The Wallabies are on the verge of greatness
Roar Guru By Chris McKay, 18 Jul 2009 The Crowd is a Roar Guru
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- All Blacks, Bledisloe Cup, Rugby Union, wallabies
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The Wallabies are on the verge of something. Though what that is, we won’t know until later tonight. Expectations of the team are very high, and one has a feeling that they’re on the verge of creating something very special.
A first up win will set up their chances for claiming back the Bledisloe, and with two Tests against the ‘Boks in Australia, a real shot at the Tri-Nations.
A win tonight represents more than just some silverware.
A win will send a very clear message to not only the All Blacks and Boks, but to the rest of the nations who will encounter the Wallabies on their way to the 2011 RWC, that they are a force to be reckoned with.
To win, the Wallabies will need to be precise in all facets of their game.
The battle up front will be a real challenge and the Wallaby front row will really dig in. Our lineout and scrum must set a solid platform for our backs.
The Wallabies have shown very little first phase attack, but I suspect that Deans has been keeping a few nice little moves up his sleeve for this game.
Our tactical kicking has definitely improved, but without a stable platform to work from, this will only relieve pressure and not build it.
The breakdown will be mayhem tonight. The Wallaby pack must hunt together as the All Blacks will really attack the breakdown in numbers and McCaw will certainly not hold back.
The required ingredients for the Wallabies to start the Tri-Nations with a win tomorrow night are all there, but the team needs to play for one another and play for a full 80 minutes if they are to succeed.
If the Wallabies lose tonight, then they really are no further along than were after last year’s Eden park thrashing and some serious questions will be asked, as aside from Elsom, the best Wallaby team we can field will all be on deck.
It’s time for another golden age of Wallaby rugby.
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July 18th 2009 @ 7:35pm
Pothale said | July 18th 2009 @ 7:35pm | Report comment
Snooze fest. Thought only the NH teams were meant to deliver trudging kickfests. NZ win this one on points and psychologically. They were the underdogs compared to an OZ team that was meant to set the standard for this years comp. Disappointing.
July 18th 2009 @ 7:35pm
Worlds Biggest said | July 18th 2009 @ 7:35pm | Report comment
This article is certainly hyperbole and doesn’t represent the view of most Wallaby supporters who realise this team is still building. Very disappointed with the loss as I do think the AB’s are beatable at home but our guys just can’t get it done. The AB’s finished strong once again ( cirica Brisbane and HK in 08 ) and played the conditions well.
July 18th 2009 @ 7:48pm
Billo said | July 18th 2009 @ 7:48pm | Report comment
It was a frustrating game because the Wallabies weren’t able to extend their early dominance. They may become a great side, but they aren’t there yet.
The referee’s pedantic approach to the game, particularly picking on Al Baxter, was a massive factor in determining the outcome of the game, and demonstrated once again that the outcome of a close game will often be decided by the referee.
I would hate to see Joubert refereeing another Australian game.
July 18th 2009 @ 8:04pm
Bonza said | July 18th 2009 @ 8:04pm | Report comment
Refereeing affects the result of every rugby game – why do we bemoan the ref as an excuse. It is not the first time that the Ref has penalised the Australian front row – No one was whinging when the frogs got blasted at scrum time by the ref a few weeks back when it also looked a bit one sided in the Wallabies favour. I note the Wallabies played on the 27th of June and now today (18th July) and they are due to play on the 8th of August in SA – roughly that is one game in more than a month. Alot was made of making the players available to play club rugby. 6 or 7 fringe guys have done so regularly but can we expect to see Giteau, Sharpe, Baxter, Moore, Horwill, Barnes, Smith etc saddling up for their clubs in the next two weeks or has this gone by the wayside (what is Giteau’s club?)?
July 18th 2009 @ 8:10pm
tarpo said | July 18th 2009 @ 8:10pm | Report comment
The rf was poor but was not the deciding factor in the game
July 18th 2009 @ 8:15pm
Jerry said | July 18th 2009 @ 8:15pm | Report comment
Mike – I can’t see how you can say a pack that conceded 9 turnovers to 6 was clearly better.
And to those whinging about the ref, look at some of the penalties the Wallabies were awarded – the one against Conrad Smith for “not rolling away” when he was on his feet playing the ball legally for instance. You could also count yourself lucky that George Smith only conceded a penalty not a yellow card when he blatantly killed the ball 9 metres out in front of his posts. Or that Smith was allowed to take a tap from a mark that was awarded to Adam Ashley Cooper (which lead to a penalty for the Wallabies).
The reason the Wallabies lost is that they didn’t convert enough early pressure into points and couldn’t impose themselves on the game in the second half.
July 18th 2009 @ 8:19pm
Mike said | July 18th 2009 @ 8:19pm | Report comment
Bonza,
Normally, I would agree with you. But this was beyond the pale. There were several decisions where there was simply no room for argument. In particular, two for collapsing the scrum against Baxter should have been given TO Baxter. We see it time and again, Referee who have little idea of what happens in scrums, then start awarding random penalties to cover their backsides. The open play rulings were just as bizarre – advantage lapsing after three seconds and one pass, etc.
Unfortunately, bad refereeing decisions often go in favour of those who are the “top” teams. It becomes a call on reputation, not a call on what is actually happening on the field. The calls against Baxter were made on the basis of how he played 4 years ago, not how he played on the night. We have seen that too often.
July 18th 2009 @ 8:24pm
Mike said | July 18th 2009 @ 8:24pm | Report comment
Jerry,
I can. First my comments about scrummaging – we were the better pack. The refereeing was utterly incompetent, and penalties that should have been awarded against Woodcock were awarded against Baxter, and the only reason appears to be prejudice, combined with a referee who did not know what he was doing.
As to the rest, the ABs have very little to complain about in the refereeing, of course there were a few line-balls that went against them, that happens in every test. But the blatant unarguable cases are a different matter.
This test was severely marred by a grossly incompetent referee.
ABs got the win, good for them, it almost certainly assures them the Bledisloe, but there was nothing impressive about it.
July 18th 2009 @ 8:28pm
Bonza said | July 18th 2009 @ 8:28pm | Report comment
Mike the referees dont understand scrums and the one good thing about the ELVs was they converted penalties into free kicks. Know we have gone back to the old system the impact of technical penalties costing 3 points increases – The point the infringements may have been there but hidden in free kick rulings that are less impactful
July 18th 2009 @ 8:31pm
van der Merwe said | July 18th 2009 @ 8:31pm | Report comment
I’m in agreement with Pothale’s sentiments.
How much longer is the ingenious Robbie Deans going to persist with legendary strongman Al Baxter?