Matt's Contributions

Sheek, I never claimed Smith was our all time best, or better than McCaw, not sure where you got that idea from? I said he is our best forward running around now. As for revolutionising open side play, a sweeping statement perhaps, but look at how many copied that low bridging style of pilfering after he burst onto the scene. The point of the article was that Smith has been responsible for taking pressure off by stealing possession many many times over the years, and we all know how the current Wallabies handle pressure.

George Smith and the price of turnover ball

22 Jul 2009

A really interesting point OJ, and one that has not been mentioned before....I realise that it's not the coaches sole job to fire up a team. but I wonder how hard it is for Robbie to get his team to want to rip heads off the opposition.when that team and country is one he so proudly represented. Sure he's a professional, but kiwi pride runs deep. Let's see how we go against the Boks.

Wallabies: fifteen players, but not a team

21 Jul 2009

What a frustrating test. The good: *Sharpe and (and the forwards in general) who were certainly not dominated by the All Blacks. *Giteau's kicking for goal *The back ability to create opportunities early on *Some of the link play between forwards and backs *Defence The bad: *Getting rattled and playing poorly *Not having enough back reserves so Burgess could be hooked *Much of Burgess's decision making, kicking and passing *Lack of composure at key times *Lack of leadership, when it was needed to calm the more inexperienced players down *Kicking in general play The All Black deserved to win this, but boy, did the Wallabies blow it! Pressure can make you do dumb things. The positive is that (hopefully), in the future many of these younger players will realise the AB's are not that much better, and that they can win if they have self belief.

Wallabies wilt under All Blacks pressure

19 Jul 2009