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[2014 Mid-Year Test] Australia vs. France 07/06/14

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Buddy, is a dangeorous backline. C'mon!

It is certainly dangerous against a side that isn't tackling.....;) Seriously the French backline just watched while the Aussie side ran at (and through) them! Again I agree the Aussie backline looked good this match, but I don't think other international sides will be quaking in their boots just yet....

It will be interesting to see what French side turns up in the 2nd test.....
 
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A bit of comeback, but why Machenaud was playing for 60min? Parra had immediate impact. Should be starting 9 for next games.
 
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The Wallabies will find it a lot hard to score when the opposition actual plays some defense. Like last season the only player in the Wallabies backline that will really worry the AB's is Folau (and Ashley-Cooper if he plays at 13)....

Yeah, I thought the Wallabies had more penetration when AAc joined the line coming off his wing. Other than that it was the Folau show. Hooper looks like continuing his fine test form also.

Why, Lisa, why ?!!!! Why ?!!!!!

You are TEARING ME APART, Lisa !!!!!
Oh, hi, Mark.

Okay, wrong line but I had to.
 
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Brisbane clearly not getting behind the Wallabies. 33k for a Wallabies test against a top tier nation is nothing short of pathetic. They packed out Suncorp for State of Origin only a week and a half ago and those tickets were about twice the price. Of course, Origin 1 was one of the best games of Rugby League we've seen for a long time, but we didn't know how tonight was going to pan out.
 
I think that Woodward and Greenwood summed it up better than I could.......the French players are so unsettled by the number of wrong selections, the consistent changes in selection such that often they do not know half the people that they play with and that there is a lack of wanting to play for this team which is solely down to PSA and his useless coaching them.

Even with the Lievremont peculiar selections, there was a core of strong players in the squad who took over the management of the team on and off the field and that carried them through.....those "leaders" are not there in this squad and there may well be one off flashes but overall, this French team is in for a beating every time they take to the pitch!
 
OK. :p OK, here's my official "I'm pi$sed off" post:

Lagisquet (backs coach), buddy...you need to....you need to leave now. You need to leave France alone. Go get a 12-inch Subway, eat half of it, it's good stuff...and shove the other 6inches into your hole. Saint-André needs to go go go go go, run like hell. Pink Floyd style. That track should be his theme song.

I reiterate: it's so strange to see the players we saw today for France play real, quality, consistent Rugby in their clubs, but then suck when they play in the Bleus jersey. It's become clear enough to me now that there is a strange atmosphere that pollutes the minds of those players as they gather there, for training camp, with that coaching staff. You look at the France players, they look like they're always struggling. When they play well, the pundits, the fans, even the players themselves look like they're surprised, or like it's an exceptional day. We haven't looked in command since November 2012. Not even the game against Tonga last November, we were really controlling our rhythm and the game although playing a Tier 2, mediocre side.
Somebody was talking about France's body language: Freddy Mich shaking his head, lifting his shoulders with his arms out wide, Machenaud holding his head in both hands, Mas looking quasi-depressed...
There's like a shroud of depression, almost something close to despair at times, that haunts the French players as they team up to at test level. They look like they're playing with an enormous boulder chained to their feet, like there's a huge weight they fight so hard to discard.

The reason is both psychological, and then tactical/Rugby oriented: our forwards don't play with enough continuity from movement to movement. We don't have a simple enough ruck-to-ruck progression like England, who simply put in workrate and one-pass-ruck successions. We like to complicate things, make them complex, un-simple.
And with our backs and attack in general, we have enough class individually to score tries and put nice pieces of play together, but can't finish - because our guys have absolutely nothing to fall back onto, and not having a clear plan, proper training makes you lose confidence ever so easily.

Our defense was terrible today, but that, I cannot explain. Later, we just gave up. PSA preaches defense first, and has succeeded with France so far...so this is an anomaly. Credit to the Aussies for some consistent attacking, especially that Cummins try. WOW !! Pretty, pretty stuff you fkrs !
Folau is amazing. He and Mike Brown, every time they get the ball, it's unbelievable how they just always manage to do smt. Not tons each time, but something.

WTF is wrong with our scrum ?? wtf ??! Just last Feb., we were bringing it to England on EVERY - single - occasion. What happened to Mas ?!...

Talking about individuals for France would be ridiculous. Altough for next test:
Slimani to start in stead of Mas. Parra to start for Machenaud. Dulin (51meters in as sub) over Bonneval (33m as starter). Le Bourhis to be replaced, don't know who, but how the FK did they start him at the wing ?!!! he's a center. A CENTER :cryy: Talès to replace Michalak.
Our third row was excellent though. But Picamoles back, please.

Somebody said France wouldn't make it to the Top 14 playoffs. I agree. If we were to make some video-game like fantasy Rugby scenario, and players could repeat (one Huget in Toulouse, and one for France) they wouldn't make it.
I'd actually have preferred it if we'd picked some Top 14 team like Paris or Castres, and replaced the foreigners with quality French players, but kept the team culture, chemistry, game style, coaching staff etc...
 
Trouble is that PSA is a prat but more importantly...

