The Rugby Shadow
Academy Player
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- Sep 21, 2011
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from www.therugbyshadow.com
If you have never tried a pint of Guinness before,then get along to your nearest Irish bar and sample one in a salute to the Irish,our new best friends.
Auckland was drunk dry of it on Saturday night and by all accounts,Dublin is still attempting to do the same some 36 hours later.
In one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history,Ireland defeated current Tri Nations champions Australia 15-6 in an exciting,tense and physical encounter at Eden Park.
And with that victory by Ireland,it threw the cat amongst the pigeons at this World Cup,and ensured that the Northern and Southern Hemisphere sides will be on opposite sides of the draw,setting up a potential final between a 6 Nations and a Tri Nations team,barring a miraculous run by Samoa or Argentina.
What the victory by Ireland also exposed ,was the weakness of an Australian side that many had not seen before,but one that all experienced observers had keenly noted prior to this tournament. I for one was not entirely convinced and said as much in my match_preview of the final Tri Nations test in Brisbane.
The dropping of long serving Captain Rocky Elsom..
But James Horwill is no Nick Farr-Jones,and this white hot atmosphere of a World Cup is a world apart from leading out Queensland in a Super Rugby game.
Horwill looked like a hedgehog in headlights at times,and one couldn’t help but wonder whether Rocky Elsom was having a quiet wee snigger to himself in the background.
And the team dynamics were questioned several weeks ago as well…
Tommy Bowe very nearly capitalised late in the game when intercepting another wayward Cooper pass,and on his 90 metre run to the line you could feel the population of Ireland rumbling the foundations of the earth on its axis,and the stands of Eden Park shook to its core.
The non-existant kicking game from the much acclaimed halves of Genia and Cooper was horribly exposed in the tricky Auckland conditions,and made even more noticeable by the pinpoint accuracy of Irelands Jonathan Sexton and later,Ronan O’Gara.
The Irish could smell a massive victory,and when Genia tried to pick up from the base of a scrum,he was picked up and monstered by an Irish swarm of loose forwards in a stark reminder of the fierceness that Ireland can muster,and of the weakness and frailties of Australia.
A late shot at goal that rebounded off the posts nearly resulted in Brian O’Driscoll scoring,but what was of significance was what happened immediately after.Australia won the ruck and swung the ball to the left,but instead of cool calm heads,they tried some risky passes,and eventually Kurtlley Beale tried a chip kick….in his own 22..
This was an Australian side on the wayward slide without a rudder.
A scrum that folded repeatedly with the Irish onslaught will have the Springboks and All Blacks licking their lips with anticipation.No team will win a World Cup without a dominant front five,and Australia showed yet again that they have failed to deliver on that front.
A backline that many claim to be the best in the world,had no answer to the defensive line of Ireland,and rather than change tactics and try and take a more direct approach,Australia continued the lateral approach and paid the consequences.Pat McCabe offers nothing on attack and Mat Giteau would have been a far better,more experienced option in the Wallaby midfield.
I’m not writing off the Australians just yet,but some major damage has been done to their mental state of mind ,especially after another loss at Eden Park,and the eyes and minds of all other opposition teams have been opened as the Wallabies have exposed a very very soft core.
The All Blacks lie in wait,but only if the Wallabies can get past the Boks in the expected 1/4 final.
Some interesting few weeks ahead,indeed.
If you have never tried a pint of Guinness before,then get along to your nearest Irish bar and sample one in a salute to the Irish,our new best friends.
Auckland was drunk dry of it on Saturday night and by all accounts,Dublin is still attempting to do the same some 36 hours later.
In one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history,Ireland defeated current Tri Nations champions Australia 15-6 in an exciting,tense and physical encounter at Eden Park.
And with that victory by Ireland,it threw the cat amongst the pigeons at this World Cup,and ensured that the Northern and Southern Hemisphere sides will be on opposite sides of the draw,setting up a potential final between a 6 Nations and a Tri Nations team,barring a miraculous run by Samoa or Argentina.
What the victory by Ireland also exposed ,was the weakness of an Australian side that many had not seen before,but one that all experienced observers had keenly noted prior to this tournament. I for one was not entirely convinced and said as much in my match_preview of the final Tri Nations test in Brisbane.
The dropping of long serving Captain Rocky Elsom..
By dropping your Captain just 3 weeks before the start of the biggest Rugby tournament on the planet smells of uncertainty and a hint of desperation. Rocky Elsom must feel snubbed,and the Elsom supporters within the side must be seething quietly beneath the surface,ready to boil over should the campaign come unstuck.
A divided camp?Probably.
In the final moments of Saturday nights test match,with the game still in the balance and a desperate Australian outfit looking for guidance,their Skipper should have had the experience and nous to grab the game by the scruff of the neck,pick his team mates up and soldier on to find victory from the jaws of defeat,as Australia had done so magnificently 20 years ago in Dublin when they scored a last minute try to ensure a 1/4 final victory over the same opponant.A divided camp?Probably.
