Rugby: Autumn Internationals

[Dioltach]

Did anyone see the matches at the weekend? Myself, I thought England look to be improving, possibly because of a different selection policy, although their inexperience showed. Wales looked exciting, and could start winning major scalps if they can work on their focus. Australia were patchy: great individual efforts, but a bit sloppy overall. The All Blacks looked to be nigh invincible, even without firing properly.

What are the views of rugby lovers from around the world?

 

[johnsemlak]

Watched both Wales/Australia and England/All Blacks with some friends and colleagues--there's a bit of rugby interest where I work even though I'm not a particular follower of the sport. New Zealand looked very dominating, but it doesn't take an expert to say that.

 

[Zamtap]

I think the welsh game was a great way to start the autumn internationals.

I think the welsh side needs to be watched because they can hit from almost anywhere when they have the confidance (and the ball). The loss of Stephen Jones will be a blow but James Hook is a great find, not often will you find 3 players names on the score sheet for kicking penalties, and hooks kicks from hand were those of an experianced hand not 1st home cap.

England looked a bit more lively than usual. very welcome that they produced running rugby rather than 10 man stodge, the scorelines are probably going to look better against sides other than the all blacks because they will not get so punished for their mistakes.

New Zealand just supreme predators - Virtually every mistake England made was punished.

Aussies - need to be a team not solo players.

Zamtap

 

[Sidekick]

Here’s my opinion (I will state that I am a HUGE AB fan)
England v New Zealand

To me, England’s improved can be summed up in two words: Brian Ashdon.

For the first time since the world cup the England squad used their backline in effective attacking lines & set-plays. The 2005 England team would NEVER have pulled off some of those tries.

It’s good to see.

To me the standout players were the new winger Sackey – or as my mates called him “That slippery b@stard”. Very good find. Also Ben Kay played well. But Danny Grewcock and Lewis Moody again confirmed to me why I dislike them. Grewcock’s a thug plain and simple. And Moody’s a munter. I mean who comes into a ruck at 90 degrees and expects to get away with it. C’mon man!!

However, the Abs played far from a top performance. The line-out was very encouraging (14 from 16 kept). However there were too many handling errors and the general intensity wasn’t there for enough of the time.

It was a good AB performance, good enough for a pool play game or a quarter final. But not a semi or WC final.

Good news (well for me it is) is, they will improve. Carter played well, The Rococcoko family did well (Jo & Siviti), Thorne was a bit flat but Robinson did very well in line outs and general forward play.

Aussie v Wales I didn’t really see this unfortunately. However Aussie are undermanned and have key-players injured. Also their a team in re-build. I figure that they’re going to lose a few this autumn, but they’ll be back in form in time for the World Cup. DAMN THEM!!!!! (sorry the trans-tasman rivalry coming out then).

The aussie’s are simply too good and too professional to let this sort of thing get them down. I mean heck the Brumbies (who have tons of Wallabies in the squad) effectively won the Super 12 without a coach a few years ago. That’s determination and self-belief.

They’ll bounce back, just you watch.

Wales – it’s nice to see that the only other country where the majority are passionate about rugby (aside from us kiwi’s) are getting good again. I’ve always liked Wales and respected their ability punch above their weight and challenge the top teams in the world. Hook sounds like a very good find.

 

[OakwoodDM]

I didn't see the games, but it's definitely encouraging from an England perspective to see that we were only beaten 4-3 on the try count and that kicking seemed to be the deciding factor in the size of the defeat. Maybe once we either find ourselves a consistent kicker (Hodgson can be like Wilko at his best when he's on form, but then a blind one legged man if he's out of sorts) or get some consistency out of Hodgson (or, heaven forbid, Wilkinson gets fit, stays fit and shows good form) we can start looking at progressing beyond the quarters next year in France.

That is, provided we don't face the damn kiwis in the quarters...

 

[Sidekick]

Don’t hate us because we’re beautiful

or, heaven forbid, Wilkinson gets fit, stays fit and shows good form

That’s not going to happen. I reckon that Wilkinson’s kicking style is what’s injuring him. He’s a great kicker, but the problem is his action stuffs up his whole body, thus injuring him on a very regular basis.

Sorta like a fast bowler in Cricket. A lot of them injure themselves very regularly simply because their bodies aren’t deisgned to hiff a ball that way at that speed.

That’s just a theory mind.

And pinning hopes on Wilkinson is dangerous. Look what happened to him in the lions tour. The played, got tackled good and proper, then kept playing and got a serious injury. Unless he gets at least a FULL season playing without injury he’s a big liability.

 

[OakwoodDM]

I don't hate you cos you're beautiful, it's the too damn good I have a problem with

I had figured it was his stupidly intensive training regime that was doing Wilkinson in, but you could well be right. Maybe I should find a sport to follow that only involves doing things your body's designed to do. Netball anyone?

Of course I'm not foolish enough to pin hopes on him. Even in the two week spell where he was back in the falcons line up he looked like his kicking had suffered. No, I'm pinning my hopes on either a miraculous run of consistency from Hodgson (or at least inconsistency only in games the rest of the team can win without his boot) or some previous unknown leaping into the frame.

Or, to put it another way, I'll be watching the final as a neutral.

 

[Dioltach]

Seeing as we're playing the Saffers and Samoa in the pool games, we might not even make it to the quarter finals! But on the whole I thought England looked like a team willing to face a challenge and try things, rather than showing the somewhat dejected and lacklustre attitude of the past two years. And we know the abilities and skills are there, they just have to be used. Finding some new caps with something to prove might make all the difference: Sackey and Allen might have made a few mistakes, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

I think the Aussies will come together in time for the World Cup, and if they do, they might even challenge the All Blacks. Assuming they get their scrum sorted out, that is ...

It will be interesting to see how England fare against Argentina on Saturday. If they lose, it will be a huge blow, and a tremendous boost for Argentina. If Argentina go into the WC on a high and catch France on an off day, it would make that pool very interesting.

I think the four teams in the semis will be France, New Zealand, Australia and either England or South Africa. Not that I want to underestimate Ireland or Wales, who can both play fantastic rugby, I just think they're not yet clinical enough to perform consistently at the highest level. (Not that England are at the moment, of course.)

Anyway, the rest of the Autumn Internationals should be a very interesting preview of the World Cup. I just hope that the other matches will be as good to watch as the first two.

 

[Dioltach]

And now Wilko's injured again ... Sometimes he reminds me of a former colleague of mine who kept calling in sick with one supposed problem after the other. Does the guy actually even want to play rugby?*

*Yes, I know he does, I'm just joking.

 

[OakwoodDM]

South Africa and Samoa again? Did the irb just not bother redrawing the groups and say "Well, it worked pretty well last time, so we'll use those groups again"?

Yeah, the Autumn internationals should be an interesting barometer, as should the 6 nations. If we can't get at least 3 or 4 wins, then we'll be very lucky to get past the groups of the WC.