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, 08:20 am
@UnbeataBULL(UnbeataBULL)-47: If PDV is the cancer
Smit, Matfield, Spies, WO, Morne,FdP = Ebola
6 Aug 2010, 08:21 am
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-50:
And you know this how?
6 Aug 2010, 08:22 am
Hou op drink so vroeg in die oggend!
Goeie more mense.
6 Aug 2010, 08:22 am
NZC boss Justin Vaughan red
cards rugby
By NATHAN BEAUMONT – The Dominion Post
New Zealand Cricket boss Justin Vaughan
has blown the whistle on the behaviour of
Kiwis at the Bledisloe Cup match against
Australia, saying their drunk, aggressive
and obnoxious antics made him
embarrassed to be an All Blacks supporter.
He now fears the behaviour at Saturday’s
game could damage the country’s
reputation during next year’s Rugby World
Cup.
“From what I saw, a portion of the New
Zealand contingent … were focused on
consuming vast quantities of alcohol as
rapidly as possible, as well as baiting and
abusing Australian spectators.
“Such behaviour has the potential to affect
the reputation of our country, especially
when we host fans from all parts of the
globe during the Rugby World Cup.
“Most visiting supporters would not enjoy
being on the end of such rude and
intimidating behaviour and I imagine
foreign media would also take a dim view.”
Vaughan’s warning follows a stern message
last year from All Blacks coach Graham
Henry. Poor crowd behaviour at All Blacks
tests was embarrassing for his team and he
called for an improvement before the
Rugby World Cup.
Henry’s comments followed the two-test
series against France, which was marred by
spectators pelting the French players with
bottles at Carisbrook and running on to the
field during play in Dunedin and Wellington.
Vaughan is urging people to take a stand
against the behaviour he saw at Etihad
Stadium in Melbourne. “It is time for the
leaders of our country – political, sporting,
corporate, media and educational – to be
open about the issue and start looking hard
for solutions.”
His comments were his own opinion and
not New Zealand Cricket’s, he said.
Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully
said he had contacted Vaughan to discuss
his concerns.
“[I] am disappointed to hear his account.
Clearly we need the individuals concerned
to understand that actions of this sort will
run directly counter to the image of New
Zealanders as excellent hosts that we wish
to promote next year.”
Rugby World Cup 2011 chief executive
Martin Snedden said it was important New
Zealanders made overseas visitors feel
welcome from the time they arrived till they
left.
“We need to make sure visitors have a great
experience, and I am confident that will
happen.”
Paul Butler, an Australian supporter who
was at the game, said he was sitting near a
big group of All Blacks supporters, but he
had no problems with their behaviour. “The
atmosphere and general banter between
both sets of fans was what I would call well-
humoured and non-confrontational.”
Etihad Stadium spokesman Bill Lane said
nine people were evicted from the stadium
during the game. Of those, only one person
was arrested.
“Given the near-capacity crowd, we could
not have been happier with crowd
behaviour.”
There had been no suggestion of undue
anti-social behaviour, other than a bit of
good-natured gloating as All Black fans left
the stadium.
6 Aug 2010, 08:28 am
@Staal(Staal)-53:
Issie vroeg nie!
6 Aug 2010, 08:30 am
@Mighty Horua(Mighty Horua)-51: No use arguing with you! You see verything through you striped glasses. To prove that, FdP makes your list without playing this year. Last year it was a big shock when he was not voted IRB player of the year. Give some of these player credit, mate! Morne was aweome with FdP next to him. In the S14, Matfield, Spies and to a lesser degree Meisiekind was brilliant. You’ve got a point re Meisiekind in the Bok jersey though…. but to badmouth these guys just because they play for the CC and S14 Chamions is very childish!
6 Aug 2010, 08:34 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-54: and the point of this post is Trans?
6 Aug 2010, 08:36 am
@UnbeataBULL(UnbeataBULL)-56:
Matfield needs a break, Spies, well I don’t know. For one with his size and speed he should be a much better player. He does mostly fine in the Super comp but even there I have seen him dissappear. The total lack of savvy from the coaching team in selecting a lame loosie combination is not helping but still…
Wo, well he has just never shown anything in G&G.
