Australia have beaten The Barbarians by 31 to 28 points at Alliance Stadium in Sydney in a game that will perhaps be spoken about for the wrong reasons in the days to come.
The game itself stuttered along for most of the 80 minutes with neither side really able to get into their rhythm.
For the Wallabies this will be more concerning – while it wasn’t their first choice team they would have expected to be able to take better control of this match and not rely upon so many errors from opposition and yellow cards to help them out.
Much was spoken of this match as a trial of sorts for some to try and play their way into Cheika’s Spring Tour squad.
No one player really covered themselves in glory but Ben McCalman, Luke Jones and Lopeti Timani all had good games although with Jones being based in Europe for another year he won’t be eligible for a while.
From the Barbarian side Quade Cooper certainly caught the eye. His chip kick for the BaaBaas last try was perfectly executed but overall it still feels like Cheika doesn’t rate him enough to start ahead of Bernar Foley, and he’s not the future of the Wallabies so why include him?
Instead Duncan Paia’aua will be the understudy for Foley – he scored twice and had a pretty good game without having the full control that he would have ideally liked.
Perhaps with more of a chance than Cooper of making the Wallabies at some point is Tom Banks – he played well including scoring a try and assisting in Taqele Naiyaravoro’s second. He’s arguably not quite right for the wing but could offer a good option at No.15 with Folau not touring.
Speaking of the full back spot, Karmichael Hunt’s first game back in a Wallabies shirt wasn’t as good as he’d have hoped but he should still get plenty of game time over the coming weeks.
He never stopped running and it’ll be interesting to see how Foley and Kurtley Beale can bring him into the play with some nice inside balls as he comes in at pace.
On the flip side players like Ned Hanigan, Billy Meakes and Samu Kerevi didn’t play well. Hanigan’s effort never fades but his ability to make an impact continues to be missing in action. Kerevi’s misread of a pass led to a nice break from Naiyaravoro who then put Banks in for his try and showed his ongoing struggles to dominate at the upper levels.
Sadly for the Aussies the real bad news is that Jack Dempsey and Tui both went off with injuries that looked pretty bad – Dempsey couldn’t even walk and needed two medics to get him to the sideline. We await the official report on how long they are out for but it doesn’t look good.
Unfortunately the referee had far too much impact on the game today which is especially sad in a Barbarians game.
There were a lot of penalties especially against the touring side which slowed the game down but the real issue was when he pulled out two yellow cards late in the game that saw Naiyaravoro and Cooper go to the bin.
At that point the BaaBaas were actually ahead and it was building to a great finish. With a two-man advantage though the Wallabies were able to get the final score and the win.
Neither card was really needed and the boos from the crowd will ring in the ref’s ears for a while. Of course he has to keep the players safe but with 10 minutes to go it was not necessary to bin two Barbarians.
So that’s the last time we’ll see the Wallabies in Australia for a while and it was another win on the record which is important. But the game has thrown up a number of questions and challenges for Michael Cheika as he looks to firm up his touring side and he’ll be sweating on the news about Dempsey and Tui.
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
Macalman has been pretty good in the air. Not Fardy/Coleman primary good but a reliable secondary at the back.
jameswm
Guest
On one Hanigan took it and Jones stole it off him in the air. Clear penalty missed.
soapit
Guest
no worries peter, as i indicated given the amount of foley arguments on here i just thought we could go out of our way to avoid using him where not necessary. that was more just a bit of shutting the gate after the horse bolted on the foley argument front. i do take your point. as i also said i do think him coming back from injury and having an experimental backline around him are 2 mitigating factors in how much praise he's been getting. and he's not been given the endless starting positions that the compariosn has so he's never gonna be up for the same level of criticism. really my latest comment was aimed at the ridiculousness of the statement regarding the haters coming in when he hadnt even played.
Train Without A Station
Guest
Actually wouldn't Dempsey and Tui have been playing NRC?
