[2018 Rugby Championship] Round 3: Australia v South Africa (08/09/2018)

[Bada-Bing!]

I don't think I've ever seen someone kick it dead, even under pressure everyone kicks for touch and I had it in my head Otago and been penalised doing that and someone like cookie had explained you couldn't do it but I must be wrong

Didn't you see England v Wales in the World Cup? Dan Biggar, who kicked it out beyond the deadball line. Game over!!!

 

[User1245]

Who was the RSA #19? That guy was massive.

You're probably talking about RG Snyman although I can't remember what number he was wearing.

 

[Derpus]

 

[Nubiwan]

Entertaining for the neutral by virtue of the finale and close score. Rugby championship would be interesting if games were all this close.

Couple of things i noted.

That's one pretty empty stadium for a test match.

Curtley Beale. Elvis is dead mate. Lose the do.

The big African lock (Snyman?) - he does look like the undertaker.

The beast - might be what front row forwards do, but to me, looked like he was intentionally driving his opposite number into the ground in an attempt to injure him. And not just to make a rugby point. Tupou, I think it was, did well to press on at the end when clearly having an issue with his neck. Very funny everyone patting his head at the end watching him grimace. Well done lad.

Great to see Pfaff losing the all important last possession and having a moan to the ref. Who likes Pfaff besides his mother?

Thought it a decent contest. Thought the ABS Pumas match good for an hour as well.

 

[Nubiwan]

My missus offered to buy me a ticket to the match here in Brisbane and I declined. I spashed out in 2016 for premium tickets and was treated to a dire Test match. I feel like the Boks are on a slow burn to the bottom and I'm not optimistic about the team bouncing back like they did when they were once a force. When was the last time they played well? 2014? Pretty sure that's the last time they beat the ABs. Only to be beaten by Japan in the next year. We'll continue to see blimps in the radar and then followed by a steady decline. Rinse, repeat.

Base on the attendance, they couldn't give away tickets for this test. Disappointing turn out.

 

[smartcooky]

Genia kicked it dead in goal to finish the game, I didn't think you were allowed to do that, I thought you had to kick for touch, should that have been a penalty to the boks?

You can kick it anywhere you like. What you can't do is knock it into touch, touch-in-goal or over the dead ball line.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Gutted. Absolutely gutted. What a pathetic performance!! I know there has been some bad performances by us the last couple of seasons, but this has to be one of the worst in a very long time. I rate it up there with the England match where Jannes Labuschagne got a red card for a late hit on Johnny Wilkinson.

Errors from Mbonambi, Faf de Klerk, Willie Le Roux and Warren Whiteley was just schoolboy errors, and petty stupid things. I'll be very surprized if any of them start again against the All Blacks. But then again, Mapimpi is on his way back home, so I guess Willie will play again.

We were the dominant team, but we just couldn't capitalize. Knocking the ball on nearly every time 5m out from the try line. And Faf not keeping an eye on the ball behind the ruck is starting to frustrate the hell out of me. Even I heard the referee yell "the ball is out" yet he still stood there looking at what to do and then got smashed.

Also why do teams go for the long throw 5m from their own tryline, knowing that if you miss your target, you are gifting away tries? But then again, why doesn't the runners make a better attempt at winning the ball??? As much as want to put that Toomua try solely on Mbonambi, I have to blame Kolisi here as well. Why did he allow the ball to bounce??? Why didn't he jump or dive on the ball and protect it???

Elton got his second chance, but yet again failed miserably at proving that he's better than Pollard, again he was so poor on defence. His tactical kicks was poor, and his cross-kicks were both intercepted (luckily we were playing advantage). And Elton just like Pollard, didn't convert points from the corners.

I have absolutely no hope for us against the All Blacks. in fact I'm not even going to watch. I'm rather going to a 3 year old's birthday party. At least there I'll see some entertainment.

Also, why isn't Micheal Hooper cited for his headbutt on RG Snyman?

 

[mdaclarke]

Gutted. Absolutely gutted. What a pathetic performance!! I know there has been some bad performances by us the last couple of seasons, but this has to be one of the worst in a very long time. I rate it up there with the England match where Jannes Labuschagne got a red card for a late hit on Johnny Wilkinson.

Errors from Mbonambi, Faf de Klerk, Willie Le Roux and Warren Whiteley was just schoolboy errors, and petty stupid things. I'll be very surprized if any of them start again against the All Blacks. But then again, Mapimpi is on his way back home, so I guess Willie will play again.

