As a Brit it’s sad to read Aussie fans bashing their own team about losing against the best team in the world playing at Eden Park. If they were so hopeless they wouldn’t have scored those tries. Also if they would have won if those penalties were scored then they were the better team. Understood if that happened that the Abs might still have been more dominant throughout the match. But if you give away penalties then that’s what you do and it means the other team (Australia) were better at those times.
Australian fans get behind your team. You’ve got 3 players to return after suspension and Vunivalu after injury.
Look at the scoreline. Played the AB’s at Eden Park and could have had more with the missed penalties.
Be positive. I think the near future for your team looks good.

Peter…. You’re another poster talking rubbish. As a fan of Union and League hearing you say the complexity of Union etc makes it superior to League makes me laugh non stop. I was watching live union like every week but its a waste of time and money going to watch endless scrums being reset etc and stupid laws and the ball not in play for so long. Go watch the NRL highlights on YouTube to see exciting rugby! Or maybe you’re a forward who likes boring games with hardly any tries

Equally just because you DO NOT like running and passing doesn’t mean it needs to be that way also.
How will rugby attract new fans to watch the 15 man game??
I paid £30 GBP for a months sports subscription to watch the Lions games this month (as I cancelled my yearly subscription because of so many boring rugby games). I just cancelled the monthly subscription so won’t see the last Lions game as its not worth watching at that price. Rugby Union really needs to change some laws. Some are illogical.

CPM….. You’re talking a load of rubbish. These were 2 really boring games. Just because SA won doesn’t make it exciting. Just like last week the BIL won but I won’t say it was exciting for the sake of it. As for saying League is boring you’re talking $###. I’ve been following Union and League for 40 years. Been to club and international games for both and stopped a long time ago as MOST Union games are boring and when Union became professional then League here in the UK went downhill. I can drive to 2 Union clubs who are some of the best here in England but stopped as the matches are boring half the time. Its like the subscriptions to watch rugby here, no point in paying. I suggest you watch the NRL highlights on YouTube if you want to watch something entertaining. Unless of course you like watching endless time wasted with no attacking play or being confused why scrums have collapsed or stupid laws we have in union that you can’t tackle unless you’re behind a certain player.

NickoM
He is by far the best chaser of a high kick in the Wallabies.
I say that as a Brit and a fan of Aus Rugby Union and NRL for decades.
I watch both codes and Union from around the world. This guy is a serious athlete.
If the Wallabies had Kerevi in the centres and Korobeti and Vunivalu on the wings and JOC playing for a run of games it would be great.
The ABs have great depth but as far as a match day squad is concerned if the Wallabies had all players fit it would be great to see the results over a series. They couldn’t be any less entertaining than watching the B&I Lions yesterday

As a Brit happy the Lions won. But as a rugby fan what a boring game. To think we’ve been waiting all this time to watch a game like this 🙁
This was as boring to watch in amounts equal to excitement in watching the old tour. There won’t be any Scott Gibbs moment. There won’t be any super tries (from a Lion) like Bentley.

No point in the Lions if the rugby matches are like this ????

Hopefully Australian rugby was the winner. What a great game and so much heart and courage shown by the Wallabies. As an Englishman I’m rly happy for the Australian fans who deserve a good break.
Can’t wait to see the Wallabies with JOC, Koribete and Vunivalu all playing 🙂

Who needs Koribete! You serious or is that a joke?
MK and Vunivalu are your two best wingers!!

Reality check. There’s nothing worth visiting in the North of England where league is played I’m sorry to say

As a Brit I’ve always enjoyed watching Australian rugby of both codes and want to see you guys win. I really hope you get get Arnold and Skelton back. You really need their bulk. And Kerevi. And as for Vunivalu he needs to be in the match day squad if not starting. He’s not a complete union player yet but the amount of ground he can cover and athleticism is way above any of your other wingers and then you can use a more effective kicking game. There’s definitely talent in your players but watching the Aussie teams play their Kiwi counterparts recently it was so annoying to see how many handling errors you guys made and got the basics wrong. The decision making was terrible at times too. All basics that the Kiwi teams and All Blacks consistently get right. And with all that said there were a decent number of points scored by your teams in some matches against supposedly superior opponents.
If your coaches improved their coaching of players and you cut out the errors and changed tactics surely that would have a great improvement.
You might not have the depth of some nations but if your top 25 players were fit and available irrespective of rules and issues of which country they currently play in now then that would be a really competitive team
Go Australia !!

” ……. I see as much rugby league merchandise on the streets here in Balham as Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United shirts. ”
Really !!
I’ve lived here in Balham over 50 years and never seen a rugby league shirt worn by anyone except myself around the time Wigan played Bath Rugby Union decades ago.
Maybe you saw an Aussie in the supermarket wearing one on a rare occasion.
But I like most rugby league fans in the south of England lost interest in rugby league when rugby union turned professional and a number of years later English rugby league became boring to watch in comparison to the NRL.
Most people are so football obsessed here that many don’t know who Johnny Wilkinson is never mind even knowing that there are 2 codes for rugby.
The English league team’s standard is too far below the Aussies and I would be more interested in Watching Tonga, PNG or Samoa than the English team.
That’s how low the game is here now.

