Wallabies breath life back into lineout

[travelling_gerry]

August 17, 2009 - 5:22PM

Wallabies stalwart Nathan Sharpe says some fine tuning should have Australia's lineout back on track for Saturday's clash with the All Blacks at ANZ Stadium.

Coach Robbie Deans targeted the lineout and discipline as the two problem areas for his team in their last start loss to the world champion Springboks in Cape Town.
Australia lost nine of their own lineout throws against the formidable Bok unit, but veteran jumper Sharpe said nothing drastic was needed to fix it.

"I think the lineout is an area that we've been strong in the past and there's no point in getting over anxious about a poor performance," Sharpe said.

"Several things went wrong in that game on top of each other and unfortunately affected the result of the game or had a bearing on that.

"There hasn't been a major overhaul. The way we've been doing things has been working and we've just got to make sure little things are firing for us this weekend.
"Getting the calls from the back of the lineout to the hooker... the timing of the jumpers and the throw and all those sorts of little things - we've had a look at."
New Zealand also struggled in the lineouts against South Africa and Sharpe was confident Australia could repeat its good showing against the All Blacks in that area from their opening Tri-Nations loss in Auckland.

The Wallabies had three men sin-binned in Cape Town and Deans subsequently warned the selectors would look at dropping players for ill-disciplined play.
"It (discipline) is something we've addressed as a team and had a look at," Sharpe said.

"You can't keep giving away penalties that lead to three points, all that does is provide an easy get-out for the opposition, all they have to do is get in your half and you give them the three points.

"It is an area that we need to be tighter across the board and I think unfortunately it has probably taken us a little bit too long to get on top of that and hopefully this weekend it won't be an issue for us."

Sharpe said he didn't think it was an issue of the Wallabies not trusting each other enough in defence.

"Our defence has been very good this year, I think it's guys just probably getting a little bit keen to make a play that can help the team.

"It's a little bit about maybe stepping back a little bit and making sure that no infringements are given away because there's no more half arms (free kicks).
Winger Drew Mitchell said he didn't think Australia had lost any confidence from being beaten in their first two Tri-Nations matches and that the key thing for the team was self-belief.

Five-eighth Matt Giteau said he expected New Zealand's backs to mix things up, alternating a kick-and-chase game with a desire to spread the ball wide.
© 2009 AAP

http://news.rugbyheaven.com.au/break...0817-eni4.html

[travelling_gerry]

By Bret Harris
August 18, 2009 .The Wallabies will continue their anti-aerial assault tactic against New Zealand in Sydney on Saturday night in anticipation of another barrage of high balls.

The All Blacks were successful with the high ball in their 22-16 win against the Wallabies in Auckland a month ago, but Australia devised a counter-attack when they played the Springboks in Cape Town.

In a reverse kick-chase, the forwards raced back to the back three when the ball was put in the air to protect the catcher and secure possession at the breakdown.

"We knew the Springboks were going to go to the air quite a lot," winger Drew Mitchell said.

"They've got such good kickers who can put it right on the money in Fourie du Preez and Morne Steyn.

"It enables their forward pack to flood that channel. We really had a focus on getting as many numbers as possible to that breakdown to try to secure the ball.

"We had a big focus on not leaving the back three on their own to do the job.

"It's a matter of making sure that we are all working together. We are connected and working for each other.

"Although the back three are back there, we need more numbers because the All Blacks got a fair bit of pay out of going to the high ball in Auckland. To some extent we were not connected enough at the back and they were able to get a fair bit of pay out of that."

When the Wallabies first used the tactic in Cape Town, winger Lachie Turner was penalised for obstruction.

It is something they will be conscious of with Test matches being decided by penalty goals and the return of goal-kicking ace Dan Carter to the All Blacks line-up.

"It's something we adjusted well to. We got penalised early in the game and throughout the rest of the game, although the boys were coming back and helping us in numbers, we didn't get penalised for a similar thing," Mitchell said.

He said the laws of the game were encouraging teams to kick more than run with the ball.

"We would rather have the ball in hand rather than in the air more often than not, but you have to do whatever it takes to win and I think South Africa have really highlighted that," Mitchell said.

"I don't think New Zealand will steer away from that too much. We can be expecting a little bit of that this weekend.

"It's harder to find space. It's easier to kick long. The opportunities to run the ball are becoming more limited. But at the same time if there is that opportunity it's just about capitalising on it and taking it."

Mitchell said the main thing for the Wallabies was to maintain their self-belief after successive losses to the All Blacks and Springboks.

"We proved to ourselves we are able to do it. We are capable of doing it. We just need to make sure we maintain that. If things don't go well, don't go away from believing that we can get back to it," he said.

"That's something we have been working on, just having that trust in each other. It's getting close. It's just as frustrating for us as it is for everyone else.

"We know we have been right in both contests. We need to make sure, come the critical moments towards the back end of the game, we take them and turn them around for the better."

One of the critical areas in the loss to the Springboks was the lineout, where they conceded nine throws.

But lock and lineout caller Nathan Sharpe said there was no reason to panic over the set-piece, which had worked well in the past.

"Several things went wrong in that game on top of each other and unfortunately it had a bearing on the result of the game," he said.

"We don't want that to happen, but there hasn't been a major overhaul. The way we have been doing things has been working and we just need to make sure those little things are firing for us."

The Wallabies dominated the lineout in Auckland and they will be looking to gain more advantage from the set piece in Sydney.

"South Africa has the strongest lineout in the world. They have four guys over 6ft, 5in and they are going to put pressure right across the board in that 10m area," Sharpe said.

