Bledisloe II - Have a stab at the teams.

mariner4life

No one said it was one-sided Barb, stop reading what you want to read.
 
And for all your application, "focus" (i call bullshit on that) and intensity in the forwards they were still smashed in contact (on both sides of the ball) and lost the ruck battle. And the missed tackle count was off the charts again. They did scramble well, especially your 2 opensides, but they were putting out fires.

jegga

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Tim" data-cid="610382" data-time="1472431819"></blockquote>
 
That was beautiful, I love how they still bring up Meads and Catchpole even the chances of them actually seeing Meads tear off Catchpoles leg and beat him to death with it right in front of the referee who did nothing about it are slim to none.

Rancid Schnitzel

Just had a quick look. Are these proper rugby fans or just the tools who grew up with their dads screaming cheats at the screen every game? I remember having to experience this with one such father back in 96-97. He declared the ABs were cheats before kickoff and then proceeded to say the same thing about 50 times during the game. It was like watching a 2 year old trapped in the body of a 50-year old man. I wonder what happened in 1998? Did the evil bastards just stop cheating or did the Wallabies maybe just improve their ability to play the game? Willis.
 
This GandG lot were probably the same arseclowns who were telling us to suck it up about the ref in 2007.

Hooroo

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="barbarian" data-cid="610403" data-time="1472433711">
<div>
I don't understand the referee appointment process at all.
 
At the World Cup last year, you more or less saw who were deemed to be the best referees. In top spot was Owens, with Garces and Barnes equal second (Semi refs) and then Joubert who did a quarter along with those other three.
 
So with a World Cup final replay rolling around, you would think they would appoint one of the best four referees in the world for both matches. It's not like there is any bigger matches around, and these guys aren't tied up anywhere.
 
But for some unknown reason we don't get that. We get two blokes from outside the top 4. I'm not going to whinge about Poite, other than to say he had a bad game, the ruck and scrum was a mess and the match suffered as a result.
 
Why didn't we get top refs for these matches? The most important two games of the year (for the Wallabies anyway).
 
And if you're about to say 'the Boks vs All Blacks is more important', fair enough, but check out who they have given that game to- Angus Gardner. He's a good ref but wasn't even at the World Cup and clearly IMO not in the same class as Owens, Barnes and Garces.
 
Why these top 4 or 5 guys aren't doing every game is beyond me. 
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I really like Gardner as a ref. I hear what you are saying though. I would say that retaining the Bled ranks higher than beating SA at the moment. Especially if SA aren't allowed to play all their best players due to quotas and rubbish

barbarian

There's a crazy element on G&G, just as there is here. The post-game threads aren't the most healthy environment, and tend to be taken over by dickheads.

antipodean

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="barbarian" data-cid="610403" data-time="1472433711">
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And if you're about to say 'the Boks vs All Blacks is more important', fair enough, but check out who they have given that game to- Angus Gardner. He's a good ref but wasn't even at the World Cup and clearly IMO not in the same class as Owens, Barnes and Garces.
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IMO Angus is much better than Barnes. The pity for the Wallabies is they don't get to have him out in the middle.

barbarian

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="mariner4life" data-cid="610412" data-time="1472434997">
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And for all your application, "focus" (i call bullshit on that) and intensity in the forwards they were still smashed in contact (on both sides of the ball) and lost the ruck battle. And the missed tackle count was off the charts again. They did scramble well, especially your 2 opensides, but they were putting out fires. 
</div>
</blockquote>
 
I'm not saying they played great rugby, just better than last week. Defence is an issue for sure, but at least they were willing in what they did. The worst part about last week was them being so utterly passive.
 
It's clutching at straws, I know. But I need something at this point.

barbarian

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="antipodean" data-cid="610419" data-time="1472435275">
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IMO Angus is much better than Barnes. The pity for the Wallabies is they don't get to have him out in the middle.
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True. I like Gardner a lot, but he is untested at this level and I'd rather see him on a Arg vs NZ or Arg vs SA game before he steps up to a Boks/Blacks. 
 
I like Barnes, as I feel he is the most suited to the SH style of rugby. And he performed well at the World Cup, especially in the Semi Final.

Bovidae

The IRB High Performance Match Official Manager (what a mouthful!) is Joel Jutge, another Frenchman. He makes the ref appointments, and I assume they like to give all of the elite panel top level games. I'm happy the ABs don't have Barnes for the RC.
 
Garces did the Arg-SA game. We've got Joubert for the NZ-Arg game.

jegga

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Rancid Schnitzel" data-cid="610416" data-time="1472435113">
Just had a quick look. Are these proper rugby fans or just the tools who grew up with their dads screaming cheats at the screen every game? I remember having to experience this with one such father back in 96-97. He declared the ABs were cheats before kickoff and then proceeded to say the same thing about 50 times during the game. It was like watching a 2 year old trapped in the body of a 50-year old man. I wonder what happened in 1998? Did the evil bastards just stop cheating or did the Wallabies maybe just improve their ability to play the game? Willis. 
This GandG lot were probably the same arseclowns who were telling us to suck it up about the ref in 2007.</blockquote>
 
These sort of meltdowns always remind me of that scene in the Simpsons where they go to Australia and the guy from the state dept explains that the yanks briefly gave a shit about Australia and the Aussies are fucked off that it didn't last. 
Between 1998 and 2003 there were hordes of Aussie fuckwits who thought the narrow edge they had over us was a permenant state of affairs and despite pointing out to them their history of bledisloe rugby was extraordinarily one sided and normal transmission was likely to be resumed they went full fishwife and denied this was going to happen . They seem to have either jumped off the bandwagon or retreated to g and g and gone all Kearns. 
My favourite was an arseclown that posted as JPO, he's a source of tedium on planet rugby now.

