own luck by running hard and wanting to make the play. 24-0 after 23 minutes and the Black Ferns certainly had the Wallaroos at their mercy.
The Wallaroos couldn’t seem to make anything go their way really, whether it was the captain Leonard knocking on a turnover ball, or too many passes going behind the player, the play broke down whenever it looked promising. Whether it was the defensive pressure of the Black Ferns, or the Wallaroos giving them too much respect they really struggled to impose themselves on the game. Eva Karpani did look to score of the back of a rolling maul, but didn’t get the ball on the ground and it was disallowed.
The Wallaroos lineout and scrum worked well in the first half and you could see the effort from the players, but they just couldn’t cope with the power, support play, and offloads of the Black Ferns.
Vahaakolo was over again for her second try in the 36th minute and almost had a third on half time. The Black Ferns went into sheds with a 29-0 lead.
The second half
Vahaakolo was over again in the 41st minute for her hat-trick after a brilliant solo run to put the kiwis up 36-0.
The Wallaroos still couldn’t take a trick in the second half, two early knock-ons, one from a restart, another while trying to pick up a loose Kiwi pass just kept on giving possession to the Black Ferns, and with the mood they were in that spelt trouble.
Jo Yapp brought some reserves early in the second half and it gave the team a lift. Masters put on a heavy shot midfield and the Wallaroos won a turnover penalty at 50 minutes, but the Black Ferns stole the lineout and half a dozen phases later, outside centre Brunt took the ball to the line and put through a neat grubber that she pounced on herself. Another side line conversion put the Kiwis up 43-0.
Piper Duck suffered a nasty finger disclocation that meant she had to leave the field after 55 minutes. She’s obviously tough because she walked pretty calmly from the field and took time to acknowledge the bench players before making her way up the tunnel.
Bella McKenzie saw cheese for a deliberate knock down, interestingly the referee called it in real time, with no replays and forensic examination.
Vahaakolo got her fourth try on 61 minutes after another Wallaroos error inside their 22, and the Black Ferns put it through the hands to lead 48-0. Vahaakolo would be denied a fifth try in the 72nd minute due to the vagaries of the bouncing ball.
The debutant Lolohea scored a try in the 74th minute and a penalty try after the hooter rounded out the scoring at 62-0.
It was a tough outing for the Wallaroos, and they have a few months before they get another chance on the field. Lots to work on for Jo Yapp and the Wallaroos if they want to challenge the Black Ferns and other top teams.
Wallabies v Wales Player Ratings
I’m putting up my player ratings below based on an initial watching of the game, a second view of the mini-game, and some incidental news that I read today. I’ll use the traditional G&GR rating system (with one small tweak to the 5 score) as follows, and will accept any positive feedback on what I got right. I know that there’s some duplication with the ratings from the post game review, but I wanted to keep the format going for a running tally.
Rating system:
10 – A legendary performance to go down in the history books
9 – Man of the match worthy performance
8 – Outstanding
7 – Good game, great in parts
6 – Solid performance
5 – Average, a pass mark
4 – Below par
3 – Had a bad game
2 – Tell your story walking pal
1 – A complete joke.
#1 James Slipper: Slips stepped into the captain’s role for this game and was good around the field. Good power in the contact. 6
#2 Matt Faessler: The lineout struggled this week, might have been the rain, plus changes with Liam Wright being out. 5
#3 Taniela Tupou: A much quieter night from the big man. 5
#4 Jeremy Williams: Played a lot of minutes on debut, solid contributions on both sides of the ball and looked at home on the big stage; congratulations to Jeremy, and here’s to many more games in gold. 6
#5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto: Another solid hit out from LSL this week, a high tackle and yellow card. 5
#6 Bob Valetini: Bobby V continues to deliver, massive tackles, plenty of hit ups, lots of post contact metres. 8
#7 Fraser McReight: Put himself in position for the assist to Daugunu for the first try. In the thick of the action all night and key turnovers. 7
#8 Charlie Cale: Charlie Cale made his starting debut and got stuck in. no free running highlights but a workmanlike performance. 6
#9 Jake Gordon: Another good game for Gordon kicking, good passing, showing some positive leadership, and a meat pie to boot. Goal line defence in the moments before his try. 7
#10 Noah Lolesio: Another game full of learning experiences for Noah, has copped some criticism for a missed tackle on the Welsh winger, but Wright missed him, and Fraser got carried over in the tackle. 5
#11 Filipo Daugunu: Filipo kicked on from last week’s good performance with his best game in gold. Two tries that each came from huge off the ball efforts set a standard for the rest of the Wallabies to aim for. 9
#12 Hunter Paisami: The Squatter had his share of carries and made his tackles on a night that wasn’t made for expansive backline play. 6
#13 Josh Flook: Didn’t get too many opportunities with the ball in this game but made his tackles. 6
#14: Andrew Kellaway: That chip kick and regather for the first try. Otherwise solid as you would expect. 6
#15 Tom Wright: Another good game from Tom Wright, a loose carry or two, but it was wet, and he really offers the extra play maker in the backline. 7
#16 Joh Nasser: The Queenslander made his debut off the bench. Was solid when he came on. 5
#17 Isaac Kailea: Was good again off the bench. 6
#18 Allan Alaalatoa: 7As came on at half time and was busy around the field, Scored his first test try. 6
#19 Angus Blyth: Another solid effort. 6
#20 Langi Gleeson: An important lineout steal. 6
#21 Nic White: Charged down kick marred some other good work. 5
#22 Ben Donaldson: Some good time as a replacement, steady and a key penalty to close the game out. 6
#23 Dylan Pietsch: Didn’t get on the field. n/a
Team Rating
Overall, I’d give the Wallabies a team rating of 6 again. They got out to a cracking start, however, they let the Welsh back into it. Maul defence was almost non existent, but they worked hard around the field to create some lucky opportunities. At the end of the day it’s a test match against a true international team and the Wallabies found a way to win.
Team of the Week
Another big disclaimer, or admission: it’s much easier to pick from games when you see the full match and you know the players. I struggled to get into the Argentina v France game, it was exciting but there are loads of new players, particularly for France. The reserves are a combination of the players who came off the bench, or the next best in the position they started in.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
Other news
A great sledge on behind 2 posts tonight. The panel was talking about Kellaway’s chip kick, how he shinned it and it was shoddy, when Michael Hooper called it, “it was almost like Bernard Foley Clearance”.
Jock remains at the Reds
In good news for the Reds, Jock Campbell has re-signed for next year. I’m sure he’ll go well against Wales this week. Speaking of Wales, hopefully any of the Reds players not in the Wallabies match day squad can get released to come back and play for Qld against what you would expect is a full strength Welsh side.
Aussie U20s get to play and record the win.
The Aussie U20s have held on for a 36-29 victory against Wales, with Qld Reds fly half Harry McLaughlin-Phillips leading the Junior Wallabies around the park. The picture is the game against the Italians, before the pitch got too wet.
I’m sure that there’s plenty more to cover but I’ll leave it for Yowie, Karl, and Happyman later in the week.
That’s it for me this week, over to you G&GRs.
