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I've watched this game twice now, and I'm still having troubles finding the words to describe it, or rather Australia's role in the match. Because for this Bledisloe, there was only one word: breathtaking.
In some ways it's difficult to pinpoint any single player, as all the Wallabies had a hand in this win. It's also hard to pinpoint a part of the game that won this test as Australia fought this battle on so many fronts. But here it goes.
It's tempting to start with the attacking play (4 tries against the ABs will do that) but instead I want to start with the kicking game we seem to have picked up from no-where. All of a sudden our next great 15, AAC, is dropping bombs 30cm outside the 22 with a line of 10 men in front of him and Berrick Buns lacing daggers behind their backline. Since when did we know how to do that? It absolutely fµcked them, and despite the amount of ball we didn't have in the first half, this together with my next point had New Zealand as quivering wrecks.
The breakdown. First, what we've always done well: George Smith. If you're new to the blog you won't realise that contrary to mis-placed public and kiwi opinion, I know for a fact that George Smith is the best 7 that the world has ever seen and he showed it again today. On a good day McCaw can match him on the deck and in defence, but not with ball in hand. Smith killed them today, just at the right times.
But it's the counter rucking - as if that's a new idea - which has crept into the Wallaby play as a welcome addition. In short, whenever the Wallabies were in two minds today, they knew they could hoof it down-field with a laser guided bomb and pick up a turnover from there. Nice.
And this was with the usual fantastic scrambling D. The thing that amazed me today with the D was the 9-10-12 channel. Nonu didn't know what do next after finding himself smashed by any one of the Australian halves. It was beautiful to watch, although not unexpected. The only NZ team with more than one game plan now has its coach leading the wallabies.
And I don't want to forget the piggies. Scrum just about held it own, the line-out dominated as expected, but most importantly the forwards made both the hard tackles and the hard yards.
Utlimately, this is what impressed me the most - the Wallabies ability to change tactics and gear when reuired. The last time I saw that was in a S14 final just a few months ago......
For those of us stuck up on the Mud Isle, we had the treat today of Justin 'Plank' Harrison in the studio with Sean 'Lazy Runner' Fitzpatrick. This was ace because Harrison has actually played professional rugby this century and even knows the players, unlike Fitzy. Apart from just making so much more sense (and give SF some sh1t like no-one else does) The Plank said this (approximately):
"The ABs always have the better athletes, but we can always play smarter. And when we do, we win"
How right he got it today.
So my problem is - how do I rate the individual performances in a game like this?
Last edited by greenandgoldrugby; 27-07-08 at 15:39. Reason: drunk posting spelling
Nice write up again Gags - I was fortunate enough to be there live and in person. The atmosphere was great, the rums were flowing and I can't wait to watch the replay so I can pass on my assessment of the match.
One thing I have to say about going to a Bledisloe, and I have been fortunate enough to go to 7 now, how great it is to sit in a crowd of both Aussies and Kiwi's and to be able have some banter and friendly niggle and no matter the result, at the final whistle shake hands and go away smiling. I do not believe that sort of camaraderie can be found within any other sport and is the reason why Rugby is the greatest sport on the planet.
Last edited by .X.; 27-07-08 at 08:17.
Exile
Port Macquarie
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!" - Rocky Balboa
Good write up gagger.
I agree, hard to do ratings when pretty much everyone on the ground had a good game.
AAC and Burgess made up for their poor efforts last week.
Would have liked for Mitchell to get a bit of a run this week. Especially once we got the 4th try and the game was out of reach. Why not put Mitchell and Cordingley on for the last 7 or so minutes.
i think this game will be remembered for a while!
Would have loved to see him get a run, for longer than 40 odd seconds, but only 7 minutes would be another cheap cap. I have a feeling he'd be wanting more than that and a chance to atleast work up a sweat and maybe even score a try.
Oh and I found some stats at ARU :
Possession: Aus 50% | NZ 50%
Scrum Wins: Aus 10 | NZ 8
Lineout Wins: Aus 5 | NZ 7
Rucks & Mauls: Aus 71 | NZ 98
Tackles / Missed: Aus 137/31 | NZ 75/16
Turnovers: Aus 29 | NZ 48
Penalties Conceded: Aus 4 | NZ 3
I didnt realise Australia made so many tackles, good defense! It shows we definately made the most of our possession, well we did a much better job than NZ anyway.
Last edited by laura; 27-07-08 at 20:28.
I've got a feeling Mitchell won't be playing much at all this year.
i think those possesion statistics might be wrong
I didnt say that, ARU did.
I dont think its too accurate, but makes Australia's efforts look much more impressive.
WHAT a game!
But, Gaggers: "Berrick Buns"?![]()
Success is not final, failure is not fatal:
it is the courage to continue that counts.
- Winston Churchill
i beg to differ!!!
aac improved heaps from the boks game to the allblacks game, but by no means is he a great fullback yet. i expect drew to have a turn- SOON! i think deans should give them both a shot, one on the bench incase the other chokes. hes done that halfway, and id like to see it happen the other way around now.
the only one of our back three i think achieving to their full potential at the moment is lote. i barely knew hynes was on the FIELD last night! he is definetly the future in the wing department, but i think that last night drew would have offered a lot more than hynes did.
just my biased 2 cents![]()
A kick in this game is like a rather nasty alcoholic shooter, only as good as it's chaser...
Courtesy of quality South African commentry
I think AAC fits in more with the general fullback that Dingo likes. Not flashy but relatively solid, much like MacDonald. I don't understand his selection in the first place and now he has put in a good performance I can't see him leaving at all. The Wallabies seem to stick with players they like despite bad form, it's been that way for a while and now Dingo has got some success I suspect it will much be the same team throughout the tri nations. I just hope Sharpey doesn't get turfed as he has lifted his game ten fold the last two games and Vickerman is a lost cause as he is leaving....but time will tell...
I don't like change just for the sake of change. Either someone in the back 3 gets injured or has a few bad games on the trot. Thats the only way Mitchell will force his way into the side, it looks like Aussie Rob won't just chop and change like previous coaches have, the June tests are the time to tinker with your line up and at the moment our back 3 are pretty solid
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I agree, and think this is part of the reason we are playing so much better this year. In past years players would have been rotated out just for the sake of it. Like Waugh and Smith swapping every week. And I'm sure Barnes and Giteau would have alternated playing 10 and 12 etc...just stupid stuff trying to find something that works but never gets enough time to see if it is working. I say until we lose there is no need for changes unless a player plays a few bad ones in a row.
i dont think its change for the sake of change though... its more change for the possibility of improvement. we havent seen drew in fullback since last year for the force. hes been really good on the wing this year, and i think he would be offering a lot for the wallabies at the moment if he was getting some decent game time.
A kick in this game is like a rather nasty alcoholic shooter, only as good as it's chaser...
Courtesy of quality South African commentry