Rugby - The Game They Play In Heaven II

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You'd've been proud of their defence. You'd also have wondered why the Wallabies just ran their forwards into the Blue Wall for the entire second half.

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Marler gets a start against the Boks. 'Twill be interesting to see how his temperament stands up. Presumably Foden is on the wing in anticipation of the plethora of Bok bombs. Two full backs assumed to be better than one. It's not a great Bok team, even more limited in attack than usual. I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised to see an England win.

Can't see Ireland tossing the ABs. Can see Wales tossing the Wallabies.

[kittenOFchaos]

Having watched the Baby Blacks destroy Samoa 63-0, it was surprising to read that Wales U20s beat the Baby Blacks 9-6. Very promising for Welsh rugby.

I'm currently watching Scotland Vs Australia - someone has uploaded the whole game to YouTube (I've already seen the victory head clash on rugby dump).

[kittenOFchaos]

So, Declan took the best of Irish rugby and had them crushed 42 - 10. Pfft.

I'm heavily backing Wales against Australia...perhaps unwisely

[kittenOFchaos]

Thankfully I had a side-bet on Genia to score

Right Wales, time to win.

[kittenOFchaos]

Congratulations Australia, many players stood up tonight against a decent Welsh effort. However as Australia are missing Beale, Cooper and O'Connor and Wales should have done better as they made many handling errors, often in key positions.

There was a period of the game where Australia were creaking. It wouldn't have taken much for Wales to win at that point, but I think that the Australian substitutions worked far more effectively than the Welsh substitutions and the McCabe try was critical.

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Yup. Actually it was one of the better Wallaby wins of recent times with so many backing up from the gruelling 80 minutes against Scotland only four days ago. They were knackered in the last 20 minutes but never gave up. The fresh legs of Hooper and co appeared at just the right time. Genia is just sheer class, Pocock too. Wales were always going to struggle with Phillips taking just about every wrong decision possible. Outside him, Priestland was rattled early on and never seemed to settle. When your playmakers are out of sorts, everyone suffers.

The ABs can play better than that. Which is frightening.

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Stupid double post. Stupid software.

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Well, England picked up where they left off in the 6N - trying hard, but limited beyond belief, with Farrell again displaying his entire creative repertoire - the sh1t pass and the chip through. I'm no huge fan of Toby Flood but the chappie has an attacking clue and he can pass a ball crisply and accurately. He also plays like he's met Ben Youngs before. Farrell and Youngs are strangers in the night. Shame that Farrell Snr is on his way back to perpetuate the folly. The Boks were less limited but they played exactly as the team selection indicated they would.

Not a great day for NH rugby.

[kittenOFchaos]

I didn't get to see the game as I was driving my mother-in-law to the airport, but I think the English management will be pleased with the scoreline.

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Indeed, Lancaster "rues the missed opportunity". It has become a mantra for many coaches, and, as per usual, in this case, it's utter bollocks. England rarely looked like creating an opportunity apart from one-off broken play. Lancaster seems to be a decent chap but he's as conservative and narrow-minded as J****.

[Havak]

Worthy of the turnip is that statement.

The simple fact is England are not in a position to be competitive against the big three from SANZAR yet, and you cite some excellent reasons for it. I find myself wanting Ford to be fast tracked into the EPS. What England need more than anything is to become less predictable?

One has to be pleased at the effort they put in, but it would be nice to see some creativity too.

The Wallabies have to be happy with that result over Wales I suspect.

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Very happy. Under the ridiculous scheduling circumstances of the week. Wales were certainly a bit rusty but Warburton did remark that the first half was the fastest game he'd played. Which underlines a fundamental difference between 6N rugby and playing a SH team - you're required to do everything at premium level at (often) twice the tempo. With the Welsh backrow AWOL, Genia had a field day. But his real tactical genius - ahem - I think was dragging Berrick Barnes into the game. Barnes has had a poor season with a dire Waratahs team and his confidence is shot. He's at 10 by default as fourth choice behind Cooper, O'Connor and Beale. His default mode can be play deep and kick but he can also play on the advantage line and very well. Genia's running dragged Barnes forward, into the line, where he grew in confidence and was distributing ball very nicely. The problem for the Wallabies will be do to it again. They won because their forwards turned up in a big way and created the time and space for Genia. Just as they did in the last T-N. They then went to the WC and went AWOL. We shall see next weekend.

Nasty injury to Barritt but it may force Lancaster's hand. I fear he will stick with Farrell at 10 and bring Flood into 12. He needs to bench Farrell, start Flood at 10 with, perhaps, Allen at 12, or drop Manu into 12 where he can do a Nonu impersonation - though Nonu has vastly improved his distribution - and use Joseph at 13.

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Very happy. Under the ridiculous scheduling circumstances of the week. Wales were certainly a bit rusty but Warburton did remark that the first half was the fastest game he'd played. Which underlines a fundamental difference between 6N rugby and playing a SH team - you're required to do everything at premium level at (often) twice the tempo. With the Welsh backrow AWOL, Genia had a field day. But his real tactical genius - ahem - I think was dragging Berrick Barnes into the game. Barnes has had a poor season with a dire Waratahs team and his confidence is shot. His default mode can be play deep and kick but he can also play on the advantage line and very well. Genia's running dragged Barnes forward, into the line, where he grew in confidence and was distributing ball very nicely. The problem for the Wallabies will be do to it again. They won because their forwards turned up in a big way and created the time and space for Genia. Just as they did in the last T-N. They then went to the WC and went AWOL. We shall see next weekend.

Nasty injury to Barritt but it may force Lancaster's hand. I fear he will stick with Farrell at 10 and bring Flood into 12. He needs to bench Farrell, start Flood at 10 with, perhaps, Allen at 12, or drop Manu into 12 where he can do a Nonu impersonation - though Nonu has vastly improved his distribution - and use Joseph at 13.

[Havak]

If he can be persuaded then I think Flood-Manu-Joseph is a combination that might bring some results (but Youngs-Flood-Allen-Manu is a combination that should know how to play together too).

The problem is Finbar that I think Lancaster is one of those who buys into Farrell as the second coming. If that is the case we certainly get Owen somewhere in the XV.

Interesting point about the tempo - it is a very noticeable difference between the spheres at the moment. England always have the potential to surprise SANZAR sides, their physicality in defence asks questions and can lead to turnover scores, but they are some way off the same level as the big three in terms of pace and accuracy. Running hard and passing the ball are two fundamentals of rugby - and one does wonder how England manage not to do both so very often. Gym monkey syndrome (as your old friend VD calls it)?