Wallabies edge sterile sideshow
21 Oct 2011
RYAN VREDE watched Australia stutter to an uninspiring 21-18 victory over Wales in the World Cup bronze medal match at Eden Park.
Naturally this contest lacked the intensity and compelling appeal of a match where the result was meaningful. Consequently it descended into a structureless, error-strewn and utterly unpalatable sideshow to Sunday’s final.
It would have been more bearable if either side had earned the right to play expansively by showing some appreciation for building a platform. Instead the strike runners in either pack were rarely deployed often enough to achieve this, with the showmen in the back division asked to enthral and entertain the 60 000 poor souls who paid to be punished.
Handling errors abound and Australia’s lethargy in sending cleaners into rucks often resulted in turnovers in the Welsh 22m. Their troubles were compounded and cause undermined when key play makers Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper were injured before 25 minutes had elapsed. The latter, did, however, craft a try for Berrick Barnes with a deft offload, before his exit.
Australia looked a better side than the impotent Welsh, whose struggles were rooted in their inability to impose themselves at the gainline. They also missed suspended captain Sam Warburton’s ability to stifle the opposition’s attacking flow through his breakdown work. Indeed Warren Gatland’s side played with the verve, accuracy and innovation that suggested they’d had spent their week working their way through Auckland’s pubs and nightclubs.
Wales missed three goalkicks but still trailed by just four points (7-3) with with 30 minutes to play, before scoring courtesy of a clear forward pass. On the evidence of that incorrect decision, it appeared referee Wayne Barnes and his assistant had been lulled into a slumber themselves.
James O’Connor kicked two penalties to regain the lead for the Wallabies before Barnes took the Wallabies eight points ahead with a drop goal. Stephen Jones set up a tense final 10 minutes with a three pointer.
Adam Ashley-Cooper should have sealed the result with six minutes to play, but he grassed the ball in a tackle a metre for the goal line. Ben McCalman, however, made no mistake shortly thereafter. Wales would score after the siren had sounded, but were undeserving of victory.
The Wallabies thus finish in third place, which is much like almost bagging the hottest girl at the party, then having to settle for her ugly friend.
649 Comments
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21 Oct 2011, 16:14 pm
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-494: That is true, but I would also look at what he did in sticking to 20 guys for the big prize. He did sacrifice some games in the process and 2006 was a mess. This is the biggest pity for me as a SA fan. We should be displaying AB level consistency with the talent available. We really should and that’s why I have to give the ABs the title of the world’s best.
21 Oct 2011, 16:15 pm
@John Galt(John Galt)-460: i watched the same show, didn’t here anything astute from what he said. he was “supposing” everything and stating the obvious as he is wont to do.
21 Oct 2011, 16:16 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-498: Ive had quite a few original thoughts actually…
like how wonderful it was to see bryce completely gut and skin a toothless little springbok…
was a real classy effort, and all only with a whistle… amazing stuff..
21 Oct 2011, 16:16 pm
Maybe Brycie will get an NZ Bravery medal…
And Paddy.
The epitome of Kiwi Bravery
Maybe they will also get their own Ticker Tape parades…if there’s any ticker tape left…
If not, bogroll will do.
21 Oct 2011, 16:17 pm
@ET.(ET.)-472: hahaha are you now crowning yourself hehehe typical w_anker mentality…dontsa ucingo!
21 Oct 2011, 16:17 pm
@DocNZ(DocNZ)-486: i’m not taking the moral high ground at all, i’m merely pointing out that some of the kiwi bloggers on here have missed out on the opportunity to do so themselves.
i’m a perfectly fine with the Bok loss, as many people here are, it’s just a highly vocal few that are still struggling with it. i thought the referee was bad and possibly cost us the game, but that doesn’t mean i don’t also believe we should have done more to win. and while i believe the Boks would have given the ABs a better game than Aus, i still believe the AB’s would have won, so not everyone on this site is as bitter or deluded as you believe.
and as i mentioned earlier, many people i know are hoping for an AB win, so please let just keep things toned down a bit, not everyone on here hates all things New Zealand, that’s all i’m saying
21 Oct 2011, 16:18 pm
@bluealligator(bluealligator)-493: Kinda hollow victory then hey? Cant claim to be the best without beating the best and the greatest showcase of the sport ….
Still the history book have recorded that the boks won the 2007 RWC .
