Preview: All Blacks vs Wallabies
6 Aug 2010
JON CARDINELLI says the All Blacks will beat the Wallabies this Saturday to secure the Tri-Nations title.
After that mauling in Melbourne, the Wallabies will be hurting. Don’t underestimate the damage that 49-28 loss did to their psyche. Christchurch beckons, and another figurative and literal beating is likely.
Their forwards were outmuscled at the Ethiad Stadium, and this week, the benching of Stephen Moore won’t help their gainline or set-piece aspirations. The Saia Faingaa selection may add to their mobility, but mobility means nothing when you’re losing the battle at the collisions and scrums.
Will Genia isn’t as potent behind a losing pack and was well watched by the defence last week. The Wallabies are also missing Quade Cooper’s ingenuity and running threat in the flyhalf channel. Matt Giteau doesn’t take on the opposition defence like Cooper, and it’s because of this that the All Blacks have had an easier time of stifling the Aussie surge.
Some call it cheating, New Zealanders call it mastery. Richie McCaw will continue his dominance in this year’s Tri-Nations, ruling the breakdown in spite of the plucky David Pocock. That Australian back row aren’t done any favours by the five up front, and as a unit, they are lacking balance. Richard Brown has been a poor ball-carrying option thus far, and will be smashed backward once again.
Anthony Faingaa was impressive in the Super 14, but is in for a difficult Test debut in Christchurch. The All Blacks forwards should have the upper hand, and Dan Carter is in sublime form. Carter’s catalytic distribution should allow Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith to maximise their running talents, and the Wallabies’ new midfield of Faingaa and Adam Ashley-Cooper will find them difficult to contain.
The All Blacks are in rampant mood, and whether the game stays tight or grows loose, they should win comfortably. They’ve been brutally effective when they’ve retained possession or when probing for territory. If the Aussies kick poorly or concede the ball at the breakdown, the awesome All Blacks counterattack has the class to convert opportunities into points.
I called the All Blacks to win by 10 last week, a prediction that may have come to pass had the Wallabies finished the game with 15 men. This week, the All Blacks are at least five points better for starting at home. It’ll be a fourth straight win in the competition and secure them the Tri-Nations title and the Bledisloe Cup.
Prediction: All Blacks by 15
All Blacks – 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Subs: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Alby Mathewson, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Benson Stanley.
Australia – 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Anthony Faingaa, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (c),5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Benn Robinson.
Subs: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Cameron Shepherd.
442 Comments
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6 Aug 2010, 22:18 pm
@Muttonbird(Muttonbird)-399: That average AB team could not win a RWC in 2007
…but that Bok team did
Tony Woodcock, Mealamu, Thorn, McCheat they all tried and Fked it up
6 Aug 2010, 22:30 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-381:
I say, start with Ricky.
Hougaardt is just a kak scrum half. No two ways about it. His performance last weekend at SC was WAYYYYY below the standard from what you expect from somebody who is supposed to be “2nd” in line after FdP. He’s not a SH, if you ask me. Just look at his foot position when he passes a ball to his flyhalf and compare it to that of a Gregan of old and currently Genia when he passes the ball from a set piece or a ruck. He’ll never be able to give his flyhalf a quick service with that body/foot position.
Drop Morne and play Butch at flyhalf with RJ at SC.
Funny that nobody even talked about Genia’s “slow service” against the AB’s over the weekend as a reason for their lost. Did you see how long he waited for his forwards to form a pod before he passed the ball?
6 Aug 2010, 22:36 pm
Its always the same here. Over the years a familiar pattern has formed.
Win. And the Keo World is a happy place. Lots of objective niceties; lots of ‘mate’ this and ‘boet’ that; lots of “the coach is the Wee Maestro’ and even more of ‘Boks rule World XV’; lots of friendly banter like “NZ rugby is k@k”; Lots of fair decisions and penalties awarded “through domination”.
Lots of champagne drinking in the sun.
