[2014 TRC] Australia v New Zealand in Sydney (16/08/2014)

[squirrel]

Timani is another lock I thought they should have tried harded to retain

 

[RoosTah]

Timani is another lock I thought they should have tried harded to retain

True. Shame we lost him, but that's part of the problem - all our forwards seem to get stolen by bloody France all the time.

 

[austingtir]

This has to be the single most arrogant thing I've ever read on TRF . Your post isn't far away from comparing it to a game against your little brother where he does quite well and you pat him on the head and say "I'll try next time"

Maybe if you took your head out your arse you might see that the ABs were largely at fault for not winning this game as were the Aussies NOT the referee

When NZ blows Australia off the park this weekend I'll be sure to remind you of this post.:champion:

 

[goodNumber10]

We were very efficient at kicking the ball away! We ran the ball 64 times and kicked it 23 times. Obviously this was highly influenced by the conditions, but if you kick away most of the ball you have you aren't going to score many tries (in contrast Australia only kicked 19 times and ran it 123 times). Despite kicking the ball fewer times Australia still dominated the territory stats. As you suggest the territory stats alone can be a bit misleading (as a lot of this match was played in the middle of the park), but Australia was playing the majority of the match in the right end of the field, which is exactly what you want to be doing given the conditions (as you have a chance to get points if you are awarded a penalty).

New Zealand didn't take care of their possession at all either. Despite running the ball only half as often as Australia we turned the ball over almost the same number of times (13 vs 15). The fact Australia weren't recorded as having a linebreak may suggest they were not that effective with ball in hand, but given the conditions clean linebreaks were always going to be rare. Australia did break quite a few tackles and did march up field at a slow (but steady) rate on a number of occasions, which is often the best you can hope for in such weather. When you add in the fact that the AB's conceded more penalties (14 vs 9) and missed a lot more tackles (21 vs 6) I believe based on the stats alone Australia were the dominant side (which is the same impression I got from watching the match). They may have been even more dominant (and actually won the match) if they have played a bit better tactically too....

I don't have a massive issue with NZ giving away the bulk of their possession, in those conditions the %'s rule, and the likeliest you are going to come to scoring a try is from kicking deep and putting on pressure - it's no coincidence that the closest anyone got to scoring (Australia) was off a long kick.

Australia dominated the territory stats, ran multiple phases made themselves tired and worked hard and yet never scored a try. That's because importantly their phases didn't pull anyone in - one NZ defender was able to defend each pod bringing it to ground allowing the 14 other All Blacks to transition with no fear of pick and goes or a snipe from White. The AB's got their tactics pretty spot on defence wise they just allowed Australia to run through their phases waiting for them to knock on in the wet or wait until someone could make a dominant tackle then flood the breakdown for a steal - the Kaino hit on Beal was a perfect example of that (I think one of the commentators even pointed that out).

In those conditions both sets of halfbacks should have been playing a territory game and even then that's going to be tough to do, Cruden and Smith did (or at least tried to), Beale/Toomua and White didn't.

 

[RoosTah]

When NZ blows Australia off the park this weekend I'll be sure to remind you of this post.:champion:

I had a workmate of mine say something along those to me before the Super Rugby Final and before this last match funnily enough.

As you can imagine I've been gleefully wearing my Waratahs Champions polo every chance I get .

 

[InsaneAsylum]

I had a workmate of mine say something along those to me before the Super Rugby Final and before this last match funnily enough.

As you can imagine I've been gleefully wearing my Waratahs Champions polo every chance I get .

yup, last week when I asked a kiwi what he thought of the game, his response was "NZ by 35 to 40 points easily"

 

[Icemn]

The other thing we really need to do is utilise Folau - no one beats him in the air, so next time we get a penalty advantage on NZ's line someone has to put in a cross kick for him. If he doesn't score (and if the kick is well placed that's unlikely) we get the ball back anyway, so why not try it?

ever heard of Hurricane Jane 1080? lol rather kick to Savea's side... its a pleasure... p.s for your sake i hope Darwin doesn't bring Ben Smith into this

 

[RoosTah]

I'd be willing to back Folau in the air against anyone in world rugby every day and twice on Saturdays.

I know other players are good at it, but he's an absolute freak.

Same as I'd back Greg Inglis to be devastating as an outside centre. Such a shame we can't have him, because he'd walk over guys like Tuilagi - same power but 10 times the skill and awareness. He'd be more than match for anyone in the ABs and Boks too.

 

[squirrel]

I think Inglis and Hayne are better footballers than folau, I know folau was still young when he left the NRL but he wasn't that good a league player he was just a high ball specialist on the 5th tackle really

 

[RoosTah]

I think Inglis and Hayne are better footballers than folau, I know folau was still young when he left the NRL but he wasn't that good a league player he was just a high ball specialist on the 5th tackle really

Inglis is one of the best players I've seen in either code. He just has such incredible power, speed, agility and awareness. He just beats people all the time with the ball by either walking over them or throwing them off.

 

[Big Ewis]

Speight will be there soon, and next year we'll have Ione and JOC too.

Just a shame we couldn't get a guy like Greg Inglis for outside centre and Jarryd Hayne for wing in time for the RWC. They'd both devastated teams.

Love this try:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coOitwMuQIc

k, dude, it's IOANE. Twice you've called him "Ione", he's not an electron/proton superhero ffs. There's a reason Paris should keep him, they know the guy's freakin name. God, sanzar...

