Good work Brett in highlighting Lonergan's role in giving width to our attack in the first half. Tate has his snipes but his passing keeps our attack more narrow where we caused problems with width. Gordon's passing also adds width on both sides.
Very noticeable when JGP drove Ireland home with more width in their attack - they did to Australia in the last 15 mins what Australia were doing in the first 30..
My impression was that Ireland found gains with kicks during the second half that put us in our 22 for long periods. Haven’t looked at a replay but I was feeling like we had too little ability to recover. Once there they ground us down very effectively.
The critical issue in this game was the 11/12 penalties we conceded in our own half cf the 4/10 Ireland conceded. We kept them in the game towards the end because of it. We seriously missed the passing and kicking of Lonergan and Carter - Tate brings a degree of energy and enthusiasm but often overplays his hand.
Harry Wilson did some good things but the captaincy call to get Donno to take a shot in the 71st minute was v odd. I rewatched the sequence of decision making that went on around this and BOK was clearly standing on the mark with his arm extended looking at Harry and Donno (who has the ball) for a decision about what they are doing. Donno steps up and he then points to the post. Harry walks away from them about 5m and indicates to the team they are taking the shot. But he then turns around when BOK says “They are having the shot” and heads back towards him and then the next thing you hear is “No Harry, you called the shot”. Harry appeared to change his mind and as best as I can tell from the footage of this which is very very distant appears to indicate a scrum. Someone needs to ask Harry or Joe what was going on here.
Someone also needs to ask Joe who his designated goalkicker is and if it’s Carter why he wasn’t practicing before the game. Surely Ryan Lonergan is a better goal kicker than either Carter or Donno.
Last, we lost. It can’t have all gone well and we need to be objective about where stuffed up, JAS twice turning balls over through bad passes when we were on attack (one of which ultimately led to the JGP try) poor goal line D by Josh Canham for the try by JVDF, the poor pass from Max to Dylan Pietsch, the dropped balls by Max from kicks early on, Max getting tackled into touch when he had a player inside him etc etc
We still give away too many penalties and that is killing us. We need some better analysis of who gave them away and why?
Last the whole refereeing process around the Joe Beirne obstruction on Bobby V was truly hopeless. I saw it live and instantly said to those I was with at the stadium (I was right in line with it) that it would be called back. BOK seemed to be so exorcised by Harry’s remonstrations that he enabled the conversion to be taken while Andrea Piardi had his arm around Harry and had his back turned to the kick!! This is immediately after BOK says to Harry (who is approaching him) “Harry, I told you to talk to the ARs - go back” at which point Piardi comes and escorts him back towards the goal line. Carley is also in front of the try line and to the right of the posts but at least is facing the right way.
There is then further discussion at the halfway mark before BOK finally seeks input from the TMO. But it’s really Matthew Carley who explains what’s gone on and Ben says somewhat incredulously “But are you saying to disallow the try?”
It was a very odd review process that clearly needed closer examination way earlier than it did.
Last, in relation to the above did the review of the obstruction only happen after Harry told Donno not to kick off?
Carter G appeared to leave with a limp - is there a serious leg injury we need to be concerned about?
Great summary of various issues. The biggest one in my mind, also highlighted by Jim, was the need for accurate goalkicking. Our inaccuracy in that one key part of the game already put us behind the eight-ball regardless of other mistakes in execution that eventuated during the game. Given how well Lonegan has kicked for the Brumbies, I was shocked that Gordon took the kicking duties.
I have been complaining about the line outs for the last couple of months and could not believe they gave the try without question. I spend about five minutes replaying it over and over until I finally convinced myself I was FOS and did not know what I was talking about. Back to live in time for the TMO to be called in.
Perhaps BOK was locked in to the SRP protocol of ignoring lineout infractions in a 5m maul? If Piardi was more fluent in English I think he would be further up the pecking order. He seemed clearly against awarding the try, seems to be decisive and has a strong technical view of the game.
Piardi's only point seemed to be something about Tupou entering from the side but he had zero impact on the play and would certainly not be a reason to not overrule the try decision - two wrongs dont make a try or something like that.
JOF, I want to come back to your post, because you raise a few different topics, but I'll just quickly touch on the disallowed IRE try.
I've mentioned this elsewhere but evidently not here (and apologies for not repeating here), but I'm lead to believe the MO team were plagued by connectivity issues throughout the game and particularly the second half. On about the hour, there was a small holdup around the time all the subs were coming on for Karl Dickson (not Matthew Carley) to be re-wired and reconnected.