Lose ? The Keo World immediately – immediately – gets thrown under a cloud blacker than Mount Dooms’.
There are now 2 options available. Quite simple, actually.
The first one says “CHEAT”. Its true that there are variously options to take once the nice girl in Bangalore eventually does answer, like press 1 for Referee, 2 for their Captain, 3 for their Team, 4 for their Nation, 5 for their Oceanic/Atlantic neigbours and dial 6 if you want to call the Operator a cheat.
The second button, and often used in conjunction with the first button, says “Rugby World Cup”. It is kind of like having that special weapon youve saved the whole game to beat the Emperors force-field right at the end – it defeats EVERYTHING !
Ignore all the urban myth rumours about other buttons featuring – travel advantage (~snigger~), Quotas, citing discrepancies – they are merely sardines thrown off the back of the ship. Get the 2 options right and you’ll fit right in.
6 Aug 2010, 22:46 pm
@nama1(nama1)-402: yeah i saw all that…
6 Aug 2010, 22:51 pm
Black Panther, post of the week, a sheer beaut:)
6 Aug 2010, 22:51 pm
406. JL1(JL1) : Your comment is awaiting moderation.
August 6th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-403: 404. JL1(JL1) : Your comment is awaiting moderation.
August 6th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-403: Here is an option for you,
Stick to your kind by frequenting your sites such as w w w dot I am an as..hole.com
Or w w w dot I am v disease stay away from me.com
6 Aug 2010, 22:57 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-403:
And your point is????
6 Aug 2010, 22:58 pm
@JL1(JL1)-401: Thought we were talking about 2010.
6 Aug 2010, 23:03 pm
@Muttonbird(Muttonbird)-410: Let us talk about the 2010 cheats
6 Aug 2010, 23:12 pm
@JL1(JL1)-406:
.
BaXXies !
6 Aug 2010, 23:16 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-412: Can you pronounce that word?
6 Aug 2010, 23:17 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-404:
Can you even imagine the kak spewed at RJ on this site if he slowed down the game like that? It being part of the game plan, of course. That was the reason, in my view, why the Aus “won” the 2nd half. Flynn’s try at the end swung it in the AB’s favour.
I just had the feeling in the 1st half that the Aus tried to play at the AB’s pace. We all know that you have to break their rhythm if you want to beat them. When the Aus did it in the 2nd half, they actually did that. As I said on Saturday evening, people will say that the AB’s relaxed in the 2nd half because they had the game in the bag, but I disagree with that.
The Aus actually showed everybody HOW to beat the AB’s. And with 14 men actually.
Hopefully our coaching staff took notice.
6 Aug 2010, 23:21 pm
@JL1(JL1)-411:
only in sign language.
6 Aug 2010, 23:38 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-415: That is just plain drivel you are spewing
Fine let me help you say “C – H – E – A- T”
6 Aug 2010, 23:42 pm
@JL1(JL1)-414:
the hills are alive, with the sound of
M-U-S-I-C
7 Aug 2010, 00:05 am
a suggestion from todays Herald:-
“The referees are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. To insist on a free-flowing, high-pace game the whistleblowers must insist on penalising professional fouls.
But penalising is the operative word. Not banishing to the sinbin for 10 minutes or out for the rest of a game. Since when did throwing a ball away or pushing someone to avoid a collision really amount to an offence warranting anything other than a penalty to the other side?
The humble straight-arm penalty, with the option of marching the offending team 10m up the field to improve the other side’s chance of scoring three points, is rugby’s best disciplinary option.
Instead of two yellow cards automatically equalling a red-card sending-off, why not encourage referees to pull out the card only for violent acts of illegal play or for an offence that demonstrably prevents a team scoring a try? Discipline everything else through penalties.
Establish a system of moving players upfield and infield to increase the chance of the cheating team being punished on the scoreboard; perhaps even make some cheating offences punishable by a penalty awarded in front of the goalpost on the 22m line, no matter where the offence occurred.