The mistake League made was not expanding properly into the US as Union is starting to progress there.

I hate to say it but league will never expand further than it has already and is just getting worse with the only interesting competitive games being played in Australia, and some of those one sided games are boring to watch

Of course Marika is a world class finisher. It’s just a joke the Australian team don’t get the ball to the wingers more often. Wright is a good winger but put him on the bench. Whatever you think about Vunivalu he has to start. He is a physical specimen.
Unfortunately you guys don’t have some big centres the way Kerevi was. The Aussie midfield looks lightweight. As a Brit I love watching the Aussie teams. Whatever the superiority of the Kiwi teams you guys have scored tries against some of the so called best provincial teams in the world. If only you could cut down the error count and sort out the tactics (like holding onto the ball and just kicking it aimlessly to the Kiwis) things could improve. Good luck boys, show the Kiwis what you are really capable of !!

As a Brit, good luck to all the Aussie teams, you have many admirers here in the UK. Let’s hope your teams get better results this week 👍

It’s great to have two playmakers and kickers at 10 and 12 as it creates options. But for us in England having Ford and Farrell has not always worked. And when we had Slade in the midfield in place of one of them it didn’t work either and he’s a playmaker and kicker. We missed the big Manu Tuilagi in midfield and didn’t replace him like for like. I hope Australia find a successful combination as I love the attacking intent they always had, something I can’t say about England. I think if Ireland can perform so well with such few Rugby players then so can Australia with the naturally talented and athletic players they have. The problem must be with coaching and playing style at club level. You can’t expect to bring together 30 of your best players and expect them to play a completely different style to what they do week in week out. And it’s no good bringing on substitutes as late as 15 mins from the final whistle hoping they will win a game your best 15 weren’t capable of – ala our man Jones

This won’t happen and shouldn’t. The League team don’t stand s chance in Union and the All Blacks could possibly win the League game. I say that as a League and Union fan, a Pom that loves the NRL, also someone that watched live the Clash of the Codes in 1996 when the great Wigan beat the Bath rugby union team in League and have them a good run for their money in the Union game. Wigan had ex-international union players who had joined Wigan to play league. Also Union was amateur in those days. As a Wigan fan it was great to see the look of amazement on the faces of my union friends who came to watch and saw the likes of Jason Robinson, Martin Offiah and Va’inga Tuigamala for the first time. They were equally speechless when we saw Wigan give a masterclass lesson in Union 7’s and win the competition. But Union forwards have fantastic skills and fitness these days. Especially the All Blacks. And the size, skill and fitness of Union centres and Wings especially the AB’s can match anything the NRL has to offer. I know this is only a discussion but as much as I love League and complain frequently about Union any League fan that is not as clued up about Union as they are about League has no idea how much Union has changed in the past 10 years. I still watch both 🙂

Many interesting points raised. It’s hard to see how the game can carry on unchanged with so many concerns regarding head injuries.

Only today the following was announced on the BBC website here in the UK ….
”Former Leeds Rhinos captain Stevie Ward has announced his retirement at the age of 27 because of the long-term effects of concussion.
Ward said he is unable to even exercise without “irritating his symptoms”.
He missed the rest of the 2020 season after suffering a concussion in the Rhinos’ opening game of the year.
The club stood him down “indefinitely” in February, with head coach Richard Agar saying at the time it was “concerning”.

Good article and Rugby has become boring. But getting the kids game to change and increase skills means nothing if the adult game does not change. I was paying in the past maybe £25/month to watch rugby on additional satellite channels but cancelled them and now watch the highlights for free and see the exciting moments.
As it’s played currently it will not attract new fans outside of traditional rugby circles. Here in the UK, for kids it’s practically only played in private schools. But honestly how many parents will want their say over 12/13/14 year old kids to play rugby with the way they have to ruck and the current issues regarding brain injuries. I just looked on Youtube at a video called Wellington U13s (43) v Auckland U13s (24). Look at the size of some of those players! e.g the Number 25 at 46 seconds. Who would want their smaller kids playing against those big ones. For years I watched professional games and for so many years wondered how anyone in their right mind would dive in head first into a ruck the way forwards do. The game is unsafe. Also it’s not a game for everyone/body type. Practically nowadays all backs are like 6ft 2inch or taller and the forwards are the body shapes they are. Which means it’s only scrum halves who can have the average body type.
I’ve been watching rugby union and league for over 40 years and bored of reading comments like you’re not a purist if you don’t like the long periods of forward play. That sort of attitude ensures the game will never grow. No wonder exciting back play is great to watch. Iv’e tried to convert friends to watch rugby by showing them International Union games and State of Origin games and they prefer League to Union, most complaining of complicated and non-logical rules in Union. Some go to the kitchen at times to raid the fridge because they know they will probably not miss anything. The Union games they did enjoy was actually 7s games featuring USA, Fiji and the Kiwis !!