Australia v England - 1st test 11.06.2016

[shasta]

I saw enough to to know what I was seeing

But you're just playing to popular opinion.

Bullshit. Popular opinion is usually to rubbish the team wnenever they lose. Saying DHP played like a plod says you didn't know what you were watching. Watch the replay and tell me one error he made. Your entitled to your opinion of course.... But you're wrong.

[Buddha Handy]

Credit to England, good win, obviously a well coached team.
Set piece was the killer, love him or hate him without Simmons the line out struggles. Some crucial calls and mistakes and penalties cost us.
How do you get done for collapsing a maul when u have the ball? And surely Haskell should not have been allowed to pick up that ball?
Finally I still don't think hooper should be captain when you have players like pocock, horwill, slipper etc on the field. In a 3 test series you kick to the corner, go for the draw first and then try and steal the win

[travelling_gerry]

AUSTRALIA has their work cut to keep the series alive after being outplayed by England at Suncorp Stadium. Which Wallabies starred and which ones flopped.

​ISRAEL FOLAU 7

Super attacking touch early but bad pass gave England a try. Too quiet in second half. Needs 20 touches a game.

DANE HAYLETT-PETTY 7

Assured performance on debut. Did all that was asked of him in attack and defence.

TEVITA KURIDRANI 5

Rarely sighted in attack and should have passed to Folau in the 69th minute for a try that could have changed the game.

SAMU KEREVI 5

Good hands on Hooper try but limited involvement otherwise. Needed to hunt for the ball on Foley’s inside.


ROB HORNE 4

Took a head knock in the first half and didn’t get much of a shot to play.

BERNARD FOLEY 7

Lovely touches to take an early lead but needed to take more control in the middle third. Missed kicks hurt too.

NICK PHIPPS 6.5

Pushed hard, as ever, but Phipps is so much more dangerous when playing more out of nine and hitting runners.

DAVID POCOCK 6.5

Pushed boundaries and the ref didn’t like it. Not as dominant a force as usual.

MICHAEL HOOPER 8

Best Wallaby on the field. Tackled like a demon, scored twice and inspired a fightback as last-quarter captain. Can’t fault the penalty goal call.

SCOTT FARDY 6

Quietish night from Fardy. Positioned wide in attack but didn’t register as much of the dirty breakdown work as usual.


ROB SIMMONS 4

Lost midway through first half to a back injury and the Wallaby line out suffered.

RORY ARNOLD 5.5

Started well enough with good tight work but fell off tackles and didn’t make an impact.

GREG HOLMES 6.5

Solid shift. Good workrate and link play, and held his side up at scrum time.

STEPHEN MOORE 6

Not a trademark performance from the skipper. Some scrappy line out work and let the team lose their cool at stages.

SCOTT SIO 4

Off night for the big Brumby. Was beaten by Dan Cole on his side at scrum time, and gave away a yellow.

RESERVES

TATAFU POLOTA-NAU 5.5

Added some oomph late and got the scrum settled. Will see more time in Melbourne.

JAMES SLIPPER 5.5

Helped clean up the scrum and had a few carries. Another who’ll push to start.

SEKOPE KEPU 5.5

Making a return from French rugby and also helped steady the scrum.

JAMES HORWILL 6

Added grunt from the bench and never quits working but lineout became unreliable.

DEAN MUMM 5.5

Looked for touches but was one of a number of Wallabies who didn’t sizzle.

SEAN MCMAHON 5

Late impact but ran straight into the teeth of some determined English defence.

NICK FRISBY 4

Only had a few minutes of action. Nothing wrong and nothing dramatic either.

CHRISTIAN LEALIIFANO 5.5

Played a good chunk of the game but needed to make his playmaking presence.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/wh...ef5fe94861eb40

[whodunnit]

Foley to coach the wallabies will fixit the brixit!

[Marty_Mcfly]

What surprises me is that everyone is surprised!
How many Auzzies have watched any "English" rugby this season? Not many I bet!

I was at the Eng Premiership final at Twickenham 2 weeks ago. I watched a Saracens team (the bulk of which is in this eng team) play some great attacking rugby in the first half, and play a composed territory game in the second to win the chocolates.

I wasn't surprised at all today.

The wallabies can certainly improve (and will need to), but this was a bit of a wake up call.

Also - how much potential does M Itoje have. We have been watching him all year for Sarries and Eng, hard to believe the guy is 21.

[eleypinkbit]

Just read Pocock out for rest of series with fractured eye socket. Tipping McCalman or Palu to replace him, hope it's not Palu!

[Alison]

Better not be Palu!!

[valzc]

Could we possibly see Adam get a call up? Dane had a great debut, in position a few times for a try, but it seems that Tahs players again only want to pass to another Tah. Thought Horwill looked better than he's played before, seems to be healthier. They just got out thunk by England & agree, they didn't hold composure. Defo the wakeup call they needed. Could've helped if someone who speaks French had dealt with Poite!

[jargan83]

Bullshit. Popular opinion is usually to rubbish the team wnenever they lose. Saying DHP played like a plod says you didn't know what you were watching. Watch the replay and tell me one error he made. Your entitled to your opinion of course.... But you're wrong.

Deleted my own gibberish. Post game mood etc for the better of me.

Apologies.

[vulcan]

seems that all the southern hemisphere teams were way of the pace but their lead up to the tests showed that they have played together and were more up to it

[shasta]

Apologies.

No need bud. Opinions freely expressed are what this place is for.

[PerthGirl]

Alison,I saw you on the Tv broadcast last night! You were giving a thumbs down for one of the English penalty kicks

[PerthGirl]

There were alot of neck holds by the English that went unpunished by the ref

[Kalahard]

We just were not accurate enough at the rucks and gave away too many kickable penalties. Expected a rusty performance and thats what we got. Worst part for me though was we let the Poms intimidate us with the verbals going on. We looked a team that hasnt played a test in 8 months while the Poms looked a team coming off a more thorough preparation in terms of game time together. DHP was good in a solid debut, hopefully Kerevi takes the line on a bit more next game. Lineout needs some work.

[BeeJay]

Cheika should just have the balls to select Coleman. He's halfway there with Arnold. Horwill had as much penetration as a floppy dildo. Dean Mumm is just as useless.

The forward pack were physically and vocally quiet. What a disappointing sight to see those pumped up Pommy bullies mouthing off (has anyone checked them for performance enhancers??) There seemed to be no gee up from our lads, and we looked like we wanted to avoid the physical challenge of the scrum.

And despite all the pre game preparation, you have GOT TO ADAPT to what's in front of you at the game. In the face of the rush-up defence (which should have been expected BTW) we needed a little grubber or chip behind the play to keep them guessing.

Moore and Hooper should have been in the ref's ear more, about holding players back at the ruck, offsides, etc. Pocock is the better captain for mine. We should have been pointing out that Coles was boring in and not packing straight, rather than retreating with tails between our legs when the penalty was awarded.

And also because Moore isn't the best scrummager in the side - Polota Nau is. When he came on, with Kepu, our scrum had the upper hand.

Finally, its all very well for Chieka to say we want to play with pace but they prevented us from doing so. If that's how you want to play, then you've got to EARN THAT RIGHT by winning the collisions - we simply did not.

We need a traditional back row - McCalman ALWAYS delivers the goods. Mc Mahon can come on for Fardy as an impact player. Gill at 7.

Please, PLEASE, no Palu.....