But James Horwill is no Nick Farr-Jones,and this white hot atmosphere of a World Cup is a world apart from leading out Queensland in a Super Rugby game.
Horwill looked like a hedgehog in headlights at times,and one couldn’t help but wonder whether Rocky Elsom was having a quiet wee snigger to himself in the background.
And the team dynamics were questioned several weeks ago as well…
And what is up with the young upstart James O’Connor? Too drunk,passing out and then missing the official squad naming? THAT,is terrible.Inexcusable,but he got the slap over the wrist with a wet bus ticket from Robbie and the Wallabies moved on.
Or did they?
And wait,still more. I questioned the team dynamics again..Or did they?
Just a few days ago,it emerged that there was a ‘fight’ on last years European tour between ‘mates’ Kurtley Beale,Quade Cooper and O’Connor.
Hardly the way that tight teams with unity and undivided loyalties behave.But this Australian outfit has slowly been coming apart at the seams,and tonights game will see them tear apart,just 2 weeks out from the World Cup,because the last team you want to play when trying to build confidance and cohesion,is the mighty All Blacks.
So I got that last Tri Nations result badly wrong,but again,I mentioned in my post_game_analysis that “Australia can have the Tri Nations†,we didn’t want it!Hardly the way that tight teams with unity and undivided loyalties behave.But this Australian outfit has slowly been coming apart at the seams,and tonights game will see them tear apart,just 2 weeks out from the World Cup,because the last team you want to play when trying to build confidance and cohesion,is the mighty All Blacks.
I’m stoked,over the moon,elated!! We lost that bloody Tri Nations ***le before heading in to the World Cup!Yessss…
We won it in 1999.And again in 2003.Geez we even ran up consecutive 50 point wins over the Boks and Wallabies in that one!We won AGAIN in 2007,with the Wallabies second and the Boks dead motherless LAST that year.(And who won the WC in 2007?)
And translation in to World Cups?None.Zilch.Nothing.
It’s so great to get that monkey off the back!
Will Genia and Quade Cooper were shown up by the aggressive nature of the Irish defence and when their space was shut down time and time again,they were left with little good ball to work off,and Cooper in particular had no answer.If he doesn’t have time and space to operate then he becomes absolutely ineffectual.Instead he continues his dancing behind the gain line then attempts to throw a miracle backflip ball that simply isn’t there.We won it in 1999.And again in 2003.Geez we even ran up consecutive 50 point wins over the Boks and Wallabies in that one!We won AGAIN in 2007,with the Wallabies second and the Boks dead motherless LAST that year.(And who won the WC in 2007?)
And translation in to World Cups?None.Zilch.Nothing.
It’s so great to get that monkey off the back!
Tommy Bowe very nearly capitalised late in the game when intercepting another wayward Cooper pass,and on his 90 metre run to the line you could feel the population of Ireland rumbling the foundations of the earth on its axis,and the stands of Eden Park shook to its core.
The non-existant kicking game from the much acclaimed halves of Genia and Cooper was horribly exposed in the tricky Auckland conditions,and made even more noticeable by the pinpoint accuracy of Irelands Jonathan Sexton and later,Ronan O’Gara.
The Irish could smell a massive victory,and when Genia tried to pick up from the base of a scrum,he was picked up and monstered by an Irish swarm of loose forwards in a stark reminder of the fierceness that Ireland can muster,and of the weakness and frailties of Australia.
A late shot at goal that rebounded off the posts nearly resulted in Brian O’Driscoll scoring,but what was of significance was what happened immediately after.Australia won the ruck and swung the ball to the left,but instead of cool calm heads,they tried some risky passes,and eventually Kurtlley Beale tried a chip kick….in his own 22..
This was an Australian side on the wayward slide without a rudder.
A scrum that folded repeatedly with the Irish onslaught will have the Springboks and All Blacks licking their lips with anticipation.No team will win a World Cup without a dominant front five,and Australia showed yet again that they have failed to deliver on that front.
A backline that many claim to be the best in the world,had no answer to the defensive line of Ireland,and rather than change tactics and try and take a more direct approach,Australia continued the lateral approach and paid the consequences.Pat McCabe offers nothing on attack and Mat Giteau would have been a far better,more experienced option in the Wallaby midfield.
I’m not writing off the Australians just yet,but some major damage has been done to their mental state of mind ,especially after another loss at Eden Park,and the eyes and minds of all other opposition teams have been opened as the Wallabies have exposed a very very soft core.
The All Blacks lie in wait,but only if the Wallabies can get past the Boks in the expected 1/4 final.
Some interesting few weeks ahead,indeed.