- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Roar Pro
Joined April 2010
0
Views
0
Published
278
Comments
Published
Comments
Don’t know if Spiro is entirely wrong. Tuilagi made a few good breaks in the first half, and I thought Flood was the only guy making real dents in the French defense in the second, but just because guys like Ashton, Foden and Cueto are as fast as hell (and they are), doesn’t mean I’d consider them creative players. They’re all great finishes, but how many cut-out passes were thrown behind their targets, how many balls were dropped, how many times was the ball blindly shoveled wide? I think England were trying to move the ball around last night, but they didn’t create any confusion in the French defense – the French (along with most of us) nearly always knew what England were trying to do – hence France didn’t have many defensive problems. Contrast that with France, who I thought weren’t nearly as easy to read.
Hurrah! Wales and France win playing real rugby
The inconsistent time between fixtures has always been a problem, but this is a consequence of having an odd number of teams in each pool. If they didn’t do this the pool round of the tournament would simply be too long. I wonder if any of the teams with such short turn arounds had a look at the NZ ITM Cup this year, where because of the RWC each team played ten games inside 7 weeks (and the squads aren’t Top 14 size – maybe 26 players on average). There were less injuries than expected, and most teams actually coped quite well. I know test football is different, but maybe something could be learned from this for the 2015 tournament?
O Canada! And the Samoans are coming
The kicking in the Argentina/England game was very poor, but what makes it more amazing is that they were playing in an indoor stadium. There was no wind! Hook and Steyn both had to contest with the Wellington wind which makes any kicks at goal considerably more difficult. I find it hard to believe that if Steyn and Hook can do relatively well in those conditions, that Wilkinson can’t do better than he did on Saturday. A bit more practice would seem to be the only solution, and I bet Wilkinson will kick much better in his next match.
Is there another balls-up over the Gilbert RWC ball?
What about the defence Spiro? Seems the ABs are defending much much better, getting off their line very fast and hitting the Wallabies pretty hard.
All Blacks vs Wallabies live scores, blog
You are 100% right. Look at the French and the South Africans – the only teams to have beaten the ABs in NZ since Henry became coach. Both those teams took that approach, and it was successful – I’ll never forget Tuquiri saying the All Blacks had “lost their aura” before the Wallabies played the ABs at Eden Park in 2008. That didn’t turn out to well, it started a record losing streak!
Wallabies aim to create New Zealand doubts
I am saying a few of the Reds players – especially their forwards who have played a lot of rugby – could have been given a breather. They’ve played a lot of rugby, and although they are professionals, they’re going to be playing four Tri-Nations matches before the RWC. Samoa don’t have any more matches until the world cup (correct me if I’m wrong there). Deans should have fielded a stronger side don’t get me wrong, put all those Reds players out there is just flogging a dead horse.
You’re right about the rusty, how could that be an excuse? The Samoan XV was completely different to their team during the PNC! I think in many ways both teams had similar build ups, although Australia had the significant advantage of playing at home.
Ugly truth: Wallabies-Samoa post-mortem
Great article. I agree with some of the comments above regarding respect. I think the team selections were a bit disrespectful, Deans should have fielded a stronger team, but it’s crazy to suggest he should have fielded his strongest – the Reds players needed a break. I think the true disrespect was shown by Elsom when he didn’t opt for the 3 points at the 4.5 minute mark – is there any other top ten ranked nation he would have done that with? He surely must have been worried after their attempt at a maul was then smashed, but he had made the decision to go for the try, so had to keep making the same decision with the next three penalties!
I also think this article hits on the head that the game was won and lost in the forwards. There has been a lot of criticism of the Australian backs, and I think it’s misplaced. They were under constant pressure, were poorly backed up by their forwards in the rucks, and the quality of ball being fed to the halfback was rubbish. The tight five were dominated outside of the scrums and this has to be a concern. Samoa were so accurate and aggressive in the forwards, and Australia just couldn’t stand up to them. This meant the Australian backs were getting static ball and were just sitting ducks for the kind of big tackles Samoa and Tonga are famous for.
A well deserved win for Samoa – I’d love to see what they can do after that Samoan XV has had a few games together. I’m looking even more forward to the World Cup now!
Ugly truth: Wallabies-Samoa post-mortem
I noticed that too. He isn’t a one trick pony any more (getting the arms free and offloading). Opposition teams have figured him out, and I think the Sharks strategy last night was to shut down any time and space in the Crusaders backline, as well as disrupt the ruck as much as possible. This was pretty high risk, and think the penalty count reflected that. But it was good to see Sonny Bill taking on the line more, he adapted well, and that shows he is developing a good football brain.
Sonny Bill Williams proves the doubters wrong
Great article. Did you consider the Crusaders matches in Napier, Wellington and London as home, away, or neutral venues?
