Monday, July 25, 2005
Wallabies blown away
It was a frustrating game to watch as for most of the game the Wallabies were on top, but the SA simply refused to concede any tries, even (and more often than not) if it meant simply infringing and stopping play.
Two early, and pretty fortunate, intercept tries meant that Australia were chasing the game from the first 15 minutes. Even half way through the first half, Australia had to kick for the corners and a try, rather than kick for goal. But in doing so, the Boks were able to keep them out by illegal means like staying offside, slowing the ball down or tackling high. It was quite the most cynical display of test rugby I have seen.
Listening to the referee’s comments was quite enlightening. After the 5th penalty in a row, the SA captain inquired of the referee which SA player had been offside. The referee replied “The entire back-line’. Later, in the second-half, the same question was asked again and the ref simply shrugged his shoulders and said “well, just about everybody”.
It took the referee far too long to start sending players off, but two went off pretty quickly. From there, the Boks did well, and changed their tactics and wound the clock down till their return by playing the touchlines. At this point the Wallabies nearly fell apart and lost 5 of their own throws in a row. From there, a missed tackle by Gregan, and there was no way back, despite two late tries to more reflect the balance of play.
The Boks did well and played with a level of intensity that would impress the All Blacks. But I am confident that Eddie Jones is not as tactically niave as the Wallaby gameplan from Saturday suggested he is. A number of ploys can negate a rush-up defence, including cutting out the first receiver a few times and to create space wide, quickly. And also we did not see the looped chip kick to the wing (Tuquiri especially) which can put a rush defence in nomansland, neither forward, nor back. None of this was tried, which leads we to think that Jones really came to South Africa to win the Tri-Nations, not the Mandela Cup.
Wallabies blown away
Posted by Living with Matilda at 5:36 PM
It was a frustrating game to watch as for most of the game the Wallabies were on top, but the SA simply refused to concede any tries, even (and more often than not) if it meant simply infringing and stopping play.
Two early, and pretty fortunate, intercept tries meant that Australia were chasing the game from the first 15 minutes. Even half way through the first half, Australia had to kick for the corners and a try, rather than kick for goal. But in doing so, the Boks were able to keep them out by illegal means like staying offside, slowing the ball down or tackling high. It was quite the most cynical display of test rugby I have seen.
Listening to the referee’s comments was quite enlightening. After the 5th penalty in a row, the SA captain inquired of the referee which SA player had been offside. The referee replied “The entire back-line’. Later, in the second-half, the same question was asked again and the ref simply shrugged his shoulders and said “well, just about everybody”.
It took the referee far too long to start sending players off, but two went off pretty quickly. From there, the Boks did well, and changed their tactics and wound the clock down till their return by playing the touchlines. At this point the Wallabies nearly fell apart and lost 5 of their own throws in a row. From there, a missed tackle by Gregan, and there was no way back, despite two late tries to more reflect the balance of play.
The Boks did well and played with a level of intensity that would impress the All Blacks. But I am confident that Eddie Jones is not as tactically niave as the Wallaby gameplan from Saturday suggested he is. A number of ploys can negate a rush-up defence, including cutting out the first receiver a few times and to create space wide, quickly. And also we did not see the looped chip kick to the wing (Tuquiri especially) which can put a rush defence in nomansland, neither forward, nor back. None of this was tried, which leads we to think that Jones really came to South Africa to win the Tri-Nations, not the Mandela Cup.
Posted by Living with Matilda at 5:36 PM
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