FdP, I think Mighty may be referring to him NOW…with his injury!
6 Aug 2010, 08:36 am
@UnbeataBULL(UnbeataBULL)-56 And thats where it stops..Super14 level
6 Aug 2010, 08:40 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-57:
Bait to pull drunken louts out of their holes, why else?
6 Aug 2010, 08:41 am
Leë bikke maak die meeste lawaai!
6 Aug 2010, 08:41 am
@Mighty Horua(Mighty Horua)-59: Which players…that cant even perform at S14 level should replace them then?
6 Aug 2010, 08:44 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-57:
answer the question man!
were you at the game or not poppa?
6 Aug 2010, 08:44 am
@Staal(Staal)-61:
Haha op daai noot vat ek my toebroodjies en val in die pad opsoek na ‘n bier…
Enjoy the weekend and may we have good rugby…
6 Aug 2010, 08:45 am
cricketers can be so g a y sometimes.
6 Aug 2010, 08:45 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-60: yeah I guess youre right… to think NZ has the monopoly on unruly fans sure is funny..
6 Aug 2010, 08:46 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-57: it’s rugby related and happened just last saturday…
6 Aug 2010, 08:48 am
FdP only got nominated for IRB because of the dominated Boks pack in 2009. Richie deserved player of the year
6 Aug 2010, 08:49 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-67: yeah, still, at least none of them attacked the ref aye?
glass houses and stones mate..
6 Aug 2010, 08:51 am
The way forward taking on the AB’s is this: You show whoever the ref is gonna be the now famous Youtube snippet of the first test and their unsportsman-like behaviour and tell him your counter to that is to ruck anyone who dives in or comes and lies on our side or generally tries to slow down our ball vigourously untill the blood flows if the officials do not take matters into acceptible control. WE WILL TAKE THEIR PRESENCE ON OUR SIDE AS SUBMITTING TO BEING RUCKED UNTILL THEY BLEED. It will merely be our way of flagging the offenders in red so the ref can see them better.
The mere fact that we are able to ruck them on our side (as the old rules allowed) means they are offside by their mere presence. And tell them if anyone of our players are penalized or carded we will walk off as a team and cause an international incident. And while we are at it we should tell ol’Paddy Plonker the same. You simply cannot play where two different sets of rules apply to the teams, because if we are to do what the AB’s do the game would become an absolute farce and free-for-all without any rule of law whatsoever.
I wonder how quickly an emergency meeting will take place to adress the McCaw , Reid, Franks, Woodcock offenses.
6 Aug 2010, 08:52 am
Richie McCaw only played about half of the Super14 and couldn’t do anything … he then played for the AB’s who lost 3 – 0 to SA … so yeah he deserved his reward … probably skelm Paddy O’Brian who made that decision
6 Aug 2010, 08:57 am
@Mighty Horua(Mighty Horua)-68: Answer my question. Which players….that cant even perform at S14 and CC level – taken from your biased post – should then replace these guys you dont like?
Its not a difficult question….give it a go!
6 Aug 2010, 09:04 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-69: cmon mate, kiwis apparently threw glass bottles at french players?????
dont be such a sensitive soul pops, you make yourself an easy target for some of the trolls out there.
@catleya(catleya)-70: ja, its something that i have been noticing more and more from australasian sides is this “blocking” from 2m offsides at the ruck.
its not a new thing, if you recall fdp got a lovely penalty out of matt stevens (i think) in the 2007 rwc by charging at stevens who was doing this same “blocking” at a pom ruck.
the difference is that the ref in that game penalised the player offending whereas rolland was simply not interested in penalising all blacks.
the rugby365 video shows the whole world what the all blacks are doing (kudos to them for realising they could get away with it) but if it continues then we may as well play grid iron.
6 Aug 2010, 09:08 am
See post 48
6 Aug 2010, 09:08 am
how did they even get glass bottles into the stadium?
oh, i have re-read that now and it simply says “bottles”.
so it was probably plastic water bottles.
not good but defo not as dangerous.