21 Oct 2011, 16:20 pm
@fantasticbarnsmell(fantasticbarnsmell)-506: Well said and I will add my AMEN to that. Hoping for the ABs to do it
21 Oct 2011, 16:20 pm
@fantasticbarnsmell(fantasticbarnsmell)-506: You have my appoligies then . You have shown yourself to be better than many others . You have my respect for that.
21 Oct 2011, 16:23 pm
@Bismarck Burger(Bismarck Burger)-501:
Yip you should be, the Bokke have lost so many tests in recent years their proud record is diminishing, for your sake I hope your next coach wants to win everything all of the time.
21 Oct 2011, 16:24 pm
@fantasticbarnsmell(fantasticbarnsmell)-506:
nice one mate
21 Oct 2011, 16:24 pm
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-510: That’s the simple but effective vision needed – win everything all the time
21 Oct 2011, 16:24 pm
@fantasticbarnsmell(fantasticbarnsmell)-506: what gets me is the total hypocrisy in 2007 being “above board”, yet 2011 theres corruption in the sport..
all this when the ABs in 2007 copped it worse than SA did in their 1/4 final..
2 penalties (not one in the second half) by a French side who had the same possession stats as the Wobblies, yet it was apparently all above board by many posters here..
so now you want us to take the moral highground after 4 years of being told to take it on the chin? strange logic imo…
21 Oct 2011, 16:26 pm
From Midi Olympique, French Rugby site:
But something strikes when you see the All Blacks: their relaxation. Not to mention the press and the fans that leave “no chance” the French for this game, the next great “relax” players Graham Henry thinking. Of course, discourses are policed ??and all say it is “wary” of so “unpredictable French,” but little signs speak. And one wonders if the vigilance demanded by Graham Henry is really there.
21 Oct 2011, 16:29 pm
@fantasticbarnsmell(fantasticbarnsmell)-506: you are going to have to repeat this post for the next four years because with the impending all black victory poppa and the gang have it in for ALL saffas
21 Oct 2011, 16:31 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-513: nobody wants you to take the moral high ground poppa, bludgeon away. it is called “returning serve”.
i can imagine you’ve been suffering in silence since ’07
21 Oct 2011, 16:31 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-497:
For the simple reason to demonstrate that there is truth and thus validity in your claims.
Be very careful that I do not bump into all of the 6′ plus of you down Humewood way pretty soon.
I will be there over much of late November, December and early Jan. and just to show my irrelevancy I will be attending at least 3 meetings there and more in cape Town.
BTW I get to choose what “from the ground” and my sources is meaningful to me and not you with the impertinence of indecent, selfish officials.
21 Oct 2011, 16:33 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-515: I dont know why though. Even if they do win… I dont know why they keep overrating themselves…they can only come talk when their beloved brave AB’s actually win a WC away from home
21 Oct 2011, 16:33 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-515: @Transformation(Transformation)-516: not at all Trans, just the way the whole thing has come full circle is its own reward….
21 Oct 2011, 16:34 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-513:
Do not trust Transfornication one bit. He is just waiting to pounce if you should compromise yourself.
21 Oct 2011, 16:35 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-519: yes and it is personal gratification to yourself to post about the perceived irony every chance you get
21 Oct 2011, 16:36 pm
@Bismarck Burger(Bismarck Burger)-512:
Yip, who is going to be the next Bokke coach?
21 Oct 2011, 16:36 pm
@ET.(ET.)-517: i go to gym at Humewood Virging Active every day, come thru for a swim
21 Oct 2011, 16:37 pm
@ET.(ET.)-520:
Why did so many Kiwis not show confidence in Cruden. In the times I saw him play in the S15 he was always the next best f-h to DC, to me?
21 Oct 2011, 16:37 pm
@ET.(ET.)-520: I know this ET… its his modus operandi… poor soul doesnt offer his own opinion too often, but hey, if it makes him feel so superior then Ive done my job…
HG – I’ll pose the questions again since youve conveniently avoided them…where was this tickertape parade? what streets did it go down? how many people turned up? still awaiting your proof of a tickertape parade already happening…
21 Oct 2011, 16:39 pm
@ET.(ET.)-524:
He looks pretty good, Colin was not up to the job.
21 Oct 2011, 16:40 pm
@ET.(ET.)-524: Ive seen photos of Cruden at a pool game in this WC enjoying a beer in the stands… now hes playing the final…
21 Oct 2011, 16:41 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-525: hehehe Popps, what do you want to know from me, i give my opinions here freely everyday
21 Oct 2011, 16:43 pm
@ET.(ET.)-524: The young mad has had an amazing life so far , from cancer to the RWC final. Maybe this is the best way it could have happened . I am just thankful it was him and not Stephen Donald.
