International Club Rugby Bledisloe I - ANZ Stadium 18th August

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I think your logic is screwed up. NZ are the benchmark, therefore we should be learning from them and not trying to emulate teams that are already worse than we are. Don't forget we actually won the tri-nations last year and beat NZ in the deciding game in Brisbane.

I don't really think we play the same style as NZ either. We play a lot more structured phase play and attack closer to the ruck and in the 10-12 channel (I think a little too predictably). NZ tend to go wider earlier and play side to side and look for more offloads. They also look to counter attack much quicker with ball in hand, whereas when we win turnover ball we generally kick it and look for territory. Their play is more dynamic I guess, while ours is more structured and defensive. Maybe that's something we need to change...at least when we have a fully fit team. One thing I think we do have is more flair and playmaking ability in our backs. I agree with Lions, I'd rather Cooper at 10 and Barnes at 12. If we have Cooper, Barnes, Beale and O'Connor in the same side, with a license to attack I think that's where we can beat NZ. Deans seems to be going away from that though opting for a more defensive approach. It's always going to be hard though as NZ literally have no weaknesses. The only thing in our favour really is that a few of their key players are maybe getting a little passed their peak while ours are coming into theirs.
 
For the record I think NZ will win this match something like 24-10. Australia will be good defensively but I just can't see where we're going to hurt the All Blacks.

I really hope I'm wrong though. I think for us to win Genia will have to play one of the games of his life and the team will have to be very cohesive. Gotta make that extra time together count.
 
bombersno1 said:
France and Wales to an extent are perfect Northern Hemisphere teams and those are the two we should be modelling on. Take the best bits of each team and find our best 22 based on that. We have 4 years to find that balance in the 22, so there is no need for rushing. However, it all comes down to coaching, give some young players a go, and you never know.
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It's funny you mentioned Wales. As Mint said, they've shifted away from Northern Hemisphere type of rugby and they've played a textbook New Zealand style with great success, which you would expect under Warren Gatland. France is currently struggling bigtime. England, Ireland and Wales are all well in front of them. I'll also note that Ireland have also started playing a Southern Hemisphere type of rugby.

The thing you don't realize bombers is that Australia has more talented players than both countries. We should be setting our own gameplan that's tailor made to the team. Currently, the gameplan that Deans is trying to employ isn't remotely suited to the players. Players like Higginbotham, Timani, TPN and Sharpe aren't suited to a dogfight in the clinches.

We're really not further away than France and Wales. France are in trouble and they're in a tier with Italy and Scotland at the moment. Wales don't have the talent we have. They can only dream of having players like Beale, Genia, Cooper and Barnes.
 

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AuckMel said:
Looking forward to seeing the All Blacks attitude. Should be a good game.
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If the All Blacks that played Ireland show up, I think you're going to be one happy camper. Hansen, in my opinion, has perfected the gameplan that Henry introduced. They play a lot smarter and they're so much better tactically. Not to mention the fact that you've finally found Justin Marshall's successor in Aaron Smith.
 
Perfect weather today in Sydney. A bit windy but doesn't look like it will rain at all. Should be ideal conditions for rugby (so long as it doesn't get dewy).
 
Thank God for Sharpe!

Barnes is just completely out of it. Needs to get his head back into the game.

Timani is just the most pathetic player I've seen. We're playing with 14. Taking a breather at the 20 minute mark while the All Blacks are peppering our defence is just not good enough in club rugby let alone test rugby.
 
Good performance despite the loss. Amazing having a good goalkicker. Dead set O'Connor and Cooper would have missed half of those goals, it is what kept us in the game. Defence kept us in the game, until Higginbotham dropped a dead sitter with the line open.
 

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Not very happy with the performance. The All Blacks bombed 3 certain tries and cut our defence to pieces, not to mention the fact that we had the referee on our side for once. It was the perfect storm and we should've won. Overall I can only take very little positives out of that game. That was an All Black team well below their best and they still managed to play so much better than us.

Negatives:

Benn Robinson is well past it. For the past 2 years I've just assumed that he's been out of form, but sadly this is starting to be the norm. We can't keep picking him due to his 2008/2009 form, he's not the same player. A sane coach would've probably dropped him already.

Sitaleki Timani is simply not fit enough. He makes one or two great runs and tackles but he rarely makes the breakdown and is often lingering out on the wings. Higginbotham, Pocock and Dennis were all very average. Pocock played one of his worst games in a long time. Beale also had an absolute shocker. He's obviously not match fit.

Barnes isn't a 10. It's plainly obvious. Even when he plays out of the flyhalf position, he plays like an inside centre. Move him to the position where he belongs FFS!

I don't know whether it's Barnes or Horne, but Horne ends a lot of plays very prematurely. I'm not too sure whether Barnes called the play or Horne decided to have a bit of run. But a few times he could've passed but chose to go down. He's AAC with a shittier running game. Faingaa and Horne are just very uninspiring as a centre combo. Bring in a Barnes/ Tapaui combo.

