The French were aggressive in the first half, but grew more patchy as the game went on. Its not just the hard season, they also have a hoodoo about the Wallabies. Their best chance to beat Australia was at Stade Francais last year, so winning here was always going to be difficult.

Good to see the French giving the Australians a lesson in counter-rucking – hopefully Wallabies will learn from it.

Sharpe had his best game in years, but mustn’t forget he is always workmanlike. Not brilliant, but plays at the same intensity for the full 80 minutes.

Agree with plaudits for Robinson – an excellent game, and the forwards are underrated when it comes to man-of-the-match. Alexander has a lot of work to do – I wonder if Guy Shepherdson should be given another run?

Once again, the Ref’s scrum-setting was mediocre at best. Al Baxter IS a different player after Deans and Foley. Refs performance so far this season has been poor and they are the ones who need to lift their game.

Our tactical kicking was all over the place. If this is a one-off weakness, then we can live with it, but if not…

I too don’t understand the criticism of Burgess. He has his own style, almost a league style, and it is now clear why Deans has persisted with him for so long. RWC: spot on re Burgess’ hit on the French prop – this man has no respect for size.

you could play games on sunday afternoons.

Look at South Africa, they rarely have night tests. Going to a game in SA is so much differant, its like going to a college football game in the US, with people having braais and beers before and after the game in the carpark, dissecting what happened, kids kicking and passing rugby balls around. Argentina is the same as South Africa. Maybe Australians are differant, as you dont find that sort of atmosphere at NRL or HAL games either (maybe AFL in Melbourne/Adelaide/Perth you might find it).

Agree on the SFS, but the ARU has probably stitched itself up with a deal with Homebush for years and stuffed their options.

Similarly with day tests, the TV deal probably requires this as the ratings will be better at night. Crowds might also drop with blokes playing club rugby, but I seem to recall rounds being delayed sometimes when day tests were on. Ah the good ole days ….

the crowd was 43K.

The ARU should really be scheduling these games for SFS in future, it would have been a sellout there.

Better still, have the game on a sunday afternoon…why does the ARU insist on having every test match at night time…after watching the boks v lions, surely there is plenty of merit in playing games in the day time?

I didn’t go because I expected it to be a 2nd rate French side, kicked myself when they knocked off the ABs and it looked like it would be a good test, had to knock back free tickets on the Friday through work as I had something on Saturday, and then was satisfied I didn’t go because the game turned out to be insipid. And I’d say that was a common tale, resulting it whatever the crowd was.

The ARU takes the fans for granted. This is what happens. it’s not rocket science.

I notice everyone talked up origin 2 as having a great crowd of 80K. it wasn’t a sell out, for league’s biggest game but was considered a success. if rugby had 80K for the bledisloe we’d be wondering why it didn’t sell out. Different perspectives.

Maybe he needs a big tick & stamp on his forehead saying ‘qualified at the Foley School of Scrum’.

I firmly believe that the TH position will become a much stronger position for Australia in the future too. There is clearly future planning in place this season with Alexander and Cowan been given a run at tighthead. Neither are there yet but they need the experience to get there. Plus we also have Sekope Kepu who didn’t play alot of S14 this year but will feature next season. He be all the better for working with Michael Foley at the Tahs and if or when Rodney Blake returns from his scrummaging lessons in France we should be pretty deep in the position.

I do think that it is much better to be at the game to judge positional play as it is not possible from tv coverage. I’ve always wondered if they can put an overhaed shot in the corner of the screen so rugby nuts can observe the whole spectacle.

What I’d like to know from fellow Roarers is do they think TH is solid at the moment, I think there is plenty room for improvement here and I think Baxter legacy causes isuues with the ref.

Jameswm – Thats not fair I noted above how Moores first throw was way too high and TPN got caned for just 1 mistake.
Burgess defense was comparable to a loosies.

Worlds Biggest – Sharpe having a good game is great, yes I am a knocker but I have nothing personal against him and I am happy for him to be in the team if he is delivering which he is now. I hope he is not like Mark Waugh and does enough when his spot is under jeopordy but keeps performing.

How good is Burgess’s defence? His passing was better, his snipes were closely watched, but he is incredible under the high ball and in defence. Don’t forget this when analysing him.