We were the dominant team, but we just couldn't capitalize. Knocking the ball on nearly every time 5m out from the try line. And Faf not keeping an eye on the ball behind the ruck is starting to frustrate the hell out of me. Even I heard the referee yell "the ball is out" yet he still stood there looking at what to do and then got smashed.

Also why do teams go for the long throw 5m from their own tryline, knowing that if you miss your target, you are gifting away tries? But then again, why doesn't the runners make a better attempt at winning the ball??? As much as want to put that Toomua try solely on Mbonambi, I have to blame Kolisi here as well. Why did he allow the ball to bounce??? Why didn't he jump or dive on the ball and protect it???

Elton got his second chance, but yet again failed miserably at proving that he's better than Pollard, again he was so poor on defence. His tactical kicks was poor, and his cross-kicks were both intercepted (luckily we were playing advantage). And Elton just like Pollard, didn't convert points from the corners.

I have absolutely no hope for us against the All Blacks. in fact I'm not even going to watch. I'm rather going to a 3 year old's birthday party. At least there I'll see some entertainment.

Also, why isn't Micheal Hooper cited for his headbutt on RG Snyman?

Agree. I watched the game and thought the Boks were the better team by some distance. But they gave the game away by the customary early try, the overthrow and too many basic errors. However I feel that this Bok team have a higher potential then the Wallabies.

 

[SomeOke]

As much as want to put that Toomua try solely on Mbonambi, I have to blame Kolisi here as well. Why did he allow the ball to bounce??? Why didn't he jump or dive on the ball and protect it???

I think what happened here, was that the target man was actually PsdT and it went over him by quite a large margin.

Anyway bad game was bad, basic handling errors, and line out issues continue to plague us, particularly at key moments, Willie had a shocker and knocked on a few balls at crucial times when it looked like we finally had space.

Our forwards just weren't as dominant as we needed them to be, at best scrums were at parity, line-outs were woeful and our ball carrying was just alright.

I said last week we are reliant on a few players to elevate our performance and when they are poor (like Willie and Faf) or when they just don't impose themselves on the game (like Eben or Marx) we just look ordinary.

In any case this current SA team is poor in the wet, we know this.
I'm too used to losing to really get that mad about it, still going to watch them every week, just with lowered expectations.

Fully expect NZ to pummel us.

Selection there is not much to do, all we can really do is stick with the same players and hope they come right. I don't see any magic bullets.

 

[Derpus]

Agree. I watched the game and thought the Boks were the better team by some distance. But they gave the game away by the customary early try, the overthrow and too many basic errors. However I feel that this Bok team have a higher potential then the Wallabies.

Meh, they were the better team in exactly the same way we were the better team when we scored more tries than England.

As in, we wern't because we lost.

 

[unrated]

Meh, they were the better team in exactly the same way we were the better team when we scored more tries than England.

As in, we wern't because we lost.

Yea but based on that performance i would expect the Boks to take the Home game, if they came so close in AUS but guess we will have to wait and see.

 

[unrated]

In any case this current SA team is poor in the wet, we know this.
I'm too used to losing to really get that mad about it, still going to watch them every week, just with lowered expectations.

.

We had the customary braai during the game, and after we lost we all just kind of sat in silence for a while. I told everyone, we are very disappointed now, lets just take the 10 minutes to process this in silence and then we can hopefully enjoy the rest of the day. Would have been nice with a win but as you say cant really get mad about it still, just go in with lowered expectations. Ii mean who can miss next weeks game against our so called greatest rivals?

 

[Derpus]

Yea but based on that performance i would expect the Boks to take the Home game, if they came so close in AUS but guess we will have to wait and see.

Maybe, we'll also have three of our best players back in Folau, Pocock and Coleman back.

Prolly right tho. I think the teams are basically even. Win at home lose away. Argies in a good spot to snatch second.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Yea but based on that performance i would expect the Boks to take the Home game, if they came so close in AUS but guess we will have to wait and see.

I don't think we should be so confident about the home game either. Something mahor has to happen in order for us to win at home, and by that time, Australia might even have Pocock and Folau back to be even tougher to beat.

But yeah, we gifted them 14 points. And that made a massive difference.

 

[Derpus]

I don't think we should be so confident about the home game either. Something mahor has to happen in order for us to win at home, and by that time, Australia might even have Pocock and Folau back to be even tougher to beat.

But yeah, we gifted them 14 points. And that made a massive difference.

Mistakes also arise out of pressure. Our defense was actually really quite good, perhaps a tad ill disciplined.

