• Help Support The Rugby Forum :

[RWC2019][Pool D] Round 2 - Australia vs. Wales (29/09/2019)

I watched the whole game from start to finish as a neutral and there were only two decisions I disagreed with. The Kerevi hand off and Tipuric being taken out off the ball, but missed. (No one is talking about the latter because it went in Australia's favour).

If you can't live with a game because one decision goes against you then please stop watching rugby. It will not be good for you.

These threads turn into dozens of people piling in against the ref before even looking at the evidence. Everyone seems to have gone quiet about Davies being offside since it became clear he wasn't, even though a bunch of people were 100% certain he was half a dozen metres of side at the time, because that was the pile-on occuring at that moment. Then the story changes, but several posters here got themselves so hot under the collar that backpedalling doesn't feel like an option.

It's genuinely pathetic. If the only comment you have is '**** reffing' then you have nothing to say. You're just part of the mob.

Post and a half here!
 
I'm going to go against the grain and actually talk about the players performance. :p

Wales first half performance was excellent, they took their chances, managed the ball and territory well and also defended pretty good. Wales definitely tried play a bit more, forwards were giving out the back door passes to 10 and there was a lot more forward carrying off 10. While it looked a bit better to the eye, Wales don't have that many ball carrying threats in the forwards so it wasn't that effective,they need to get a bit more clever in how they use the forward to get more gains from it.
 
I saw it at the time Dai, clearly forward... I just try not to complain about reffing decisions. I'm trying to start a new trend :cool:.
I don't complain either, I'm just pointing out that not every thing went our way, the forearm a penalty no argument there. Hooper on the other hand was a definite yellow, he was late and used no arms a shoulder charge without doubt and cynical, chekeye has no empathy or humility his press conference was typical and hardly unexpected, ok rant over. now to walk the dogs
 
I don't complain either, I'm just pointing out that not every thing went our way, the forearm a penalty no argument there. Hooper on the other hand was a definite yellow, he was late and used no arms a shoulder charge without doubt and cynical, chekeye has no empathy or humility his press conference was typical and hardly unexpected, ok rant over. now to walk the dogs
I loved his presser tbh... I don't mind people not seeing things our way as long as they entertain me in some way.

About the match on the second viewing... all the talk of Wales being anti-rugby and our 'brand' turning off casuals is just peeps swallowing some bitter pills. The match is sporting theatre at its best! First half we actually put hands to the ball with some attacks that were very pleasing to the eye... and there was even one or two in the second forty. Obviously we defended for like 90% of that second half but I'd still put that down to us coming to grips with the conditions... that was the hottest day of the World Cup so far and the welsh climate is notoriously 'different' to what we are facing in that department.

A fantastic contest, game and piece of sporting entertainment!
 
I was coaching minis rugby whilst the game was on so had the pleasure of watching at my leisure yesterday evening. I also watched the car crash that was the Hooper / Cheika press conference.

Fwiw I thought that the referee was not the deciding factor in this match. The ref doesn't throw try intercept passes (nearly 2), hook kicks at goal and the ref doesn't fail to kick the ball far enough into touch at 75 minutes (brilliant play from Williams that and I have some sympathy with the kicker. 99/100 that goes dead). Finally the ref certainly doesn't cheap shot the oppo's 10..... The small key moments were won by the Welsh and that's how games are won.

Wales were very good early but I feel their performance did drop away and the Aussies were still bang in the game. On another day I'd have been entirely unsurprised to see the game go the other way.

As for the press conference. Jesus Christ. To be fair I feel sorry for Hooper he put a lot into the game and he's still bleeding whilst being asked questions. However, he seems to be labouring under the misapprehension that the high tackle framework is the only thing he needed to worry about. The shot on Biggar was cynical and I suspect that a decent proportion of those that have ever played the game know it. Late and with force and cynical? He's lucky it was just a penalty.

He's also on thin ice even as captain.

Law 9 - 28

"Players must respect the authority of the referee. They must not dispute the referee's decisions. They must stop playing immediately when the referee blows the whistle to stop play."

