Rugby 2014 thread

[Jono]

Thought the Crusaders were going to do what they did to the Brumbies back in 2000 by winning it with a penalty in the dying minutes, but they gave away a penalty and Foley kicked a golden goal (if only Mortlock kicked as well back in 2000, sigh). The Tahs in the end got the rewards for being the best team this season.

With Super Rugby now over that means the RC is just around the corner, in fact it's just 2 weeks away. Given the Tahs have won we'll see the expectations/hype by the media get very high going into the first game against the All Blacks. Hopefully the Wallabies can take some of the good form from those in the back end of Super Rugby and finally get a win over the ABs.

In 3 weeks the new NRC also starts. It will be interesting to see how that goes. They have some interesting law variations for the comp. The last time they did this it only lasted a year, so here's hoping this new comp can last a bit longer.

 

[Orac Zen]

The Tahs and the Brumbies have both had pretty good seasons, the Force exceeded (my) expectations and the Rebels and Reds had moments as well, so in theory we're in a good place for the Tests ahead.

Unfortunately said Tests will be played in the real world. Annoyingly, certain elements of our media will ignore this fact completely and gibber on about how the Wallabies are going to do all sorts of amazing things blah blah blah. It would be nice if these people would shut up for once and stop (a) making the rest of us look as stupid as they are and (b) giving our opponents ammunition. I won't hold my breath, though.

 

[Orac Zen]

So, the main event starts in a bit over an hour and a half.

I'm...err...very ambivalent about the saviour picking Beale at 10, where he hasn't played since last year and yet again leaving us without a first-string goal kicker. I'd have thought the stupidity of that at Test level would be obvious to pretty much anyone by now, but clearly the saviour knows better.

One also must wonder what Benn Robinson has done to the saviour and / or his nearest and dearest. His ongoing non-selection is bizarre, IMO.

I'm hopeful rather than confident, but I won't be at all surprised if we're flattened either. Let the madness begin.

 

[Jono]

There was the same reaction in my house when the game ended as was in the stadium - silence. People will go on that the Wallabies have "ended" the ABs win streak, but it felt pretty empty. Even more so when you consider that the Wallabies had twenty minutes with a 1 person advantage.

Given the next game is in a known Wallabies mass graveyard I expect that the result won't get better.

 

[Orac Zen]

The game didn't reach any particular heights - the conditions didn't really allow for it and we seem to be incapable of playing any sort of half-decent wet weather rugby any more - but I reckon we were pretty fortunate to get away with the draw. Too many of the usual dumb errors and poor options we always seem to produce against NZ, and as you mentioned the fact we were playing against 14 for 20 minutes and didn't even look like taking advantage of it was hardly inspiring.

Regaining the giant gaudy trophy looks a bit of a forlorn hope yet again, especially considering this week's game is at Eden Park. Gah.

 

[Orac Zen]

Well, that was embarrassing.

Or excruciating, or pathetic, or...you get the idea.

Yet again we were exposed as pretenders. Endless dumb errors, turnovers, missed tackles, rubbish options. You name it, we produced it. As usual the ABs were crisp, precise and marvellous to watch. As usual when playing across the ditch, we were hopeless. A couple of good moments near the end don't begin to make up for the shit that comprised the rest of that display.

The large gaudy silver trophy stays where it is. Again.

Not sure where we go after a performance that poor, but hopefully it can't get much worse.

 

[Jono]

51 - 20 win to the All Blacks. The scoreline flatters the Wallabies given how thoroughly outclassed they were. They did get two quick tries, but the AB were at 44 - 6 and I suspect it was more that they lessened their intensity rather that it being a true "fight back" (as the reports will no doubt label it).

Again the Wallabies had 20 minutes with a man advantage and did nothing with it. Compare that to the ABs who had 10 minutes and put on 14 points and then never looked back.

The Wallabies also lost another hooker with Charles leaving in the first half with an injury. That bare cupboard is now seemingly a blackhole sucking in people to their destruction.

2 weeks to sort it out before they have a "home" game against the Boks at Perth. It will be interesting to see if the Boks turn it on as the ABs did after they only just won against the Pumas last week.

