Full Time: New Zealand 30 def. Australia 16
Half Time: New Zealand 14 v Australia 10
Im ****ed that the Kangaroos lost but hell, as a League fan, its about time we had a contest!
Forget about it being a 2nd, 3rd of 4th string Aussie side, they should have put NZ away, but they shot themselves in the foot big time.
Leading 16-14 and with a million mile an hour breeze up their arses, they didnt use their kicking game to the extent they should have. Gower should've taking over the kicking role and Kimmorley the organisational role.
Australia played a flat-attack style. Their was jack-**** depth in their backline running - thankyou Chris Anderson
New Zealand however finally believed in their defence and took pride in their line. New Zealand will never beat Australia unless they go out there confident in their ability and what they usually do rather than playing percentage footy - they finally did it.
Hamstead was fairly whistle happy, and there were 50/50 calls go both ways e.g Aussie knock-on off their own line and Gulavou's 'tackle' that should've been.
All in all however, Australia didn't put the Kiwis away like they should have and usually do. NZ finally turned up to play. New Zealand's true test will be when they next play a full strength line-up despite how good this Roos side was on paper.
The game was obviously closer that the scoreline suggestes, with the NZers putting on 3 tries close to full-time.
Standouts for mine:
Kangaroos:
The back 3 - Lockyer, Minichello and Sing, in the context of the game were very good and played hard, taking some heavy defence. Minichello performed above my expectation on the Wing.
Kiwis:
Tony, Sione F, Gutenbeil, Toopi and Anderson played Warriors style footy which NZ have a habit of steering away from in Test Matches.
In summary:
* Good for Test footy.
* Timely wake-up call for Roos.
* A hint to Anderson that flat attack is bad attack.
* Aussie forwards lacking mongrel.
Australia to bounce back and defeat the Poms 3-0 or win 2-1 and lose the last Test.
Cheers,
Hicham
Half Time: New Zealand 14 v Australia 10
Im ****ed that the Kangaroos lost but hell, as a League fan, its about time we had a contest!
Forget about it being a 2nd, 3rd of 4th string Aussie side, they should have put NZ away, but they shot themselves in the foot big time.
Leading 16-14 and with a million mile an hour breeze up their arses, they didnt use their kicking game to the extent they should have. Gower should've taking over the kicking role and Kimmorley the organisational role.
Australia played a flat-attack style. Their was jack-**** depth in their backline running - thankyou Chris Anderson
New Zealand however finally believed in their defence and took pride in their line. New Zealand will never beat Australia unless they go out there confident in their ability and what they usually do rather than playing percentage footy - they finally did it.
Hamstead was fairly whistle happy, and there were 50/50 calls go both ways e.g Aussie knock-on off their own line and Gulavou's 'tackle' that should've been.
All in all however, Australia didn't put the Kiwis away like they should have and usually do. NZ finally turned up to play. New Zealand's true test will be when they next play a full strength line-up despite how good this Roos side was on paper.
The game was obviously closer that the scoreline suggestes, with the NZers putting on 3 tries close to full-time.
Standouts for mine:
Kangaroos:
The back 3 - Lockyer, Minichello and Sing, in the context of the game were very good and played hard, taking some heavy defence. Minichello performed above my expectation on the Wing.
Kiwis:
Tony, Sione F, Gutenbeil, Toopi and Anderson played Warriors style footy which NZ have a habit of steering away from in Test Matches.
In summary:
* Good for Test footy.
* Timely wake-up call for Roos.
* A hint to Anderson that flat attack is bad attack.
* Aussie forwards lacking mongrel.
Australia to bounce back and defeat the Poms 3-0 or win 2-1 and lose the last Test.
Cheers,
Hicham