Rugby World Cup 2003 (2 Viewers)

[lorigan85]

Yo Guys,
Im not sure if you've been keeping up with the Wallabies play (union) in the last 2 weeks or more. Theyre on a huge slump, bloody Eddie Jones needs to pull the guys out otherwise his neck is on the line, big time. This saturday Wallabies play the Springboks and they need to show some form. The Nz kiwis are on a roll and are looking good for the world cup. Any predictions for the world cup? i wouldnt underestimate teams like France and Argentina who have the pace too.

Please vote in the poll it doesnt take long.

 

[...]

its too tough to call, SA showed their vulnerability against the all-blacks...the english i believed peaked a bit too early while the all-blacks have a great chance as they have a lot of strike weapons..

if Australia is to win, they need to get their act together and must make use of Sailor and be more consistent in their kick-plays

 

[lorigan85]

yea but Sailor is still a meat head and that try was an exception to an excellent all black defence. The All Blacks havent peaked yet and need to improve on their line outs and i think the problem with Australia is their team is based on reputation ,unlike the NZ coach Mitchel who chooses his team on form. The wallabies have a fairly old team compared and players like Burke and Gregan have passed their prime and are on a down hill slope.

 

[stinger]

australia is absolute shit at the moment

england vs. nz in the final

how about group B
France, Scotland, Fiji, Japan, USA i think
fuckin easiest group ever

 

[copious]

the wallabies have a smaller pool of talent to pick from at this moment. sure they have young guns like giteu,turinui,steve kefu etc to pick from but they havnt showed how they would perform at international level, whereas the allblacks have played their cards right and expiremented early on. the all blacks basicly have every position covered if they need to drop anyone from the first team. how good is it having someone like merhtens who isnt even in the starting 25? and theres still optimisim of lomu coming back as an impact player off the bench.

sailor is good, but still hasnt reached his potential. his trys are usually pieces of individual brilliance, which isnt a bad thing of course. but if you looked at how the allblack pair of howlett and rokokoko scored...they were almost all from set plays engineered by spencer.

GO THE ALL BLACKS@!!!

 

[...]

agree, Spencer is the heart of All Black as Wilkson to England...

All-Black got so much strike weapon, their forwards are strong, their wing are fast and powerful and their full-back can run with the ball well...i tip the All-Black to win, though i perfer england

 

[tooheyz]

ozzies r so crap at the moment but they still have my full support!

so go the wallabies!

 

[lorigan85]

copious: yea merhtens and lomu could play in the world cup, and they are key players, yea i love rocococco and Hewitt together and Number 2, whats his name Mialamu? he's a strong player, and Chris Jack who is an essential member of the team. Hopefully Spencer will stay on form, because the only problem with him is his consistency cos when hes cold hes cold and doesnt communicate with the backs and tends to kick it instead of plays. What do you think of the captain Reuben Thorne? do you think he has the leadership skills to carry the team? And Steve Devine, what a young talent he is! and Aaron Mauger who shows alot of experience for only 23?! <sorry about the spelling with names>

 

[Generator]

Hmmm...

Do league players make suitable union players? My dad blames the those three for the form slump (especially with life-long union players in the lower grades), yet I have no idea.
Does anyone here have an opinion?

 

[lorigan85]

in the wallabies case, they have done well..
For example--

Chris Latham: Raised as a soccer player, it wasn't until he was 18 that he played rugby.

Wendell Sailor: Sailor has been on a steep learning curve since leaving rugby league at the end of the 2001 season. Now, with two full seasons of Super 12 under his belt and 6 Test appearances, Sailor has started to reproduce the type of damaging running that made him famous in league.

Lote Tuqiri:After 99 games for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL, Tuqiri was widely regarded as the best winger in Rugby League.

 

[Generator]

I mean players who have played their game for the greater part of their life, and at the highest levels, before switching to another that is very similar, not entirely different...