 

[Orac Zen]

I can't say I have a particularly optimistic view going into tonight's game. One example: We're down to our fifth- or sixth- or whatever string hooker, while SA have du Plessis of all people on the bench (for frell's sake). Says about as much as need be said. Really hope I'm wrong, though.

 

[Orac Zen]

That was every bit as bad as I'd expected, and yet we somehow contrived to win. Bizarre. SA can count themselves rather unfortunate to come away with a loss, despite their relentlessly dull play; the laughable Habana sin bin was a turning point as we managed to actually score some points against 14 for a change. I'd have to describe some of the refereeing as...interesting (along with the bin decision, Slipper being penalised for collapsing a scrum when he...slipped was particularly stupid).

Simmons must be one of the dumbest individuals to ever wear a Wallaby jumper. He seems to concede half the penalty count in every game he plays - the same illegalities week in, week out is the sort of consistency no "professional" sportsperson should aim for. Fardy wasn't much better, and there was the usual litany of stupid errors from assorted other people along the way. Awful stuff.

Phipps was one of the few positives (except for his own dumb errors) - crisp, direct passing that put the backs on the front foot for a change. (I wonder how long it'll be before he develops Greganitis.) Foley proved the stupidity of the Beale experiment. One or two others had their moments.

Otherwise...ugh. The saviour has another excuse to remain in complete denial for a bit longer. Not good.

 

[Orac Zen]

*** crickets ***

Anyway...

Yet another woeful, error-riddled performance that somehow resulted in a win for the Wallabies. It patronises and insults Argentina to trot out the "against better opposition we'd have been flogged" line, because Argentina were pretty good at times. But the relentless tide of amateurish mistakes, dumb options, missed tackles and the like gave them quite a leg-up that they weren't quite good enough to take advantage of. The All Blacks would have clocked up another 50-plus scoreline and SA would more than likely have belted us, too. It's getting boring.

In yet another downside TPN picked up yet another injury. I suppose at least this time it wasn't from some kamikaze-type silliness but the poor bloke can't take a trick and is likely out for another couple of months.

The trip to SA and Argentina could be pretty grim at this rate.

 

[Orac Zen]

*** tumbleweeds ***

Another epically awful performance from the Wallabies and a thoroughly deserved win for Argentina to finish the (woefully named) rugby championship for another year.

Refreshingly the saviour isn't offering excuses (yet), nor should he. Awful, awful stuff. The final game against the ABs will be a slaughter if we turn in that sort of "effort".

 

[Jono]

Wow. A one point loss in the 80th minutes to the All Blacks and then 15 minutes later the Wallabies are without a head coach.

First the Wallabies, they might have lost the lead in the 80th minute, but they lost the game in the 58 - 68 mins. For the second or third time this year they absolutely failed to take advantage of the one man advantage over the ABs, not only that but they leaked points. If they put on points as they should have or kept the ABs tryless they would have won that game. As we've seen they don't have the confidence or composure to close a game out (the SA game in Perth is the exception, but that was the Boks somehow losing their composure with a bit of help from the ref).

With two minutes left they did some stupid stuff. One man out from the ruck near halfway where they were making no ground and in fact losing ground, which a minute later ended up with White having to take a box kick from 10m out of the Wallaby line and it ending up been a very poor kick as well. There was not only some poor play but a lack of leadership from the captain and the halves. Though, it shouldn't have come to that as I said because they should have put the ABs to the sword when they had the run of the play and the player advantage.

The positives were that there were a lot of good performances across the park from both the backs and forwards. The likes of Slipper and Kuridrani were again the standouts and even players who haven't been as good had better games, in Folau and Higgs. They could have, maybe even should have won that game, but the ABs aren't no.1 in the world by default. After the games against the AB and the Boks, you can't say 3rd or 4th isn't a fair ranking for the Wallabies.

On Mckenzie resigning, I wasn't his biggest fan. I was more in favour of Jake White getting the job in the first place and was very critical of him in last years RC and during this year's RC, but at this stage I didn't think he should quit. Maybe the rumours are true and he had no choice but to fall on his sword. Even so I'm quite disappointed with certain sections that have more or less tried to use it to excuse some disgraceful behaviour by Beale. If his head is not the next to roll I'll be amazed.

