Wallabies vs Boks - Bloemfontein

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I could name so many of those kind of mistakes in the last 42 mins that probably had us deserving to lose. Poor Kurtley had a horrible 2nd half but to step up when it came to the penalty goal was incredible.

When Faingaa got yellow-carded i was ready to go to bed but im glad i stuck it out. Amazing.

Pocock was so easily the best player on the ground for us and overall it wasn't even funny. He is becoming one of the best 2 or 3 loose forwards in the world and is one of the more influential players going around. The Boks were so insistent on pounding Pocock all night and they did...but he just did not wilt under the pressure and kept on winning turnovers and turning up in defence.

The bench really did step up. Burgess was AWESOME during his 20 mins on the field and inspirational by how hard he was running and hitting. Slipper did ok though the scrum still was a little rickety (Robinson is starting to get better now with more Tests back under his belt). Barnes played really well off the bench, throwing the last pass for Mitchell and giving great direction around the ground during his time on.

McCalman played really well on his debut. I love this guy. Have watched him play quite a bit of Shute Shield and he is a very good player who should help out at the RWC next year.

Cooper and Beale's defence are still very much under question. Missed far too many tackles, particularly Cooper. Missed the first tackle on De Villiers before he scored and let Steenkamp get too much of a roll on for his try. He really needs to improve there cause we can't afford to have such soft defence in the fly half channel.

AAC, Beale and JOC offensive wise were really good in the first half. Playing of Cooper and Genia and GIteau really well and were finding space every time.

Good game from Stephen Moore as well. Put on some very solid defence and the lineouts were good all night. Got through a lot of work from what i saw. I'd still have TPN ahead of him if he was fit, but with Faingaa the other option, i'd pick Moore to start every time.
 
I must admit I went to bed at halftime thinking this was in the bag. I just watched the second half and what the smurf happened? SA just threw everything at us and we couldn't stand the heat and that freak of nature Morne Steyn just potting them from everywhere.

When Faiinga got that Yellow card and then Beale got Falconed before the penalty to put them in front, I just thought that's it. Can't win at altitude, game over.

But SA found a way to shoot themselves in the foot and gave Beale a chance at redemption. AND WHAT A KICK! Reminds me of Eales and the kick in NZ to win the Bledisloe a while back. Just the whole crowd on your back and he found a way to block it out and kick it right through the guts. Awesome kick.

Should never have let the lead slip but great fighting to get that last chance.
 

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Beale was very good in the first half but was horrible in the 2nd half. Just couldn't do a thing right until that kick.
 
Swans120 said:
Beale was very good in the first half but was horrible in the 2nd half. Just couldn't do a thing right until that kick.
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I'd give him a 6 out of 10 game, pretty good in the first, was South Africa's best player for 39 minutes in the 2nd half though!
 
bombersno1 said:
I'd give him a 6 out of 10 game, pretty good in the first, was South Africa's best player for 39 minutes in the 2nd half though!
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Yeh i reckon that's fair.

Giteau was good in the first like most of the others but with the huge turn in momentum and panic that set in to the Wallabies he didn't have much opportunity to do anything in the 2nd. Can remember him laying some nice tackles though. The backline had some tough work to do as the forwards were being steam-rolled at times in the 2nd half by the Boks pack when they got a roll on through Smith, Rossouw, Smit, Steenkamp, Burger.

Berrick played a great role off the bench. Threw the last pass for Mitchell, a wonderful inside pop. Then a couple of very clever and well placed clearing and attacking kicks. Perfect sub game. Burgess was a huge reason for our resurgence in the last 15 mins as well. Another to play a very good substitute role at his position.

Btw, enjoy yesterday arvo, bombers? What a game, ey?
 
Yeah I enjoyed it, was ridiculous though as there was 25 of us at the game, of which 2 went for the Swans usually. Was pretty funny actually. Although to be fair about 10 of them never have gone to a game before.

As for he rugby, I'd take the win. It was guts. But the only two players that would get more than an 8 out of 10 would be Pocock, and Elsom. The rest were all guilty of doing diddly squat in the 2nd half, and trying their best to lose the match in comical circumstances!

It is difficult for our forwards as lets be honest here, with the exception of Sharpe (possibly), Pocock, and Robinson the rest are bench players at best, some players are being played 12-18 months before they are ready.
 
True that regarding the pack. A lot of young and inexperienced guys in there. Though if we can get something close to a full strength starting XV out for the Spring Tour, that will have us in a great position for next year. Will let the top players get back used to hard Test rugby and the guys getting starts atm will be all the better for the experience gained.

Guys like Faingaa, Ma'afu, Simmons, McCalman (though i was loved his first half...im a big fan of this guy) etc. will really benefit from this exposure to the top nations and when guys like TPN, Alexander, Horwill, Palu are back they will be more ready and able to play good back up roles.

And absolutely agree with Elsom and Pocock being the only guys to play a full game. Pocock was awesome all night but his great work was often wasted.
 
The "good" thing about the injuries is that the depth that we will have to pick from will suddenly be a lot stronger. A year ago I would have said "who is the depth in the props"..now we have Maafu and Slipper who if called on can do a reasonable job and are better than Baxter. I still have an issue with second rowers though as Mumm is rubbish and Chisolm is just as awful.

I have always said that you don't win a World Cup with your starting 15, you win it with players 16-30. These injuries have helped us build on getting games into those players.
 
2nd row stocks are still concerning. We need to see some more improvement from Simmons, Douglas to put pressure on Mumm, Chisholm until Vickerman is ready to play and Horwill is back to full fitness.
 

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Wallabies vs Boks - Bloemfontein

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