6 Aug 2010, 09:10 am
Its been 1 whole week since the last Bledisloe and not 1 word of bitterness from the Wallabies or their coach or their fans. Just manned-up, taken the loss on the chin and vowed to improve. Deans refused to get drawn in to the BS Mitchell-RC, not that we expected him to.
What a relief.
6 Aug 2010, 09:13 am
@rangerman(rangerman)-73:
alls fair in, to paraphrase Hoskins, “war” isnt it?
and didnt a SA fan run onto the field of play and attack a ref mid game? my point being NZ does not have the monopoly on unruly fans…
why is it you guys can make jokes about beating wives etc, but then get all precious when we call someone a clown?
do you see the irony there?
6 Aug 2010, 09:19 am
@rangerman(rangerman)-73: The solution is actually quite easy. Let’s have the linesmen rule the offsides lines like in soccer. They do little enough, so might as well be used to sort out this unsportsman-like phenomenon. Pity, because you don’t want a stop start affair, but maybee coaches will coach this out of their players. If not, you simply have a match review and a one-match ban for any repeat offenders- say anyone pinged more than once in a game.
It is a cancer that must be stopped rigth now.
6 Aug 2010, 09:21 am
@catleya(catleya)-78: have you used up all the tissues yet?
6 Aug 2010, 09:22 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-77:
I tend to agree with Justin Vaughan. Ive seen behaviour of Kiwi fans that makes my skin crawl. I sat in front of some complete imbeciles in Cardiff RWC’07 who werent even watching the match but were, clearly, just on a mission to get tank’ed and abuse some locals. NZ has a problem with crowds and booze, no 2-ways about it. Society has changed and many young NZers seem to have grown up copying the Aussie crowd behaviour of insulting the opposition. It began with the ODI cricket matches and has just morphed in to other sports. Certainly was not like that in NZ prior to the mid-90s, no respect these days.
Its hardly a problem solely for NZ tho, disgusting drunk behaviour has also ruined matches for the players in SA & Aus too. And Ive never heard worse language than at football matches here in UK.
6 Aug 2010, 09:23 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-76: haha, gtfoh.
who do you think had cobus wessels axed?
father christmas?
you kiwi ****
6 Aug 2010, 09:26 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-80: that was my point, but Trans has posted the article like we’re the only country to have the hooligan element in our crowds…
I dont like it either, by any supporter, but youd think it was only NZ that did it..
also, this much vaunted aussie made youtube clip, funny how our SA friends have not highlghted the incident which is clearly visible of Smit dragging Franks by the arm into an offside position at the ruck… how convenient for them…
6 Aug 2010, 09:28 am
@catleya(catleya)-78:
Hopefully they do get the touchies to police the offside line more stringently. I look forward to seeing Habana et al wait to time their runs more correctly every time Morne puts up another relentless garryowen.
Tell me – especially you Atriedes, if youre reading this – if Habana is in front of the kick more than once, and the kick’n'chase tactic is so fundamentally crucial to the Bok gameplan, then does that mean he’s cheating, even when he doesnt get caught ? Or perhaps you’ll just tell me that he just makes the odd ‘mistake’ ?
6 Aug 2010, 09:30 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-77: who got all precious poppa?
imo it was you reacting to a news article that transie posted, he didnt write it, and it quoted kiwis.
stop being such a b i t ching, moaning little househusband and harden the *** up.
no matter how much you want it to be, nz isnt perfect and you are not on a white horse with a long spear.
you dont even live there ffs!
@catleya(catleya)-78: dont joke. the touchies are already tasked with that sort of thing but dickensens blindness, evident when thug thorn tipped JS, was again evident when he missed cowards jersey tug on bakkies.
but cobus gets axed and these chaps get more games
only the kiwis and aussies dont see the blatant one sidedness of it all.
it is so lovely when the wheel turns though, and turn it always does (see: 1/4 final rwc 2007 for classic example).
6 Aug 2010, 09:32 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-69: yeah, they just pelted the French players with glasses.
6 Aug 2010, 09:33 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-82:
Best to lance the boil and let it heal. Excuses and BS get you nowhere. NZ has a problem, it matters not who has bigger/smaller issues to deal. Lets not make anything outside-rugby, fall in to the ‘we are better/worse than you’ category.
