[2018 Rugby Championship] Round 1: Australia v New Zealand (18/08/2018)

[All Black]

LOL at Naholos pass, thats why youre a wing

 

[Bada-Bing!]

How is Pocock not the Wallabies captain? He's clearly their best player by a mile. And the ARU have just given Hooper a 5 year contract and $6m contract.

 

[curtbob7]

I think he was onside but still for this level there should be cameras everywhere.

Also why don't the Wallabies call up Fardy at lock.

Agree, call up Polota-Nau and Toomua but not Fardy. Strange,

 

[Oliver Madden]

absolutely brilliant 2nd half from the AB's. I think Barrett answered his critics tonight, he was very good. it tells you something that the All Blacks won by 25 points despite being poor for one half. where on earth do Australia go from here?. I can't see anything other than a good hiding at Eden Park next week, NZ will play better in the 1st half than they did today. thought Australia's set piece was amateurish and some of their defence is the 2nd half was dreadful. final point, Australia need to stop hosting a Bledisloe cup game at ANZ Stadium every year. it has no atmosphere whatsoever. Suncorp Stadium would be a far better venue for the 1st Bledisloe. for the supposedly best prepared Wallaby team for years it really was a dismal effort.

 

[All Black]

Pleased with Goodhues first game, gutted for Crotty.

I don't know who's going to cover fullback for the Wallabies but Folau is a huge loss, especially for next weeks game.

 

[smartcooky]

Wasn't sure about his "if his head is onside his body must be 3-4 meters offside" though!

Aussie commentator clutching at straws

 

[smartcooky]

There are three big keys to this win

1. They contained Folau
Only 34 metres from 10 carries
Only three defenders beaten and no clean breaks
Three turnovers conceded
Four tackles attempted, two missed

2. They negated Pocock.
Only ruck/tackle turnovers won
Only 11 metres from 8 carries
Only two defenders beaten (but he got a clean break)

3. They killed the Wallabies at the set piece
Seven lineout turnovers
Two scrum turnovers

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Pleased with Goodhues first game, gutted for Crotty.

I don't know who's going to cover fullback for the Wallabies but Folau is a huge loss, especially for next weeks game.

Beale probably; Toomua to start at 12.

 

[bushytop]

Great first half as a contest but Oz had give their maximum for 40 mins against the All Blacks at around 85%. AB's slowly upped it to 90% during the first 10 minutes of the second half and the Ozzie's couldn't maintain.

All blacks in that last 30 were something else.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Aussie set piece was diabolical. Hard to believe this is the same scrum that had the edge over us in the set piece during June. (Although the loosehead was out which probably made a big difference). The lineout was possibly the worst international rugby has seen in years, it was up there with the 'manshame' game in 2011. (That was the scrum in fairness though).

All Blacks just on a different level really.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

I think this could be the closest Bledisloe Cup opener for quite a while. think the Wallabies should be competitive in every game against the AB's this year. mind you when the All Blacks are perceived to be under a bit of pressure they usually step up. nevertheless I'm going to take a bit of a punt and back the Wallabies by 3 points, 28-25.

Hope you didn't lose too much money.

 

[mania]

Entertaining despite the low score. Thought Naholo was very lucky not to get a yc.

Agreed. He lifted Folau beyond the horizonal; should have been a yellow.

Agree but it was wayneBarnes on that touch. Probably watching for forward passes

 

[All Black]

Aussie commentator clutching at straws

That was actually Andrew Mehrtens. He guest commentates over there.

 

[smartcooky]

That was actually Andrew Mehrtens. He guest commentates over there.

OK, so that will be the reason it was such a ridiculous statement... he was doing his usual pisstake.

Did any of the Aussie commentators agree with him?

 

[All Black]

OK, so that will be the reason it was such a ridiculous statement... he was doing his usual pisstake.

Did any of the Aussie commentators agree with him?

He asked Rod Kafer for his thoughts on what he just said and Kafer disagreed lol.

 

[All Black]

Agree but it was wayneBarnes on that touch. Probably watching for forward passes

LOL the irony.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

How is Pocock not the Wallabies captain? He's clearly their best player by a mile. And the ARU have just given Hooper a 5 year contract and $6m contract.

Being the best player doesn't make you a good captain

 

[unrated]

Australia disappointed me. I really expected more from them. 15 years is a bit ridiculous.
They started very well, defence was outstanding. The rush defence posed NZ with challenges that they clearly did not know how to deal with. And then everything changed in the second half.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Being the best player doesn't make you a good captain

He leads by example. Wallabies need him to shift to 7 and play proper number 8. Pooper unbalances their back row. I'd have Pocock over Hooper and therefore Pocock as captain.

Of course, they've also have to sort out their front 5 to give the back row a platform to work off of.

 

[All Black]

In the first half, I understood why Hansen said the Wallabies was favourites going into that game. He would've been happy to be proven wrong in the second half when the Wallabies failed to maintain their grip, because the Wallabies had it.