Australia v Wales - 29/9/19, RWC, k/o 8:45 GMT - Match Thread - Aus 25-29 Wales

[Guest]

First topic message reminder :

Massive game this. Surely decides who wins Pool D and - at this stage - avoids both NZ and England in the knock-outs.

A real 50:50, too close to call game for me.



Wales : L Williams; North, Jonathan Davies, Parkes, Adams; Biggar, G Davies; Wyn Jones, Owens, Francis, Ball, Alun Wyn Jones (capt), Wainwright, Tipuric, Navidi.
Replacements: Smith, Dee, Lewis, Shingler, Moriarty, T Williams, Patchell, Watkin.


Australia : Haylett-Petty; Ashley-Cooper, O'Connor, Kerevi, Koroibete; Foley, Genia; Sio, Latu, Alaalatoa, Rodda, Arnold, Pocock, Hooper (capt), Naisarani.
Replacements: Uelese, Slipper, Kepu, Coleman, Salakaia-Loto, White, To'omua, Beale.

Officials: Referee, Romain Poite (France) GOOD LUCK EVERYONE; Assistant referees, Luke Pearce (England), Karl Dickson (England); TMO Ben Skeen (New Zealand).

[maestegmafia]

Oh and well done Wales. You guys must have been bricking it just a little as the second half unfolded. While Toomua made a big difference, how much of the comeback was due to Wales seemingly decide to just defend their lead?

Just a bit

Was watching with an Aussie mate and we all thought they were going g to clinch it.

Amazing turnover at the end by Williams.

[RiscaGame]

AWJ acknowledged we defended a lead too much.

[maestegmafia]

AWJ acknowledged we defended a lead too much.

It’s a fair point.

To be honest though we weren’t able to regain possession in the 2nd half as the Aussies took control. Great defence kept us in the game.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Don't watch too much rugby, thought the Aussies shot themselves in the foot really and Wales were good at pouncing. When they cut out the mistakes, the Aussies seemed the better of the two, but then that's the game - punishing mistakes in sport is what wins titles.

[LondonTiger]

AWJ acknowledged we defended a lead too much.

It’s a fair point.

To be honest though we weren’t able to regain possession in the 2nd half as the Aussies took control. Great defence kept us in the game.

Wales were defensive at rucks and mauls too in the 2nd half. First half they competed for the ball and hassled every Aussie possession. Second half and they seemed to stop, preferring to set the defensive line.

[Guest]

It’s something we do a lot, trying to defend a lead. I’ve seen so many times where we’ve tried to hold on and then just can’t do that much defending and the opposition ends up winning. I remember it against Oz a few times, against the All Blacks, against SA a couple of times, England. Get in a position to win and then hope the defence can hold. But against quality opposition at this level it’s nigh on impossible to just defend for a whole half. We got lucky today I think. I’d much prefer us to have the mantra of ‘best form of defence is attack’! Not crazy chuck it about attack. But at least keep possession, build the phases, play in their half, kick for touch in their half and challenge the lineout, etc. However, we just seem to kick it to them in field and let them run it back and pray that the defence holds out.

[majesticimperialman]

there was n bonus point today for Wales right, but Australia did get a losing bonus point.

Will not getting a bonus point win have an impact on Wales later on?

[LondonTiger]

Will not getting a bonus point win have an impact on Wales later on?

No.

[Galted]

there was n bonus point today for Wales right, but Australia did get a losing bonus point.

Will not getting a bonus point win have an impact on Wales later on?

Shouldn't think so, it's a bit of a stretch imagining Fiji upsetting Wales, let alone Uruguay.

[No9]

there was n bonus point today for Wales right, but Australia did get a losing bonus point.

Will not getting a bonus point win have an impact on Wales later on?

As long as we don’t lose against Fiji or Uruguay it won’t matter a jot.

[Guest]

Oh and well done Wales. You guys must have been bricking it just a little as the second half unfolded. While Toomua made a big difference, how much of the comeback was due to Wales seemingly decide to just defend their lead?

Not at all, in my opinion. As in literally zero. Wales attacked from the whistle 2nd half, made a tidy break that very, very nearly resulted in a try for Gareth Davies. Through the hands, North steps and breaks, back inside, and just hauled down as Gar was away. Took the 3 points, and from there, Wales defended for a solid 20 minutes. Quick try first of all, botched the restart, ended up on their own line (lucky not to give away yellow card) and eventually another try. Botched another restart, and Australia took 3 points.

2 or 3 errors kept Wales pegged back in their own 22 for most of that second half. Fair play to Australia. Wales kept attacking to the death, don't think there was a mindset to 'stop' playing - Australia just dealt with Wales' exits and kept running it back.

[Guest]

AWJ acknowledged we defended a lead too much.

It’s a fair point.

