Gold medal for Wallabies 2011 RWC team

"Rodney Blake played strongly in the Barbarians scrum and he now looks to be ready to join the Wallaby front row with effect and impact when his European schooling is over." This could be the most important bit of all.

Ian I guess the point I'm trying to make is that there were hugely encouraging signs on show. No matter what context the game is viewed in we could probably all agree that it was fiercely tough. And in that environment the Wallabies proved themselves. This was a much more complete performance than their 3 preceding maches. Like you say there's no point getting overexcited but it was better than I hoped for.

Guy I was at Twickenham for the Baa-baas v England game and certainly the Baa-baas approach was not as expected. It was a tough hard contest. Remember Justin Harrison, up to his old tricks, dust up between him and Nick Easter, which put Nick Easter out of the June trip. Still an exhibition game which in many ways did England few favours. Hence my view don't read too much into these games.

sheek, the seeding is much too early, and predictions are no more than speculation, but its fun. Wally, I share your passion and there are more good'uns to come, Beale, Lucas and Horne in the backs and Hocking, Kimlin in the forwards. But, lets see some back play and then we will really be entertained. maybe the S14 teams will replicate the formula. That's what I would be doing if I was Hickey, just pick Deans brains. Allblackfan, Re commentators, Barnes is pretty good. But the game plan of defence is a tricky one as it leaves the wallabies as currently, a one trick pony. a point scoring backline, and the players are there already, will be much better. In a World cup, you cant do that mcuh tackling every week for 4 weeks, (a tough pool game, then qtrs, semi and final). having said that, defence is a great and essential platform for a successful team. markH, who do you suggest could/should have been on tour other than Beale? Mike, I agree completely. Attitude, competitiveness, aggression and no thought for personal safety. james, absolutely correct. having said that, he will be showing more loyalty to the young guys coming through and is likely to get an improved performance out of the senior players anyway!!! David, TPN is not close to Moore and is unlikely ever to be. TPN could return to 7 from whence he came. has the skills, speed and strength to be a great 7, so again, players queueing up in every position. I just dont get why they took Cords' rather than a youngster. it would have given us a chance to see if another young half could perform under pressure.

Ian that's a surprisingly cynical comment from yourself - this performance was a massive step up in intensity from the previous 3 games and it was forged by the younger players - great signs for the future. Test match or no test match the manic and ferocious defence was stunning and something I haven't seen for a while. Numbers 4-8 were manic in their tackling and totally fearless. Burger was launching himself at these guys like a missile every few minutes and the wall stood firm. You simply couldn't escape the obvious feeling that this game mattered to them. Cooper showed increased maturity and toughness, Pocock was superb in his commitment and coverage, TPN played the best I have ever seen him, O'Connor was all class and just has a natural air about him like he was born to play. All good news. As fr the coverage - Channel 10 bought the rights to this game ages ago and thank God they used the Sky Sports commentary. Miles Harrison is OK but gets a few things wrong but Stuart Barnes is excellent. Above all there is no arrogance on show just a love of the game. But the proliferation of ads during play is a disgrace and although I shouldn't be surprised it gets me every time. This amatuer shite would not be tolerated by an NH viewing audience. Why we do is anyone's guess (we even allow it during our most popular games, maybe we're closer to Americans than we thought)

Ian, the result didn't really matter to me as it is supposed to be an exhibition game. However we all agree this was not a traditional baa baa game. With so many Saffers and AB's in the team it was clear they wanted to win and not by throwing the ball around keeping up tradition. The Wallabies also treated the game like a Test match which ensured we had a fair dinkum contest. To see our future stars pit themsleves against the Worlds best was the exciting part. Pocock will forever remember his game against McCaw and Burger ( 2 of the greats ) whilst teaming up with George Smith ( one of our great No 7's ). 18 year old James O'Connor showing some great touches, TPN belting people in defence, Quade Cooper taking on a Prop and not backing down, the play of AAC in unfamiliar position having a blinder and the team defence was outstanding. Don't underestimate the Baa Baa's resolve to win this game, they wanted it, Our team which never played together either wanted it more and deserved the win. This game may see a changing of the guard and a youth movement phased in for next year. That is exciting !

I am surprised you are getting so excited about an exhibition game between a team of fabulous stars who had only two training sessions together and the W's, albeit not the strongest X, that had been together as squad for 5 weeks or so. Bearing in mind the ground conditions, very cold, heavy pitch after alot of rain I would have anticipated the Ws to have won by 20+ points. To put it into perspective England beat the Baa-baas before the last trip in June, but as we all know thay are not world beaters.

MMM as a tall 6 for the Tahs? It'll be a cold day in hell before that happens.

With this excellent showing in one game TPN can be added to the list of young players who showed real improvement this tour and established themselves as long term Wallaby prospects - Cooper, Ioane, Mumm, McMenimem, O'Conner, Alexander and Kepu. World's biggest, a good idea that one, TPN to 8. The Tahs might like to try it next year, particularly since we generally play a tall 6 (Elsom, MMM or Mumm) as the 3rd lineout option.

Of course, and it has been said before here and elsewhere, there's nothing to say a hooker HAS to be the one to throw the ball into the lineout. But it can't do much for TPN's confidence in this aspect of his game that, even during the Baa Baas game when his throwing was pretty good, as soon as Frier came on he took over at lineout time.

