England’s Jonny Wilkinson, right, tackles Australia’s Matt Giteau, left, during their international rugby union match at Twickenham stadium, London, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
During the course of the Tri-Nations via The Roar, I stumbled upon the fact that the Wallabies are going to be nigh on an unstoppable juggernaut come WC 2011. So who are the biggest threats to this Australian team taking their rightful place at the top of the Rugby universe?
New Zealand have been building solidly but are an aging side, reliant solely on Messers McCaw and Carter. Not to mention the choke they have on premature exits from the Rugby world’s biggest stage.
South Africa are merely awaiting the return of their injured brigade led by the incomparable Du Preez and the wily (but clean-living) Brussouw to implement properly their kick-chase-pressure game-plan that saw them come and conquer all last season. But can these sides live with the pace and invention of the Reds-inspired Wallabies?
The Northern teams too have pretensions. The mercurial French can beat anyone on their day and Martin Johnson is waxing lyrical about his superbly-conditioned England squad who are now ready to deal to the Southern teams when they venture to Europe.
Wales and Ireland too are making confident noises and the Scots could fairly claim that in a knockout competition it can come down to the rub of the green.
Will the weather and the late starts play a part come crunch time? Will Australia be the first name to appear three times on the WWE trophy?
moaman
Roar Guru
Hey have you seen the photo that has just come to light of the ABs first home Test v GB 1904?http://www.kickoff1904.co.nz/
moaman
Roar Guru
Everyone wants to win! As long as its us I don't care who wins-right?:-)
Sam Owen
Guest
At the end of the day its all crystal ball stuff! As long as we BEAT THE F'OCKERS all will be well...
moaman
Roar Guru
Agree with you re the NZRFU & The 3 Wise Men;At the time I was leaning slightly in favour of their retention although I probably wouldn't have lost any sleep had they been sacrificed.The decision to retain them,in the face of raucous public pressure has proven already(in my view)to be both brave and justified.RSA will need an overhaul much the same as Otago is doing to shed their dead wood and re-establish their systems.They will always be our major threat-at least in our lifetimes.
Sam Owen
Guest
Winning at the highest level is all about finding the right formula. The most positive thing NZFRU has done in living memory is keep Henry and co, because they just had to rework their formula, not start from scratch. Fergie at ManU is perfect example of someone who came in at a time when they were poor and took 7 years to win the league. He has built a dynasty based on solid fundamentals and nowadays ManU never finish out of the top 2. Henry and co. have done away with the 4 year campaign focus, instead trying to win just the next game and NZRFU has done away with (for now) bowing to public opinion in coach recruitment. IF and only IF that formula works next year it will work again in 2015, because no other country in Rugby apart from RSA has 2 top notch competitions to develop their player base and they will be our biggest threat once they rebuild.
moaman
Roar Guru
Sam.How do you figure" if we do{win} we’ll win 2 in a row"? Much as I'd like to think the ABs can shed the 'chokers' tag next year I don't think it follows that NZ will immediately follow up in 2015.As most of us are aware..a year is a hellova long time in rugby(ask PDV!)let alone 5!!! The All Blacks are incredibly well-placed to win next October but let's not get ahead of ourselves mate.:-)
Sam Owen
Guest
NZ has only choked once in RWC... 91 we were shite 95 we were sick - accidental or deliberate 99 nobody could have beaten the French that day - and we weren't really that good 03 we choked 07 we lost because of Wayne Barnes - OK maybe a semi choke as well 11? If we don't win next year at home we may never win another. But if we do we'll win 2 in a row. Wobblie main issue is you don't have a bench of any depth or quality and only 12 months to get one RSA is too old. NH? Too much to do and not enough time to change the rules back!
Ben S
Roar Guru
I'll add my two cents on Lawes if you don't mind, jiggles, and then leave the floor open to VC. Thankfully Lawes is nothing like Spies. Firstly, he's a 4 lock (more in the mould of Simon Shaw than Bakkies Botha), who could, at a push, play 6. Secondly, his raison d'etre is aggressive tackling. He's a very, very physical young player. He hasn't been a rugby player for as long as most (age 5 and upwards), which can be both good and bad: bad in the sense that he doesn't yet have a tactical mind (i.e. which ruck to hit, and which not to hit), but good in the sense that he doesn't suffer from tunnel vision like Steve Borthwick, for example. Lawes ha a bigger frame than most locks, but is yet to fill out, and given his tactical naivety he still needs to be played with a good technical lock. However, he is, as you say, very athletic, and very confrontational, which is, IMO, what a good lock needs. You can't upgrade a donkey to a stud, and if you don't have that ruthless streak, then you simply don't have it. It can't be coached.