NTA

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Rancid Schnitzel" data-cid="610416" data-time="1472435113">I wonder what happened in 1998? Did the evil bastards just stop cheating or did the Wallabies maybe just improve their ability to play the game?.</blockquote>
 
You fell off a cliff in 98. Some of our guys had a breakout year. Remember Tom Bowman? He played the rookie season of a lifetime in 1998, and did fuck all else.

mariner4life

Does Tom Bowman even remember Tom Bowman?

Hooroo

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Bovidae" data-cid="610428" data-time="1472436068">
<div>
The IRB High Performance Match Official Manager (what a mouthful!) is Joel Jutge, another Frenchman. He makes the ref appointments, and I assume they like to give all of the elite panel top level games. I'm happy the ABs don't have Barnes for the RC.
 
Garces did the Arg-SA game. We've got Joubert for the NZ-Arg game.
</div>
</blockquote>
Speaking of refs, what happened to that Kiwi ref that became an Aussie ref? Steve someone?

Bovidae

Steve Walsh. He retired from all levels of refereeing in March 2015 to take up business interests outside the game (from Wiki).

Hooroo

Just checked out GAGR. Reminds me of a certain forum when the AB's lose........

NTA

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="mariner4life" data-cid="610432" data-time="1472436278">
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Does Tom Bowman even remember Tom Bowman?
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</blockquote>
 
I don't think so. He was getting interview once, and looked like perfect second row material: enormous, strong, dumb as a rock.
 
I saw him play three great games: Christchurch in 1998, Australia A v Lions in 2001, and Australia A v Canada (live) in Parramatta the year after (from memory).

NTA

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Hooroo" data-cid="610436" data-time="1472436758">
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Just checked out GAGR. Reminds me of a certain forum when the AB's lose........
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Can you remember back that far?

Immenso Rapido

Having seen it from 2 angles, I think Franks should be suspended. 
Gouge or not you can't pull people's heads backwards by their eyelids..... 
The bent fingers in the reverse angle are damning. 
Should be bye bye Owen. 
Charlie F starting the rest of the 4 Nations, while we all prey Ofa T stays on the pine in 4 games v Saffa and Argies scrums. 
Typical crappy judicial, process stuff. Someone needs to tweet Gosper.

Mick Gold Coast QLD

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="antipodean" data-cid="610360" data-time="1472429234">
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Disagree.
 
At best it's a penalty. I'm always reticent to jump on a twitter/ reddit jerkathon on the basis of a single frame. I don't see why a player should be thrown under the bus to assuage the drooling retards. Is anyone having a cry about this?
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/JWCFQvv.jpg" alt="JWCFQvv.jpg">
 
Poite should have immediately penalised Franks for playing the head of an opponent. Kane Douglas's lack of reaction to that as opposed to his clear annoyance at Franks applying pressure to his neck in the same maul is telling. So is that the Wallabies didn't refer it to the citing commissioner.
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</blockquote>
 
Whatever happened, or did not happen, happened in front of the referee and he made that clear by giving a direction to Franks; and in front of a linesman standing on the other side to the referee. Neither saw reason to act. The video referee remained silent too.
 
SANZAR, which runs the show, reviewed the whole match and stated there were no incidents in which it needed to intervene.
 
Australian management had the opportunity to make a claim within 12 hours after the match and they did not. Douglas had the same opportunity and did not take it.
 
In summary, the four independent elements in the system cranked over, did their job and powered down again. The supposedly aggrieved party, individual and collective, raised no issue.
 
The Wallabies could have done something about the appalling, incompetent, awful, unskilled, biased, hateful refereeing. They could have scored lots of points and pushed any mistakes by the referee down the relevance scale. But they did not - they instead chose to play appalling, incompetent, awful, unskilled rugby.
 
This has become Wallaby best practice - be sloppy then afterwards, like a mob of whinging sheilas, turn on the referee for being sloppy. In their opinion.
 
The fans, especially those who have never been closer to a referee than the channel button on their TV remote, close in like seagulls on a chip, puffing out their widdle cheeks in exasperation, clenching their widdle fists in anger and scowling like Al Baxter because they have not forgiven what Loe did to Carozza (they hear the names from season to season and might have spotted the footage once on YouTube). There would have been five hundred posts on The Roar last week excusing the Wallabies and there will be double that this week, working themselves into a frenzy because it was everyone else's fault.
 
Most of the angry little fellas could stand in an elevator, alone, for forty floors, with Richard Loe and be none the wiser. Or with Paul Carozza.

NTA

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Immenso Rapido" data-cid="610443" data-time="1472437648">
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Someone needs to tweet Gosper.
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</blockquote>
 
Saint Brian has tried and failed. How could the Court of Public Opinion let us down so badly?
 
<img src="https://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Love-and-Other-Drugs.gif" alt="Love-and-Other-Drugs.gif">

The Silver Fern

Bledisloe II - Have a stab at the teams.