Crusaders better than league tables suggest
I agree – I’ve always thought sport should be about punishing the successful teams. The last thing teams should be doing is trying to develop, attract and retain talent. It’s unsporting.
Waratahs have tough assignment in Auckland
The Bulls did manage to win outside SA, which is something.
Waratahs have tough assignment in Auckland
Does anyone get the feeling that despite finishing 3rd not 4th, the Crusaders have a tougher draw than the Blues? The Blues have the Tah’s in Auckland, and if they win they face the Reds in Brisbane. The Crusaders have the Sharks in Nelson, but if they win their reward is a trip half away around the world to Cape Town (and if they win that their prize is a trip back!).
The Blues get the Tahs, then if they win it’s only a (relatively) short trip to Brisbane – and the Reds-Blues match there earlier this year convinces me that the Blues can realistically win that one. The Tahs have been average this year, and its not complimentary for the competition that they are in the play-offs. They’ve won 10 games this season, 7 of those from their 8 intra-conference games against their Australian compatriots. The Tah’s havn’t beaten a NZ or SA team outside of Sydney this year. As a neutral, I would have preferred for the Bulls to have made the final 6.
Waratahs have tough assignment in Auckland
It’s New Zealand Brett – there is really no problem with someone saying that!
Christchurch quake won't ruin Rugby World Cup
I believe he was the assistant coach in a pretty good World Cup win. 🙂 http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=925233
Wayne Bennett to coach the Newcastle Knights
I said I don’t buy that it is “all about the money” – money is going to be a factor, but not the only one. I can’t believe he simply looked at all the bids and made his decision based solely on the highest offer.
Wayne Bennett to coach the Newcastle Knights
Some people have already said this is all about the money – I don’t buy that, but even if it was, doesn’t he deserve it? There are many sportsman, administrators and coaches in Australia that are over paid – but even if Bennett gets $2 million a year and all those perks, he won’t be one of them.
Wayne Bennett to coach the Newcastle Knights
I just got an email from Jimungo Virtual Rugby with the results of the tips for the weekend, the email led with this in bold “Reds win in Cape Town, ruin everyone’s picks.”
Brilliant Reds lead the Australian conference
The study looks to have been sponsored by Mastercard, not the IRB. This isn’t surprising as Mastercard are a big RWC sponsor, and so will want to know participation numbers – they’ll want to know what bang they’re getting for their sponsorship dollar. The only thing I find truly surprising is the increase in Africa – I’d heard about Asia, USA and Eastern Europe.
Asia and Africa lead rugby boom, study reports
New Zealand already has three pro football codes, which are followed well. No one there knows anything about AFL – it’s a complete novelty, Gaelic Football would have the same level of public awareness. If this article was published a few days ago I would have thought April Fools!
Kennett hopes for NZ AFL team
How about leave these decisions to the medical professionals? What a pointless article. These sports organisations have experience with concussion, and obviously having a player on the park so soon after concussion isn’t safe. I know the AFL isn’t the only one to have a rule like this – seems crazy to be complaining about it.
Concussion rule: common sense or just a nuisance?
I don’t think that great players are necessarily bad coaches, however great players are NOT necessarily good coaches. Fred Allen was a great player and coach, as was Grizz Wyllie, but both Buck Shelford and Graham Mourie were brilliant players (and captains) but average coaches. I don’t know whether the stupid things England did in the Ireland match (and you’ve covered them) are the fault of the coach though. Although if I was Martin Johnson I’d be pretty pissed off with the team for some of the dumb things they did.
Great players do not make great coaches
I actually think the Force figured out the referee before the Blues did, but by the end both were doing it. That last penalty seemed fair to me, if you are going to pick and drive to finish out a game, don’t seal the ball off, and don’t dive off your feet. The Force should have done better.
Force, Blues fight out a draw
Does anyone else think the referee had a shocker regarding the tackle player rulings last night? He definitely didn’t make sure the tackled player was being released, and seemed to take a step backwards from the refereeing we saw last season. Both sides figured him out, and by the end of the game it was back to the rugby of a few years ago, with turnovers every second or third phase. Talk about frustrating, no wonder there was only a try a piece.
Force, Blues fight out a draw
Great post. I’m with Brett and OJ – I read the Roar most days, and have been very upset with some of the comments that have been posted the last few days. Normally it’s a small minority that are ungracious and trolling (whether they be Australian, New Zealanders or otherwise), but I’ve been disappointed at the massive amount of rubbish posted on here this week. Maybe the Ed’s need to start rejecting some of these articles – they just add nothing to the site.
Great post again Jeremy. Maybe the editors will consider posting it as an article?
Turn your back on the haka in silent protest