So for the try, my understanding is Ben O'Keeffe by that point had lost comms with the TMO and could not hear him at all (though he and the ARs could still hear each other, so the game carried on). So what on screen looks like the ARs trying decide whether to award the try or not is actually them relaying the TMO's messages.
What wasn't helping the viewer and spectator is that we obviously didn't know this and it wasn't obvious even from the parts of the conversation we could hear.
So yes, it certainly could have been smoother. But in the context of the situation, they probably handled it about as well as they could.
Thanks for the detailed reply. That all makes sense. If he had lost comms you would think though that before the try is confirmed (and certainly before the conversion is taken) you'd get the comms sorted, rather than shooing Harry away. When they are standing in the middle of the field looking at the screen Ben can see what the other two can see. But hes not actually driving the conversation at all in the way say Angus does. Angus would say, "This is what I'm seeing, this is the offence, does anyone disagree?" BOK seemed to let Karl Dickson drive it (thankfully). Ultimately it worked out but the process was (and appeared to be) shambolic. Who takes kicks for goal with neither AR in place because they are chatting to the Australian captain to the side of the posts??
Great to be able to listen to the run down yesterday.
NZ are normally slow starters but seemed to play well off the bat, albeit against a slightly weakened France, a Rennie style of play in sync with NZ teams this year and player cohesion. They will surely improve.
I was pleased to see how well Australia played with a significant change in approach. The change was hoped for but an expectation of them playing so well first game was another step. Having said that Lonergan leaving the field was a turning point. Tate’s passing and kicking game is not up to that standard. If Australia wants to play a wider game we may have to decide whether his dynamism as a finisher is a risk.
JAS. Still a bit heart in mouth when he is confronted with a choice in close up defence although I noticed he and Ikiteau sometimes cleaned up after each other in those situations. I do not think he has had that much ball with a little space and a few options in the entire Waratahs season, and maybe the last Wallaby season also. Maybe this will be his breakout season.
Top analysis gents, Jim is very good.
Do Australia win that if halves don't get injured?
Maybe the biggest 'what if' from the game, JD?
Good work Brett in highlighting Lonergan's role in giving width to our attack in the first half. Tate has his snipes but his passing keeps our attack more narrow where we caused problems with width. Gordon's passing also adds width on both sides.
Very noticeable when JGP drove Ireland home with more width in their attack - they did to Australia in the last 15 mins what Australia were doing in the first 30..
My impression was that Ireland found gains with kicks during the second half that put us in our 22 for long periods. Haven’t looked at a replay but I was feeling like we had too little ability to recover. Once there they ground us down very effectively.
If we could kick more goals, we win.
You'd love to have made those first two conversions Loosey, certainly..
Any injuries for next game?
I'm not aware of any Ranjan, only question might be Lonergan, which I believe might be a sternum?
Gordon was more cramp, I learned after recording..
Cheers Brett! The Wallabies are going to need all hands on deck against France. A team I can’t see any weaknesses in
Joe says Ryan Lonergan is ok. Had a blow to his sternum.
The critical issue in this game was the 11/12 penalties we conceded in our own half cf the 4/10 Ireland conceded. We kept them in the game towards the end because of it. We seriously missed the passing and kicking of Lonergan and Carter - Tate brings a degree of energy and enthusiasm but often overplays his hand.
Harry Wilson did some good things but the captaincy call to get Donno to take a shot in the 71st minute was v odd. I rewatched the sequence of decision making that went on around this and BOK was clearly standing on the mark with his arm extended looking at Harry and Donno (who has the ball) for a decision about what they are doing. Donno steps up and he then points to the post. Harry walks away from them about 5m and indicates to the team they are taking the shot. But he then turns around when BOK says “They are having the shot” and heads back towards him and then the next thing you hear is “No Harry, you called the shot”. Harry appeared to change his mind and as best as I can tell from the footage of this which is very very distant appears to indicate a scrum. Someone needs to ask Harry or Joe what was going on here.
Someone also needs to ask Joe who his designated goalkicker is and if it’s Carter why he wasn’t practicing before the game. Surely Ryan Lonergan is a better goal kicker than either Carter or Donno.
Last, we lost. It can’t have all gone well and we need to be objective about where stuffed up, JAS twice turning balls over through bad passes when we were on attack (one of which ultimately led to the JGP try) poor goal line D by Josh Canham for the try by JVDF, the poor pass from Max to Dylan Pietsch, the dropped balls by Max from kicks early on, Max getting tackled into touch when he had a player inside him etc etc
We still give away too many penalties and that is killing us. We need some better analysis of who gave them away and why?
