RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia
-
Anyway, I've watched the first half. Some good stuff like a 10+ phase period of retention, against which Wales' defence is too good. But the decision making at times is basically what you'd expect from a team with fuck all experience.
e.g. Donaldson cuts through the line in the first quarter and has a player inside, covered by 2-3 Welsh players, and 2 Wallabies outside, covered by 1 Welsh defender. He goes inside :man_facepalming:
Neither Quade nor Foley would make that mistake. Chance to go into the lead blown.
Further along at 10-6 we win a penalty right in front. Rather than taking a sure 3, we throw a lineout to nobody. :man_facepalming: Two Wallabies collide with team mates and fall over. Wales kick a 50-22.
Tom Hooper steps around the side of a ruck and gives away the stupidest of penalties. McDermott spends a second too long clearing the ball when we're on the front foot. Petaia is... well fucking Petaia...
You get away with some of this shit when you have poor refs in the schoolyard, or you're the biggest kid on the paddock. And this is really what's wrong with the current crop: they grow up in development systems that are very narrow, and develop bad instincts because they're never pushed hard enough. Schools play maybe a dozen games a year total, and the competitions are highly variable, often inequitable, and dominated by league kids whose club is paying for their education.
It isn't just the kiddies of course: Koroibete throws a hail mary into touch. Valetini dives on a ball instead of trying to pick it up - basic knowledge of the Laws which so many players lack, but TBF many refs adjudicate with such variation it's hard to know where you stand some days.
Anyway, I'm not done being a masochist so I'll go watch the second half.
@NTA said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
Anyway, I'm not done being a masochist so I'll go watch the second half.
Yep. Pretty much what everyone said: we let Wales pretty much do what they want. Which wasn't much, but when you're 100% passive these things will happen.
@ACT-Crusader said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
Come the second half and the wheels defensively really fell off for the Wallabies. Some strange alignments and then a lack of urgency (or fitness)
I'm told that the training load was anywhere up to 50% higher than other teams. Make of that what you will, but we just did not have any energy in that second half.
We looked leaderless, and Porecki has to take some of that blame, but there were other senior players out there that could have stepped up as well. I don't even know who was captain when he went off.
We looked like we were on the plane after Wales' second try - and where the fuck was Kellaway or Tate to take that kick through?
I'll say it: we were defending like fucking leaguies. Everything about our alignment showed that.
At one stage Kellaway had to chase a kick, and after he got up he was frantically waving for someone to drop back. Why? That shit should be organic.
-
@MajorRage said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
@GibbonRib said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
@MajorRage
I reckon you're being unduly generous to him.Obviously they were going to ask about Japan - it's a big story. If it's not true, then he could have just clearly denied it and said he wasn't going to take any more questions on it. Instead he tried to sidestep it with a weird "I dunno what you're talking about mate" answer. Twice. That just sounded shifty and made everyone think there's something there.
If it's not true, just clearly say so. If it is true, well then he deserves all the grief he gets.
I think I am too. But two things here
- I know he's a good coach.
- Having met him, I know he's a pretty decent straight up guy too.
If I was Aussie, I'd be doing all I could to get Chieka back.
Are you fucking insane?
-
@BerniesCorner said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
Another Kiwi Welshman starring in red this time
Why have we struggled?It’s not about you ffs
@MiketheSnow said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
@BerniesCorner said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
Another Kiwi Welshman starring in red this time
Why have we struggled?It’s not about you ffs
Got me beat why we come into it as well, it's Wales/Aus match!
-
@MiketheSnow I don’t expect many to agree with me - it’s why I posted it.
Feel free to rebut my points with reasons, maybe I’ll find I agree.
@MajorRage said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
@MiketheSnow I don’t expect many to agree with me - it’s why I posted it.
Feel free to rebut my points with reasons, maybe I’ll find I agree.