"The All Blacks felt that pressure as well. That's an area that they will be working on. We are working on ours. It's going to be one of those things that hopefully has a good outcome for us in the game."


http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...-32464,00.html

[travelling_gerry]

Bret Harris | August 18, 2009
Article from: The Australian
ROBBIE Deans is set to make the biggest overhaul of the Wallabies pack since taking over as Australia coach nearly 15 months ago.

The question is, will Deans do it for arguably his most important Test to date, against the All Blacks in Sydney on Saturday night?

All indications are that Deans will make four changes to the pack that started in the 27-19 loss to the Springboks in Cape Town 10 days ago.

Since the team entered camp in Sydney last Thursday, tighthead prop Ben Alexander, hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, second rower Dean Mumm and blindside flanker Rocky Elsom have trained ahead of Al Baxter, Stephen Moore, Nathan Sharpe and Richard Brown in what appears to be the starting pack.

The Wallabies practised their lineout at Coogee Oval last Thursday in this formation and they scrummaged as such at Leichhardt Oval last Friday.

While the Wallabies concentrated on skills at Leichhardt Oval yesterday, a tight-five of Alexander, Polota-Nau, Benn Robinson, James Horwill and Mumm scrummaged against Baxter, Moore, Pek Cowan, Mark Chisholm and Sharpe in a further pointer to sweeping changes.

There is certainly a sense that change is on the way in this Wallabies team.

For the only time in his brief stint in charge of the Wallabies, Deans kept the same 22-man squad together for successive Tests against the All Blacks and Springboks, but this loyalty was rewarded with two losses.

Deans will have had a hard look at what went wrong and what went right in Auckland and Cape Town to determine the make-up of the team for Sydney.

The Wallabies dominated the lineout and struggled in the scrum in Auckland, while they performed poorly in the lineout and scrummaged well, particularly towards the end of the match, in Cape Town.

With Elsom returning from injury, Deans may feel he does not have to rely on Sharpe to call the lineouts and he may get more out of Mumm around the field.

Baxter was penalised repeatedly for illegal binding in Auckland, which may open the way for Alexander to start against Tony Woodcock, who is regarded as the best loosehead prop in the world.

Polota-Nau is also scrummaging better than Moore at the moment, but his lineout throwing is not as accurate and he does not have the leadership qualities of the senior hooker.

Deans will be looking to build a pack that competes hard at the breakdown and can play football rather than go from one set piece to the next.

There is no doubt Deans has change on his mind, but it would be a huge call to make so many up front for a Test that will determine the Wallabies' fate in both the Tri Nations and the Bledisloe Cup.

Elsom will definitely start at blindside flanker, but Baxter, Moore and Sharpe may be given a reprieve.

But these senior forwards may be on their last chance if the Wallabies lose to the All Blacks.

It is possible that Deans has been keeping them on edge at training to drive this message home.

In the backs, James O'Connor is expected to start at fullback with Adam Ashley-Cooper moving to outside centre to replace injured captain Stirling Mortlock.

Peter Hynes, who has regained match fitness in club rugby after recovering from a knee injury, is also a good chance to replace Lachie Turner on the right wing.

Probable Wallabies team: 15: James O'Connor, 14: Peter Hynes, 13: Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12: Berrick Barnes, 11: Drew Mitchell, 10: Matt Giteau, 9: Luke Burgess, 8: Wycliff Palu, 7: George Smith (c), 6: Rocky Elsom, 5: James Horwill, 4: Nathan Sharpe, 3: Al Baxter, 2: Stephen Moore, 1: Benn Robinson. Reserves: 16: Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17: Ben Alexander, 18: Dean Mumm, 19: David Pocock, 20: Will Genia, 21: Ryan Cross, 22: Lachie Turner.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html

[GIGS20]

Swap 10 & 12, Swap 9 & 20, Swap 8 & ......... Brown Dog.

That's the team we should go with.


Look hard at Swapping 13 & 21, but probably not until Crossy has got his feet wet!

[travelling_gerry]

With Elsom returning from injury, Deans may feel he does not have to rely on Sharpe to call the lineouts and he may get more out of Mumm around the field.

Baxter was penalised repeatedly for illegal binding in Auckland, which may open the way for Alexander to start against Tony Woodcock, who is regarded as the best loosehead prop in the world.

Polota-Nau is also scrummaging better than Moore at the moment, but his lineout throwing is not as accurate and he does not have the leadership qualities of the senior hooker.

good prediction there.....

[mudskipper]

With Elsom returning from injury, Deans may feel he does not have to rely on Sharpe to call the lineouts and he may get more out of Mumm around the field.

Baxter was penalised repeatedly for illegal binding in Auckland, which may open the way for Alexander to start against Tony Woodcock, who is regarded as the best loosehead prop in the world.

Polota-Nau is also scrummaging better than Moore at the moment, but his lineout throwing is not as accurate and he does not have the leadership qualities of the senior hooker.

good prediction there.....

I'm still not sure about PTN his lineout throws are off target… or 2 young locks on the field at the same time? ... Horwill & Mum? And Sharpe really has 60 good minutes at international level... Wallabies need another strong lock,,,

I'm please Cross in on the bench... he's safe and can run hard...

[travelling_gerry]

[Ecky]

Just ignore TG, ignore.........

[James]

You don't lose so much early ball and you can see Matfield standing off a bit at first in the line-out so how difficult would it be to have two sets of calls? One for the first half and one for the second. If everyone had a week or two to get used to it surely it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to get that going?