England to whitewash Australia
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Phipps and Foley had poor games. My reservations about selecting another openside to play at eight was well founded.<br><br>It takes some special coaching to have an Australian backline with that much possession look that torpid and blunt. At some point one of the playing group must have worked out that a rapier may prove effective where a sledgehammer wasn't?
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Right, now that I've sobered up. Well done %Eddie and well done Dylan. I was not convinced by the coach captain combo when announced but by buggery have they proved me and a lot of other people wrong. I thought our game management was very good again yesterday, people seem to have a very clear of what their roles are, and are generally executing well.<br><br>
Eddie played a simple game plan yesterday- reminded me of the Saffas of a few years ago - kick, let oppo play all the rugby and feed of the mistakes with strong set piece and breakaways/intercepts.<br><br>
Sure it wasn't always pretty, but series win is a series win. I think the attack play will definitely improve as confidence grows and I'm hoping to see more of that side of our game next week. Also if we try to defend a 6 point lead again, I'll have a coronary, so this part has to improve.<br><br>
We've still got a long way to go before we are a complete side, but the signs for me are looking good and I think %Eddie has to take credit for that. -
Foley and especially Phipps dont have it in them to guide a test team into a victory. Neither does the Aussie pack have it in them to beat good sides. Thats why the series was already lost when inside centres started dropping like flies, dont know if Toomua would have made a great difference, but Beale/Giteau surely would have.<br><br>
Leali'ifano has had one good international season and is nowhere near test level at this moment. Kerevi can pass, but doesnt have the brain of either Gits/Beale or even Toomua.<br><br>
And most of all the Wallabies missed Genia, someone to lead the pack, snipe around and give an accurate pass when on front foot. <br>
Frisby has been pedestrian in soup at times so I dont know if he would make any difference, but surely Phipps played himself out of the starting team. -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="mariner4life" data-cid="589683" data-time="1466307736">
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<p>That Haylett-Petty looked pretty handy I thought.</p>
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<p><strong>I would be looking at the pack, the halfback, and the leadership group before</strong> I started on the backline.</p>
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<p>Is there a dumber set of captains than Moore and most especially Hoopah?</p>
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<p>Well that has about 14 of the squad of 23 covered.</p>
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<p>I have an image of the team meeting with more blokes sitting at the top-table-for-leaders than there are seated in the followers chairs facing them.</p> -
<p>Not sure it was wrong going for it at 7-13 down. One conv try would have given them the lead, and probably the win as England looked out on their feet. They had to back themselves and more chance of that one score happening I think than getting down there another 2 times and kicking three penalties in total to get the win. So the tactic was ok it was their execution that let them down. White line fever and lack of patience.</p>
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<p>Well done England and congratulations on securing the series.</p>
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<p>First to admit two wins I certainly didn't see coming.</p>
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<p>Australia had two opportunities to tie the score at 10-10 with approx. 10 minuutes to play. Spurned both shots at goal and paid the price for overconfidence / arrogance in their ability to score tries on a night when they rarely looked like doing so.</p>
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<p>Dumb on field decisions / coaching? Who knows, either way dumb.</p>
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<p>Unless Cheika comes up with something very different then the whitewash is a done deal.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="GM1" data-cid="589802" data-time="1466347386">
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<p>Not sure it was wrong going for it at 7-13 down. One conv try would have given them the lead, and probably the win as England looked out on their feet. They had to back themselves and more chance of that one score happening I think than getting down there another 2 times and kicking three penalties in total to get the win. So the tactic was ok it was their execution that let them down. White line fever and lack of patience.</p>
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<p>Yeah its always great in hindsight. Haven't seen the game so can't speak of it, but if you're going to turn down sure points, in Test rugby, in wettish conditions, then you are your own worst enemy.</p> -
<p>A very interesting game, although not one I overly enjoyed. It reminded me of the sort of dream where you are trying to run away from something, but just can't run for some reason.</p>
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<p>Australia came out far far too fired up and were just looking to to do stupid off the ball stuff and hurt the Poms, that was NEVER going to work and makes me, for the first time, question Cheika's credentials - Helen Keller knew that was the wrong game plan.</p>
