Paris 2007: A moment of truth
Posted by Christopher Sheil on Friday, June 29, 2007
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On Saturday night the Wallabies face their biggest test since the 2003 World Cup final. The Wallabies caught the eye of the rugby world two weeks ago, when they played heroically against the Springboks in Cape Town. Yet the consensus is that Australia’s World Cup odds will not shorten appreciably unless we can repeat the effort in Saturday’s match against the mighty All Blacks, the hot favourites to leave Paris as the world champions. I like our team changes, mainly because there have hardly been any. Dropping Drew Mitchell for Adam Ashley-Cooper (wing) and Scott Staniforth (bench) was prudent. Ashley-Cooper and Matt Dunning will be thoroughly tested, along with Julian Huxley, all of whom will be playing in the biggest game of their lives. The All Blacks must be firm favourites, but I’m sure our guys are hungry to go on with it from Cape Town. And I like the facts that the game is not in New Zealand and we’ve had a two-week break, whereas the Blacks are coming to Melbourne on their way home from South Africa. Hope springs. Bring it on. Go, you good things!
Update: The Wallabies threw down the gauntlet tonight with a determined 20/15 victory. Hanging on after a first half where they looked totally outclassed, and only George Smith was keeping Australia in there, the team came home like it was Cape Town all over again. There is much to be digested, but the great news is that the Wallabies will get better. Briefly, we still need a hooker (hello Jeremy Paul) and a fullback (goodbye Julian Huxley), Stephen Hoiles must be in the starting team, and Adam Ashley-Cooper is now officially blooded as a full-blown Wallaby winger. We still don’t have a goal kicker (why, I always friggin’ wonder?). The All Blacks got worse with every interchange, exposing their reputed ‘depth’ as pure mythology. Finally, we’d be mad to start Bernie against the cheap Boks team - give the man a holiday. There will be more to discuss as the dust settles, but the big news is, watch out Paris, the Wallabies are back, and they’re coming your way!
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This entry was posted on Friday, June 29th, 2007 at 7:59 AM and filed under Sport - rugby.
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17 Responses to “Paris 2007: A moment of truth”
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I realy see little passion needed to be expanded on this game. The World Cup in Sept is when the fireworks start for these public school wankers. I dohope for some violence. The beuty of me for Union is the rule where you can scrape an opponent with your studs if they get in the way.
Posted on 29-Jun-07 at 1:34 pm | PermalinkI’m going, and I’m hoping for a cracker. I wish we had Latho though, and I reckon they are stronger as reshuffled (especially I would have been fine with Milsy at fullback).
Honestly, what was the deal with Phil Waugh as co-captain?
Posted on 29-Jun-07 at 2:38 pm | PermalinkDon’t expect much violence in these days of quicke-eating administrators and video replay. You need to go back a few decades to the time when most of the rugby league forwards listed ’standover man’ or ‘pugilist’ as their occupations. The pansy game had its moments as well, like the Lions tour of South Africa when there was a plan to have a melee during a test match. When the captain shouted a code word each Lion had to launch into the nearest Springbock. One of the smaller Englishmen was really pissed off after the event because the signal came just as he was standing next to one of the big mean Bok forwards.
Posted on 29-Jun-07 at 5:31 pm | PermalinkHonestly, what was the deal with Phil Waugh as co-captain?
The co-captain thing has been a complete farce, and I was relieved to see that the policy of auto-rotation has given way to the bleeding obvious need to have Smithy start every big test match. The team appears to be finally, slowly, coming together, but it’s not going to be complete until the selectors bite the bullet they are paid to bite, and name the captain.
Posted on 29-Jun-07 at 6:30 pm | PermalinkResurgent Wallabies vs mighty All Blacks in Melbourne.
But Wallabies are also teetering. Without the scrum being what it was in SA this game would be a worry. And can Dunning do it again? Mistake and field goal attempt free two games in a row? Somehow I think he’ll be better. But he’s the worry in the pack. If we hold the scrums, we push back some of that psychological advantage the All Blacks are filled with.