Basketball’s free throws could be the inspiration. Either the game will flow or points will be scored, in an even contest for 80 minutes.”.
7 Aug 2010, 00:14 am
heres another, classic.
“Game too sanitised at test level
By Wynne Gray
It’s all a huge plot designed to redress the rugby wrongs of the last five World Cups.
The globe spun on its correct axis in 1987 when the All Blacks took the title – but since then there have been all sorts of dastardly plots to destabilise their supremacy.
Anyone who knows anything about footy understands that the All Blacks were stitched up in 1991, poisoned in 1995, duped in 1999, underarmed in 2003 and barnesided in 2007.
But now the global order is being reshuffled.
Kiwi ingenuity means that coaches and staff with connections to the Land of the Long White Cloud have been positioned strategically with teams like Australia, Wales, England, Japan and others, so no “accidents” happen next year in Aotearoa.
New Zealand has also made sure we have infiltrated the refereeing arena at the IRB, where there have been a few previous hiccups.
But with Paddy O’Brien in charge and Steve Walsh set to become an Aussie next year and therefore eligible to whistle the final between the All Blacks and Uruguay, she’s all hunky dory.
It’s called planning but our old mate Peter de Villiers can’t quite see that.
His countrymen were far more brazen in 1995 when they hired some woman to sneak into the hotel kitchens to poison the mighty Blacks’ evening cup of soup – and then, to make sure, got police cars with sirens to circle the hotel for 24 hours before kickoff.
Its all a bit nutty like the card-waving shenanigans from the referees in the Tri-Nations.
A crackdown on thuggery is fine. Those who have watched some of the antics of men like Bakkies Botha cannot condone their actions.
But the game has become too sanitised at test level.
People go on about setting examples for children but international rugby is not a game for kids. It is brutal, it is played on the edge, sometimes tempers fray.
If a couple of blokes square off and throw a couple of punches, so what. They will sort it out. They don’t need the ref to send them to the naughty chair.
Stiffarm and spear tacklers should get time to think about their indiscipline and if a bloke headbutts an opponent like Botha did at Eden Park this season, send him off.
Putting players on report might work but it could encourage greater violence if it is a championship decider or RWC final.
Owen Franks is only a young bloke – doing rather well too as a test prop – brought up in the modern world of non-violent participation but he can’t see the problem with a bit of biff.
He was incredulous when he was sinbinned for a careless tackle in Melbourne.
It all seems a little overzealous when we want the sport to keep moving. We don’t need all the lectures, 14 playing 15 and all that sort of stuff.
Penalise blokes for sure, warn them on the run, but let the sporting gladiators go about their business.”.
7 Aug 2010, 00:23 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-416:
Apart from the mistakes the linesman made last week, I think you’ll agree that the best 3N matches always involves a SA referee.
Am I wrong?
7 Aug 2010, 00:39 am
@JL1(JL1)-409: But you are so choked up with bitterness at losing and calling players from one particular country “cheats” ad infinitum.
It’s impossible to have a discussion with someone when they will not accept the obvious which is quite simple – the game is played in full view of the officials so any “cheating” will be picked up and penalised. If it’s not penalised then it is not “cheating”.
7 Aug 2010, 01:57 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-418: Now why would we the fans mention all those points but the thick referees or the IRB can never see it
Every year thousands of refs turn from the game, poor in handling, poor in interpretation of the laws
The refs have been shoddy and then again what do you expect
7 Aug 2010, 03:29 am
It is far too simplistic blaming refs for all that ails, yet easier I am sure.
Refs have the unenviable task of officiating laws of a game that is prone to constant change. The laws at a point in time remain constant but the bag of tricks teams employ do not.
All teams find their edge and exploit to maximum effect, some of these methods are not legal or in the spirit of the game. Until the referees have been exposed to the ‘new’ game plans and bags of tricks, so to speak, they are behind the 8 ball.
Refs now have the benefit to replay their performances, this enables them to improve and evolve, delivering the spectacle we all enjoy.
