Bledisloe 3
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@crash I mentioned at the start of the BIL series that I would love to see an ALB/Goodhue centre partnership get a test at some stage this year. Am not convinced of our current pairing either. Tim is also right in stating that the centres had to deal with a really poor 10 tonight.
Have to give credit to clown, though. He has transformed a poor bunch from Super Rugby into a fit and physical team. Can't remember the last time I saw an AB team being physically dominated by the Wallabies like we were tonight. That was hard to stomach.
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@nta said in BLEDISLOE 3:
Stats from the channel ten team here:
Stat: AUS / NZ
Runs: 122 / 82
Run metres: 714 / 440
Pens: 9 / 11 conceded
Tackles: 93 / 153
Missed: 11 / 28
Possession: 51% / 49%Man we never lose running metres. That shows how bad our tactics were.
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The exciting thing for the Wallabies was their forwards - Coleman, Dempsey, Tui, McMahon and even Hooper flying into everything. A couple of years ago Wallabies were trying to find just one forward.
Credit to Chieka - from the mess he was given after Super Rugby he has engineered quite the turnaround.
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Just reminding everyone. We didn't have Moody, Franks, Retallick, BB, Dagg and BFA (and Jordie). Looking at 2019, things aren't that bad if these players are available, and they keep on developing the newbies (and bringing in more & better players) to iron out the weaknesses.
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@kiwimurph said in BLEDISLOE 3:
The exciting thing for the Wallabies was their forwards - Coleman, Dempsey, Tui, McMahon and even Hooper flying into everything. A couple of years ago Wallabies were trying to find just one forward.
Credit to Chieka - from the mess he was given after Super Rugby he has engineered quite the turnaround.
Tui was good eh. how was his workrate smashing the ball up as compared that huge lump of lazy niggle preceding him as bench lock?
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Was tossing up earlier today whether Barrett or Retallick was the bigger loss.
It's actually hard to call but maybe Barrett squeaks it for the sake of execution.
I don't think the first half plan was necessarily wrong - pin us back, kick points when available in the wet, try to build some pressure and accrue a try or two. The odd contestable kick worked well.
Just that occasionally Sopoaga didn't get it quite right, and we settled on Aaron Smith's kicks better as the game went along. And of course SBW with that.. thing at the end.
Barrett might have given some of those through kicks just a bit more venom, or taken the line on a couple more times.
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@westcoastie said in BLEDISLOE 3:
@nta what was the half-time possession count?
Felt like the AB's had 25% possession second halfDon't know. Missed those ones but you kicked a lot away, while we dropped a lot. Suspect it was pretty even
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@nta AB's just not clinical enough, again, missing that leadership the 2015 squad had.
I still feel like the Wallabies need to find a decent 10. I feel that to be in the top echelon of international teams, if you don't have that then you're going to struggle when it counts.
When did Foley get so shite at kicking? I thought he was a bit of a dead-eye. 9, 11-15 had a good balance for you guys tonight, bench included. -
@nepia said in BLEDISLOE 3:
@akan004 Did DMac do that much wrong tonight? I don't remember any howlers (but I may be wrong)?
What did DMAC actually add?
He muffed an early handling chance, he missed a conversion to tie the game, he got overpowered for a loose ball off a lineout shortly after that, he got overpowered for a try (both of these probably cos hes tiny). His field kicking was average.
He created absolutely nothing for anybody else - he made one small break off a kick return once that I saw - that was it.
He got ragdolled several times (again coming back to being tiny).
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@westcoastie perhaps. You weren't missing the leadership in Dunedin - I think we just had a few percentage points up front without BBBR there, and with Dempsey instead of Hanigan at 6 our furry was better.
Foley has had a weird season for kicking. Some nights he could barely miss. Others he can't hit.
My theory is this: take the first 2 opportunities for 3 points, as long as they're within his range. If he can't get them, change to Beale or Hodge. Let Foley think about playing 10 for a bit, come back to him after the break.
I would love to see Pommy fans quietly shit themselves and Hodge slams one over from 55 out.
