Bledisloe II
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*"@jegga said in Bledisloe II:
Foley not getting much love at g and g , a couple of people have pointed out how weak Beales defence is."*
Good Lord, who knew?
"St Bonocock is their man of the match ."
... after being dispatched tonight as effectively as he was in 2011!? Objectivity absent.
One of the more recent comments, on the gap between these two teams, demonstrates just how uninformed so many of our local fans are:
"is it widening or closing though? our backs have been shovelling the ball for a number of years, yet even their front rowers know how to draw and pass and how to run into space. we keep picking unbalanced teams and players who can't perform the basics of their position. a circuit breaker is needed"
The circuit breaker was due after 2003 but the ARU got distracted working on fabric colours and boardroom table size for the new headquarters, after near breaking their arms patting each other on the back for banking $43 million from the World Cup. Bret Robinson and someone else won fancy titles as director of elite player footpaths or something - corner office, nice four wheel drive, long lunches with player agents - but the footpaths didn't carry a lot of traffic. The ARU tried a bit of catch up by shovelling money at fading League stars, when that faded they signed up three wunderkind who could neither pass reliably nor tackle for a half million each, ramping up to three quarters of a million, and all was well in Australian rugby until the ARU discovered it wasn't. We are not long out of that phase and Michael Cheika is supposed to arm the squad with these quaint old skills inside two years? Aaarrrrggghhh!
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So are all the people that were bitching about Barrett last week, are you satisfied or do you still want to drop him?
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2nd half points stats for AB's this year: 139 points for - 19 points against.
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That was a good test. Wallabies fucking brought it tonight, and we had to work for a lot of the game. But we don't guve up many, and it doesn't take much for us to score a lot.
I love our ability to change pace in the middle of a possession. We'll play slow and controlled, and stay patient, and we'll do it for ages. But as soon as we get behind them the switch flicks, and we play fast fast until they break. Aaron Smith is the the absolute master.
We killed on turnover. We created from phase play. We shut down their attack to two tries. A big game.
I gave points to barrett b, squire and A Smith. Retallic B Smith and pimply Giraffe the honourable mentions.
I still can't really believe how much we flogged them
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And worse than last week, where too for the Wallabies? They played tonight, and lost badly on the scoreboard.
Hooper is the worst million dollar player on the planet.
They do so much right for so long, but against us it doesn't result in points. Then we go bang and it's game over again.
I saw vision of Cheika at one point and his face was that of a defeated man with no answers.
Other rhan the new winger no one was poor. But they were still well beaten
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@wreck-diver said in Bledisloe II:
So are all the people that were bitching about Barrett last week, are you satisfied or do you still want to drop him?
When Marty Holah was playing for the ABs he was a really good openside. A top quality international who never let his side down. Yet he was dropped for a noob. That's how it works at the top.
No-one much thinks Barrett is bad. Some of us aren't so blinded by his brilliant bits that we don't see his weaknesses though.
Some people suspect Mo'unga might be better* We'll never know if we never play him on the basis that Barrett is good enough, will we?
And we'd have missed years of McCaw if we followed your logic.
[* I am not one of them. But I know that Barrett does have weaknesses. To me he is one of those brilliant players who isn't able to use his brilliance in a way that makes others better too.]
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@chester-draws what utter bollocks. Mounga will get his chance just like Barrett waited for his. ON both these test matches you would be mad to drop him.
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@wreck-diver said in Bledisloe II:
@chester-draws what utter bollocks. Mounga will get his chance just like Barrett waited for his. ON both these test matches you would be mad to drop him.
That's what I said. Including before the test.
But the argument that because he's good that the calls to see Mo'unga must be wrong is not logical. Perhaps Mo'unga is better.
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@bones said in Bledisloe II:
I'm interested in how he doesn't make others better.
An unsympathetic shovel pass mostly.
Also he doesn't stand flat to the line like Carter and Cruden did, so he doesn't pose the same defensive quandaries, which makes it easier to mark the 2nd-five.
Beauden's at his best in space, attacking from the back on counter and when defenses tire. Back lines outside him seem to struggle to penetrate organised back lines, like the Lions or Crusaders. Or not tired Aussies, for that matter.
The ABs seem to be working around this by trying to ensure oppositions always tire enough. I suspect cannier teams than Australia will pace themselves better.
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Telegraph article in Britland sums up the B.B. situation nicely while raving about his performance.
From his 60 odd caps he only has 30 odd starts and 30 odd tries.
Find another 10 with a similar record.
I have been a critic of BB at times because he can get shut out of a game but I have admired how in test one he worked slowly into things after sussing the Oz defense. Now he has taken them apart.
I guess he will never have the control game of Carter but maybe he won’t ever need it. -
@chester-draws yes those players around him have been awful. Smith, Goodhue, ALB, Naholo, Smith. They usually look much better.
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There is hope for Australia coming out from this. Sure, whatever pipe dream they had coming out of RWC 2015 of winning back the Bledisloe and being a legitimate threat to the AB's has to be shelved, but with a focus solely on RWC 2019 they have to feel better about their chances to go through Wales, France and Ireland on their side of the draw now than I did two weeks ago.
They obviously need to resolve the unbalanced backrow (and in turn their lineout), improve their ball carrying in contact and tinker with the backline in contact. All that is very doable and at that stage they become a worthy RWC finalist if the draw/injuries break their way. I would certainly not take them lightly on neutral soil in a RWC game where we generally tighten up.
As for the Bledisloe... that is the 8th loss by 20+ in the past 4 years. For the 6th consecutive year the ABs put 40+ on the board against them. What seemed like a once in a lifetime onslaught in 2003 is the average contest these days - very disappointing.
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@damo said in Bledisloe II:
Does anyone else feel a bit sorry for the Wallabies?
No
They played pretty well tonight, but they were just outclassed by a much better team.
They're just so far off the pace that I am starting to think it is becoming unhealthy.
Yep
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@gunner said in Bledisloe II:
Harris has to go, our lineout falls apart when he comes on. Time for Coltman to have a go.
Our lineout had some shakes when Taylor was still on (although according to Horan it was Coles). Seemed to be when we were throwing long. Tough throw to make
But I agree with the general sentiment. Finding the next hooker is a priority.
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@chester-draws said in Bledisloe II:
Also he doesn't stand flat to the line like Carter and Cruden did, so he doesn't pose the same defensive quandaries, which makes it easier to mark the 2nd-five.
Beauden's at his best in space, attacking from the back on counter and when defenses tire. Back lines outside him seem to struggle to penetrate organised back lines, like the Lions or Crusaders. Or not tired Aussies, for that matter.
The ABs seem to be working around this by trying to ensure oppositions always tire enough. I suspect cannier teams than Australia will pace themselves better.
To be fair though at test level he has had a constant rotation in the midfield for the past three years. If he had a hard running, flat passing 12 like Nonu who could stay fit I suspect there would be a lot more direction to things.
I still stand by what I said after the last match - aside from his A+ speed and anticipation in attack he isn't much as a 10, but jeez when he gets to use those skills he is ethereal. It's just those one or two tests a year when the play doesn't break up and all you are left with iffy defence and poor goalkicking.
As for all the articles saying "proved he is still the best in the world" did they miss Rettalick again tonight? The guy is special.
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@wreck-diver said in Bledisloe II:
So are all the people that were bitching about Barrett last week, are you satisfied or do you still want to drop him?
Drop him. Start Marty MacKenzie. Might make it closer.