We have to be mistake free - that’s a big ask given recent form in the fundamentals.
And we must win our lineout ball or we suffer loss of any gains made elsewhere. To win one of theirs will set the crowd and the game alight.
Gregan cleared well last time around, rarely three-steeping backwards before doing so: we can’t go back to that. I fear that Gregan’s head fills with one need to many as captain, resulting in him taking those backward steps both out of the extra effort for focus on certainty of service and desire to seek options. Free of captaincy, as Farr-Jones says, Gregan plays the inspirational game and what we lose in leadership we gain in service - as an early call, to be tested this weekend. That said, his leadership will surely be monumental on the night. But we need a backline.
And something extra about the Melbourne crowd - it’ll be awesome. The Wallabies will feel it, and if the step made after teetering is towards the top, the Melbourne crowd will be part of it. Sadly, as we recall even when Australia was indomitable and backed by the most partisan and passionate of urgent Australian fans - hungry, electric - baying for All Black blood, the latter loved it all the more. The passionate crowd could, equally, work against us.
Let’s hope Huxley is targeted. One fine take under pressure, a cool placement into touch, and if he’s made of the right stuff he’ll grow a dozen Test matches in a minute. If he’s not up to it, we need to know.
You can feel the team firing up. It’s a great position to play from, and I’m backing the boys for a win.
Posted on 29-Jun-07 at 8:26 pm | PermalinkI really wish I could see that game but I’m stranded in Innsbruck this weekend where it is near-to-impossible to watch the game.
Huxley has to step-up in a big way in this test. His defence was good against SA but his attack was pretty average. I really hope that the forwards can keep up the momentum that they had against SA. The scrum contest is going to be huge, but I think the most important thing will be how well the Wallabies clean out and use the ball near the breakdown. We had fantastic continuity of possesion the other week, we also had multi-dimensional attack off the break-down. I’d love to hear that they could pull that off against the All Black’s spoiling tactics at the breakdown!
Posted on 29-Jun-07 at 10:14 pm | PermalinkRafe, you’re thinking of Tommy Raudonikis and the ‘Cattledog’ states of origin series.
Posted on 30-Jun-07 at 12:48 am | PermalinkWOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Posted on 30-Jun-07 at 9:55 pm | PermalinkIt looked like this game had been taken out the back, smacked with a sledgehammer, and whacked this way and that against the fence. It would pick itself up, come back inside and begin to look the goods, then it would be taken out the back and smacked and whacked again.
Then, an hour in and it all changed. The Wallabies found purpose and rhythm, and the All Blacks were without each of those. Certainly wasn’t vintage All Black rugby, jaded, but also poorly led, which is unusual. And for McCaw to have been run through by Ashley-Cooper sums the last fifteen minutes up pretty well.
How good was that try.
The Wallabies did well, with perhaps the most exciting thing being there is just so much room for improvement. They’ll know that, be speaking it, and it will carry them well. It’s gearing up very nicely indeed.
One thing for sure, I’ll be keeping the pistachio nuts locked away from the final ten minutes next time.
Posted on 30-Jun-07 at 10:30 pm | PermalinkMaaaaaaaaaate!!!!!!
Posted on 30-Jun-07 at 10:49 pm | PermalinkWell, I was very happy with Milsy back at full-back - we should just call him Mike Catt now
Smith was great, as was Ashley-Cooper, Huxley was actually really good except when kicking (and he did kick an overlap away once). He’s never been as nervy as Hewat in S&’s so hopefully he is going to get over it soon - maybe he can run half a game as 5/8th against RSA, because then he would be a perfect bench option for the RWC (along with Ashley-Cooper - how strong was that try?!?!)
Would have been great to have Latham, but then again they will be a completely different prospect in NZ - now I’m really salivating about that one.
Re SA I agree - we need to rehearse without Larkhama anyway.
