Bledisloe Cup

[aussies1st]

On current form he probably is better. I definitely agree Sivivatu should be the first choice winger with Rokocoko.

 

[aqua_duck]

Isn't Howlett basically like Gear?

Howlett is like Gear but alot faster. Don't forget Dougie Howlett was the best winger in the world not too long ago.

 

[aussies1st]

I actually thought Gear was faster but Howlett was able to score more tries than Gear.

 

[aussies1st]

Well tonight just showed how good Howlett is. Last week we saw nothing down the right wing. Tonight we saw a hatrick. It shows the class of Howlett.

ABs played well tonight, first 20 they were awesome. Good fight back by the Wallabies but stupid penalties by Matt Dunning took any momentum they had.

Positives out of the game would be how good Rogers kicking game was, Gerrard showing his class, Smith having a good game at 8 and Gregan stepping up (now keep this form up). Gregan answered his critics about him hiding in defence. Running game still not there but one step at a time.

 

[aqua_duck]

The wallabiesw played very well tonight, I thought Matty Rogers showed that he is a good enough 5/8th at test level and clearly outplayed Leon MacDonald who might I add showed once again that he is no more than a solid super 12 player, really did very little to aid his outside backs, and that charge down as well, thats twice in 2 weeks he's given away a try like that.

Oh and Eddie, please mate, get that fool DUnning out of the gold jumper quickly.

 

[aussies1st]

Infact Eddie get rid of the whole front row. They clearly aren't up to international standards. If we want to win the WC it won't be with them.

 

[ozbash]

might have been a different story if aussie were at full strength.
rogers played too deep, it was as if he was trying to stay out of the reach of our loosies.

lote was good but under used, he caught us out a couple of times with his runs from the opposite direction.

the AB,s were brilliant on defence 95% of the game, the aussies scored their tries the other 5%

dunning,, ffs the guy is a liability and how he gets to wear an australian jersey is beyond me.

 

[Scott]

Dunning is a fat unfit liability. One of the worst players ever. If australia are selecting him then it shows what sort of state their in!

 

[harmichael_punt_]

australia won't consistently beat good teams until we get a better tight five. Gregan was the scapegoat for our early losses but what do you expct from a bloke who's playing behind a beaten pack of forwards every game.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

dunning,, ffs the guy is a liability and how he gets to wear an australian jersey is beyond me.

Planet Rugby summed it up about fat-boy in their ratings:

17 - Matt Dunning. A new low rating for the pie-eating prop, who ruined his team's comeback momentum with a ludicrous shoulder charge on Aaron Mauger, and handed New Zealand the game when he collapsed the scrum three minutes later. If the charge hadn't been so cynical, we might be tempted to say it was just a bad day, but his subsequent pointless handbag-swinging sessions and general aggro lead us to believe that he had simply left his big-match head back in Sydney. 2/10

:lol: :lol:

aThe problem for Australia though is that Young's as bad and Baxter's not much better.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I will give the Wallabies some credit though, Rogers was good, Greagan stood up to his critics and Gerrard had a blinder. Mitchell had a more difficult night but still show promise and the Wallabies are starting to look capable of putting a very good backline division together at least. Problem is the forwards are average at best and the front row in particular is awful.

 

[Cee_em_bee]

What a nightmare of a series, my god. I think it's time that Jones starts selecting younger sides so they can gather experience as a group for 07.

 

[aussies1st]

At least Jones knows his players haven't delivered. There is still hope.

WALLABY coach Eddie Jones delivered a brutal Test assessment last night by saying his current players "aren't good enough" to win Australia the next World Cup.

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,16489299-23217,00.html

 

[CanadianSteve]

the Wallabies are starting to look capable of putting a very good backline division together at least. Problem is the forwards are average at best and the front row in particular is awful.

The Wallabies could put 2 good back lines together if all were healthy, but it's the front row they need to fix.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

The Wallabies could put 2 good back lines together if all were healthy, but it's the front row they need to fix.

They're beyond fixing, they need to take them out the back and shoot them, then find some decent players.

 

[aussies1st]

Australia's depth in the backline matches that of the ABs. The front row however is lightyears apart. NZ could fill 4 different front rows and they would still dominate Aus best one.

The Reds have a number of up and coming props and WA must have some as well.
ACT and NSW won't change from their pairing so I wouldn't be relying on them to fix our problem.

 

[Woods99]

There actually are some pretty good young front-rowers around in the Sydney club competition....Takiari from Easts is one, Tatafu Polota-Nau (hooker) is another, Benn Robinson and Alex Walker from Eastwood are also pretty good prospects.

 

[Iafeta]

Perhaps Aussie1st, but there's still the likes of Sitivini Sivivatu, Ma'a Nonu, Casey Laulula, Nick Evans, Sosene Anesi, and on the next tier the likes of Sam Tuitupou, Ben Atiga, Caleb Ralph, Jimmy Gopperth, Anthony Tuitavake, Selaila Mapasua, Brent Ward who could all do a decent job at test football level in the backs. Even on that All Blacks bench, the likes of Conrad Smith are particularly good players. So no, I don't believe Australia matches New Zealand in backline depth either.

And they keep coming too, I mean two years ago Joe Rockocoko was picked basically from nowhere, Dan Carter a few years before was picked off the Crusaders bench, there's some potent creative talents out there that may not necessarily get the opportunity to play test footy but if they did, like Luke McAlister did this year they won't let anyone down.

The All Blacks basically only really put on 45 minutes of good footy in any of those games, the rest was well below their usual standard. Once they put in a full 80 minutes of their best footy, then they'll show the depth and above all quality in All Black backs.

 

[aussies1st]

Aus have in reserves including injuried players Mortlock, Tune, Larkham, Sailor, Latham, Ashley Copper, Norton Knight, James Hilgendorf, Cameron Shepherd and there is heaps more. Since the ABs have the NPC of course they will have a better back depth but Aus isn't too far off.

 

[aussies1st]

There actually are some pretty good young front-rowers around in the Sydney club competition....Takiari from Easts is one, Tatafu Polota-Nau (hooker) is another, Benn Robinson and Alex Walker from Eastwood are also pretty good prospects.

Good point, I forgot that Hardy left to WA. I just wonder how much game time those guys will get if no injuries occur. I can't see NSW dropping Dunning or Baxter.