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Matt Giteau won't be kicked out of Wallabies
- Wayne Smith, in Hong Kong
- From: The Australian
- November 01, 2010 12:00AM
ROBBIE Deans has defused suggestions Matt Giteau's retention in the Test side is heavily dependent on him remaining first-choice goalkicker.
Giteau managed just one goal from four attempts at Hong Kong Stadium and had been replaced by James O'Connor as kicker just before he was substituted in the 63rd minute of Saturday's Bledisloe Cup Test against the All Blacks, with Berrick Barnes taking over his playmaking role during the Wallabies' stirring last-quarter fightback.
Hong Kong now joins the Murrayfield Test against Scotland last year and Australia's two Sydney Tests this season, against England and the All Blacks, as matches where Giteau's errant goalkicking cost the Wallabies dearly.
At least on Saturday his three misses didn't prove fatal, with O'Connor setting up a thrilling finale by converting Drew Mitchell's 60th minute try to critically pull the Wallabies to within five points of the All Blacks before then sensationally converting his own try after the final siren to snatch a 26-24 victory.
With 664 points to his credit in 88 Tests, Giteau ranks third behind Michael Lynagh (911) and Matt Burke (878) on the Australian all-time points-scoring list, but his deteriorating form with the boot has raised questions over whether his general play is sufficient on its own to warrant his retention in the starting XV.
Happily for him, none of those questions has occurred to Deans who insisted yesterday the 28-year-old was not dependent on his goalkicking to justify his place in the side. "It's just one component," Deans said. "It's not the defining component. But we were totally reliant on Gits previously. Now we're not so. That's good for him, good for us."
While Kurtley Beale remains the side's designated long-range goalkicker, thanks to his own last-gasp heroics in Bloemfontein against the Springboks last month, Deans acknowledged O'Connor now had established himself as Giteau's primary back-up. Significantly, he did not rule out the prospect of O'Connor being first-choice kicker when the Wallabies open the European leg of their spring tour, against Wales, on Saturday.
To be fair to Giteau, many of the questions hanging over his place in the side stem not from his own performance, which was solid against the All Blacks, but from the emerging need to have an inside centre whose strong defence might relieve some of the pressure on Quade Cooper.
Cooper, marking up against Dan Carter for the first time, was at times dazzling in attack. He scored one try and set up both of Australia's two set piece tries by hitting first Adam Ashley-Cooper and then Beale with astonishingly accurate long passes, one to his right, the other to his left.
Defensively, however, Cooper was repeatedly embarrassed by Ma'a Nonu. Goalkicking and isolated defensive lapses aside, the only other blot on the Wallabies' copybook was scrummaging.
At times, Australia's set piece revived memories of the bad old days when the Wallabies scrum used to bow and bend before all comers. Certainly, Irish referee Alain Rolland held the two packs so long in the "pause" phase that impatience was going to get the better of one of the two packs -- and it was the Wallabies who couldn't curb their urge to push.
"We suffered there," Deans said. "Alain extended his "pause"but he did communicate that pre-game. Clearly our boys failed to adjust."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225945855929
so what is the reason then to keep him in the team
that "pauuuuuussse" annoyed the hell outa me.. what is the purpose for it? all i can see that doing is the ref trying to stamp his mark on the game where it should be the players dictating the result...
poor form...
why shouldn't he be kicked out - he got booted out of WA![]()
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It's stupid, as a prop you can't hold a pause long before it starts to become unstable
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never mind the brain explosion that comes when that hand comes up from between your legs and grabs your shirt .. and other things...
no wonder the props get jumpy!
i dont know why the ref doesnt count 1,2,3.......... less confusing for the props!!! and at least all the refs will be able to count at the same speed to get some consistency in their little power play over the tight forwards.
Also how can the props support all the back row when their feet are behind their body and u have the weight of the pack back in the old days the props supported the scrum with their outside foot in front... a much stronger steadier platform. Scumaging wastes so much time .....
---------- Post added at 21:50 ---------- Previous post was at 21:49 ----------
exactly i reckon he will be dropped for a few games on tour Barnes looked really good and wante the job Gits is in his confort zone.... put him on bench for a game or two
"...and at least all the refs will be able to count at the same speed..."
That's a major assumption![]()
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clearly JOC should be first choice goal kicker. Gits has been off for months...
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Giteau is doing well at 12, good defending and he is linking well with the outside backs.
I don't think in a game between the worlds 2 best teams we should be trying out new scrum calls. It will be interesting to see what changes are made if any to his calls in his next international game. He was good in all other aspects of the game though.
I agree, lets relieve Gits of his kicking duties. He will probably start playing better without the added pressure. O'Conner and Beale need to up their goalkicking training.