With Sailor, I was just wondering why he is in the team when he is still on a 'steep learning curve'. Surely there is another player out there who would be a better choice, even if they are only a temporary fix.

Also, being the 'best' player in league counts for nothing in union, especially when it's a winger who had a game based primarily on speed and strength with little apparent creativity...

 

[copious]

lorigan85 : i think reuben thorne is a pretty decent captain, he's passionate and aggressive and thats what the all blacks need since their team is so young at the moment. they have so much speed and talent in the back line, im looking forward to them peaking because i dont think they're finished yet. watch out poms!

yeah generator the reason why sailor is in the team is because he's an explosive winger who doesnt just rely on pace to get by and also because ben tune and stirling mortlock are out. There are faster wingers like gerrard and a few other young blokes but i dont they are international quality yet. i havnt seen tuqiri do anything special yet, he looks pretty lost when hes on the field.

 

[...]

to be honest, the whole Australian look lost on the field

 

[frodo]

tonight's win by the wallabies showed that they can still win and come back into form for the world cup. they still need to fix up the small stuff eg. larkham's kicking game was crap. the league boys did pretty well, rogers' kicking was great and sailor looks like another forward out there. hopefully this will be a sign of better things to come ???

 

[copious]

they didnt really look good, yeah sure they won but they're set plays didnt come off very well. lineouts were prettyg ood and phil waugh played a cracker of a match!

 

[RiCe_GrOwEr]

Im with Stinger, a Kiwi v. Poms final................

The Aussies arent playing to their full potential, plus they arent geling.............hasnt Larkham lost some form, as with Paul starting on the bench...................it was good to see Jones used Burke and Whittaker in the last 4 minutes of the game last weekend.....................what a joke!

 

[lorigan85]

who was kicking for aussie against the boks? number 12..fuk i forgot the name..he played well..whoever he was. but i agree with capricon the Aussies are still not on 'form' for the world cup. Remember the two tries we'rent special the first one was a mistake from the springboks! Gregan mixed it up and played better but considering he used the width of the field and utilised the backs, there wasnt many breaks. I think unlike the kiwis the aussies are too flat with their back line and the south africans got to tiquiri before he had the ball, which indicates the speed of the ball coming out needs to improve. Nz vs Sth Africa this weekend right?

 

[...]

agree....the speed of getting the ball to the backline is slow, gregan needs to improve in that a lil bit....Tuiquir will probably need time to get used to the game...he has the pace and strength to challenge any backline...

kicking game is probably australia's main concern

 

[Goodo]

I have to say, being a kiwi and all - that the Blacks are going to kick arse in the World Cup. I mean,with backs like Howlett and Rocokoco...Their unstopable. Spencer is a legand and Carter going well... Although lineouts are a concern....

I think to be fair england (on current form) would have to be close behing NZ for favourites followed by aust. - based on home advantage not form.

Yet, aust has proved in the past that they are a threat under any circumstance... who knows this could be the stradegy - being favourites is just added pressure. But then so is criticism...hmmm it's all about balance and i think the kiwis have it....
Do you agree?

 

[Goodo]

I think salior is a twit - a boofhead. Jones needs to admitt he made a mistake with seleceting him and attempt to find a replacement. He is an un-controllable hot head. He she be on the bench....if he has to be in the side at all.

Plus the all blacks dont revolve around the brilliance of spencer. Sure he helps, but they do have other play makers - carter, mauger, marshell (when in form). All blacks have the depth - while the wallabies are running out of fresh talent....

I agree that england may have peaked to early - i guess we will see....it's going to be an interesting world cup thats for sure.


Unfortunatly for the wallabies is that the management team arent willing to take risk when it comes to selections - so gregan is captian - who cares, if he is under performing then he shld be dumped. Not protected. Only a couple of months before the world cup - i dont think it's a time to be loyal to players who arent performing - they need to find a quick fix and fast. Or as the joke says....

'Who are 15 men who will be watching the world cup final on TV?'

....The Wallabies