PS… I am not a referee, but I do recognise they are on a hiding to nothing. Without them we would be probably be watching swoccer.
7 Aug 2010, 03:56 am
this is so entertaining, hardly a month after the SWC where a lot bloggers here were going on about the ‘poor’ officiating in soccer, now rugby is mired in controversy about the standard of officiating to a point where a coach like robbie deans who in the past NEVER mentioned match officials has to haul penalty stats to indicate INCONSISTANCIES.
7 Aug 2010, 04:04 am
The GREAT Robbie Deans, in a media conference not talking about team tactics BUT whingeing about referees! Wow
“Our discipline hasn’t been bad. If you’re
suggesting our discipline was worse than
the All Blacks you’re wrong,” said the coach
who is back in his home town for the first
time with theWallabies. “The penalty count
was 13 against the All Blacks, eight against
us. The penalty count at the 30-minute mark
was seven against the All Blacks and two
against us and most of those penalties were
in the red zone, ie when we were attacking.
“Our discipline was OK. Sure, we had a
couple of brain explosions and they cost us
dearly. That’s been much talked about.”
Deans strongly indicated he expected the All
Blacks to be ruled harder on their
infringements close to the line when under
pressure.
“It’s common sense and it’s both ways,” he
added. “I’m not suggesting we want
consideration that’s unjust. It’s both ways
because it’s a blight on the game.”
7 Aug 2010, 04:09 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-422: I am not a swoccer lover so you can see the irony.
All jokes aside… We are now well into the professional era, where our officials need all the help they can get. Why not bite the bullet and change one more law. This law would not impact on the game as it would be the fairest ‘tweak’ of all. This law/rule could apply to both soccer and rugby. I think you know where I am heading.
TMO on all goals (soccer) and tries (rugby).
This will relieve the pressure on the man in the middle and his side-kicks. Sure the TMO will not get it 100% right every time, but the margin of error (bad decisions) will reduce dramatically. This in turn will promote the greatest goal of all…. Fairness.
7 Aug 2010, 04:14 am
Rugby already has a TMO but his powers need to be expanded. He should be able to call a no try from knock-on, off-side, crossing, illegal scrumming leading to try, etc. We all know a fair try when we the public see it, so why not rule on what we all see?
7 Aug 2010, 08:15 am
@nama1(nama1)-418:
Craig Joubert is a CLOWN
Jonker is a PLONKER
Kaplan is King !
Lawrence is heir to the throne.
– but, cmon, youre not so desperate for a SA-compliment that youre here scouting on behalf of your referees. Are you ?!
7 Aug 2010, 08:19 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-423:
H I L A R I O U S !
so THIS is your best example of Robbie Deans “whinging about refs” ?
He’s talking about the Wallabies discipline. Not about refs.
We leave the winging about referees to the experts. Havent you got a Currie Cup match you could be watching ? No problem with the refs there.
7 Aug 2010, 08:30 am
@Muttonbird(Muttonbird)-421: Not bitter, my team was terrible for a many a reason
I am just sick and tired off officials and refs trying to think that the game is about them
Refs are now centre stage, earn loads and yet are worst than ever, all off them
Go watch a schools game and see how blatantly refs cheat, go play a club game and have look at the poor quality of refs around
Loads admit to favouring one team for a million reasons
They should blow what they see, and do not tell me they can get it wrong as well, because they seem to get it more wrong than right
Paddy has also shown how pathetic he and his bunch of merry men actually are
7 Aug 2010, 08:31 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-426: Agree Lawrence is the heir to the throne.
Will be interesting to see how Kaplan handles todays match. He was quite remiss running the lines last weekend, missed a lot of offside play.
I really do think poor Wessels paid the price for a lot that went wrong last weekend. His demotion to TMO is a godsend. I don’t think I could bear another session of Georgie Ayoub.
Georgie has been laughed off the pitch, the side-lines and now the TMO. Hopefully for the grace of rugby we dont see him in any capacity for evermore.