Forget about the likes of Transformations’ intentions, he’s an exceptionally poor loser and carries zero gravitas here.
6 Aug 2010, 09:34 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-82: how did he “post the article like we are the only ones to have the hooligan elements in our crowds”?
did he post it only at kiwis?
dry your eyes pops.
6 Aug 2010, 09:34 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-80: To be fair I have often spoken to quite a few NZ rugby fans at loftus and ellis park and they are trully well behaved and good ambassadors for NZ. Maybey the Aus influence got to them in Melbourne
6 Aug 2010, 09:34 am
@catleya(catleya)-78: it will only be a stop start affair for a short while, blow the game to the letter of the law and eventually all this cr@ p will stop, Aus and Saurez NZ have caused this mess with their “entertaining” rugby push that sucks the soul out of the sport, lets be lax on the laws guys, let us step over the line int he name of entertainment, so what if we cheat as long as we put 50 points on the board for the fans.
6 Aug 2010, 09:36 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-83: If it s coached in to him to do it yes he is a cheat and I would hope he would be yellow carded for repeat offenses.
6 Aug 2010, 09:36 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-82: BWAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
the whole video and all you saw was JS “dragging franks into an offside position” pops?
seriously buddy, you are sounding a bit silly. is it late there or what?
6 Aug 2010, 09:37 am
@Airwell(Airwell)-88: or maybe they didnt want to get bliksemed.
6 Aug 2010, 09:39 am
@rangerman(rangerman)-87: my eyes are dry mate, and they are wide open… love the fact you guys have complained through the worlds media about conspiracies and the like…
something about harden the fark up was mentioned..
I agree
6 Aug 2010, 09:40 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-82: poppa you’re such a pansy, how did i post this article like you’re only one with crowd behaviour, how?
I posted an article that was on rugbyheaven and now all of a sudden you’re getting precious with me?! Grow the f*ck up man.
It is all there on a New Zealand website, do you think they put it up to suggest that New Zealand is the only country where with crowd behaviour? Man up, grow some ‘nads
haha
6 Aug 2010, 09:41 am
@rangerman(rangerman)-92: Possibly but generally Kiwis who can afford to travel are not load mouth yobbos in my experience. Unlike some of there cheating fellow country who get coached to cheat. And they complain about the underarm ball by Australia
6 Aug 2010, 09:42 am
@Airwell(Airwell)-88: A hooligan is a hooligan is a hooligan….doesn’t matter where they’re from…have seen them at Loftus too…my old man was at a Scotland-England test behind some scottish fans and said he has never in his life heard such vile filth coming out of people’s mouths (and he spent 2 years on a farm in Australia!) I think when it comes to that behaviour the Scots can best anyone….
But of course some people will take any excuse to be personally affronted…if you’re looking for insults you’ll find then everywhere *rolls eyes*
6 Aug 2010, 09:42 am
Etihad, not Ethiad
6 Aug 2010, 09:43 am
so far, the kiwis have had one card whilst their opponents have played with 14 men for extended periods of time.
they have played the better rugby and gotten away with a lot of cheating to be sure (all the refs want to ref the wc games eh paddy you fukwit?) but to think they will have this luxury every match is a bit short sighted.
in addition to that, the boks are playing with at least 5 first choice players out and our “depth” players are simply not experienced enough (they are good enough i still believe).
so i say well done AB’s! the better side to be sure, but dont rest on yer laurels now, the boks will be back an next year just got even more of a mouthwatering prospect.
disclaimer: this entire post was written with kiwis such as panzer (sour)cane, capt fanny and hurricane in mind.
6 Aug 2010, 09:44 am
@rangerman(rangerman)-91: Im sounding a bit silly? fair enough mate…
did you see the incident Im referring to? did I condone the rest of the video? no, I just highlighted that JS was cheating by holding franks off of joining the ruck… and that everyone conveniently missed that bit..
6 Aug 2010, 09:45 am
@Atreides(Atreides)-96: I was at Ellis Park and cringed with emarrassment at the vile been spewed at the Aussie players by SA fans while they were warming up behind the poles. So all countries have som low class mentality but hopefully ours will not extend to coaching players to cheat.
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