Right a few thoughts (on the match, if that is ok?):
- Slipper was again impressive for the Wallabies. The scrum held up pretty well, he made his tackles, and he was excellent with ball in hand again. Hopefully (for the Wallabies sake) his injury isn't too serious
- Hanson did ok in his starting debut. Australia lost 3 lineouts, but that wasn't a major surprise!
- Simmons was poor. He cost Australia a try, and gave away a number of other silly penalties. He may be a fantastic lineout caller (apparently), but is he really one of the best two locks in Australia? Horwill added some physicality when he came on, but I don't think he is the answer either (as he has been decidedly average this year).
- Fardy, Hooper, and Palu all played as expected. Palu again was accurate and topped the tackle count, but I imagine there will be calls for him to be replaced again as he really didn't offer a lot with ball in hand. Despite my dislike for Higginbotham I thought he made an excellent impact when he came on. He was focused on playing rugby, made a couple of very strong runs, and was unlucky not to force a turnover after coming through the middle of a South African maul. It wouldn't surprise me if he started next week, but personally I remain unconvinced.
- Phipps was ok. Perhaps a slight improvement on White. Foley was a bit erratic, but kicked the crucial goal at the end. His defense was solid though, and I certainly think he is worth sticking with.
- Toomua was accurate (one 'over-kick' aside), while I was very impressed by Kuridrani. I've never been a big fan but I thought he was very impressive with ball in hand and physical (and accurate) on defense.
- We didn't see a lot of Horne and Ashley-Cooper, but Horne certainly took the opportunity he got offered well! He may well be a better wing than a centre...
- Folau was Folau. He is a weapon with ball in hand, but I still think his lack of a quality kicking game is a bit of an issue for Australia. He either refused to kick (putting Australia under pressure), and when his did kick he didn't get much ground. Obviously this is a small price to pay for his attacking brilliance, but it clearly a weakness opposition sides will look to exploit.
- I felt South Africa were a bit short of ball runners in their pack. Vermeulen and Coetzee were good in this regard, but I think South Africa need more out of Etzebeth, Mtawarira, and whoever they use at hooker.
- Matfield is still an absolute master in the air. The rest of his game however is pretty average in my opinion.
- Was Louw playing? Perhaps he was stuck at the bottom of the breakdowns, but he was less prominent than I usually expect from him. Vermeulen is a fantastic number 8.
- Pienaar and Steyn were South Africa's weakest links in my opinion. Pienaar did put in a few good kicks, but he made a few too many errors, and struggle to provide the backline with quality ball. He is obviously the best option for the Boks current gameplan, but I really don't rate him at international level. As for Steyn..... he is a good goal-kicker. That's about it. Surely South Africa would be better off investing more time in Pollard/Goosen/Lambie? Steyn missed tackle after tackle - even the tackles he made he good dragged backwards 5-10 metres. The fact he doesn't attack the line allowed the Australian defense to drift out quickly and cover South Africas (dangerous) midfield and outside backs.
- Serfontein didn't get many chances on attack but he is a fantastic defender!
- Hendricks finished his try very well, but that was the only time I saw him all match. He needs to take a leaf out of Habana's book and go looking for a bit more work.
- Le Roux. I was impressed with the several head on tackles he made - I expected him to miss them. His passing game is superb, and some of his tactical kicking was quality. He did make a few big kicking errors (kicking it out on the full), and I would like to see him take on the line a bit more with his footwork (preferably not against the AB's though).
Your analysis is good as always. Folau is way overrated. He's a good player and probably one of the top 30 or so players in the world but he is a tier down from the legends of the game. Folau's kicking game is very very poor and so are his options of when to kick. You are right that his attacking talent more than makes up for this but it stops him from being a legend of the game.
Le Roux also makes so many errors. He is good when he gets the ball in space but that doesn't happen that often. Why does he always kick the ball back? He's a good runner. I think most teams still don't understand that if they always play aerial ping pong then it is easy for the other team to defend. You need to sometimes counter attack to put doubt in the other team's mind. It must be the tactics - it's not like Le Roux can't be a great attacking player.
Steyn is just horrible. I don't know why South Africa would recall him.
Overall the Aussies were lucky to win because of the referee's decision but South Africa blew it. It seems to me like South Africa want to play conservative rugby but don't follow through. Their game seems disposed to 10 ten man rugby. They have a beastly forward pack and they play for territory all the time. If you are going to play this way (and it is a valid tactic) you have to be very accurate. If you are going to be conservative then you have to take the points when they are on offer. Instead South Africa went for the lineout when they could have taken 3 and knocked the ball on immediately afterwards. Then Le Roux and Steyn were kicking the ball out on the full or not kicking penalties into touch. The All Blacks can make mistakes live give away intercepts which we always do because we can chase a game. South Africa chooses to play rugby in a different way but their execution is just appalling.
South Africa may as well just play attacking rugby if they can't play accurately.