As for Cheika. I give you this from 2015 when Craig Joubert pretty much handed the match versus Scotland to Australia

He said: 'You have to live with the ones you get and the ones you don't. It is what it is and you just deal with it. Because of some things that have happened to me in the past, I've become quite neutral on the topic of referees. When you score five tries in a World Cup quarter-final, you expect to be somewhere near the winning end of the game.'

So when you win you accept the calls but when you don't, you claim you don't understand the rules anymore and it's embarrassing.......

Finally the Kerevi incident. Personally I'd have been reasonably happy if the TMO had kept out of it. But there is an issue with ball carriers attempting to dominate collisions by forearm smashing people out of the way. I've seen similar from Billy Vunipola, Manu Tuilagi (both get away with this a lot) and Bismarck Du Plessis was yellowed for elbowing Liam Messam in the neck. The carrier does have a responsibility to not simply smash opponents in the throat / head. A penalty is proportionate. Where I do share some of Cheika's angst is around consistency. If this is going to policed then there's going to be a load more pens. You can't simply penalise one example...........

On edit - laws clarification
 
I was coaching minis rugby whilst the game was on so had the pleasure of watching at my leisure yesterday evening. I also watched the car crash that was the Hooper / Cheika press conference.

Fwiw I thought that the referee was not the deciding factor in this match. The ref doesn't throw try intercept passes (nearly 2), hook kicks at goal and the ref doesn't fail to kick the ball far enough into touch at 75 minutes (brilliant play from Williams that and I have some sympathy with the kicker. 99/100 that goes dead). Finally the ref certainly doesn't cheap shot the oppo's 10..... The small key moments were won by the Welsh and that's how games are won.

Wales were very good early but I feel their performance did drop away and the Aussies were still bang in the game. On another day I'd have been entirely unsurprised to see the game go the other way.

As for the press conference. Jesus Christ. To be fair I feel sorry for Hooper he put a lot into the game and he's still bleeding whilst being asked questions. However, he seems to be labouring under the misapprehension that the high tackle framework is the only thing he needed to worry about. The shot on Biggar was cynical and I suspect that a decent proportion of those that have ever played the game know it. Late and with force and cynical? He's lucky it was just a penalty.

He's also on thin ice even as captain.

Law 9 - 28

"Players must respect the authority of the referee. They must not dispute the referee's decisions. They must stop playing immediately when the referee blows the whistle to stop play."

As for Cheika. I give you this from 2015 when Craig Joubert pretty much handed the match versus Scotland to Australia

He said: 'You have to live with the ones you get and the ones you don't. It is what it is and you just deal with it. Because of some things that have happened to me in the past, I've become quite neutral on the topic of referees. When you score five tries in a World Cup quarter-final, you expect to be somewhere near the winning end of the game.'

So when you win you accept the calls but when you don't, you claim you don't understand the rules anymore and it's embarrassing.......

Finally the Kerevi incident. Personally I'd have been reasonably happy if the TMO had kept out of it. But there is an issue with ball carriers attempting to dominate collisions by forearm smashing people out of the way. I've seen similar from Billy Vunipola, Manu Tuilagi (both get away with this a lot) and Bismarck Du Plessis was yellowed for elbowing Liam Messam in the neck. The carrier does have a responsibility to not simply smash opponents in the throat / head. A penalty is proportionate. Where I do share some of Cheika's angst is around consistency. If this is going to policed then there's going to be a load more pens. You can't simply penalise one example...........

On edit - laws clarification
Great post Yoshi... the bit highlighting Cheika's hypocrisy was priceless!
 
The speed of ball that Aus generated in the 2nd half is a real concern for Wales. Aus' carriers continued to get over the gain line and Wales struggled to slow ball down. Wales was apparently training very hard earlier in the week and you do have to question that since with the 6 day turnaround, Wales looked knackered in the 2nd half.
 
The speed of ball that Aus generated in the 2nd half is a real concern for Wales. Aus' carriers continued to get over the gain line and Wales struggled to slow ball down. Wales was apparently training very hard earlier in the week and you do have to question that since with the 6 day turnaround, Wales looked knackered in the 2nd half.
If it's one thing that is a constant with Wales under Gats... we look fitter as a tournament goes on. Although I was (& am) concerned about how the conditions are affecting the NH teams, I have faith we'll be 'faf' by the knock outs.
 
