Baa-Baas team to face Australia...

First topic message reminder :

... at Twickenham on Saturday:

Barbarians: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Sam Tomkins, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Stirling Mortlock, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Adam Thomson, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Eusebio Guinazu.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Jason White, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Nemia Kenatale, 21 Richard Kahui, 22 Seru Rabeni.

offload wrote:This is pathetic.

O'Connor is fabulous. Cipriaunty is useless. The bloke from rugby league is also useless. If I'd paid for this I'd want a refund.

Looking forward to the next match to see some proper rugby. Let's hope Sarries can beat those dirty cheating Saints.

And Ospreys Connacht on S4C too...

westernosprey wrote:Poor Wales next week

I would hope that Wales would never take the field as poor as this Baa Baa side...!

Thanks for the reminder Maesteg. nice to be able to record one and watch the other.

Haha Tomkins

Wales will be a different kettle hopefully. Easy to say now but I had my doubts about a few Baa-baas selections.... Cipriani, Tomkins... even Habana. He's definitely past it now as Biltong has said.

Well, there you go - Tomkins finally scores in extra time .

wow, looked like he dropped it. think they awarded that in sympathy for the crowd

Matfield goes for the conversion

Nice kick Victor....

Matfields kick almost as bad as Hook in the world cup.

What a shocking match that was, plenty of tries but pretty poor from the Baa Baa's. Cipriani didnt look like he was, in any way shape or form, going to worry the England 10's.

Andy Goode will now relax knowing he is still 5th choice England 10

westernosprey wrote:Andy Goode will now relax knowing he is still 5th choice England 10

Only 5th??? Who's ahead of him ?

BaaBaas were very poor - Only Matfield came through with his reputation intact (except his place kicking ability)

Aus have shaken off the rust and will worry Wales next week.

Can't see what two seasons in Aus has done for Cipriani?? He still can't tackle and his decision making was very poor.

I think the biggest shame is that this was Matfields last match.
For such a great player and a great man, he deserved much much more.

maestegmafia wrote:

westernosprey wrote:Poor Wales next week

I would hope that Wales would never take the field as poor as this Baa Baa side...!

Wales will put this shambles to shame and, i suspect, catch Aussie with their pants down.

maestegmafia wrote:

westernosprey wrote:Andy Goode will now relax knowing he is still 5th choice England 10

Only 5th??? Who's ahead of him ?

I would think both Eng u21 players are a good distance in front.

Bringing the kids through has worked for you, time Eng did it.

offload wrote:Can't see what two seasons in Aus has done for Cipriani?? He still can't tackle and his decision making was very poor.

Made him softer than ever it seems.

maestegmafia wrote:wow, looked like he dropped it. think they awarded that in sympathy for the crowd

Are you talking about Tomkins? He clearly grounded it. Looks fairly lost at times but so did most of his side.

Awful, awful performance by the Barbarians. Forwards (except Matfield) were never in the game.

Cipriani had a couple of decent moments and a couple of shockers so no real change there.

It's time to put the Barbarians out of their misery after this dross.

maestegmafia wrote:

westernosprey wrote:Andy Goode will now relax knowing he is still 5th choice England 10

Only 5th??? Who's ahead of him ?

He's not even first choice for Worcester at the moment. Flood, Hodgson, Burns, Farrell, Lamb and maybe even Ford & Myler are probably ahead of him.

Poor game. Some great players and only a few questionable ones just couldn't piece it together. I sincerely doubt home nation club players who would have been under strict instructions from their clubs not to put their bodies on the line mid-season would have done much better with so little time to gel.

I blame the coach. He's got previous of not making the grade with the world's best players.

I really hope the Ospreys Connacht match is better...

Last week on another thread I had the amazing nerve to suggest that the Barbarians are a relic of a bygone age and should be pensioned off to well-deserved scrutiny. Cue some outraged comment suggesting that I failed to comprehend the wonderful traditions of the Baa-baas, with lots of misty-eyed memories of grteat games of the past.

WSell after the travesty we saw today, does anybody seriouslyt think these games have a future. Players from all over the world turning up and then not giving a sh1t and looking like they were on the p1ss for tyhe last week, pathetic efforts at tackles, Kaino looking as if he was still on his honeymoon. The only one in black and white who emerged with an ounce of credit today was Matfield. And god what were Henry and Hansen thinking when they allowed themselves to be talked into this total shambles.

Even the aussies looked embarassed!

People!

are we forgetting the good BaBaas games back in the summer? One bad game where the team was let down by a few players who looked like they couldnt be ersed does not mean that the BaBaas is redundant.

Personally I think that more emphasis should be placed on picking players with something to prove, guys looking to break into their national sides for instance, who we can guarantee on giving their all to the spirit of the match and a few legends to give it some glamour.

With the exception of Kahui, the all blacks players were a disgrace, but after winning a world cup only a month ago, it probably felt a bit deflating playing an exhibition match. These are the kind of players who should be picked more carefully. If theyre not trying to prove themselves, then pick players who have a reputation for giving their all, no matter what the stakes. While we cant know for sure, im sure Mr McCaw wouldve put a lot more heart into his performance today because thats the kind of player he is. Brad Thorn the same. Kahui is still trying to establish himself as first choice despite being one of the best wingers at the world cup.

I suppose you could argue that Cips had something to prove, but he was more just gash than uninterested.

The Ba-baas arent redundant, theyve just lost sight of what they stand for.

I think the Baabaas were missing players in a few key positions.

I wonder how the game would have gone if the Welsh players had been released - Then they would have had SJ at 10, Roberts in the centre and Halfpenny in the back3, aswell as Ryan Jones in the backrow - Those players would all have had something to prove and would have given their all.

I think the difference between the autumn and the summer games is that these days the autumn game is a one off, whereas in the summer there is usually a series of games, so the squad has more time time together, can gel better, learns how to play off each other in attack and adjusts to the defensive patterns.

I think Cipriani is getting a harsh wrap here. He wasn't awful, and his service he recieved in the second hand was shocking, the scrumhalf who came on for Stringer passed the ball miles behind every time. The forwards were awful and as a result the backs suffered. I'd still take Cipriani for 6N.

Looseheaded wrote:I think Cipriani is getting a harsh wrap here. He wasn't awful, and his service he recieved in the second hand was shocking, the scrumhalf who came on for Stringer passed the ball miles behind every time. The forwards were awful and as a result the backs suffered. I'd still take Cipriani for 6N.

I agree with this - whilst he didn't have a great game, I did take an interest in seeing what he would be capable of in the match. he was constantly under pressure mainly due to the Australians steam-rollering every set piece and he received shocking service throughout the second half. You simply can't expect any 10 to be able to deal with a situation so bad as that unless they have 100% committment and help from their team-mates.

I would certainly say that one of the more likely culprits for an awful game was Jason White. Once rated as one of the world's greatest tacklers, he now ranks way below Cipriani IMO. He was pathetic!

As for Cipriani's tackling, he wasn't quite the revolving door that his detractors would like you to think. Sure he did miss a couple, but I actually think he was far more committed in the tackle than his work-shy team-mates. The first Ione try where he missed the tap-tackle wasn't his fault - Fruen should have flattened his man but was out of position and missed. he's certainly not going to worry the England selectors with that display, but I think to judge him solely on that debacle of a match is harsh.

I agree with the posts above, i thought Cipriani played quite well considering the circumstances. He set up to 2 tries and Fruen butchered both of them trying to be Sonny Bill, shows why he wasn't picked for the allblacks.