Lineout woes bewilder Sharpe

August 03, 2008 AUSTRALIA lineout chief Nathan Sharpe struggled to remember a time when Wallabies' jumpers were so comprehensively disrupted as during Saturday night's Bledisloe Cup demolition job by New Zealand.
Official match statistics reveal Australia lost eight of their lineouts in the 39-10 loss at Eden Park against a side they are usually considered superior to in the set piece.

Reserve lock Dan Vickerman ended up the side's top jumper as the Wallabies' poor lineout contributed to 27 turnovers.

"It's been a fair while since that one (a lineout so poor) so all you can do there is learn from your mistakes and, next time you go forward into a match, make sure that you've got those things that placed pressure on us sorted out and move forward from here," Sharpe said.

The Western Force lock has assumed the leadership role in the lineout with Vickerman benched as he returns from injury.

That could be a luxury coach Robbie Deans can no longer afford as the side heads to South Africa for two crucial Tri-Nations Tests later this month.

"I just think generally inaccuracy from everyone right across the board (was the problem)," Sharpe said.

"Our lifting, our throwing and our jumping, a combination of that just puts pressure on ourselves so it was disappointing.

"The lineout's been going very well up until tonight and when you have a night like that it seems like nothing falls into place.

"And couple with that it was one of those games where it felt like everything the All Blacks did turned to gold."

The Australian lineout wasn't helped by the absence of big flanker Rocky Elsom with a foot injury and Deans' experiment of playing two regular open-sides in George Smith and Phil Waugh is likely to be shortlived.

Sharpe denied the Australians could have been flat after two gruelling Tests in the previous two weeks.

"I don't think so, the guys knew what to expect and I think obviously the Kiwi team were very stung by criticism over the last couple of weeks and responded as any good international side does," he said.


http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...-23217,00.html