Oh well, the next coach (Jake White?) is going to have a tough task with a maximum of 8 or 9 games until the RWC and then having to get the Wallabies through the Pool of Death. Who would have thought in July/August that this would be the state Australia Rugby is in?

 

[Orac Zen]

I've vented quite a bit elsewhere about this situation, so I may as well tee off here as well. Just a few points:

Beale has to go. Period. He's had more than enough chances and he continues to behave like a complete dickhead. Assuming the Murdoch publication got the content of the texts right, he has no place in Australian sport, never mind rugby. The fact so many media outlets have trivialised his behaviour (one writer described the texts as merely "tasteless", FFS) and have made excuses for him (another describes him as being "a bored, frustrated young man with a smart phone" ) beggars belief. The forensic examination and trial by media of the unfortunate woman who was the subject of this crap - the actual victim in the whole pathetic saga - has been despicable.

Hooper may well turn into a terrific captain somewhere down the track but for now, he's much too immature for the job. Leaving aside various on-field choices and behaviours that have been far less than stellar, his defence of Beale was disgraceful. Ditto Ashley-Cooper, who'd always come across as a decent person but has proved to be anything but. I can understand them sticking up for Beale. I cannot understand their utter failure to condemn his disgusting behaviour or to make any mention whatever of how the actual victim of this mess might be coping with it all. Contrast this with the way the All Blacks handled Cruden's indiscretion. He was out on his ear, at the insistence of the players, without a second thought. Our so-called "leaders" patted Beale on the back. As I've said elsewhere, I know which group of players I find worthy of respect.

What I dread now is Cheika being installed as the next coach. I'm a huge fan of what he's done for the Tahs, but if he gets the job we can be sure Beale would be reinstated. What a message that would send - behaving like an arsehole and treating staff (of either gender) like shit has no consequence. White wouldn't be any better - 10-man rugby must go the way of the dodo, but more than that he'd be subjected to the same stupid, parochial and xenophobic crap that saw Robbie Deans pressured out of the job. Why would anyone voluntarily set themselves up for that? And why the hell should they be subjected to such crap anyway?

Player power is destroying the game in this country. The players need to grow the fuck up, stop meddling in matters that are none of their concern, and start acting professionally. They need to realise the game does not revolve around them. They need to stop talking a big game and start playing like they did for 60-odd minutes last night for as long as it takes in every game, not just when it suits them. They claim they have pride in the jumper but too many of their actions prove otherwise.

As for the game...so near, but it was no surprise whatsoever to see the All Blacks take the spoils. Yet again we failed to play out the 80 minutes. Yet again we leaked points against 14 men. Same old, same old. Whoever gets the poisoned chalice that is the Wallaby coaching gig not only has to watch his own back like his life depends on it, but somehow turn around a team that cannot think on its feet. Good luck to him. He'll need it.

 

[Jono]

I feel exactly the same way concerning AAC and Hooper. I hope that in their case it was that they were told not to comment on the text (maybe so not to reveal they had received them or whatever) by those higher up rather than a complete lack of comprehension of the seriousness of the situation.

Pleased to see Moore didn't do the same thing when they got him to comment on the situation. He said he backed the players, but that the texts were unacceptable. Being outside the main group would have made it easier, but still good to hear someone in the leadership strata come out with the right attitude.

 

[Orac Zen]

Yes, Moore's remarks were far more impressive. He displayed actual leadership rather than meekly following the crowd. His injury was even more unfortunate in light of this mess. Leali'ifano's comments were also much more mature - and he had a pretty good game on Saturday, too.


Assorted reports suggest Cheika has the job. To say my feelings about that are mixed would be putting it so mildly as to be meaningless. If he does get the gig, and doesn't have the instant success that's apparently mandatory for Wallaby coaches these days, what next?

 

[Jono]

Cheika did get the job and Beale escaped with only a $45,000 fine. Amazed at the number of people who see this as vindication or that Beale did nothing wrong. Sounds like he get saved by insufficient evidence that he sent the second more offensive text. That of course leaves the question of where it came from?

Still would have preferred a harsher punishment. He was only fined $5000 more than Quade was for his "toxic" comments a few years ago. While he has been suspended I still hope that Cheika doesn't call him up. The Wallabies have cover for 10 and 12 already and save injuries Beale's next activity should be Tah's pre-season.