Unable to take advantage/ make the necessary changes against a 14-man England
Got absolutely smashed
That’s poor coaching, and not someone I would be pinning my hopes on
-
Here's a shit take
https://twitter.com/ChristypDoran/status/1706415269776957625 -
Here's a shit take
https://twitter.com/ChristypDoran/status/1706415269776957625@antipodean said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
Here's a shit take
https://twitter.com/ChristypDoran/status/1706415269776957625Yeah crazy stuff, OK to go for a reset but you still need some experience, even if they are not in the top 23
-
Maybe it's my failing memory but doesn't Eddie have a reputation for flogging his players with training?
-
Maybe it's my failing memory but doesn't Eddie have a reputation for flogging his players with training?
@nostrildamus said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
Maybe it's my failing memory but doesn't Eddie have a reputation for flogging his players with training?
Yeah but so does Gatland
https://www.rugbypass.com/news/the-places-we-went-there-you-wont-experience-in-a-test-match/?c=1
-
Yeah, Gatland's fitness training is notoriously tough, and it has shown - in a good way. Wales have won a lot of matches during his tenure(s) by finishing stronger in the last 20.
Perhaps he's better than Eddie at judging the recovery needed before match day. Or maybe better at the man management needed to get the players to accept the pain as a good thing because of the rewards.
-
Here's a shit take
https://twitter.com/ChristypDoran/status/1706415269776957625@antipodean said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
Here's a shit take
https://twitter.com/ChristypDoran/status/1706415269776957625Wow.
This was apparently written with no irony:
"If Jones wanted to protect his job, he would have rolled out the same tried and tested and failed international players who between 2016 and Jones taking over had won just 42 per cent of Tests."
42% you say? Shocking.
-
@MajorRage said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
@MiketheSnow I don’t expect many to agree with me - it’s why I posted it.
Feel free to rebut my points with reasons, maybe I’ll find I agree.
Unable to take advantage/ make the necessary changes against a 14-man England
Got absolutely smashed
That’s poor coaching, and not someone I would be pinning my hopes on
@MiketheSnow That what was you took exception to?
As a parallel, Gatland has coached Wales to plenty of shockers - probably more than any other coach in the history of top level rugby. But he's also coached them to some fantastic times.
Argentina were absolute shithouse vs England, no question. And didn't look a huge amount better vs Samoa. But they've had some good results as well under Chieka.
If they were to get him, it could be a resurgence or it could be a second, awful, roll of the dice. I'd put money on the former, but I could well be wrong. I've got fuck all right this world cup, but surely that form has to change at some point ...
-
Here's a shit take
https://twitter.com/ChristypDoran/status/1706415269776957625@antipodean said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
Here's a shit take
https://twitter.com/ChristypDoran/status/1706415269776957625As somebody who wrote above in defence of Eddie, I agree that is a shit take.
He should be celebrated? Good god.
-
@antipodean said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
Here's a shit take
https://twitter.com/ChristypDoran/status/1706415269776957625Wow.
This was apparently written with no irony:
"If Jones wanted to protect his job, he would have rolled out the same tried and tested and failed international players who between 2016 and Jones taking over had won just 42 per cent of Tests."
42% you say? Shocking.
@GibbonRib said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
@antipodean said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
Here's a shit take
https://twitter.com/ChristypDoran/status/1706415269776957625Wow.
This was apparently written with no irony:
"If Jones wanted to protect his job, he would have rolled out the same tried and tested and failed international players who between 2016 and Jones taking over had won just 42 per cent of Tests."
42% you say? Shocking.
Is this actually real or one of those satirical sites ?
-
I think she decided what she was going to write before the tournament, and them just pushed on regardless of what happened in France.
The narrative of Eddie selflessly sacrificing the short-term easy wins in favour of bringing through the next generation was a little more credible before they were irreparably scarred by being part of the worst Wallabies ever
-
I think she decided what she was going to write before the tournament, and them just pushed on regardless of what happened in France.
The narrative of Eddie selflessly sacrificing the short-term easy wins in favour of bringing through the next generation was a little more credible before they were irreparably scarred by being part of the worst Wallabies ever
@GibbonRib said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
I think she decided what she was going to write before the tournament, and them just pushed on regardless of what happened in France.
