Springboks vs Wallabies, 28 Aug 2010, Loftus Versfeld

[admartian]

Quade's got footwork for sure. But in rugby, the lines are a little bit different. (Which is probably why he's thinking of switching to league - more freedom to run and goose his way around)

I think he might break the line a few times. But I see an adjustment (by Richie/Conrad & the coaches) if he ever makes any real damage.

 

[ranger]

Anyone who thinks that the Boks are the kings of kicking (kicks in play - KIP) would be quite wrong. The All Blacks kick almost as much. In this 3N so far, Boks 25 KIPs per match, ABs 23 KIPs per match. The Wallabies don't kick as much (only 17 KIPs per match) but where the Wallabies fail is the quality and type of kicks. The Boks and the AB's kick tactically, and accurately for the most part, whereas I have noticed that the Wallabies simply belt the ball downfield aimlessly, going for distance instead of accuracy.

If they adopt this tactic, combined with a run at all costs attitude against the Boks at Bloemfontein next weekend, they will lose again, and if they try it in Sydney against the AB's we will slaughter them.

I think they lose something by having Cooper at 1st 5/8. While he has all the fancy foxtrot dance-steps, he is not half as good a tactical kicker at Giteau. If he tries that airy-fairy footwork against Keiran Reid or Jerome Kaino, they'll just flatten him.

Im afraid i'll have to go with Haysie here on the Cooper thing. Anyone can have good footwork but as the Welsh say the difference between the rabble and the truely great steppers is they know when to use it. Coopers steps may look pretty but more often than not he is capitalising on an attacking situation rather than creating one if you know what i mean. hes from Tokoroa too so he has probably experienced first hand what happens when you try to put the moves on at the wrong time. If Cooper sees an opportunity i think he would make Read and Kaino look silly.

I think Australia is gaining something by having Cooper in there. Every man and his dog knows that he can get dancing and run it himself, just the defenders having that knowledge in their heads creates holes for other players. The flankers will be watching him like a hawk, especially with it being Crudens first start. I think we will see McCaw and Read paying him extra attention to make sure he doesnt spark anything crazy, even Nonu may be tempted to keep an eye on his inside shoulder just incase. That extra attention from the loosies would see alot more room for Giteau and especially Genia. Giteau can run dont get me wrong but he doesnt have the same gameplan changing running threat that Cooper has. The ABs have gotten used to being able to slide off Morne Steyn and shut down the rest of the backs, they wont be able to do that anymore so it will be interesting to see how they react. I predict Cooper to have a pretty good game, but Genia to have a stormer by virtue of him being on the field.

 

[Haysie]

Well that wouldn't have been difficult...Nick Evans has played for Harlequins in the English Premiership since 2007!!!


I think you mean Stephen Brett!

Haha touche' Cook, touche'.

 

[cardassian]

Interesting game, lots of points and lots of mistakes.
Australian set peice was terrible which made it really hard for them to set anything up.
Does anyone know if the Aussie bench is so terrible that they shouldn't be brought on or is Deans just being retarded?
Copper looked good at 1/5 imo.
Why S.A. didn't have Gio there bewilders me he had a sound game last week and gets dropped wtf?
Habana looking terrible, should drop him honestly and put anyone there instead.
Smith had another good game, as did Houggard.
All in all glad South Africa got there in the end.

 

[Jer1cho]

His Debut season he played wing , look it up. Promise you it is correct.

I know he was a winger. lol. I played against him for 4 years at school level and he was a winger. I'm just saying he never played an entire season there in the Super 14. He was moved very quickly once at the Bulls. I also recall him moving to 14 in the final game against the B&I Lions last year. Lol at PdV.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

I reviewed the match today and I have to say both teams played amazing. The ref missed a couple of things but both teams were very friendly towards each other. I loved the national anthem this time. Definitely in my top3 most beautiful and chilling performances of the national anthem I've seen.

The match was thrilling with 3 tries in the first 10 minutes. Both teams deserved to win.

 

[Sam Owen]

Yeah I liked the game I thought both teams did well and it bodes for a good match in Bloemfontein. Although there were some mistakes like every other game of Rugby, the guys played well. Wallabies not finishing well though and Springboks played good catch up ruggas.

 

[Sparty]

I know he was a winger. lol. I played against him for 4 years at school level and he was a winger. I'm just saying he never played an entire season there in the Super 14. He was moved very quickly once at the Bulls. I also recall him moving to 14 in the final game against the B&I Lions last year. Lol at PdV.

Ok I hear you , I remember though that everyone was going on why he is paying wing and that he should be playing in the loosies. Heneyker Meyer kept him there though for the season but I remember he was injured in the first or second game against a local team (could be sharks or cheetahs) and then made his comeback for the Juniors , So technically he did play an entire season on the wing albeit that season was most likely 2 games long lol.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

I have to admit I am positively surprised by Hougaard. I expected him to do well but in this Springbok side nothing is certain. I just hope Januarie will be dropped from the squad permanently since he's not even first choice at his club. Even de Bruyn, Kockott or Duvenhage would be better suited in the new game of rugby. Also I would love to see Juan de Jongh in stead of highly overrated Jaqueline Fourie. There's still a lot to improve in the current squad. Januarie, Smit, Fourie, Bakkies Botha, Ralepelle and Burger are players I don't see making the Boks World Champions. These players are either too old or overrated.

I hope to see some talent getting a chance next week. We have to think about the future too. The 2011 World Cup will be the last matches for Smit, du Preez, Matfield and some others. I think we need to give players like Hargreaves, Kankowski, van den Heever, Burden, Basson, Duvenhage and Daniel a chance.