Aussie Pro Rugby
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Some really interesting comments by Rennie
Even Rennie was forced to face the possibility that his team might have been spooked by the scoreboard. “We’ve talked a lot about that,” he admitted. “I even look at that last Test against Argentina when we were down by seven, we get a red card but we fought our way back into that. Tough conditions but we kicked smart and we managed to come back and draw that and could have won it. “If we had applied ourselves better in Newcastle, we led by nine and we were playing a team that doesn’t want to play any rugby. We just need to put the ball in the corner and be patient. “But that is almost not in the Aussie psyche. We tried to counter-attack at times but we didn’t actually have to play all the footy. If you put it back in the corner, you are forcing them to chase the game.” So, inexperienced rugby from an inexperienced team. But, as Rennie said, he now knows a lot more about them, the good and the bad, the players he used and those he choose not to. It’s a random sample, but some of his thumbnail sketches make fascinating reading. Matt Toomua: “I thought Matt was excellent – in the game and a half he played for us.” Hunter Paisami: “I thought he was really impressive. For a young kid in his first season of Super Rugby, plays every Test and acquitted himself really well. He will take back a couple of offloads if he had the chance but he showed he has a good skill set and this season he will go back, he will be a lot more confident and hopefully he will talk a lot more.” Jordan Petaia: “He has played as many Tests as he has games of Super Rugby so there are areas of his game that he has got to put more time into … certainly around his catch-pass. He is very good at beating people on the outside but needs to keep growing other areas. Even when they have guys on the outside, he will try to do a goosie and get around them. “He is a hell of an athlete and a good kid and for some guys it is just time in the seat and he has barely played any footy.” Taniela Tupou: “He has the ability to be the best tighthead in the world. He is a unique athlete for a tighthead prop, runs as quick as a back, incredibly powerful. But he needs to be leaner. He needs to be back on his feet and back in the game more, to get back in the game quicker. But he has a great skill set, so we want him to carry more.” Matt Philip: ”He was one of our best carriers. We have a lot of guys who carried high, upright into contact and no footwork and are getting double-teamed every time, especially by the Argentinians. If you can create footwork and create one on ones, you can generate quicker ball and you will put them under pressure next phase. So I thought Matt was really good in that area. And he has excellent leg drive beyond contact. He is always going to put up his hand to carry but he was certainly far more effective than a lot of other guys who carried ball for us.” Harry Wilson: “A big man who carries hard, who defends really well, aggressive. But he has no footwork in contact. He made a lot of go-forward against the Kiwis but against Argentina who double-teamed him ... if you don’t use footwork he was really ineffective against them and it’s a good lesson for him. “We have been talking about instinctive footwork so that is part of the game he has to grow.” There were the players Rennie opted to pass over … Jack Dempsey: “He is a really good ball-carrier, good feet but I need to see more than that. I need to see a lot more defensively, around cleanouts and around workrate, the physicality.” Isi Naisarani: “It was a number of things. We asked him to make shift in the game, around his footwork in contact, more yards, around his accuracy – he lost a lot of ball in contact. Around his conditioning, to get more repeat efforts. He had a lot of errors in his game and he was carrying too much weight.” And then there was the captain Michael Hooper … “There is a fair bit made of Hoops’ captaincy. I guess if you compare it with the All Blacks captains, they win an unbelievable number of Tests. I didn’t know Hoops at all. I had coached against him and that has been good from my perspective. We put a lot of emphasis around leadership and he and I would spend a lot of time together and then he would help drive the rest of the group. He said it was the most support he had felt as captain so those guys did a really good job. From a playing perspective, he is an absolute warrior. His numbers are incredible, through the roof. And the thing is that he trains the same way. “He is just full-on, so as a role model for all our young players coming through he is outstanding. So he still has parts of his game, from a leadership perspective that he has to grow, but he is excited by it.” -
@KiwiMurph that looks suspiciously like public, honest critiques of players. Surely that isn't allowed?
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@Hooroo said in Aussie Rugby:
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
Who’s the NZ equivalent of Dutton
Surely no such beast exists.
We created a Barnaby so surely we have the capacity for a Dutton!
No we didn't
By we, I meant the Hooroo whanau.
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It's boring sitting here. Brumbies are ineffectual at anything not set piece.
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I don't know how obvious it was to anyone watching footage, but the Brumbies backline offered nothing on attack. Almost no variation in lines and correspondingly very little penetration.
They remain a team whose major threat is their competence in mauling.
Also the Force looked vastly more competitive with Kahui at second five-eighth.
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@NTA pretty good up until the last line
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@NTA yeah, its quite offensive
no "the game played in heaven", which yes, is not the last line, but the last one before the "facts"
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@Kiwiwomble said in Aussie Rugby:
@NTA yeah, its quite offensive
no "the game played in heaven", which yes, is not the last line, but the last one before the "facts"
The branding used here for decades, so why change? 😉
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@NTA really? never heard that before, my bad
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@Kiwiwomble said in Aussie Rugby:
@NTA really? never heard that before, my bad
Old school ties and straw boaters 😉