So for the WC, Aust v NZ and RSW v Fra in the semis, and who knows we might get a 99 rematch. In any event the winner of NZ v Aust will win if they still have 15 players on the pitch!
Posted on 01-Jul-07 at 4:40 pm | PermalinkHow good was that try.
I had a dream last night that I was called up out of the blue to play for the struggling Wallabies against the mighty All Blacks at the MCG. They shoved me on the wing. Well into the second half, we were getting hammered. Suddenly, Bernie Larkham cut through and slipped the ball to Lote Tuqiri, who steamed downfield on an inside angle, planting an attacking platform deep in All Black territory. A couple of phases later, the ball came my side. Nathan Sharp threw me a pass about 15 metres out. In front, there were All Blacks everywhere. To my left, the sideline was less than a metre away. All around, 90,000 people were screaming their heads off. What happened still seems a blur, but I think it went like this, as unbelievable as I know that it will sound. First, I busted straight through a tackle by Rico Gear. Next, I pushed myself under a tackle by Richie McGraw. Then, I brushed aside a tackle by Chris Jack, as if he was a fly. Summoning both legs and holding onto that ball like it was dear life itself, I dived over the All Black line for five points, and set up the first Australian victory over New Zealand for five years. Then I woke up, and realised that my name is Adam Ashley-Cooper, and that I’m now a Wallaby Legend.
Posted on 02-Jul-07 at 1:06 am | PermalinkAnd here’s the thing: the force of defence was hurling towards the touchline, only feet away. It’s akin to holding back a wave by sheer will, with your own momentum stopped - by the greatest flanker in the world, and the All Black captain, no less - for one, then another, and another. Those are near-standing starts under that sideswipe force which would feel like an onrushing thick black wall.
The tryline and then the ingoal must have seemed like the promised land.
If there’s a pivotal, seminal, representative moment when Australian onfield rugby fortunes change, notwithstanding speedbumps along the way, that was it.
Posted on 02-Jul-07 at 2:19 am | PermalinkWell done Australia, but you have to bear in mind the travel factor for the All Blacks. In the space of two weeks, they played a test in Hamilton (admittedly against minnows Canada), then flew to Durban via Joburg, where they beat the Boks in a hugely physical encounter - then had fly all the way to Melbourne seven days later to meet a rested Wallaby side.
Bear in mind also that their first two preferred centres (Toeava and Conrad Smith) were both out injured and they had to switch their third choice (Muliana) back to fullback when Leon Macdonald was injured on the eve of the test. This left Luke Mcalister at centre, a position he has played test rugby in only once before.
On top of that, four of their locks were out injured (including their number 1 and 3 in that position - Williams and Robinson).
Combine that with Gregan’s expert manipulation of the ref (he didn’t put the pull into the scrum until nearly the end of the first half) and the match-swinging yellow card for Hayman - and you had the ingredients for an upset.
Before you start accusing me of making excuses, Australia deserved the win. But you still need to win the return match in Auckland to get the Bledisloe back for the first time in five years.
Posted on 03-Jul-07 at 12:17 pm | PermalinkHa ha
Posted on 03-Jul-07 at 2:58 pm | Permalinkhttp://www.rugbyheaven.smh.com.au/news/off-the-field/wake-up-call-for-dozy-tuqiri/2007/07/03/1183351183046.html
[...] Sheil has one of his super rugby posts. Go read, especially if you’re a [...]
Posted on 03-Jul-07 at 10:49 pm | PermalinkFair comments there by Jim. It occurred to me during this match that the demands of Test rugby these days might be doing some harm to the game. Then again, the All Blacks were more than a touch complacent, where McCaw I believe was lax in not marshalling his team.
It’s been mentioned before, too, where the night time games mean a wet and slippery ball from dew. Imagine Test rugby at 3 pm kick off, with the fitness and focus of the professional era. It would be disappointing if we never get to see it.
Speaking of kick offs, Huxley is still there.
Posted on 04-Jul-07 at 3:19 pm | Permalink