The narrative of Eddie selflessly sacrificing the short-term easy wins in favour of bringing through the next generation was a little more credible before they were irreparably scarred by being part of the worst Wallabies ever
Christy is a bloke judging by the picture ( admittedly this can be dangerous in this day and age )
-
@NTA said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
Anyway, I'm not done being a masochist so I'll go watch the second half.
Yep. Pretty much what everyone said: we let Wales pretty much do what they want. Which wasn't much, but when you're 100% passive these things will happen.
@ACT-Crusader said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
Come the second half and the wheels defensively really fell off for the Wallabies. Some strange alignments and then a lack of urgency (or fitness)
I'm told that the training load was anywhere up to 50% higher than other teams. Make of that what you will, but we just did not have any energy in that second half.
We looked leaderless, and Porecki has to take some of that blame, but there were other senior players out there that could have stepped up as well. I don't even know who was captain when he went off.
We looked like we were on the plane after Wales' second try - and where the fuck was Kellaway or Tate to take that kick through?
I'll say it: we were defending like fucking leaguies. Everything about our alignment showed that.
At one stage Kellaway had to chase a kick, and after he got up he was frantically waving for someone to drop back. Why? That shit should be organic.
@NTA said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
We looked like we were on the plane after Wales' second try - and where the fuck was Kellaway or Tate to take that kick through?
I remember that and wondered where the hell the fullback was at the time so just rewatched it. Kellaway is moving back and forth, too many Wallabies cycle to their right to cover, and Tate and Kellaway are covering the right hand side.
The communication for Wales to identify that was very good. If I was Nawheelbarrow, I'd be asking Tate what he was doing miles away from the rucks in case of a turnover and Kellaway on the wing.
-
@His-Bobness said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
Awful by the Wallabies. Feel sorry for them. The rushed Eddie Jones appointment was always going to be a disaster. The man is a chancer, an opportunist and a troll. He’s only ever in it for himself. And by deliberately leaving his leaders and more experienced players like Hooper and Cooper at home, he has destroyed the confidence of another generation of players and kicked the corpse of Australian rugby while pocketing the cash. A disgraceful individual.
For the All Blacks, the truth is that New Zealand’s deterioration is directly related to the demise of the game in Australia. Losing South Africa in Super Rugby and leaving our teams to play lopsided flat-track bully games against weak Australian sides has de-powered them. Both NZ and Australia suffer from huge discipline issues and that’s clearly related.
With all the money and talent and broadcast dollars drifting to the northern hemisphere, it’s hard not to think that under Robertson’s regime the NZR will drop the overseas players ban completely.
It’s not about you ffs
If Oz are so shit you should have beaten them by the same margin
@MiketheSnow They did beat the Ozzie by a similar margin. In Melbourne. 7-38.
Oz have been getting progressively worse this year. Smashed by a second string SA (though some of those second stringers have forced their way into the 1st 23 now), smashed by the ABs at home, beaten by Argentina at home, well beaten by France in the warm up test.
Rarely have I seen an Oz team so devoid of creativity though. I think that was the big thing that stood out. Wales were very impressive in how they kept their structure and waited for an Oz mistake, which was always going to happen given how they were trying to play phases in a rugby world cup where the stats suggest doing so is rugby suicide.
-
@mikethesnow IMO Anscombe is a better player than the current version of Bigger. He also doesn't come across as Wales' version off Sexton.
-
@mikethesnow IMO Anscombe is a better player than the current version of Bigger. He also doesn't come across as Wales' version off Sexton.
@Billy-Tell said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:
@mikethesnow IMO Anscombe is a better player than the current version of Bigger. He also doesn't come across as Wales' version off Sexton.
One of his best games for Wales
I honestly thought he was unfit and not match fit in the Portugal match, but he emphatically proved me wrong
Biggar will start if he’s fit but great to have Anscombe coming off the bench
Costelow is there for injury cover only