7 Aug 2010, 08:39 am
@JL1(JL1)-428:
And as long as moaning about them covers up the inadequacies of your own teams, then all the better.
7 Aug 2010, 08:42 am
@JL1(JL1)-428: I dont think refs cheat, they do make incorrect decisions at all levels.
Mate there is a difference between cheating, incompetence and experience.
I am of the opinion they start out incompetent (learning phase) and grow to experienced (top liners) and anything inbetween should not be reffing tests.
7 Aug 2010, 08:43 am
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-429:
I was surprised to hear his name listed last week. Sure enough, Pocock was denied a very fair clear Try. Crazy. Kaplan wouldnt have even bothered sending that one upstairs, he would have just awared it like he did during S14 season. Thats what we want, referees with b@lls, and ones that wont be overruled by their touchies when they see it themselves (Joubert, almost every match).
Enforcing the offside line would be a miracle. Just doesnt happen.The Boks, for starters, would have to have men BEHIND M.Steyns garryowens and I havent seen that for yearrrrrrrrs.
7 Aug 2010, 08:47 am
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-431:
of course they dont cheat, Rulz. Theyre humans, humans make mistakes. Some of them have personalities well-equipped to make decisions in a public forum (J.Kaplan, M.Lawrence) others have personality-deficiencies that make the job almost impossible without succumbing to mistakes (S.Walsh, C.Joubert).
Its OK, its only Safas (no, not all of them) that liberally call referees ‘cheats’. The rest of the rugby World seems to have figured out that theyre either good refs or just ‘hopeless’.
7 Aug 2010, 09:04 am
Instead of moaning about McCaw, we should admire his skills. Making his way through a ruck, out the other side, tackling a player two metres behind the last row of feet, re-entering the ruck FROM THE SPRINGBOK SIDE !?!?!?! flopping straight to the ground and winning the ball, all in FULL VIEW OF THE REF !?!?!?! Is Richie a magician? Does he have special magic invisibility pills? It’s a puzzle indeed.
7 Aug 2010, 09:06 am
@JL1(JL1)-428:
Not Bitter???
lol,only time you havnt been bitter is in 2007 RWC and 2009 tri nations. You have been bitter through the 2007 and 2008 3N as well as the 2010 3N…………hang on there seems to be a pattern here.
7 Aug 2010, 09:07 am
@Croc(1panzi)-434:
You should have stuck to the first 5 words,after that you sounded like a Bit.ch
7 Aug 2010, 09:14 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-437: Yep, sore losers us or maybe just me
We should be better than what we are except for coaches, selectors and officials in SA messing us about
7 Aug 2010, 09:15 am
I see the cat fight is still plodding along at the usual boring pace…
7 Aug 2010, 09:16 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-438:
yeah,nothing to see here now move along
8 Aug 2010, 01:33 am
@JL1(JL1)-428:
I agree on Paddy O’Brien.
He’s not good and in that sense the some of the refs are struggling with not only the uncertainty of having to use different rules every year but the uncertainty of having a somewhat unstable and petulant boss.
Paddy is a bit of an idiot who doesn’t know when to keep his trap shut IMO.
8 Aug 2010, 07:43 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-427: it’s not my example you imbecile, read and comprehend meat head:
Robbie Deans wants consistency
from referees
By MARC HINTON in Christchurch – Stuff
It’s an old tune, but Robbie Deans was
happy to play it again in the leadup to
Bledisloe II at AMI Stadium on Saturday. All
he wants is consistency from referees and
their ilk, and he’s not sure he’s been getting
it thus far.
10 Aug 2010, 16:53 pm
Seriously, who really cares about the Tri-Nations? I know its all about money but I reckon they would make more if they killed it completely, had all the Boks playing in the Currie Cup and went back to tours. There’s a reason the Tri Nations games havent been sold out for years – its boring. And no, the Soccer City game does not count as people are only going for the novelty (and to act like morons with their vuvuzelas).
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