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Darren Walton, AAP
September 13, 2011, 12:08 pm
Wallabies lock Dan Vickerman has apologised to teammates and vowed to clam up in Saturday's pivotal Rugby World Cup clash with Ireland in Auckland.
Vickerman cost Australia three points, allowing Italy to go to the sheds locked at 6-all in Sunday's opening Pool C match after back-chatting Irish referee Alain Rolland and having the penalty advanced 10 metres closer to the Wallabies' goal posts.
Coach Robbie Deans has made it clear he won't tolerate any players mouthing off - advice Vickerman has clearly heeded.
"From my point of view, that wasn't good enough," the Test veteran told reporters on Tuesday.
"The penalty was awarded fair and square and you've just got to deal with it and get on with it.
"I let the team down there and it's not good enough ... once a decision's made, you deal with that and move on with the game."
All up, the Wallabies conceded 15 penalties against the Azzurri.
"That's not good enough either and I gave away a few of those away and in (tighter) games where penalties become an issue, it can be a lot of points that come against you," Vickerman said.
"So we need to work on that and focus on maintaining that area of the game so that penalty goals don't become a factor."
Mindful of upsetting match officials, the Wallabies are saying all the right things about the referees and accepting they need to adapt better to the refereeing at the World Cup, particularly the handling of the breakdown area.
Vickerman said it was imperative players stayed on their feet at the contact area.
"That area of the game is being hotly refereed now, going off your feet at the breakdown," he said.
"Our game definitely wasn't being badly refereed. The penalties were there - we've had a look at them - I went off my feet and I wasn't peeling out properly so it wasn't good enough from me.
"Alain's a great referee. He's refereed a lot of top-notch international games so, as I said, it's just not good enough from my point of view.
"Those were the areas that let me down - maintaining the leg drive through the contact and getting on with it.
"There's a lot of tall blokes out there that do it effectively. I've just got to improve on that."
The veteran second-rower said the Wallabies were all for the crackdown, agreeing it creates a better spectacle for fans.
"If you're going to go into a breakdown and (you) clean someone out, you've got to stay on your feet rather than sealing off the ball," he said.
"If you can go in with that mindset and make sure you clean out past the ball on your feet, then it negates bodies on the ground and the game's able to flow.
"So it comes with the players taking that responsibility upon themselves - not to flop.
"If you're on your feet and you've entered through the gate, then the game flows and that's what we want from rugby; we want the breakdown to be clean and have the ball in hand in attack."
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...-to-wallabies/
Can he now be replaced by Sharpie![]()
Probably not, I reckon Deans likes the slightly dirty aspect to Vickerman's play, look at the locks he used at the Saders, there not exactly shining towers of light. Horwill has to play clean now, so I guess it's safe to assume it's the mongrel edginess that won Vicks the spot.
Sharpie's probably being saved for when Vickerman gets done a week in Bakkies style!
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Our line out IS crrrrap...BRING BACK SHARPIE...!!! BRING BACK SHARPIE!!!!...BRING BACK SHARPIE!!!
Mongrel edginess or just blatant thuggery - he is a twit and in spite of all the smoke pumped up various orifices he remains a donkey and a thug. Not a patch on Sharpie and the comments in the Press today about him not being able to wait for a match up against O'Connell make me want to laugh so hard I could soil things. He is not on the same planet as O'Connell and I hope that he realises this on the weekend
You can't expect Dan Vickerman to realize whether he's a match for a true lock, he's more like a taller, dumber flanker......but that doesn't change the fact that he's the guy in the Wallabies pack that you DON'T want barreling into the ruck when you're the first guy there.
Sharpie is definitely the better technical lock, safe in the line out, solid at the breakdown and dependable with the carry, however Vickerman has that psycho factor which makes people think twice about challenging him for fear they're going to get knifed after the match.
Typical yarpie
C'mon the![]()
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Wow, you lot clearly have no idea. Before his sabbatical Vickerman was an automatic selection. He adds what we lack and with Horwill forms a physically imposing pair. Add to that upon his sabbatical most pundits rated both he and Matfield as the two best locks in the world.
He was our lineout leader and scrum captain as well and I dare say would have assumed that role again. Most importantly he works tirelessly hard. Look past you bias guys and recognise the guy for what he is, a world class, physical and agressive lock.
Finally, while he's physical. He's by no means anything near a thuggish as Bakkies Botha.
bakkies belongs in a prison camp somewhere in siberia... but that aside, i havent seen vickerman do anything more than Sharpie.. rather less actually.. but jurys still out on whether he is better or worse.. hard to judge him when hes hasnt been playing super rugby all year...but on form sharp still gets my vote
Mongrel edginess is an X-factor... Vics, Horwill and Pocock have it... Wallabies pack needs it...
Mongrel Edginess cost us three dumb penalties - not a worry V Italy but Ireland?? Why doesn't he juts play instead of trying to be hard - In comparison to the Irish lads he is as mongrel as a prize poodle.
There would be quite a few current All Black forwards who might disagree with you. He'd played 54 Tests since 2000 going into this tournament and earned a reputation for his uncompromising play. Not sure how many of those were against Ireland but I don't recall them bashing the Wallabies and/or beating them too often. He must be one of the hardest prize poodles on the planet.
I was doubtful he could come in with such a limited preparation and have a big impact. But I'm not anymore.
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
I have no problem with vickers... it think he is a big reason for the improvement with our forward. My problem is Simmons on the bench! He offers nothing in my eyes, he doesn’t give the run needed for a lock off the bench. The lineout always looks shaky when he is making the call. Is dingo going to risk such a young untested player in the final with 20 to go calling the line outs? I think he needs to step aside and let the men get the business done and look at him as the future of the locks department.
I'd have to say, I have been impressed with Vickerman.
I really didn't think he'd be good enough or fit enough.
He has more aggro and mongrel than he ever did.
The problems in the lineout are just lack of time together. Vickerman is a world class lineout jumper. Cohesion will come.
I agree Simmons just isn't ready for his role. He brings nothing with respect to go forward or offensive defence. At test level he is a liability in the lineout and brings no physical presence to the pack.
Simmons has zero impact off the bench which makes his selection pointless.
You wouldn't mind Sharpie running on with 1o minutes to go with the game in the balance and either an attacking lineout on their line or a defensive lineout on ours.
He also brings some big offensive defence and some great ball carries.
The scene is active
Vickerman gave away a dumb penalty within the first three minutes. Is he really worth it?
C'mon the![]()
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Three minutes? More like 90 seconds!'n
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