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<p>Did Phipps at any point have a run himself? The English defensive effort was immense, but some credit must also go to Australia for having the most one-dimensional Australian attack in the history of the game. I'm not sure why Foley is taking grief, he actually had a go and broke the line a couple of times - that's not his job, but neither of his centres remotely looked like doing it. At least he was trying to make something happen, along with Folau who was dangerous, as ever, but he couldn't do it all himself.</p>
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<p>Hooper got thrown around like a rag doll, he's a great player, but he just didn't appear to have the required bulk in a game like this one. Changes for third test - I'd bring in some bulk, McCalman at 8 for a start, and then replace Phipps for somebody else, but that somebody needs to be somebody that likes a run. I'm not convinced by the Kerevi / Kuridrani partnership either, players are too similar. I like Leailifano, and maybe worth starting him with one of the K's to add another playmaker to the backline and take a bit of pressure off Foley.</p> -
<p>It was a fairly simple case of picking Cheikaball apart - rush the second and third channels, and force the errors. Some closer running and a bit of subtlety would have helped, particularly in damp conditions.</p>
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<p>EDIT: I can say that having not even seen the game. Just based on the commentary I'm reading, particularly the Aussie fans who are ready to make 352 changes to the starting lineup, and keep guys like Kerevi but play him on the wing.</p>
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<p>What a bunch of peanuts. A couple of subtle changes - mostly to the top two inches - and we can win by 20 on a dry track.</p> -
<p>dirty niggly game. aussies beaten through their own stupidity. poms went into their shell and did nothing but kick and defend - credit to them i guess, they tackled very well and it worked, but very limited stuff and if the aussies had a brain cell or two between them they should have had the lead and forced england to try to make the play. </p>
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<p>1. in a game like that, kick the points.</p>
<p>2. if the opposition is not committing to the breakdown and simply fanning out and moving up quick, you need to find a way to commit them in close rather than simply going laterally and one-out and getting picked off. pick and go to get them on the back foot. set mauls to draw forwards in. didn't do either once that i can remember. not really very complicated, ya pack of dumb-dumbs.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Tim" data-cid="589805" data-time="1466350558"><p>Is Matt Toomua injured?</p></blockquote>
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Yeah he is. Him, Beale and Tomane if fit would've been in the side. <br><br>
The inexperience of the combinations - locks, back row, midfield, compounded the poor game plan and execution. <br><br>
Experienced players that are at least on the same page can sometimes grind out a win in tough conditions when they've played and executed poorly. -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="NTA" data-cid="589864" data-time="1466382234"><p>Yeah its always great in hindsight. Haven't seen the game so can't speak of it, but if you're going to turn down sure points, in Test rugby, in wettish conditions, then you are your own worst enemy.</p></blockquote>
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There was still plenty of time to build for more points at that juncture. It was an astonishing decision not to go for the kick. -
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<p>Two things stuck me from this test</p>
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<p>1) Aussie refusing kicks. Not just penalties but also when they had slow ball in the red zone drop goals would have been an idea. But as they never got the scoreboard ticking the pressure stayed on them rather then on England.</p>
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<p>2) There has to be a common basic standard of pitch that an international test can be played on. If your pitch can't withstand a scrum then you should not be playing tests there. Is it going to take a serious injury before this is put in place?? We see it too often.</p> -
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Despite this Eng only conceded 8 penalties vs 9 from Aus. This has been a major area of improvement in recent games. -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="mooshld" data-cid="590079" data-time="1466426910">
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<p>Two things stuck me from this test</p>
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<p>1) Aussie refusing kicks. Not just penalties but also when they had slow ball in the red zone drop goals would have been an idea. But as they never got the scoreboard ticking the pressure stayed on them rather then on England.</p>
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<p>2) There has to be a common basic standard of pitch that an international test can be played on. If your pitch can't withstand a scrum then you should not be playing tests there. Is it going to take a serious injury before this is put in place?? We see it too often.</p>
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<p>ARU has already told AAMi they'll be stripped of their 2017 Test if things don't improve.</p>
