Wallabies Bledisloe 1 DIY player ratings vs New Zealand: The results

To be fair AAC was pretty handy.

Funny how form players even if they are rookies can go well in Gold. WOW Strange that Who would have thought.That was Clowns undoing.Too much blind loyalty faith with a hint of bias with the selection of his best buddies and project players who kept failing test after test after test. I feel for Argentina at the moment. :crying:

I`m sure if clown was still coach he would have wanted AAC to play on the wing.

Toomua.......NO........he has never played well in gold and I cannot believe we keep persisting. There’s a game plan and than there’s execution. He had no execution.....4 of the worst kicks with no purpose I have seen one after another. Why are we over looking the dropped balls and the pass directly to Nz when he tried to do something different?!!!? Please everyone review the video and watch every touch turn to custard. Over 6 points is extremely generous

You're the first person I've seen not acknowledge our kicking off 9 was a perfect strategy, well executed.

Thanks for the essay

I agree that Samu had a good game in the tight - he made 11 tackles with only 1 miss and he had one magnificent strip (off Frizell I think) when the ABs were on attack in the second half. And I'd like to see him get an extended run to give him an opportunity to show some consistency. As has been pointed out, the backrow didn't gel completely. But I think this combination deserves some more game time together.

I don’t agree with some of this but it’s a very sound argument. Wright is a very attractive option. But I think Samu was very good in tight as was slipper. If we had a couple more locks like Arnold etc I think the back row might be different. Not that the two starters were anything but good. In fact Phillip went up a few pegs on my whiteboard.

Box kick overused? Wallabies won the contest on vast majority of box kicks at a n extremely windy Wellington.

Well written RC

Just watched the game back with focus on the Wallabies' cleanout. Samu was involved in 3 rucks on attack which resulted in a turnover or a penalty. The first was Matt Phillips' charge close to the ABs tryline in the first half. Samu was a little late to the ruck, but was the first forward there. Damian MacKenzie effected the turnover, but the damage was done when Matt Toomua missed the initial clean. You could argue Samu was a little lazy getting there, but Phillip was effectively isolated. The second was on attack just over the halfway line in the second half. Banks (I think) was tackled by Sam Whitelock and Ofa Tu'ungafasi. Tu'ungafasi was in a strong position over the ball and couldn't be moved by Samu and Allan Alaalatoa. You could argue that they had poor technique here, but you'd be hard pressed to find many who could move Tu'ungafasi at that point. The third was possibly the most damning, but I believe there were also extenuating circumstances here. It was with the Wallabies hard at the ABs line after the 80 minutes elapsed. Allan Alaalatoa made a poor carry and Ardie Savea and Sam Whitelock were over the ball. Samu bounced straight off Whitelock and missed the clean completely. Here it looks like a clear example of poor technique, but I think Samu's balance was effected by Sam Cane who had dived in for the tackle and was in his path. I do agree that Pete Samu has got to improve his technique, timing and angle at the breakdown, but I do think he was pretty good in general in the cleanout on the weekend. He certainly didn't have as many issues as say Taniela Tupou did. I reckon there's a case to bring Liam Wright in at 6 and swap Harry Wilson to 8, dropping Samu to the bench or out of the 23. But they two are very different players. With Wright you'd bring a better lineout option, a better presence in tight, a bigger body and better cleanout, and a superior pilferer, but you lose a player in Samu who has and better all round game, attacking flair and link play, and overall experience and rugby smarts. Ultimately they are both good, but very different options Dave Rennie has at his disposal. (Sorry for the essay)

I think Toomua is who is he is. A lot of grit, good defence and a good variety of skills but just an okay playmaker. For mine with White and JOC playing well and aggressively and Loelesio in reserve, having him as a third/fourth playmaker with the other real pluses he brings sits well.

Naisarani :)

The box kick was overused. Ball given up pointlessly by White. Should rate lower. Cleanout forwards know that AB forwards commonly fade causing the opponent to leave his feet and give up penalty. No brainer by Wallabies forwards who fell for this ploy.

It was poor execution all three times that was the issue with Toomua's short kicking game. Not that he kicked to turn the AB outside backs around but that they were poor kicks with little chance of of our scoring or recovering the ball. They were also when we were on hard attack and with our new try scoring wingers I would like to give them one on ones and see how they go.

A bit harsh on Phillip for one of them . He backed up well, got pulled down - isolated - a metre sort of the line and stalled a bit, waiting for troops that never arrived.

Because it wasn't a one off, it's a pattern. I've said that 3 times now.

Yet he’s no more undisciplined than our wing, lock or halfback in the last game played and no one commented...

I specifically said he bore part of the blame for the scrum, not all of it. The reality is, the guy's got form with infringements and this was just more of the same. He needs to work on his discipline, it's sloppy.

Don, Tupou needs to be whiter than white as refs know he's carrying baggage. A wily Kiwi front row will/should be looking to make it "look" like Tupou's doing something illegal. I don't know AAA's penalty count record but I'd start him so as to avoid the penalty trip wires as WBs seek to build momentum. (even only 2 penalties is enough to justify that decision given AAA is such a decent option)