Last the whole refereeing process around the Joe Beirne obstruction on Bobby V was truly hopeless. I saw it live and instantly said to those I was with at the stadium (I was right in line with it) that it would be called back. BOK seemed to be so exorcised by Harry’s remonstrations that he enabled the conversion to be taken while Andrea Piardi had his arm around Harry and had his back turned to the kick!! This is immediately after BOK says to Harry (who is approaching him) “Harry, I told you to talk to the ARs - go back” at which point Piardi comes and escorts him back towards the goal line. Carley is also in front of the try line and to the right of the posts but at least is facing the right way.
There is then further discussion at the halfway mark before BOK finally seeks input from the TMO. But it’s really Matthew Carley who explains what’s gone on and Ben says somewhat incredulously “But are you saying to disallow the try?”
It was a very odd review process that clearly needed closer examination way earlier than it did.
Last, in relation to the above did the review of the obstruction only happen after Harry told Donno not to kick off?
Carter G appeared to leave with a limp - is there a serious leg injury we need to be concerned about?
Great summary of various issues. The biggest one in my mind, also highlighted by Jim, was the need for accurate goalkicking. Our inaccuracy in that one key part of the game already put us behind the eight-ball regardless of other mistakes in execution that eventuated during the game. Given how well Lonegan has kicked for the Brumbies, I was shocked that Gordon took the kicking duties.
I have been complaining about the line outs for the last couple of months and could not believe they gave the try without question. I spend about five minutes replaying it over and over until I finally convinced myself I was FOS and did not know what I was talking about. Back to live in time for the TMO to be called in.
Perhaps BOK was locked in to the SRP protocol of ignoring lineout infractions in a 5m maul? If Piardi was more fluent in English I think he would be further up the pecking order. He seemed clearly against awarding the try, seems to be decisive and has a strong technical view of the game.
Piardi's only point seemed to be something about Tupou entering from the side but he had zero impact on the play and would certainly not be a reason to not overrule the try decision - two wrongs dont make a try or something like that.
JOF, I want to come back to your post, because you raise a few different topics, but I'll just quickly touch on the disallowed IRE try.
I've mentioned this elsewhere but evidently not here (and apologies for not repeating here), but I'm lead to believe the MO team were plagued by connectivity issues throughout the game and particularly the second half. On about the hour, there was a small holdup around the time all the subs were coming on for Karl Dickson (not Matthew Carley) to be re-wired and reconnected.
So for the try, my understanding is Ben O'Keeffe by that point had lost comms with the TMO and could not hear him at all (though he and the ARs could still hear each other, so the game carried on). So what on screen looks like the ARs trying decide whether to award the try or not is actually them relaying the TMO's messages.
What wasn't helping the viewer and spectator is that we obviously didn't know this and it wasn't obvious even from the parts of the conversation we could hear.
So yes, it certainly could have been smoother. But in the context of the situation, they probably handled it about as well as they could.
Thanks for the detailed reply. That all makes sense. If he had lost comms you would think though that before the try is confirmed (and certainly before the conversion is taken) you'd get the comms sorted, rather than shooing Harry away. When they are standing in the middle of the field looking at the screen Ben can see what the other two can see. But hes not actually driving the conversation at all in the way say Angus does. Angus would say, "This is what I'm seeing, this is the offence, does anyone disagree?" BOK seemed to let Karl Dickson drive it (thankfully). Ultimately it worked out but the process was (and appeared to be) shambolic. Who takes kicks for goal with neither AR in place because they are chatting to the Australian captain to the side of the posts??
Great to be able to listen to the run down yesterday.
NZ are normally slow starters but seemed to play well off the bat, albeit against a slightly weakened France, a Rennie style of play in sync with NZ teams this year and player cohesion. They will surely improve.
I was pleased to see how well Australia played with a significant change in approach. The change was hoped for but an expectation of them playing so well first game was another step. Having said that Lonergan leaving the field was a turning point. Tate’s passing and kicking game is not up to that standard. If Australia wants to play a wider game we may have to decide whether his dynamism as a finisher is a risk.
JAS. Still a bit heart in mouth when he is confronted with a choice in close up defence although I noticed he and Ikiteau sometimes cleaned up after each other in those situations. I do not think he has had that much ball with a little space and a few options in the entire Waratahs season, and maybe the last Wallaby season also. Maybe this will be his breakout season.