 

[Nubiwan]

Gutted. Absolutely gutted. What a pathetic performance!! I know there has been some bad performances by us the last couple of seasons, but this has to be one of the worst in a very long time. I rate it up there with the England match where Jannes Labuschagne got a red card for a late hit on Johnny Wilkinson.

.......

Also, why isn't Micheal Hooper cited for his headbutt on RG Snyman?

Last line clearly made up as Hooper nowhere near tall enough

 

[Nubiwan]

I think what happened here, was that the target man was actually PsdT and it went over him by quite a large margin.

Anyway bad game was bad, basic handling errors, and line out issues continue to plague us, particularly at key moments, Willie had a shocker and knocked on a few balls at crucial times when it looked like we finally had space.

Our forwards just weren't as dominant as we needed them to be, at best scrums were at parity, line-outs were woeful and our ball carrying was just alright.

I said last week we are reliant on a few players to elevate our performance and when they are poor (like Willie and Faf) or when they just don't impose themselves on the game (like Eben or Marx) we just look ordinary.

In any case this current SA team is poor in the wet, we know this.
I'm too used to losing to really get that mad about it, still going to watch them every week, just with lowered expectations.

Fully expect NZ to pummel us.

Selection there is not much to do, all we can really do is stick with the same players and hope they come right. I don't see any magic bullets.

The ABs will pummel anyone I have seen this year, so you are not alone.

I thought this a pretty even contest all in all.

Mistakes made by both sides, and not such a bad contest for the neutral. Could have gone either way, but Ozzie defence was pretty stout at times. Both sides have to convert points and minimize errors. From that perspective, fair result.

 

[User1245]

With all due respect to the Wallabies, Bok fans using them as a barometer are misguided. Rugby union is has very little interest in the country and is on a downward slope too. I'm amazed that the Wallabies are still competitive and it's a credit to the sport talent that Australia produces because they are punching way above their weight. SA should be crushing Australia in rugby. I know quantity don't equal quality but rugby union is much bigger in SA in almost every way except for ironically the national team results.

Put it this way, the AFL league is in the playoffs stage at the moment. Last week on the 6th (a Thursday) a crowd of 91446 attended a match and the very next day (Friday) a crowd of 91767 attended a match. Both matches were at the MCG and featured different teams. And these are elimination finals for essentially suburb teams within Melbourne! Source. They have a public holiday for the final in Melbourne. Not even kidding.
Where AFL isn't as popular (Sydney and Brisbane) Rugby League is way more popular than Union by quite a bit. The Broncos are the pride and joy of Brisbane and you see them everywhere. International cricket has a broader appeal too because it's most sports fans summer season sport, so Union and soccer duke it out for sloppy fourths.

Brisbane is considered one of strong holds of rugby union and it can barely scratch together 20,000 people to attend a match against one of their long time foes. I know more about the Wallabies than anyone in my office and I work in the fitness industry so there is a lot of sporty people in the office.

Not spelling out doom and gloom but honestly don't use the Wallabies as a barometer. They're getting less and less relevant. Rugby union is nowhere compared to how it was in the 90s, where it posed a genuine threat to AFL and League.

EDIT: To add to this Super Rugby has been detrimental for Australian rugby. Nobody wants to follow a sport where your team plays at 1am on a Sunday morning. Would SA fans do this? Same can be said to a lesser extent about TRC because it's a once a year. Australia needs to look outside of SANZAAR if they want to save union in this country.

 

[Derpus]

^^^Hard truths.

I'm not at all convinced the northern hemisphere is stepping up into the place occupied by South Africa and Australia in the 2000s. I suppose we shall see in the autumn tour.

I fully expect all three RWCs this decade to be held by NZ.

 

[User1245]

^^^Hard truths.

I'm not at all convinced the northern hemisphere is stepping up into the place occupied by South Africa and Australia in the 2000s. I suppose we shall see in the autumn tour.

I fully expect all three RWCs this decade to be held by NZ.

I think the NH teams becoming more competitive with AU and SA has a lot to do with the decline of the sport in both countries. This has pretty much coincided with AU and SA becoming less competitive with NZ.
SA, as has been very well documented for two decades and on this forum, the racial quota system has hallowed out rugby at all levels, school level to executive, and is compounded by the general decline of the country.
AU, as you know, has lost its love for Union in a big way and it's hard to see how they can turn back the tide. It's now a niche sport that some private schools dabble in. League & AFL is always in your face and has so much history and rivalry involved. Super Rugby just doesn't have any fan appeal. Only hardcore rugby fans follow it.