Positives:

Nathan Sharpe has still got it. He was just phenomenal and single handily kept us in the game. I reckon that was his best performance for the Wallabies in his career.

It's good to have a reliable kicker for once.

Kepu had a very good game. The guy just doesn't stop running, he's also decent in the scrum aswell.
 
Was at the match in crap seats at the top of the side stand so can't make too much comment on individual players etc (particularly in the forwards), but honestly we just have no idea what to do with the ball. The last couple of minutes where we had the chance to try and score a try for the win illustrated it perfectly...just stayed stuck around the halfway for several phases without looking like penetrating.

The fact we were still in the match at that point is a miracle in itself. NZ missed some big opportunities and looked so much more dangerous when they had the ball. It was a pretty crap game really, lots of mistakes, Rolland was very pedantic (particularly at the scrum...for at least 3 or 4 of those scrum penalties the ball was at the back ready to be played) and neither side was able to get much continuity. NZ are just capable of really lifting the pace very quickly though and seem willing to go for more. Their first try was also a really good set play. The one advantage of being so high up was seeing that play evolve as if it was on a video game or something. Pace, precision and disguise. The sort of stuff the Wallabies backs used to be good at.
 
bombersno1 said:
Good performance despite the loss. Amazing having a good goalkicker. Dead set O'Connor and Cooper would have missed half of those goals, it is what kept us in the game. Defence kept us in the game, until Higginbotham dropped a dead sitter with the line open.
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It really wasn't IMO. It was a pretty average one in fact.
 
Santana said:
It really wasn't IMO. It was a pretty average one in fact.
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We were meant to lose by 30, we lost by 8...and if Higginbotham could catch, we almost win the game. It was a good performance, no shame losing to NZ.
 
Lions1024 said:
Barnes isn't a 10. It's plainly obvious. Even when he plays out of the flyhalf position, he plays like an inside centre. Move him to the position where he belongs FFS!
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Still better than Cooper's last performance against NZ. Unlike Cooper, Barnes executed a plan perfectly and played the percentages, his kicking kept us alive.
 
bombersno1 said:
We were meant to lose by 30, we lost by 8...and if Higginbotham could catch, we almost win the game. It was a good performance, no shame losing to NZ.
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Australia being that close had nothing to do with them. New Zealand never once looked like losing. The Higginbotham incident happened at the start of the game. It was a terrible performance and very indicative of what's wrong with Australian rugby.
 
bombersno1 said:
Still better than Cooper's last performance against NZ. Unlike Cooper, Barnes executed a plan perfectly and played the percentages, his kicking kept us alive.
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Played the percentages? I'm sorry, but in no way did Barnes play the percentages in that game. Have you forgotten the numerous cut-out passes on the goal line? Barnes lost his nerve bigtime in the first half and if that was Cooper you'd be all over him for it. His kicking is irrelevant, he can still kick when he's playing at 12. Using your logic, Barnes cost us the game because of his cut-out pass that led to New Zealand first try.
 
Higginbotham didn't have a clear run to the line when he dropped that ball btw. He would have been brought down before it. Obviously would have been a very good chance to score a try off the next phase but it wasn't a certainty like Cory Jane's drop in the 2nd half for the AB's.
 
And I agree that it's no shame losing to the All Blacks. I just wish we would go down fighting and attacking than going into the match with a side that's never going to really trouble them, but will limit the loss.

Australia's been a very structured rugby side for a long time, but at least we used to play with pace and some inventiveness. And most importantly accuracy! Now we're slow and our patterns of play extremely predictable. Tonight the only guy NZ really had to worry about was Genia.
 
Lions1024 said:
Australia being that close had nothing to do with them. New Zealand never once looked like losing. The Higginbotham incident happened at the start of the game. It was a terrible performance and very indicative of what's wrong with Australian rugby.
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I agree Higginbotham is a perfect example of a Super 15 player but nowhere near a test player, especially at no8. That was probably the only desicion I hated at the selection table when Ben Mowen is fit.
 
Lions1024 said:
Played the percentages? I'm sorry, but in no way did Barnes play the percentages in that game. Have you forgotten the numerous cut-out passes on the goal line? Barnes lost his nerve bigtime in the first half and if that was Cooper you'd be all over him for it. His kicking is irrelevant, he can still kick when he's playing at 12. Using your logic, Barnes cost us the game because of his cut-out pass that led to New Zealand first try.
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Kicked well, kicked for territory, chanced his arm when he needed to. If anyone is to blame for the 1st try it is AAK for running in like a headless chook and causing an overlap. Barnes is a much better TEST fly half. The issue is that we don't have a quality inside, McCabe being the best of a bunch.
 
Mint Condition said:
Higginbotham didn't have a clear run to the line when he dropped that ball btw. He would have been brought down before it. Obviously would have been a very good chance to score a try off the next phase but it wasn't a certainty like Cory Jane's drop in the 2nd half for the AB's.
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He had Beale outside him, catch and pass, a 7 year old could have scored from there, except Higginbotham had Palu-like hands.
 
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