jiggles
Guest
tonga have left their mark against NZ in RWC??? How so? '03 the Haka's where impressive but after that it was 1 way traffic, I think the score was nearly 100 points! '99 was also a thrashing, 40 odd points, to NZ. Have they versed each other in any other world cups? you will have to inform me.
jiggles
Guest
very well said VC. The tight 5 will have to improve vastly to be a credible threat in Knock-out games. England showed in 2007 that you do not have to be flashy to get through the comp, and to be honest before the tournament no one really gave them a chance. fortunately for Australia, they versus Wales in the quarters (if they finish top), and they should win that match. So France/England in the Semi will be the biggest contest. can you tell me a little about Lawes? he seems an absolute supreme athlete, although I haven't seen much of him around the park (does anyone know who shows GP in Australia, I can only find french top 14?). is there danger for him to be a Pier Spies but? absolute man mountain and dynamic player, who is very soft and hits like a 5-8?
moaman
Roar Guru
Gary/Ben; The game that the England(dirt-trackers)showed later in their match v NZ Maori was a lot more adventurous than what you describe.England contributed equally in what was an exciting and memorable contest.If this is where they are heading-there is hope yet for England to compete with the "tier one" sides.
Ben S
Roar Guru
I'm struggling to see how you came to that conclusion, I really am? How does a team play 'a 15 man pack'? Are you suggesting that England tried to do that in every game, or simply during one single game in which it was wet and the Australian Barbarians were equally one-dimensional? Did you watch the 2nd Test match?
Gary
Guest
I was at them and also the Babas game in Perth. That Tuesday night effort was even more woeful. The English seemed to be trying to play a 15 man pack. Even when they had an overlap in the backline with the Aussie Barbarians winger being sinbinned they continued to attack through the forwards.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Jay ,I suppose you would be enthused with headlines like: Galactical Gladiators, Merlin's Magical Messengers or even All Black's Cloud Rugby's Skies.
Jay
Guest
Unstoppable juggernaut... Rightful place at the top of the rugby universe... This is gold! NZ media could learn a few things from this. If the All Blacks ever lost 10 IN A ROW to Australia they'd be lined up and shot, not glorified. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
tiwana
Guest
Jiggles then the wobbilies will have problems, like - gone
Ben S
Roar Guru
What is the one thing that wins World Cups? The mental strength to grind out close games. What is the one thing that Australia under Deans, to date, are yet to do? Grind out close games.
Ben S
Roar Guru
During the past two seasons I've been pretty unimpressed with the general skills of the Australians and the South Africans, VC. I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen Fourie throw a ball over the head of his winger in recent seasons. That said, it would be foolish of me to write off the talents of either side (I'm purposefully not referring to NZ), but I think that the gulf in ability has decreased. Ultimately, England, SA and Australia all have clear and obvious weaknesses in certain aspects of their game. England tend to be perceived in the South, and by far too many England fans, as overweight kick and bosh merchants, whereas in my humble opinion players like Ashton and Foden are as skilled and talented as anybody in the world game. However, you are spot on in referring to next year as until the Autumn Tests or the 6N take place all praise is basically presumptuous. A lot rests on selection and tactics, but I'm confident that the current squad of players is as good as England have had in a long, long time. I'm not sold on Rees either. I'm automatically wary of any player who Lawrence Dallaglio is at pains to talk up in the media. He just strikes me as another hybrid 7, neither a pilferer nor a carrier. This is a big season for Hendre Fourie. He's not getting any younger.
Colin N
Guest
"I agree about the open-side situation – Moody is looking old, and every time I watch Rees, he just strikes me as a smaller and crapper version of Pocock." Rees has been unlucky with injury and, to be fair, looked very good when he came back from injury towards the end of last season. But since then, he's been average. I'm a big fan of Steffon Armitage, though, and it's such a shame that he's picked up this shin injury.
Viscount Crouchback
Guest
Let's hope so, Ben. I agree that England's fitness and athleticism will be competitive, but I think we have a long way to go before we can match the Wallabies and All Blacks for ball skills and potency in broken field situations. That said, if Ashton, Youngs and Foden continue to develop, then perhaps I'll be singing a different tune this time next year. I agree about the open-side situation - Moody is looking old, and every time I watch Rees, he just strikes me as a smaller and crapper version of Pocock.