Tri Nations - Game 3: Australia v New Zealand - Sat June 30, MCG, Melbourne

[meltiger]

Aussies will win...:lol: :roll:

Deary me.


Brings back memories of Tony's all time great 'Kiwis will win the Anzac' post back on the old ninemsn forum

 

[kia ora storm]

Deary me.


Brings back memories of Tony's all time great 'Kiwis will win the Anzac' post back on the old ninemsn forum

Coming out of the woodwork after one win...good one.

Jump on the bandwagon...it will be chockers come world cup time.

 

[lockyno1]

I would hope an NRL ref would never see a playing field again if he sin binned someone for an offense like that on halfway.

Blame your players for their continued foul play- that sin bin was justified as NZ were getting away with anything.

 

[meltiger]

Jump on the bandwagon...it will be chockers come world cup time.

Pfft,


Nothing grand is expected of the Australian team come September..... Unlike the nation that has made an art form out of pumping itself up every four years, only to choke each and every time for 20 years.


Have the AB's peaked outside the WC cycle once again? Would certainly appear that way at present. 1 lucky win and a loss so far in the real tests ;-)

 

[kia ora storm]

Pfft,


Nothing grand is expected of the Australian team come September..... Unlike the nation that has made an art form out of pumping itself up every four years, only to choke each and every time for 20 years.


Have the AB's peaked outside the WC cycle once again? Would certainly appear that way at present. 1 lucky win and a loss so far in the real tests ;-)

Wait for the second game in the Bledisloe before posing the above question (which is all over the press today)....I agree with the sin binning but do you also agree that the Wallabies rely heavily on Mortlock and that Carter is yet to hit his peak ??.

 

[AuckMel]

Blame your players for their continued foul play- that sin bin was justified as NZ were getting away with anything.

Foul play?

LoL

If the ref had any consistency in him at all, the whole Aussie scrum would have been off the field.

 

[Iafeta]

Man, that was a piass weak performance. IT really was. Dan Carter is just not in form, anyone who defends him is not watching the same bloke. Neither is Aaron Mauger. This whole "reconditioning" thing seems to have worked nicely for the pack, but guys like Carter and Mauger look woefully out of touch. One thing Dan certainly wasn't practising in his "reconditioning" period was his kicking game - general or place kicking. I couldn't understand why Evans didn't come off the bench for one of these two, and sure enough, the tide was turned when Mauger thought he'd kick to his cousin in the crowd.

 

[Iafeta]

By the way, I think Mortlock was wtching a different game...

"The forwards gave us some quality possession from scrum and lineout and Stephen Larkham was getting the ball on the front foot and we found in-roads in the midfield"

They got hammered in the scrum.

 

[kia ora storm]

Man, that was a piass weak performance. IT really was. Dan Carter is just not in form, anyone who defends him is not watching the same bloke. Neither is Aaron Mauger. This whole "reconditioning" thing seems to have worked nicely for the pack, but guys like Carter and Mauger look woefully out of touch. One thing Dan certainly wasn't practising in his "reconditioning" period was his kicking game - general or place kicking. I couldn't understand why Evans didn't come off the bench for one of these two, and sure enough, the tide was turned when Mauger thought he'd kick to his cousin in the crowd.

Agree...Carter needs more match practice to get his tactical kicking right...I watched him closely and he was gaining nothing from his kicks for touch and seemed lost in a positional sense that put the backline under pressure.

McCallister has not handled the transition into the centre role very well...Henry has a real problem in this position. His defensive ability is average and his pace is non existent. Toeava would be my choice or even Maa Nonu may be an option as Nonu would bring the steel required to nullify the likes of Mortlock.

 

[kia ora storm]

Foul play?

LoL

If the ref had any consistency in him at all, the whole Aussie scrum would have been off the field.

How about Gregan...delaying the feed into the scrum...the ref should have penalised him for this.

 

[lockyno1]

Foul play?

LoL

If the ref had any consistency in him at all, the whole Aussie scrum would have been off the field.

Not my fault Maguer committed a borederline yellow card offence 30 seconds earlier and the fact that the AB's were giving away penalties every time Aus got close to the line. Blame the players, the yellow card was fine.

 

[AuckMel]

Not my fault Maguer committed a borederline yellow card offence 30 seconds earlier and the fact that the AB's were giving away penalties every time Aus got close to the line. Blame the players, the yellow card was fine.

LoL

Despite the AB's playing poorly, Australia were being outplayed until the ref decided to (finally) stamp his authority on the game.