Three match-winning moments that just haven't been lauded enough happened in the last 5 minutes when the Welsh boys must've been running on fumes.

1. Owen Watkin rips the ball when tackling Kerevi. The big Fijian had been tearing up super rugby and the rugby championship all season... as well as our defence all match but Watkin's gotta Watkin and does what he's been doing all season and wins back possession via a trademarked rip just as Oz we're building up steam to break past our 10 metre line at pace.

2. Tomos Williams jumps about 4 yards out of play to prevent an Ozzie Line-out. An ex schoolboy National basketball player, the leap from inside of the pitch boundary to reach a ball travelling at some speed and to not only clip it back into the field but at a backwards trajectory was just something else. 'Maybe' as good as Gareth Davies interception try!

3. A crocked Liam Williams pulls off a tackle assist and turn over on Kerevi. Just like he did in the Champions Cup Final for Saracens this year... only this time he was shaking off an injury causing him to limp around the defensive line gingerly. Williams assisted Owen Watkin in bring Kerevi down before using great technique to prize the ball out from the Fijians grip and pull it back on to the red side of the break down and into Welsh possession.

All of the stats (apart from the Scoreboard and turnovers) were against Wales and when you consider how well the Welsh played in the first half it just goes to show the sheer dominance Australia had in the second 40... and after making god knows how many tackles and slowing down god knows how many rucks for three players to make contributions of that level just explains the win.

Bravo!
 
What a riveting game.

Wales were excellent in the first half; easily won the breakdown battle against legends like Pocock and Hooper. Won the collisions, got their tactics spot on and were utterly clinical in taking points. Stifling and intense pressure forced a lot of mistakes from the Aussies.

Australia were brilliant in the second half. Kerevi is a beast, they started getting quick ball and set piece dominance too. Wales are experienced and confident enough now to not panic and to rely on their defence, but it was severely tested and breached by superb Australian play. They never know when they are beaten, do they. I think Australia might well have won against any other defence in the world (?)

It was a close game, but the truth is that Australia shipped far too many points in the first half to catch up. I suspect Wales sat on their lead a bit, which is dangerous and nearly backfired.

I really can't stand all the *****ing about the referee. Not only on here, but in the media generally. This is not soccer.

There are always contestable decisions by referees (it is a fast and complicated game). Be far enough ahead that they don't matter!

We lost something like 12 straight games to Australia, mostly by a measly few points and late on in games where we didn't get the rub of the green. It happens sometimes, and the Australian coach and media have not covered themselves with honour and good sportsmanship .... not that we are necessarily paragons of virtue, by the way. Australia lost because Wales were nearly out of sight at half time, not because of a couple of dodgy referee decisions.

They will come again, they are not eliminated or anything and they remain a genuine world class side who are contenders for the tournament. Just stop moaning for a while guys
 
Any news on Dan Biggar and North's injuries? They both didn't seem 100% when they went off...
So apparently Biggar is good to go for the Fiji game Wednesday week and although North hasn't been mentioned specifically... an article stated that Biggar was the only concern after the game, so I guess George is good too.
 
So apparently Biggar is good to go for the Fiji game Wednesday week and although North hasn't been mentioned specifically... an article stated that Biggar was the only concern after the game, so I guess George is good too.

It's pretty big that we're 2 games in and zero injuries so far. I'd be tempted to change 2/3 players for Fiji, Moriarty, Patchell, Watkin & Halfpenny/Amos in. Then we can properly rotate v Uruguy.
 
It's pretty big that we're 2 games in and zero injuries so far. I'd be tempted to change 2/3 players for Fiji, Moriarty, Patchell, Watkin & Halfpenny/Amos in. Then we can properly rotate v Uruguy.
Yeah... I suppose we had our significant injuries before the cup even started mind. Yeah I'd agree with a few changes but the thought of those Fijians running at concussion magnet Patchell makes me wince.
 
I'm a little confused as to why the Aussies are so disappointed Wales beat them we've already beat them before this game, so not a real shock boyos :D;)
 
FIJI next Wednesday, Fiji play Georgia tomorrow, will be interesting to see and who Fiji pick, will they rest some of their better players for us?
 

Latest posts

Top