I have always loved TPN's hands and skills right from the moment he went on the Northern tour about 4 years ago. His throwing is disappointing at best. End of story. If he can't throw, it should be either sorted, or he should change positions. I have said before I am astounded that a professional footballer, whose job it is to throw, can't throw. Having said that, his work around the park this year for the Tah's was outstanding in most games when he played, and he had a good game against a disjointed Baa Baas team. I don't like Palu that much. Same reason I don't think Willie Mason is that good. Big blokes like that should be damaging to say the least. Palu just seems to go missing too much and Willie Mason has about 1 good game in maybe 5. Palu never fires up and get's aggressive, except that game when he came off the bench. Maybe that is his go from now on?

Yes, Worlds Biggest, TPN was awesome. He must have been right in the groove...even his lineout throwing was spot on. I've been waiting to see him really showcase his skills since that first test cameo at Twickenham where he also flicked a great pass under pressure with his first touch. From my recollection, the papers said Eddie Jones gave him a bollocking for being too fancy. It would be great if he could get a start.

I agree with Sheek and Wallythefly, I too was pumped up about that performance, the ferocious defence was awesome. To see so many Wallaby youngsters playing against some great players was fantastic. This was no traditional Baa Baa game. This was a Test match. Given the play of Tatafu Polata-Nau which was devastating he has to start in the Wallaby pack. The position wouldn't be Prop or Hooker but Number 8. Yes he is short but he captained Australian Schoolboys as a Number 8. He is explosive with ball in hand and hits like a sledgehammer in defence, just ask Jerry Collins. These are the type of players the Wallabies need in the forwards to out muscle the All Blacks. What about that flick pass TPN threw to Ioane !. Elsom will be back next year to provide the 3rd lineout option. Richard Brown is a solid player but not a match winner. Look at the athleticism of Number 8's, Andy Powell ( Wales ) and Pierre Spies ( Springboks ). They are outstanding players with match winning skills. Polata-Nau has these match winning skills which can't be ignored any further. TPN could win us a World Cup with his skill set so why not give him a go at Number 8 next year. TPN to start then Palu come off the bench for 30 minutes. I think this will be Palu's mantra from now on. He can't play a full game so use him wisely off the bench. Some people might think I am mad suggesting this idea however for us to win the World Cup in NZ we need forwards with all the skills. TPN has this in spades for the Number 8 position.

I expect Dean to show decreased loyalty next year to senior players -with the exception of Smith, Tuquiri and Mortlock.

In the lead up to the Wales game there was a lot of discussion about the defensive strategy employed by Gatland, following on from his time at Wasps. Largely, folks seem to claim that he invented the idea of attacking the team with the ball as a potential source of possession. If you ask me, this tactic is much older and has been employed in all sports dating back to when it was actually battle rather than sport. It comes from hunger and passion, and it almost always leads to victory. I have seen it many times in significant games, most memorably for me in the semi final against the AB's in 2003. Everyone expected the All Blacks to win as the Wallabies just had not been playing well enough, but then they came out charging up in the defensive lines, making big tackles, and it was that mentality that led to Mortlock's intercept. Likewise in that tournament, it was Samoa playing England in the pool game, who came out hungry and very nearly upset the best team in the world at that time. Some folks like John Eales are born with it, some like Stirling Mortlock have learnt it, and it is the most important ability in all sports. And that is again what we saw yesterday. The Aussies were flying up looking for tackles, driving hard into rucks and clearly just wanting it more. Such a fantastic trait to see in them again, and perhaps this came through the enthusiasm of youth and the pent up Tuqiri dying for a good run, or perhaps it is being instilled in them through Deans' attitude? It is not a skill that can be coached as such, but a psychological habit which can be developed. Let's hope they can carry on with that mentality next year??

I got to watch it live on ten, lucky I live walking distance to work, best game of the tour!

I thought the game was great. The defence was the highlight. I thought some of the Baar Baars were a bit suprised. Esp when they were getting dished up in tackles. Very clinical. Apart from the turn overs, which really had no effect, the young lads took it to them. Despite the fact that the Baar Baars had a team of very experienced int players, they should not have allowed themselves to be worked over by the defensive tactics of Australia. If I was a current member in the Wallabies. Id be looking over my shoulder right now as we still had a few young fellas not on tour who should have been. Well done boys.

Agreed, the passion and skill of the Wallabies was outstanding. There is much to applaud particularly in regards to the next Cup but there were a couple of points that irked me about the Baa-Baas game. 1. Given that this was such a ``young'' Wallaby team, their play at the breakdown was surprisingly cynical. I think in a normal test, the Wallabies would have been reduced to 13 men (think England on the weekend). Their saving grace was that in a Baa-Baas game (with the right ref), yellow cards are very reluctantly handed out (a point made by the commentators, who I thought were very poor overall). 2. The Wallabies game plan was based on defence, for long passages, against a team with very little combination. They relied on Baa-Baa mistakes for their tries, a given when you consider the nature of the world team. 3. The poor skill levels and temperament of the Springboks (apart from Burger and Habana) surprised me yet again (although I don't know why considering how often I've noticed this in the Tri-Nations).

Spiro, Thought it was a great display by a young side. I came away really pumped and excited for the next three years of Aussie rugby. I thought Mitchell's coming into the space from full back (and burgess's accurate pass) the in and away and then the ball to Turner wtih all his speed was just awesome. Most impressive (although a lot less 'sexy') was just the committment in defence as the big men like Berger (is it just me or does he remind anyone of the Bond villian Jaws?) and Collins etc just ran at them all day Bring on 2009!

Spiro, I haven't been so moved by a Wallaby side for quite some time. The way they played - the skill, the defence, the courage - really, really impressed me. We have some outstanding young talent coming through. The Wallabies are going to be right in the mix in 2011. Makes a folly of selecting world cup pools (obviously a commercially based decision) 3 years out. Also makes a folly of predicting outcomes of an event so far away in time, today.