Bledisloe 2 - The Empire Strikes Back?

[chibi]

Today was a last throw of the dice for a lot of the players who usually perform against other good sides but always buckle against the All Blacks; and today those players were found out. Hopefully this means they will now be discarded from future plans.

[Timbo]

Well Palu, Skelton and Cooper proved they should not be in the team.

Beale just didn't prove it.

There is daylight between the starting front row and the bench.

Needless to say Pocock should have started.

Not quite sure what we do at halfback.

The dicks at Foxtel still drumming up Skelton .... what am I missing?

[WARHORSE]

The rot didnt set in until Skelton and Palu went off. I thought we looked good first 20 minutes although the lineout looked shakey. The second half we were absolutely dominated at the breakdown. Hooper and Pocock were MIA. Mumm was poor. The bench gave us nothing this game.
It has been a grave yard for 30 years. No team has won there for 20 years (1994?).
At least we didnt show the world what's coming. We won the Rugby Championship. Now for the world cup. Cheika knows who not to pick if we play the allblacks in RWC. Palu didn't have much impact. Skelto made some big hits and had some good carries. The scrum is no longer the laughing stock of the world.
It's RWC time. I have more belief than 12 months ago following the man management of Di Patston. We will give the RWC a shake.
Today was a poor performance. Im not sure it would have made a great difference who we picked. They were "on" and we didn't show the minerals.

[Macattack]

If you don't select your best team you can't expect to win!
I hope it is a big wake up call for Cheika in selections.

If he was experimenting he should be ashamed for disrespecting the importance of the Bledisloe to Australian Rugby.

I think the coaching staff have toughened up the Wallabies, but they need to wake up to themselves and drop QCooper and Palu out of the
squad and relegate Skelton to the bench.

[WARHORSE]

Mumm was soft as shite today. I doubt he'd have done better than Skelton if he started.
Cooper was actually playing well before he got sent off apart from one slip. Phipps and Foley were lucky to miss that game. Toomua was poor. The holes through the midfield in the second half had nothing to do with Quade. We were smashed at the tackle contest in the second half and the turnstyle through the middle made Maybelline Nonu look much better than he is. We were soft as shite. We didnt turn up mentally.
If we didn't start Palu...Pocock and Hooper did not perform today. If they had started there would have been no difference.

[Macattack]

If you don't pick your best side you can't expect to perform at your best - crap selection decisions.

Cooper's high tackle resulted in a penalty try and then the ABs scored two more while he was in the bin - great decision to start him (bullshit!)

[Alison]

The RWC squad is being announced on Friday. Will be interesting to see who's in and who's out.....

[Tonkar]

Warhorse.... I think you need glasses...
Warhorse how can you say the Starting team was better than the Bench... What a joke the Abs just start slow and work the other team out then play to the ref

Cooper is a liability... Can't see where he is not seen in tackles.. Kicks and runs backwards' never chases a kick' He is never seen chatting to his outside players like Toomua ,, Gits and even Beale Sorry Cooper should be out not on the bench GONE. I also think a bad choice for the 7s
Skelton is just to slow and for man his size he should hit the ball at speed..
Palu to slow but did show some promise
Poey also good
Hooper steps up once poey on the field
Falou great under the high ball
Lineout was abit better but to many player changes
The bench had a hard job to come back..

[WARHORSE]

The allblacks rarely start slow. Their normal game is an up tempo game that blows teams off the park. Our trip to Eden Park last year was all over after 20 minutes. We were winning collisions and dominating posession and territory today in the first 20 mins. We made some chances and didnt take them...then they scored a try against the run of play. We were right in it at half time. Skelton and Palu were replaced at the break. They hadn't exactly set the world on fire but they didnt roll over and take it up the arse like the bench did. The second 40 was as bad as any wallaby performance ive seen....ie not the starting team.
Folau was good.
Speight has been invisible in test rugby.
We were poor and got belted. Sometimes a loss teaches you more than a win.
Cheika will absolutely flog them in the next few weeks before RWC

[brokendown gunfighter]

cheika is probably flogging himself as we speak

[Tonkar]

About WARHORSE

Location:
Cootamundra

Super Rugby Team:
Tahs

International:
Wallabies

Can now see why you so one eyed .. You follow the Warraturds.... Come on Warhorse go back and check stats the ABs have been slow to start over the past 5 yrs in big games and just run away with wins in the last 20 to 30 mins ...

Cheks needs to select on performance and not cose they are warraturds... Also the ARU should get out of selections and let the coach coach... Let QC go to Toulon and not 7s Scrums were solid but nothing happened...

[GIGS20]

I never thought I'd hear the sounds of a warhorse back-pedalling so vigorously, but all in all its been a shitty day to be a wallaby fan.

I'm a little bemused to tell the truth with how much of the focus in this game has been of Quade. We all know he's a bit of a prat weasel and not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, but nobody who knows anything about rugby suspected that this game was about anything other than the breakdown. The AllBlacks knew that was where they were panted last week and brought a new attitude and a victor vitro to fix that, anything else they did was just tweaks.

The selection disaster that Cheika made was Skelton and Palu, two known vacancies, replacing Pocock, who has been immense when he's been on the field and Mumm, who did his job, but not a helluva lot more.

In contrast to Warhorse, my tune hasn't changed a single note since the match has been played. What did Palu do? I'm not sure I heard his name called, but everybody knows how one-eyed I am. Skelton the same, I'll wait to see the stats confirm my gut impression that they were missing most of the match.

Warhorse will then reply (along with three quarters of his Gagger mates) that there isn't a stat for what Skelton brings to the game, because all he brings is 140kg of inactivity and childlike indiscretion.

This game was lost by not respecting the ball on the floor, even Having quade cooper in the side can't cover that up.

[SNOB]

As a by note.
I didn't even know Spieght was on the pitch until he was taken off for a concussion test at about 30 mins!

[sevenmile]

Whinge whinge
Take your western force loser attitude and look at the big picture
As an abs supporter I am concerned for next season with the departure of so many players and starting a rebuild phase
Under cheika this team has shown a new resolve and if you can't see that you don't know what your looking at
Even the sook pocock is showing a new image of getting on with the job and doing it well
The scrum has never looked so solid in years of alcohol abusers memory
Remember Dean's had 4 years to develop a squad Mckenzie 2 years to improve it
Cheika 1 week to turn this sultry bunch into a team
This coach has a touch of old school but willing to adapt to modern ways and willing to surround himself with support staff who are capable of taking his job unlike Dean's and Mckenzie
May foley should take a look at this instead of surrounding himself with deadbeat support staff who show no threat
Cheika will creat competition from within which will lift lessor players to play at a higher level
Look at the work rate of Horwill who has been in fairy land for the last 2 years the front row standing up players playing with the right attitude
Give him time to sort out the halves and they will be a quality side able to win at home and away
Stop knocking the wallabies as they are heading in the right direction unlike the force

[zimeric]

i guess we found out he mustve been drinking green fairy out of Quades left boot!