Defence is the very base of winning rugby but you cannot win games on defence alone. Here, France had some 30 mis-tackles, so how is that a defence that will mean that you are not chasing the game!

French Flair....with Lagisquet as backs coach, this will never be allowed to operate and they have to stick to an obscure and poorly thought out game plan. Greenwood said that Fofana is one of the best players in the world but is not allowed to play under PSA.

Throw the ball about.....you have to earn the right to throw the ball about (if you are allowed by your coach) and to do that you have to win the scrums, rucks and break downs.

You have to have possession and to use it....with this team the first is difficult as to win possession you have to have an indomitable passion that is lacking due to the coach and the second is difficult with Michalak running the game and TDH not in the squad....Tales is not the man but maybe Pelisson will be with some support and time!
 
I want to the Wallabies to play NZ now.

That was my expected result and was surprised at how well our back line played compared to NZ today, they were ****. IF the wallabies had of played NZ today they would have won
 
I want to the Wallabies to play NZ now.

That was my expected result and was surprised at how well our back line played compared to NZ today, they were ****. IF the wallabies had of played NZ today they would have won
Wallabies look fantastic, and I'm really glad the shroud of Cooper seems to have lifted, I never rated him and this Brumbies/Warratahs spine seems to be working for you buuuuut the French are not the All Blacks not to mention Australia isn't England.
You have to beat the All Blacks up front first.
 
Wallabies look fantastic, and I'm really glad the shroud of Cooper seems to have lifted, I never rated him and this Brumbies/Warratahs spine seems to be working for you buuuuut the French are not the All Blacks not to mention Australia isn't England.
You have to beat the All Blacks up front first.

Australia outplayed England in last years EOYT. Dominated everything but the scoreboard. A little like England against NZ tonight actually.
 
Australia outplayed England in last years EOYT. Dominated everything but the scoreboard. A little like England against NZ tonight actually.
Wallabies are great, they look good, I wish them well but A > B > C doesn't apply and a lot can change in a year. Maybe you're dominate the All Blacks this year, I'm just saying it's to early to say anything for sure.

Anyway what do people think about Beale starting over Toomoa? I think he offers a little more.
 
Wallabies are great, they look good, I wish them well but A > B > C doesn't apply and a lot can change in a year. Maybe you're dominate the All Blacks this year, I'm just saying it's to early to say anything for sure.

Anyway what do people think about Beale starting over Toomoa? I think he offers a little more.

Beale is more magic, more fantastic but Toomua is more solid, better defense. So I think:

Wallabies vs Europe's team/Tier 2 team = Beale
Wallabies vs ABs or Boks = Toomua

:cool:

Or maybe Beale with AAC at 13 because Beale-Kuridrani at the same time is a poor defense IMO.

Toomua-Kuridrani
Beale-AAC
 
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Wallabies are great, they look good, I wish them well but A > B > C doesn't apply and a lot can change in a year. Maybe you're dominate the All Blacks this year, I'm just saying it's to early to say anything for sure.

Anyway what do people think about Beale starting over Toomoa? I think he offers a little more.

Not saying that we'd beat NZ, just countering what I saw as an inference that England are a class above. I see you were really just talking about their forward strength though.

On Toomua, I think he had a great game and is far more reliable in defence and around the park in general. Beale is a very unpredictable player, and probably works better off the bench.

Other than that I thought Foley had a great game, while White was solid and Phipps was disappointing off the Bench - Genia has to be back next week.
 
of course knowing France they'll bounce back in game 2. It would be hilarious if they took exactly another 50 in the face next week, but that won't happen.
I feel awful for the players. As a fan I'm not hurt by this because I understand where it's coming from. It would've been nice to avoid it, but it barely hurts at all tbh. But for the players themselves...they must be depressed beyond our grasp. I think it's the most stressful of all Rugby nations atm, to play for France. There's so much unknown, so much instability, everything is precarious from one's mental strength to the actual gameplan...they kind of just go out there and 'see what happens'.

They must feel so disillusioned, and the last thing you want to give the Wallabies is *instability*. Even if you have mediocre guys, but at least hold your own in the scrum, lineout, and have a steady progression with your rucks, play organized defense nice and regular, you can get away with a decent effort and keep that scoreline trimmed way down. Australia have often been France's cryptonite because they feed off of that like piranhas. Their backline is starving for that insecurity. And it was sharp today. But not THAT sharp to put 50 on a Tier 1 nation, France was obviously diarrhea.
 
Australia could teach NZ something about showing up for a game...




das

and France could show England a whole lot about not showing up, if you get what I'm implying. Wallabies were very good, but let's not get over ourselves. France was in disaster-mode. Never saw this coming, I was actually quietly expecting a very tight game, and possibly a French win.
 
and France could show England a whole lot about not showing up, if you get what I'm implying. Wallabies were very good, but let's not get over ourselves. France was in disaster-mode. Never saw this coming, I was actually quietly expecting a very tight game, and possibly a French win.

France were actually looking pretty good the first 15 minutes are so. It's hard for me not to think the biggest issue for the French is their mentality, even more so than any coaches.
 

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