21 Oct 2011, 16:45 pm
@ET.(ET.)-517: liar, you’ve been waiting patiently for the surge to the top of rajan moodaley and the accompanying spoils. unfortunately for you CSA has done and about-turn and REJECTED his nomination
21 Oct 2011, 16:47 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-523:
I can honestly not make any promises as this is first and foremost a visit for my aging parents especially my mother.
I also do not know my movements and where I will be when. I promised to spend most time in P.E.but I will be in C.T., E.L., Durban and surrounds amongst other places.And I want only to drive to and from those places.
I used to swim often further away from the city beyond Pollock Beach, a place called Musketeer Dam, which was one of the the allocated beaches way back when.
21 Oct 2011, 16:58 pm
@DocNZ(DocNZ)-529: when the “three wise men” dropped cruden for slade after an unpolished performance last year i said they’ve got it wrong, even when they took Beaver to the eoyt but hey, lady luck has smiled on them and aaron is a filling in nicely.
21 Oct 2011, 16:58 pm
@ET.(ET.)-531: no sweat.
21 Oct 2011, 16:58 pm
Shooting wives in the backyard?
Ethnic cleansing?
You guys can talk a lot of gabbage.
21 Oct 2011, 16:59 pm
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-526: @poppa69(poppa69)-527: @DocNZ(DocNZ)-529:
I think GH questioned his youthfulness and lack of experience even after using him 6 times in the system in 2010 and paying not much attention to him this past 2011 S15.
I discussed him here during the S15 season, with your fellow Kiwi Hurricane and was impressed by the performmances I witnessed. I was happy he was called up after the DC injury but expected GH to stay with Slade. And then another injury, this time to Slade.
Hey pops I am six for six in the KO phase and will manintain my 100% if the ABs win. How are your calls doing? Do you all realise things are playing out in the KOs just as it happened in 1987?
BTW Cruden has not lost yet in an AB jersey and it is 8 or 9 times now.
21 Oct 2011, 17:00 pm
Is that beach slegs kleurlinge?
21 Oct 2011, 17:06 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-530:
I do not know those delinquents you mentioned earlier. It is decades since I left PE for CT where I got totally immersed in many things.
I simply want things to improve totally for the average person in the street including players in all codes. I have little respect for present day administrators whoever they may be.
On the last 2 visits to PE and CT I had invites to cricket (as it was summer) but refused to accept as I have grown accumstomed to seeing much more on TV. Now I am addicted to my laptop where things are even closer to my eyes.
21 Oct 2011, 17:06 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-534: pocahontas, have you seen my latest profile pic?
21 Oct 2011, 17:08 pm
Spectacles can help.
21 Oct 2011, 17:10 pm
@ET.(ET.)-535: I stopped tipping a few weeks back, other more important things to concentrate on at the time… The cartel actually sent cruden away to work on aspects of his game, such as kicking etc and he has taken it on board and has worked really hard at those aspects, so good on him for making the effort…
and yep, I see the similarities to 87, but it was france beating Aussies with Blancos try in the left hand corner and NZ thrashing Wales in the semis…
21 Oct 2011, 17:11 pm
Still see the headshot Hef!
Lemme me refresh.
21 Oct 2011, 17:13 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-536: ja that’s where he swam with allan hendrickse.
21 Oct 2011, 17:14 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-541: you do that!
21 Oct 2011, 17:15 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-503: Clear something up for me…
1) Do you hate South Africans?
2) Do you hate the Springboks?
21 Oct 2011, 17:19 pm
@ET.(ET.)-537: in the presidential suite they have flat screen tvs so that you can watch replays.
21 Oct 2011, 17:20 pm
@frunobulax(frunobulax)-544: no, poppa is just returning serve as the saffas heaped scor on the kiwis in 2007!
21 Oct 2011, 17:22 pm
frunobulax
1). no
2). no again, I actually have huge respect for the old enemy
21 Oct 2011, 17:22 pm
ok, gym calls. (no peter davies)
21 Oct 2011, 17:23 pm
Here the slegs blankes beaches have been transformed into ebony and ivory.
Pesky cullart kids kick sand in your face.
21 Oct 2011, 17:23 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-546: I want an answer from him, because he sometimes seems like a reasonable b#gger. But he’s allowed HG to rile him to the point of essentially conceding that the Boks’ exit was entirely Bryce’s doing… and that’s a bit of a giggle.
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