ThugbyFan
Guest
Obviously Ben McCalman to replace Jack Dempsey on the EOYT, he mainly played #8 in his time with the Force but yesterday showed he is a pretty good flanker. If L.Tui can't make it I would put Matt Philip on the plane but M.Cheika has ignored him and RHP all year. The WB need 5 locks on the tour so its A.Coleman, R.Arnold (if fit), L.Tui (if fit), R.Simmons (if fit) and Kane Douglas. Replacements if the wounded locks cannot make the plane are Sam Carter and a Force lock. Anyone else as others are on the operating table? I like K.Douglas's aggression but he isn't much chop in the lineouts, so you then need to stack your backrow with at least 2 jumpers (#6 and #8 as M.Hooper can't jump). This means our favourite flanker Ned "Flanigan" is guaranteed more tests starts and a #8 who can jump. Am not sure how effective B.McCalman is in the lineouts. My smokey for the tour is Jed Hollaway, has been great in the NRC, and even better he is a Tah. :)
PeterK
Roar Guru
soapit - I shouldn't have brought Foley into it as a comparison in saying as bad as any game he has had. I did though because people who extol Hunt and defend his poor games tend to be red supporters and against Foley , and knowing Foley has had a few poor games this year (as well as some very good ones) I thought it apt to say Hunt was as bad as any Foley has had to put it into focus. I am an equal opportunity fan I criticise all equally.
ThugbyFan
Guest
Harry, did you see the WB scrum go backwards once our 7 test "Young Player of Year" packed into the 2nd row? Ned's biggest (maybe only) redeeming feature is he offers a 3rd choice lineout target. An excellent Shute Shield player.
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
What we really need is 2 Arnolds. One for the first half, one for the second any ideas where we can get another?
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
For anyone entrenched in the Foley-Cooper #10 Debate: Remember this game! - Coopers woeful attempt to unscrew Folau's head from his shoulders arguably cost the BaaBaa;s the game. Is this the sort of player you want to see in gold? I am on board with his accurate conversions, field kicking, x-factor in attack, but when you do add up points for and against, it ends up with no positive contribution. Do like Baudey Barrett did, Go away for 12 months and learn how to tackle properly, then you will be worthy of a spot. We coud really use you
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
I confess to being distracted during the game and must have missed the line out steals. I will take your word on this. My point about the lock, is the ability to pack in as lock without the Scrum falling to pieces. As to the JEM, you could potential paint yourself into a corner here. If you don't believe the decision is just, it poisons the other JEM's haneded out. Which suits my narrative just fine. I have never agreed with the selections. Does anyone know the exact date Isi becomes Wallaby Eligible? He is the #6 answer, Better at 8 But I am not allowed to go there due to Cheika's fecalphelia about the Pooper..
Tom Jones
Guest
Completely true. One of the commentators last week in the AB's game made mention about how the Dunedin Bledisloe was essentially lost in large part due to poor penalty/goal-kicking. Greg Clarke was immediately quick to jump in and almost unnecessarily say that it was not Foley's fault that the game was lost and that it was the team that lost the game. The bias that runs through the fox sports commentators is abysmal. QC up until the farcical YC ran the game really well. Not only did he throw many long flat cut out balls that put players into gaps his cross field kick set up one try, his goal kicking record was near perfect (if not) and he defended in the front line the whole game putting multiple stops on Kerevi as well as effecting turnovers by wrestling the ball out in the tackle. Also ask Ned Hanigan if he thought QC was out there today? I am by no means in one camp or another when it comes to QC/Foley but the sheer glossing over of Foley's weaknesses that are at least on par if not worse in some cases as QC's is just outrageous. It's almost as off-putting as the whole ARU/rebranding structure.
enoughisenough
Guest
Unnoticed? How about his run metres, his backing up, his passing? Best running game I've seen from Cooper for a while, and better at that than the Iceman has been all year.
soapit
Guest
sluggy, i think you'll find it was someone defending foley's standard that brought him into the discussion seems a bit odd to bring him up and the be puzzled why comments against him appear when he didnt even play perhaps labeling those who disagree with you as a hater as the default setting isnt a good way to enter into sensible discussion
soapit
Guest
can definitely see your point peter. i wouldnt have done it tho
Don
Roar Rookie
He'd need 2 seats on a plane.
PeterK
Roar Guru
2nd yc unnecessary. I m not in the group that think you should not penalise players in BAA BAA games. If they are allowed to infringe it destroys the attack of the other team and make the game less entertaining. 16 penalties because they were offside and slowed the ruck down, stop these practises and the game opens up. Team warned about constant infringing then rightly so blatantly offside with attack a few metres from the line so deserved the yc.
Rebellion
Guest
Worrying injury Horwill was never the same after this happened to him - lost all of his explosiveness
PeterK
Roar Guru
Dempsey actually got votes in the JEM so no issue if they gave it to Demspey
Ken Cathpole's Other Leg
Guest
Is Cheika selecting the Kangaroos too, Rod?
eagleJack
Roar Guru
After a long, arduous season the game was a money spinner pure and simple. A dumb idea by a dumb administration. The “players can get injured at training” mantra doesn’t wash. They’d be on light duties this week leading into a tough EOYT. The timing of the game was terrible.