RWC2011 Pool Match Report: Australia -v- Italy

[Darren]

AUCKLAND, 11 Sept. - James O'Connor inspired Australia to a 32-6 win over Italy after coming off the bench to spark a second-half revival in their Pool C opener at North Harbour Stadium.

The sides were locked 6-6 at the break with two penalties apiece as errors and offences marred a first half played in damp and blustery conditions.

But after O'Connor was introduced shortly after the interval in place of Anthony Faingaa, the Wallabies scored 26 points in 20 minutes without reply to destroy the Azzurri's hopes of the tournament's first upset.

The Italians kept tackling bravely but the free-running Australia backs had found their feet and repeatedly found the gaps.

After the game, try-scorer Adam Ashley-Cooper paid tribute to O'Connor's influence.

"The guys coming off the bench had a real impact," said the winger. "They changed the dynamic of the game for us."

Scrum half Will Genia said of coach Robbie Deans' half-time advice: "We spoke about being more direct with our play, so we had a change in focus and it worked really well for us."

Ben Alexander crashed over for the first try in the 50th minute after the Wallabies stole an Italy lineout near halfway and Digby Ioane burst up the middle. Neat interlinking moved the ball from left to right before the prop was able to touch down.

O'Connor missed the conversion but soon after his pace got the Wallabies moving forward again and fly half Quade Cooper was able to send Ashley-Cooper in under the posts.

With his team running riot, O'Connor was the recipient of another well-timed Cooper pass and sprinted over for the third try, which he converted to make the score 25-6 on the hour.

Digby Ioane blitzed in for the fourth after a well-worked move off the back of the scrum involving Cooper and replacement scrum half Luke Burgess. O'Connor's conversion took the score to 32-6 and his personal tally to 11.

Italy captain and number 8 Sergio Parisse offered hope of a consolation try with a storming run up the middle off an interception but his attempted kick ahead went awry.

With five minutes to go he fumbled at the back of the scrum as the Azzurri attempted a pushover try.

Italy coach Nick Mallett said afterwards: "It's a pity we didn't control the ball better for that pushover try. I think our forwards deserved it.

"I was hoping to get through this match without getting humiliated. At the end of the day I think the score's a reflection of the difference between the two sides."

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/home/ma...25/report.html

[blueandblack]

"The guys coming off the bench had a real impact," said the winger. "They changed the dynamic of the game for us."

I agree. "Faingaa, A." leaves the ground and we start winning. Hmmm...

[James]

Thoughts:

- Did anyone else think that the Maori didgerdoo like thing from the opening ceremony looked a bit like a vuvuzela? Thank god there are no vuvuzela's in New Zealand. We'll be in serious trouble in 10 years time when NZ catches up with the rest of the world.

- The Wallabies scrummed well today against a good scrum. I'm wondering whether it was the Italian replacements who helped them gain dominance or the Australian subs who lost our parity.

- David Pocock is awesome.

- The Reds joke that Will Genia is Radike Samo's son. Did anyone else notice that Digby Ioane, with his white hair merging with new black growth, looked a lot like Jim Williams? No doubt after the first half Jim's hair will be a few shades greyer.

- Dan Vickerman gave away a lot of penalties. I counted at least three and thats not including the 10 metres he gave away for being an idiot. Other than that he did play well.

- You've got to like Alan Rollaind as a ref. He was pretty funny modelling what he wanted to see at the breakdown to Sergio Parisse but at least he explains exactly what the problem is.

[Burgs]

After the first match by all the credible contenders I am just a little bit confident.
Basically we could not be in a better position after the first matches.
Fully fit Squad, five point win, best performance of the top six or so nations, going into our other tough fisture against a rattled but victorious (always learn more in a loss) opponent and then two weeks to rest up and try a couple of comeback alternatives (Barnes, Polota-Nau etc).
What it also means is there will be no excuses for a loss, will be just that the team wasn't good enough, always a confronting prospect...

[zed]

But how shaky was the scrum? If that doesn't improve the English (assuming we both make semis) will have em for breakfast. Backline looked awesome though. Cooper just gets better with each game. JOC looked sharp when he came on.

[Burgs]

I was actually pretty impressed with the scrum, as was Nick Mallet.
We might not be the best in the World but held our own against one of the very best, probably top three scrums.

[palitu]

i was a bit unimpressed with cooper. He made some bad call in counter attacking, he seemed to be in two minds, then just stop, or turned away from one, into two other defenders.

He seems to be a little down in confidence with that aspect of his game ..

[NTT]

The best part for me was we played out a good solid 80 min performance and didn't fade in the 2nd half like the NZ game 2 weeks ago and hot dam doesn't our bench look impressive with 7 starting calibre guys there that can actually make an impact on the game.
Only thing I'd change is Drew shmoo in for Fainga'a on the bench.

[NTT]

Oh and also I think Pocock had his best game of the year in any colour jumper.

[Buddha Handy]

The best part for me was we played out a good solid 80 min performance and didn't fade in the 2nd half like the NZ game 2 weeks ago and hot dam doesn't our bench look impressive with 7 starting calibre guys there that can actually make an impact on the game.
Only thing I'd change is Drew shmoo in for Fainga'a on the bench.

I agree. I think the key to winning this world cup could be the bench and the impact that the players bring. If we added Drew Mitchell and maybe Palu to the bench and had TPN at full fitness they would make a big impact.

[Thequeerone]

Couldn't agree more Drew was one of the more dynamic players in the last RWC - he really added some much needed unpredictability hard to beat

[Burgs]

Sounds like he may even need to come straight on to replace Digby.
I don't think it is the end for Anthony F, though probably is for next week, he just had one of those matches where his few mistakes were very visible ones.
He actually still did some good work in defence which is really what he is getting selected for.
I wouldn't be surprised if Deans leaves him there and keeps O'Connor as the "super sub" to inject into the match like this week. Keeps O'Connor fresh for the Finals and keeps some confidence in AF.

The change I would make will come as no surprise on a Force site though, Simmons did two half decent things in his time on the pitch and a shocker in the lineout (granted he at least had the dignity to clean up his own mess). Bring back Sharpie, it's a no brainer. Leaves this kid for dead.

[shasta]

But how shaky was the scrum? If that doesn't improve the English (assuming we both make semis) will have em for breakfast.

I gave the scrum a tick. They are not world beaters but I think they can get parity. OTOH I was not overly impressed with the English forwards. The Pumas pigs, who are even older than Johnson's men, had it over them by a good margin. In fact if a couple of 50/50 refereeing decisions had been made, the Argentinians could easily have come away with the chockies. Sorry they didn't.

[mudskipper]

Pocock had his best game for a long while... keep up the good work Dave...

[hertryk]

i was a bit unimpressed with cooper. He made some bad call in counter attacking, he seemed to be in two minds, then just stop, or turned away from one, into two other defenders.

He seems to be a little down in confidence with that aspect of his game ..

INMHO...The Line out was still pretty ordinary...