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The Rugby Championship 2023
[2014 TRC] New Zealand v Australia in Auckland (23/08/2014)
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<blockquote data-quote="Darwin" data-source="post: 666746" data-attributes="member: 24910"><p>Folau's passing is ok, but isn't that great for an international fullback in my opinion. He will pass before he starts running, but after he often forgets he has 14 team-mates until he gets stopped (in which case he does have a good offload). This isn't really a massive issue for him though, as he usually just beats the final man himself rather than making the easy pass to his team mate..... </p><p></p><p>I think Folau's option taking at the back - specifically his unwillingness to kick the ball - is a far bigger issue for Australia. He didn't kick the ball a single time in these last two tests. There were 2-3 times in this last test that his unwillingness to kick the ball put Australia under a huge amount of pressure. Obviously you don't want your fullback kicking the ball away every single time, but you do need him to be able to make a clearing kick if required!</p><p></p><p>Personally I think Folau is the best strike runner in world rugby (and probably the best under the high ball too). However I prefer a much more complete fullback (read: Ben Smith).</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Good post. I disagree that Poite had a poor game though. He made a few mistakes, but all referees do. New Zealand did get away with a bit at the breakdown, but Australia were far from Angels in this area - as has been mentioned Michael Hooper didn't enter from the back of a breakdown all match! The key for me was that he was pretty consistent with his rulings (in contrast of Peyper last weekend!) and let the game flow. The players all seemed to know exactly what the could and couldn't do, which led to a very good game of rugby in my opinion.</p><p></p><p> I forgot to mention Toomua, and I agree he had a big game on defense. He still needs to work on his timing a bit as at times he runs out of he line and leaves a big hole, but when he executes well his powerful defense is a massive asset to the Wallabies. I still prefer him at 10, but that is another story....</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Darwin, post: 666746, member: 24910"] Folau's passing is ok, but isn't that great for an international fullback in my opinion. He will pass before he starts running, but after he often forgets he has 14 team-mates until he gets stopped (in which case he does have a good offload). This isn't really a massive issue for him though, as he usually just beats the final man himself rather than making the easy pass to his team mate..... I think Folau's option taking at the back - specifically his unwillingness to kick the ball - is a far bigger issue for Australia. He didn't kick the ball a single time in these last two tests. There were 2-3 times in this last test that his unwillingness to kick the ball put Australia under a huge amount of pressure. Obviously you don't want your fullback kicking the ball away every single time, but you do need him to be able to make a clearing kick if required! Personally I think Folau is the best strike runner in world rugby (and probably the best under the high ball too). However I prefer a much more complete fullback (read: Ben Smith). Good post. I disagree that Poite had a poor game though. He made a few mistakes, but all referees do. New Zealand did get away with a bit at the breakdown, but Australia were far from Angels in this area - as has been mentioned Michael Hooper didn't enter from the back of a breakdown all match! The key for me was that he was pretty consistent with his rulings (in contrast of Peyper last weekend!) and let the game flow. The players all seemed to know exactly what the could and couldn't do, which led to a very good game of rugby in my opinion. I forgot to mention Toomua, and I agree he had a big game on defense. He still needs to work on his timing a bit as at times he runs out of he line and leaves a big hole, but when he executes well his powerful defense is a massive asset to the Wallabies. I still prefer him at 10, but that is another story.... [/QUOTE]
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[2014 TRC] New Zealand v Australia in Auckland (23/08/2014)
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