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, 10:59 am
Berrick Barnes has been playing well the last 2 games!!!
21 Oct 2011, 10:59 am
@chch(chch)-134: Ok…. good man
21 Oct 2011, 11:00 am
Like i said Berrick Barnes has been playing well, Mat Giteua who?
21 Oct 2011, 11:00 am
Come on Aus , cant believe i am saying this , one more try for my superbru
21 Oct 2011, 11:00 am
This is great. If the ABs win tomorrow then we can still show that the South Hemisphere rules and the 6 Nations is the 4-Nations (new Tri-Nations) 2nd division
21 Oct 2011, 11:01 am
@Bod(bod)-152:
and I would have taken the van
21 Oct 2011, 11:01 am
@race of tan(race of tan)-150: Dickenson is an honest Charlie compared to Bryce… Although honest Charlie may not be appropriate considering Charlie Dempsey that eminent backstabber of Saffa’s is also a Kiwi, and he is not honest either.
Nope, Bryce was not incompetent… he was bent
21 Oct 2011, 11:03 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-136:
You are not the subject, merely the vehicle. So?
Is this a not so subtle admission, via your obvious irritation, that Ethnic Black a r s e s are not quite up tp your fancy?
21 Oct 2011, 11:04 am
What the hell is going on with the scoring at keo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
21 Oct 2011, 11:05 am
11-16 with 10 minutes to go! Cmon Australia!!
21 Oct 2011, 11:05 am
Brilliant defence by Wales
21 Oct 2011, 11:06 am
wow, they could have scored that try 19 different ways.
21 Oct 2011, 11:07 am
Heard some saffa boys singing on the bus in Auckland after the Wales France Semi and a Welshman thought he would be clever and say:
“4 more years…”
so without hesitation the group of saffa’s started singing:
“1 time, in a 100 years!” to the tune of Go West … was brilliant.
21 Oct 2011, 11:08 am
Heavans Game – I reckon lots of young welsh players in the British & Irish Lions, in 4 years time Wales will be even stronger!! Best NH team at the RWC!!
21 Oct 2011, 11:08 am
@ET.(ET.)-158: Nope, its just the Greys, especially the Caped Crusaders Greys… The inbetweener Caped Crusader , I dont know who the fark I am Greys that are about as fanciful to me as a bullet in the head…
21 Oct 2011, 11:09 am
Wallabies defense was very good , great try as well!!
21 Oct 2011, 11:10 am
Congrats Australia on the bronze.
21 Oct 2011, 11:10 am
@stew(stew)-159: Some people cant count! lol
Who scored now for Oz??
Thats it for Wales. Well Played Guys.
21 Oct 2011, 11:10 am
@race of tan(race of tan)-164: Nope, France are… Hopefully they will show that on Sunday, despite all the premature ticker tape parades in Kiwiland to the contrary.
21 Oct 2011, 11:13 am
Quite a good 3rd4th playoff. One of the best in WC history
21 Oct 2011, 11:13 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-165:
” Nope “?
So it is then an admission that you are an a r s e then.
Outwitted ‘Xhego’.
The rest is oh so feeble. Must be all that sick puppy effort for weeks now.
21 Oct 2011, 11:13 am
Wales are as flat as a Zola Budd tyre. It may have been a mistake by Alain Buck Rolland to ensure France went through because the Welsh would have been embarrassing against the ABs…. The French could be another story altogether.
21 Oct 2011, 11:14 am
@ET.(ET.)-171: Nope… No greys for me.
21 Oct 2011, 11:15 am
um, how was that not in touch
21 Oct 2011, 11:15 am
the ticker tape parade is for Bryce and Bryce only..
he did such an eloquent job of “getting the jarpies” that he will never have to buy another beer in NZ for the rest of his life..
so I’ll raise my glass and say well done bryce, you farked them up good and proper, just how it should be…
21 Oct 2011, 11:15 am
Just to remind you, I’m around, and here is my story:
http://blogs.sport24.co.za/David-Mac/bryce-lawrence-lord-of-the-whistles-17-Oct-2011
21 Oct 2011, 11:16 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-175:
Thank you!
21 Oct 2011, 11:16 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-172:
haha, did you see the referee tip the guy on his head
21 Oct 2011, 11:16 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-175: There’s a good Kiwi… says it all really.
Its never over till the Fat Maori Sings… And the Fat Maori is singing like a Canary.
21 Oct 2011, 11:17 am
Wow Wales where did that come from? They still got some fire in that belly!
Did Huw Bennet score?
21 Oct 2011, 11:18 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-175: lol
21 Oct 2011, 11:18 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-179: it was over for your bokke two weeks ago wasnt it? thats what this fat maori’s singing..
bye bye bokke, bye bye bokke..
21 Oct 2011, 11:18 am
@ET.(ET.)-130: decency? you talking about decency is like poppa telling someone else not to make a poephol of themselves on the blog.
laughable.
21 Oct 2011, 11:18 am
@chch(chch)-174: Its a gimme.
21 Oct 2011, 11:20 am
@chch(chch)-174:
Think the game was boring, both teams played as if they had something to lose.
But agree, Williams’s foot was in touch, earlier they clearly knocked behind a ruck but the ref just let it go, like the rules weren’t really that important in this match.
21 Oct 2011, 11:20 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-182: Keep singing… music to my ears…
Now, let me go find a maori to toss…. Think I might have a couple left in my garden shed… Hellsteeth I might get one to sing while airborne too
21 Oct 2011, 11:21 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-183: Hehehe
21 Oct 2011, 11:24 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-186:
I can just imagine it too as hes flying overhead.. singing that now all too familiar beatles classic
“eight place this week”
or else a virtuoso of
“beethovens 8th place sympathy”
21 Oct 2011, 11:25 am
Was it really that BAD Ryan?
21 Oct 2011, 11:26 am
I’d just like to point out I’ve now got absolutely none of the KO matches correct on superbru aside from AB games.
*****.
21 Oct 2011, 11:27 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-183:
21 Oct 2011, 11:27 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-188: Counting and numbers aren’t your forte clearly… Keep singing though, its good…
Move over Fats Domino… Its Fats Pooper
21 Oct 2011, 11:28 am
Well done to Robbie Deans
21 Oct 2011, 11:31 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-173:
Your “Nope” confirms clearly you are up high in an ar s e whatever grey the colour is.
Maggots, flatworms, flukeworms any one of which you are, quite like it up there for the warmth and the moisture(no life sans water) and the delectable nourishment and of course the STENCH(which is so you).
21 Oct 2011, 11:31 am
@rossoneri(rossoneri)-167: \
this isn’t the olympics sweetness.
21 Oct 2011, 11:31 am
NZinChina will be furious since a New Zealander not from Auckland did well overseas
21 Oct 2011, 11:34 am
Come on France!!!
Just to shut the grootbek Kwi’s, I know have that one big match in you left.
Hassle Weepu and the kid next to him will fall to pieces.
21 Oct 2011, 11:35 am
actually NZinChina would have failed to turn up again because both NZ coaches are from outside of Auckland. hehe, the sad arrse
21 Oct 2011, 11:36 am
You Yarpies really must get over Bryce Lawrence. You were ranked 3rd going into cup – was that because all refs faced by you are crooked? Doubt it.
We know Springbok and All Blacks are only teams that count long run. You will be back. But please stop whining, you still should have won despite Bryces incompetence.
21 Oct 2011, 11:36 am
@ET.(ET.)-194: You speak from experience, Mr Grey… Clearly
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