Pity he never chose to do it while the All Blacks were smashing Australia all over the park in the scrums.

 

[lockyno1]

LoL

Despite the AB's playing poorly, Australia were being outplayed until the ref decided to (finally) stamp his authority on the game.

Pity he never chose to do it while the All Blacks were smashing Australia all over the park in the scrums.

None of the scrums were yellow card offences so what are you complaining about? He gave a couple of penalties each way in the scrums, that is more than enough. Mauger should have gone to the bin, but it was stupid for Heyman to do what he did 30 seconds after Macaw was told the next one would go to the bin. Players need to use their brain a bit!

 

[meltiger]

Wait for the second game in the Bledisloe before posing the above question (which is all over the press today)....I agree with the sin binning but do you also agree that the Wallabies rely heavily on Mortlock and that Carter is yet to hit his peak ??.

Oh definitly Carter's second 'average' game in a row. The thing is, can they break him out of the rut in time? If they can, they will win. If not ...


NZ have a grand history in finding new ways to lose WC games.

 

[JJ]

Carter will come right - but we do have th 2nd best 1st five in the world too... just that all the eggs are in the Carter basket, so Evans will lose any form.

I though McAllister was pretty good, and wouldn have him at 2nd five over turnstiles Mauger every day of the week - I'm surprised that Mauger seems so immune from any criticism in NZ - Mortlock runs over him at least once every game - no, it didn't lead to a try this time, but Morlock is well aware of it.

I'll be surprised if Gear gets another game, he did the odd good thing, but his hands let him down and the "tackle" on that hyphenated nuffy was appalling (as were McCaw (who was otherwise terrific) and Jack's).

Finally - locks - God I hope Robinson and Williams are good for the world cup, because they're the horses we need to ride IMO.

I think there wss a bit of arrogance and complacency setting in with selections etc etc - hopefullt this will knock some sense into them

 

[meltiger]

I'll be surprised if Gear gets another game, he did the odd good thing, but his hands let him down and the "tackle" on that hyphenated nuffy was appalling (as were McCaw (who was otherwise terrific) and Jack's).

Would you believe they actually gave him a wrap in the paper down here?

I wish they'd give the jobs to journo's who know what they are talking about. I'm a fan of Rico ... At S14 level, the AB's surely have better options though.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

The scrums are a disgrace, despite the AB's dominance. The ref was far too slow in calling the bs they associate with them.

I disagree tbh, I think the ref is getting way to harsh a deal re: the scrums. The All Blacks may have a stronger scrum, but that doesn't mean that they should be allowed to do whatever they want in there.

Serious question about scrums- are the players actually supposed to listen to the referee's commands? Because in any game of union, they basically seem to do whatever they like- as soon as the referee says "pause", the scrums will engage, and the referee either says "engage" while they are engaging, and lets it go on, or he penalises, seemingly on a whim. I have never, ever, seen a union scrum where the players engaged on hearing the referee actually say "engage"- they simply pre-empt him saying it. Is it actually supposed to be this way?

The ABs scrum were repeatedly engaging before the call of engage on Saturday night and I think that's why they were getting penalised tbh.

 

[AuckMel]

None of the scrums were yellow card offences so what are you complaining about?

Repeat offending, like the ones you're complaining the All Blacks were doing are sin binable offenses.

 

[AuckMel]

Serious question about scrums- are the players actually supposed to listen to the referee's commands? Because in any game of union, they basically seem to do whatever they like- as soon as the referee says "pause", the scrums will engage, and the referee either says "engage" while they are engaging, and lets it go on, or he penalises, seemingly on a whim. I have never, ever, seen a union scrum where the players engaged on hearing the referee actually say "engage"- they simply pre-empt him saying it. Is it actually supposed to be this way?

Most games I've watched have gone through the whole, crouch, touch, pause, engage thing. I thought this was clearly the case on sat night. I also thought the 2007 S14 was season was the worst because of it. I hear changes are in the wind. I certainly hope so.

The ABs scrum were repeatedly engaging before the call of engage on Saturday night and I think that's why they were getting penalised tbh.

I didn't see it that way, but there ya go. At the end of the day, I think it's going to be a good loss for the AB's anyway.

 

[lockyno1]

Repeat offending, like the ones you're complaining the All Blacks were doing are sin binable offenses.

There were only 2-3 penalties against Aus in the scrum..compared to the what 10 or so the AB's committed at the breakdown! Simple- do not give away penalties at the breakdown- it aint that hard!