Doesn't seem to be any injuries which is good for next week.
anyone else notice that the England no 11? was WELL Offside at EVERY kickoff.. and was putting a lot of pressure on the catchers.. the other glaring ref issue i noticed was the inconsistency in policing either side in joining the ruck through the gate..
several times the England forwards were going in from the australian side but once they had their hands on the ball would then step over and face the right way..
was annoying as hell watching the ref ignore that happen at least 4 times right in front of him.
The commentators were going on about that a bit but there certainly wasn't any domination. I think Australia lost 3 or 4 balls to England and England lost 2 or 3 balls to Australia. Australia lost their first two throw-ins so if you rub those out as jitters it was definitely even stevens.Originally Posted by Sheikh
I don't particularly like England or the way they play and I love nothing more than beating them but give this team two or three years and an inspirational lock and it could return to the top of world rugby. If Danny Cipriani lives up to half of his potential and they don't box themselves back up into their 10 man game it could happen.
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
That's not the team Martin Johnson is building. England were missing a host of players due to injuries.
Genia and AAC should get paid, the other Wallaby players should have a good hard look in the mirror. Some of the wallaby forwards are just soft.
its a Wallaby minus team as well Mortlock, Sharpe, Tuqiri, Barnes, Shepherd, Gerrard, SNK, McMenimen are all guys had they not been injured or signed with a team overseas(in 2009 alone) would have probably been starting last night.
Regardless, England have a player pool 4 times as big as Australias to pick from, not only that they can pick players from anywhere within Europe, meaning they dont lose players who chase the $$ overseas like Australia does.
Well Barnes and Shepherd anyway. Lets not get carried away here.
SNK, Gerard, Tuqiri? Come on TOCC your stretching it there.
England couldn't pick the players that they wanted regardless of how big their pool is. They were missing 12 players last night. Including the entire front row.
hardly stretching it, there is no question that Deans would prefer to have AAC at 13 and Ioane on the wing, he cant do this because they have no decent fullback, SNK and Gerrard would have provided those options and IMO would have been starting had they still been in Aus.
Cam Shepherd is the best I've seen at fullback for the Wallabies. He's a class above all the others. SNK and Gerard never lived up to much, although I'm suprised Cooper has been recalled and Ioane as well. In another era of wallaby rugby they'd never get a game.
AAC is a brilliant player and has been a revelation as of late.
Genia will continue on as well. It's hard not to compare him to Gregan. Gits did not seem to like talking him up.
How Drew Mitchell continues to get a game amazes me. It only shows the depth in Aus rugby is not very deep.
Now now. No need to be grumpy. You can start to call the Wallaby forwards soft after we've played Wales but until then shouldn't you be reflecting on your own forwards?
As for the team stuff, I wasn't referring to the forwards I was referring to the backs. The fact of the matter is that many of those guys are Englands future backline. Sure maybe Riki Flutley would have played if he'd been fit and Delon Armitage would definitely have been in there at 15 but how else would it have been any different?
What England was missing from their backline is exactly what Australia is missing- a 12 (Flutley/Barnes) and a 15 (Shepherd/Armitage). We are also missing Mortlock and they are missing Topsy Ojo. Everyone else wouldn't be a starter so its not important except maybe an outside centre however Hipkiss played pretty well while he was on I thought. Except for the front row, the host of players England was missing is pretty much equal to the players Australia has out.
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
its irrellevant out of those players who you think is better, the point is that had Shepherd been fit he would have been starting at 15 and AAC at 13, if Shepherd was injured then Gerrard would have been starting with AAC at 13, potentially likewise with SNK.
The basic summary and most important point in all of this is that if AAC was at 13 then Digby would be on the wing and we wouldn't have to put up with Drew Mitchell. I am trying to stay in a positive mindset about Mitchell so as not to appear at all bitter but some of the tackles he fell off were ridiculous. When James Haskell went on that big run of his Quade Cooper was knocked over and just as Haskell was coming toward Mitchell he was tackled by someone else (can't remember who) and Mitchell still fell off him. Haha!
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
getting pinged at the ruck & maul is still a major problem.I think we got eight against us in the first half
It doesn't matter who was there... England put their best available players on that day on the field at Twickenham and lost. Thats all thats recorded... It is an account of their days work and the Englishmen pulled up short at their home ground.
Wallabies tour of teh Northern Hemisphere 1 from 4... Ireland will be the toughest match...
I don't know. I'm starting to think Wales will be. Ireland haven't had a game yet and so might be a bit underprepared whereas Wales will have played NZ (do they play SA?) and it will be our 5th game on tour and the players will be half on the plane home.
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
The Welsh will be smarting from losses to both NZ and SA by time Australia come calling so they will no doubt lift for the game against the Wallabies
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