Edit: According to ABC Radio Cheika has told Beale he won't be joining the squad. That's the right move by Cheika. I doubt that the non-Tahs would be overly pleased with Beale coming straight back and Cheika is going to have to deal with what will be constant concerns he'll be too pro-Tahs until he leaves the Tah's coaching ranks.

 

[Orac Zen]

I'm almost over the sport at this point.

A staff member, who happened to be a woman, is treated like crap by a player. She gets her name dragged through the mud by the media (and the question must be asked, how did the media get hold of the text business in the first place) and ends up resigning. The player concerned is fined and offers a half-arsed apology but is free to continue his career at some future point. It's beyond pathetic. Somehow Beale has ended up being portrayed as the victim in the entire grubby saga. I'm questioning why I, or any other woman for that matter, should bother following this sport any more.

Cheika will have to watch his back on a number of fronts, not the least of which will be the utterly puerile state-and-territory based parochialism that cripples rugby in this country. Properly professional rugby nations like NZ and SA gear everything toward the success of the ABs and Springboks. All anyone here cares about is beating NSW (I still recall the occasion several years ago where a Qld official stated that, despite his state finishing at or near the bottom of the Super rugby table, their season had been a success because they'd beaten the Tahs ) - except NSW, which cares only about itself. Until that sort of childish crap goes the way of the dodo, rugby will remain a peripheral sport in Australia and any success the Wallabies attain will border on miraculous.

-OZ, fed up and disgusted beyond words.

 

[Jono]

It seems, at least over on the Roar, that the attitude that Patston was "asking for it" because of questions regarding her qualifications or relationship with Mckenzie have picked up markedly. No surprised either thtat the older white male double act of Spiro and Lord greatly lauded Beale's "vindication" and that he should haven't have even been punished as "harshly" as he has (which was less than Gallen got from the NRL for calling the NRL a bunch of c*nts on Twitter). Not sure why I'm bothering reading these stories or comments anyway.

On better news, Moore has resigned until the end of 2016 with the ARU. Good to see a long term Wallaby is going to stick it out beyond the RWC.

 

[Jono]

Wallabies won 40 - 36 against the BaaBaas, but they decided to play an extra 5 mins to see if they could lose it.

BaaBaa games are a bit hard to judge as a yardstick as to where the Wallabies are. They were not as hard in defence as they were against SA and NZ recently and they got sucked into playing the "anything can happen" style too quickly. A lot of 50/50 offloads and going wide without going forward.

Some crazy tries in the game from both sides in the second half. You had big breaks, chip kicks and plenty of offloading. Wallabies scored 6 tries, but I seriously doubt they'll repeat those numbers in the rest of this tour.

Speight finally got his first game in a gold jersey. He had an okay debut. The ball didn't go to him enough to really judge his attacking play. Defensively he got a lot of traffic and it seemed the BaaBaas targeted his wing, which makes sense given he is the least experienced back in the team. He made a defensive error that led to a try, though he was facing a 3 to 1 overlap 15 m out and got caught too far up and in.

Genia and Cooper were okay. They looked like players who haven't had top flight rugby for a while, which is to be expected. Genia probably looked the better of the two. Cooper had three passes that were touched by the Baas in flight with one staying in hand. Genia will come onto the bench at least, but it will be interesting to see if Cooper does or not.

Kuridrani was again the Wallabies best. He scored a good try in the second half as well just busting through the line 30 - 40 out. The Baas fullback could have chased him down, but after Kuridrani brushed off a third player he just stopped chasing. Though even if he caught Kuridrani, Folau was in support so there is a high probability the try would have still come.

The Badger got a try for the Baas. It was a nice play off set piece that saw him go through the centre channel untouched 15m out to score a try. He played well.

Mixed feelings about the game. Glad to have a win, would have liked it not to be so close. The Wallabies are still not going the 80 and leaking too many points in the final quarter, though at least they also managed to score in that period as well.

Wales next week with be a different matter. The WB have the wood on the Welsh with a crazy (not really deserved for either side) winning streak. Wales will be pretty fired up to end it and given the blood in the water still that is just more incentive. The only thing I can say for sure is that they will need to be better next week if they want a chance to win.