The myth...

nacho libre

So the All Blacks are actually beatable! What a performance from the Australian's. Most people thought that if any team were to beat New Zealand then it would be South Africa. So can we say Australia are now contenders to win the World Cup?

zAbbo

nacho libre wrote:

So the All Blacks are actually beatable! What a performance from the Australian's. Most people thought that if any team were to beat New Zealand then it would be South Africa. So can we say Australia are now contenders to win the World Cup?

they always were.

In fairness the AB's weren't great against SA last week either.

I'd fancy Ireland to beat either of them right now.

shoutman

I don't think the Australian's performance today was in anyway exceptional. Stirling Mortlock broke the line a few times and seemed by far and away the only danger to the New Zealanders.
NZ werent up to much and the amount of missed tackles and unforced errors in the game was staggering imo. I think it bodes well for world rugby that NZ are seen to be able to play badly and the cracks have appeared, last week Carter's kicking game was a bit off and tonight the seemingly perfect flanker Richie McCaw missed two tackles which allowed Australia to score their two trys.

I think this loss will only serve to strengthen NZ's mindset though and I can see there being a big backlash in the next game they play.

Diamondmaker

" it bleeds it can be killed!"

They looked like they dominated most of the game until the sin binning, long over due too! Perhaps their professional fouls will not go unnoticed in the RWC as much as they tend to get away with them and we may see an awful lot more blacks in the bins come last 20 of tight games in the RWC.

I would not go as far as to say Id fancy them but a capacity Millenium stadium tie agains them and the boys would cetainly be in the mix. Previous round injury concerns of course granted..........

Oz had no real penetration and perhaps the ABs off loaded too much, not one tactical kick did I notice....

racso1975

I really dont believe that todays match can be used as an indication of possible world cup performances. It was a truly brutal game from every perspective..handling,set pieces,kicking etc etc

I'd expect connacht to win a match against either teams never mind ireland. But as i said Sept is a different competition all together......


On a seperate note new HAKA sucks and old one should be enforced by nzru. Players should not get to choose

Ausdubliner

You have got to be kidding...this is a good indication of how teams are going in the lead up to the RWC. The AB are unstoppable when they get quick ball retention and remain on the front foot. What Australia did today was show teams that stopping the ABs is actually possible.

SA did it for 50 minutes but in the end their only plan was to bash the opposition into submission...the AB withstood the pressure and then pushed forward passed the advantage line with their forward runners, offloads and very quick rucks.

The AB will be stronger as a result...but this has given Australia a huge boost.

rabbitinlights

I was lucky enough to be at the match yesterday and I thought both sides played very poorly, It was not International level rugby in my opinion, the amount of mistakes was woeful, the first half was a snoozefest with no fluid movements, Ireland would have beaten both teams to a pulp.

It bodes well for us in the World Cup.

S.

Here is a few pics:

Ausdubliner

Diamondmaker wrote:

" it bleeds it can be killed!"


Oz had no real penetration and perhaps the ABs off loaded too much, not one tactical kick did I notice....

I agree...if it bleeds it can be killed...the AB are certainly beatable.
As for Australia having no real penetration...Mortlock might having something to say about that...in the end it only took 2 linebreaks to secure the win...

Diamondmaker

Ausdubliner wrote:

I agree...if it bleeds it can be killed...the AB are certainly beatable.
As for Australia having no real penetration...Mortlock might having something to say about that...in the end it only took 2 linebreaks to secure the win...

with that obvious exception of course.....:)
Ireland have 2 or 3 guys who can make regular line breaks and if it only takes 2 from 1 guy to beat the ABs then we can...

Alot has to be said for the fact that 14 point to nil were scored with the sin binning. The ABs love to play on the edge of leagality and EOS is wily enough to take adavnatge of this I feel if we have to front up to themn in Cardiff.

Ausdubliner

Totally agree about Ireland's ability to make the linebreak...if the centres are on song, they are definitely in with a chance...especially if McAlister is continually beaten like that again. The Aussies played much better when they straightened up rather than trying to run around the ABs.

We have to remember that the all blacks were in SA last week, which definitely affected their performance.

Odds are they will have Conrad Smith back in the centre for the WC, so we wont be seeing anymore of those line breaks in a hurry.

Pinetree Boy

Despite the impression we may give we have always known down here that the ABs are beatable. Neither side were great but you can't discount Aussie ever. Mortlock is among the best in the business, while we are still struggling at centre. I expect Mills to be there come WRC.

Can't blame the Hayman sin binning- Aussie won the bulk of the possession and territory.

This will be a very competitive WC- can't wait.

Linford

The All Blacks defense in the centre looked a bit vulnerable and they really suffered when the prop was sin-binned, but Australia were not that impressive. I thought Giteau when he went in scrum half made a big difference for the wallabies.

The whole scrum thing was a farce, there wasn't one single scrum in the first half that didn't end up in a free/penalty. A lot of line-outs were called crooked too, was it the ref's fault or something else?

daveirl

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Pinetree Boy

daveirl wrote:

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I think taking Collins off was a reflection of the limited lineout options. Solialo has had to become a major option at lineout.