Funny how people notice the one bad throw TPN did but gloss over Moore’s ones.

Agree Sharpe was better than usual – I’d still like to see them bringing a younger one along though.

The enthusiasm of the team is noticeable and criticising individuals becomes pointless unless they make glaring errors. Robbie Deans’ rotations will sort out anyone who isn’t on form, but this was a creditable TEAM performance and ‘Mumm was there’!

I love to agree with so many above that Nathan Sharpe needs a big rap. The big lumbering foreward was replaced by an enthusiastically coordinated player that suggested he needed to be swabbed.
He wanted that ball!
Never thought I’d see it!

Ben Robinson was great and Brown lived up to his promise and put in a huge effort.

Burgess owns his position and puts doubt into the opposition like no other. He covers a huge amount of ground defensively and reads the game like a wizard. His box-kicking has improved, and his long pass is also getting there, literally.To the knockers, compare how things happen before and after Valentine comes on [who is in your critical accountants minds better at the basics.] The tenor and urgency of the attack diminishes
The slow ball comes when Burgess CAN’T get the ball out quickly. He reimposes HIS will on the opposition.

Get behind a team that is ,so far, aiming higher and achieving higher under Robbie Deans.
Bugger the World Cup. Watch the enthusiasm now and enjoy it!

I would drop Mumm for Kimlin.

Peter K, your comments re Sharpe in previous posts made me change the way I watched that game, from a more detached and anyltical position than normal. I thought he played brilliantly in this game and after smith deserved MOM. I hope he keeeps improving and I noted he did’nt get dragged but Horwil did. I assume this is because he is a leader in the pack. I also reckon he made the most tackles of any forward.

Room for Improvement:

My other observations where:
Mumm needs to be given a wakeup in club rugby, was he on the field?

TH is still an issue although I thought the ref was a bit harsh, how many of the scrumswhere actually contested 3?, as an ex 5 this is extremely disapointing as it ruins the spectacle and cobativiness of the game. I think trestles rep will never change and as a result he will always be a liability wrt too the ref.

Half Back is another issue, in the second half Burgess made his only pass that was crisp and flat without taking a step. His running and passing are well read/telegraphed to the oppo. I’m not sure why he waits for the opp defence to form up 80% of the time he passes, he is frighteningly Greganesque. They must train this because the excuse of disruption is not available after this game. The AB’s and BOK will have his game well sussed by TN’s.

Would’ve been great to see Stirlo hold onto that ball, he would be pissed with himself.

Anyway I reckon the Wallas are going to be very competitive, time to start getting some odds off my Kiwi buddies!

The Wallabies seemed to struggle with the increase in intensity of the French forwards. At one point I was wondering if they were human or Octupus. They seemed to have arms & legs all over the place. So it was a decent workout for the forwards.

Our backs will need to kick better & run better lines if we’re to beat the AB’s & the Boks. So many of our kicks were charged down. That could have been ugly. We were fortunate with several crucial refereeing decisions. Can’t for the life of me figure how the French got pinged when Gits recovered his charged down ball right in front of our posts.

We play the AB’s in 3 weeks. How the hell will Robbie crank up the intensity & have us ready? Are the boys back to club rugby?

Come on, we need to hear you say that Sharpe is good last night.

The truth is that I have not been very impressed with Sharpe for a long time, but whatever Robbie has been telling him is obviously working. Yes. He did bomb a try by not passing wide – but that was the only major negative last night.

Instead of Sharpe doing “seagulling” last night, Mum was. What a shame that a young man given the opportunity did nothing to help his cause. He was the only player that is not improving under Robbie. Can’t wait to see Elsom at 6.

I also thoght that Brown did alright last night. Did you guys notice his biceps? He must be working on bulking up and strengthening work. He is not a big 8, but I like his attitude a lot. He may be in the making of our Rodney Soiallo.

Agree with the few other comments above that Benn R played fantastically well at the scrum and also in general play. If props do mature slowly, Benn R being in his early twenties would be in “the hall of fame” in his early thirties. Unfortunately our tight head stock isn’t as good as we see Ben A struggling when he came on.