And Jane O'Connor still has beautiful, velvet legs with those short shorts on and a warming smile, and steals our hearts as he graces the fields of Mayol like a ballet-performer these days, but like Drew Mitchell I think he's a good talent but won't save a team all by himself the way other wingers can, so to speak. Good footwork, good pace and a nose for the position, but I think in those brilliant Wallaby years around 2008/2011 both these guys benefited from excellent collective team play which made them look better than they are. The Wallabies' attack was brilliant and exceptional, but I don't think Mitchell or Snead O'Connor were brilliant and exceptional.

Also: the Denver Broncos play League ? Funny, "Inglis" is an old root for the word "English".

Lastly, they should really drop heavy, heavy sanctions on players temporarily mimicking various animals to celebrate their tries. Like, more than only financial. This was hard to watch and just wrong by all accounts, I can't believe his teammates touched him after that.

 

[Maverick1987]

When NZ blows Australia off the park this weekend I'll be sure to remind you of this post.:champion:

Lol I'm not saying that won't happen but you proved everything I said about you was right .....

 

[Darwin]

I don't have a massive issue with NZ giving away the bulk of their possession, in those conditions the %'s rule, and the likeliest you are going to come to scoring a try is from kicking deep and putting on pressure - it's no coincidence that the closest anyone got to scoring (Australia) was off a long kick.

Australia dominated the territory stats, ran multiple phases made themselves tired and worked hard and yet never scored a try. That's because importantly their phases didn't pull anyone in - one NZ defender was able to defend each pod bringing it to ground allowing the 14 other All Blacks to transition with no fear of pick and goes or a snipe from White. The AB's got their tactics pretty spot on defence wise they just allowed Australia to run through their phases waiting for them to knock on in the wet or wait until someone could make a dominant tackle then flood the breakdown for a steal - the Kaino hit on Beal was a perfect example of that (I think one of the commentators even pointed that out).

In those conditions both sets of halfbacks should have been playing a territory game and even then that's going to be tough to do, Cruden and Smith did (or at least tried to), Beale/Toomua and White didn't.

There is no doubt that the ABs tactically played better than the Wallabies. That's the main reason we didn't lose. Despite playing tactically better Australia had 2/3 of the territory....

Kicking in itself wasn't the main problem the ABs had, it was more that the kicking wasn't that well executed at times. The fact is we kicked away most of our ball, and the few times we tried to run we couldn't go more than a couple of phases without losing the ball. Though Australia's attack was far from perfect they looked far more threatening with ball in hand than the ABs....

 

[Jaguares]

I'd be willing to back Folau in the air against anyone in world rugby every day and twice on Saturdays.

I know other players are good at it, but he's an absolute freak.

Same as I'd back Greg Inglis to be devastating as an outside centre. Such a shame we can't have him, because he'd walk over guys like Tuilagi - same power but 10 times the skill and awareness. He'd be more than match for anyone in the ABs and Boks too.

Yeah but you can't choose 3 or 4 superheroes from NRL at the same time to play at international level. Remember something important: RUCKING!

 

[RoosTah]

Yeah but you can't choose 3 or 4 superheroes from NRL at the same time to play at international level. Remember something important: RUCKING!

Not asking for 3 or 4 - just Inglis . The guy is a machine and would do a lot of damage out there if you could put him at 13.

 

[squirrel]

He has a massive boot as well, so he could have been a more rounded fullback than Folau

 

[RoosTah]

He has a massive boot as well, so he could have been a more rounded fullback than Folau

True - he played five eight for Melbourne.

 

[Jaguares]

Not asking for 3 or 4 - just Inglis . The guy is a machine and would do a lot of damage out there if you could put him at 13.

Yeah, bud. I know. If Reggie Bush believes that Jarryd Hayne can play on the NFL, Greg Inglis can play Union at international level.



And what about NRL's props?? Are they useless for Union, right? SBW plays at second-row or loose forward on League. I wonder what can give for Union a prop from NRL, if they don't push in the scrum and don't know wtf is a rucking

 

[RoosTah]

And what about NRL's props?? Are they useless for Union, right? SBW plays at second-row or loose forward on League. I wonder what can give for Union a prop from NRL, if they don't push in the scrum and don't know wtf is a rucking

A prop in League is more like a number 8 in Rugby really - their main job is to get over the advantage line with sheer power and intimidate people when defending. With that in mind I reckon a guy like Sam Moa would make a great number 8 in union.

 

[goodNumber10]

Yeah, bud. I know. If Reggie Bush believes that Jarryd Hayne can play on the NFL, Greg Inglis can play Union at international level.



And what about NRL's props?? Are they useless for Union, right? SBW plays at second-row or loose forward on League. I wonder what can give for Union a prop from NRL, if they don't push in the scrum and don't know wtf is a rucking

I'm genuinely impressed how well Bush understands the game... some of it is clearly being led but he gets the intensity and dynamics of the game.

Though Australia's attack was far from perfect they looked far more threatening with ball in hand than the ABs....

They had the ball in hand more but I don't think they looked threatening at all, bar the AAC half break. I think they just came around the corner off 9, crabbed sideways and offered easy targets. The little ball they moved outside of 10 was generally to a runner hitting back - Horne coming from blind - or was so lateral the NZ defence just floated on ball and snuffed it.

It was a really good example of how not to play with ball in hand.

At the end of the day there is little point in over analysing it as the weather impacted both teams and decision making on ball hugely, i'd say both teams game plans were vastly compromised by the rain.