To be honest though we weren’t able to regain possession in the 2nd half as the Aussies took control. Great defence kept us in the game.

Wales were defensive at rucks and mauls too in the 2nd half. First half they competed for the ball and hassled every Aussie possession. Second half and they seemed to stop, preferring to set the defensive line.

Maybe this is a fair point as they went very, very passive around the 65 minute mark and looked shot, like the Wallabies could just walk it in if they made a linebreak.

[Guest]

Highlights: https://youtu.be/U1iApL9wLDc?t=113

How is that not a try for North? Knocked backward, bounces forward, grounded by North. Thought it when we saw it live. That's a try.

[LondonTiger]

Sorry, but to me that ball quite clearly goes forward from his hands and hits the ground in front of where he las touched it. That he is moving can give the illusion, but no, if you slow it down frame by frame and look where he makes contact with the ball and where it hits the ground it is a knock on.

[gavstar]

someone said the dan biggar drop goal was a miss !!!! was it miaow?......Gats has said after the game they've been working on patchells defence and also he still has work to do in bossing the game, .......we missed bossy dan second half....you could see the team looking at each other doing the where am I shuffle .....well done dan as it turns out match saving tackle....and he only missed one kick 3 points....he ll be back.

[Guest]

Hmmm. Maybe. It's deceptive as he's in the air. His feet are some way behind his hands when he touches it. For me, it's flat, and a better ref would ask to check it - as we saw Barnes do, rugby league style, talking it through as it happened.

I slowed it right down and I think it does go marginally forward. Shame.

[Guest]

someone said the dan biggar drop goal was a miss !!!! was it miaow?......Gats has said after the game they've been working on patchells defence and also he still has work to do in bossing the game, .......we missed bossy dan second half....you could see the team looking at each other doing the where am I shuffle .....well done dan as it turns out match saving tackle....and he only missed one kick 3 points....he ll be back.

Biggar had two drops at goal. One from kick-off that went through, and one about 10 minutes later which drifted wideto the left. This wasn't given. Pretty sure he scored the one that was given. Assume whoever you spoke to got them mixed up. Biggar 'missed' 6 points with the boot. Foley 2.

Agree with both those points on Patchell. Did well with basics - picked a pass up from his toes coming on, and had the same again with his last kick from the dead ball line, which was a shocking pass from Tomos, but Rhys kicked straight in field and there were echoes of JD2 and England in 2017 with that kick. But didn't do the big leadership stuff, not a gamebreaker or maker, or director just yet. Glad to see him at the RWC though. He's a great talent, and that's just the last arrow to his bow he needs to become a regular test starter.

[maestegmafia]

someone said the dan biggar drop goal was a miss !!!! was it miaow?......Gats has said after the game they've been working on patchells defence and also he still has work to do in bossing the game, .......we missed bossy dan second half....you could see the team looking at each other doing the where am I shuffle .....well done dan as it turns out match saving tackle....and he only missed one kick 3 points....he ll be back.

Biggar had two drops at goal. One from kick-off that went through, and one about 10 minutes later which drifted wideto the left. This wasn't given. Pretty sure he scored the one that was given. Assume whoever you spoke to got them mixed up. Biggar 'missed' 6 points with the boot. Foley 2.

Agree with both those points on Patchell. Did well with basics - picked a pass up from his toes coming on, and had the same again with his last kick from the dead ball line, which was a shocking pass from Tomos, but Rhys kicked straight in field and there were echoes of JD2 and England in 2017 with that kick. But didn't do the big leadership stuff, not a gamebreaker or maker, or director just yet. Glad to see him at the RWC though. He's a great talent, and that's just the last arrow to his bow he needs to become a regular test starter.

Cracking defending and a sublime turnover by Williams

[Guest]

I must have missed the turnover. Is that Liam? Last play? Because Tomos kicked it out.

[maestegmafia]

I must have missed the turnover. Is that Liam? Last play? Because Tomos kicked it out.

Yes it’s an absolute beauty...

[mikey_dragon]

He was great in defence too, but we haven't seen much of the textbook up n unders from him at the world cup.

[maestegmafia]

He was great in defence too, but we haven't seen much of the textbook up n unders from him at the world cup.

Wales haven’t used the up and under that much at all yet?

[majesticimperialman]

He was great in defence too, but we haven't seen much of the textbook up n unders from him at the world cup.

Wales haven’t used the up and under that much at all yet?

Like that word YET.

[mikey_dragon]

He was great in defence too, but we haven't seen much of the textbook up n unders from him at the world cup.

Wales haven’t used the up and under that much at all yet?

Yeah it seems that way. I think we should be using it more; Biggar, Williams and Patchell are very good at it.

[maestegmafia]

He was great in defence too, but we haven't seen much of the textbook up n unders from him at the world cup.

Wales haven’t used the up and under that much at all yet?

Yeah it seems that way. I think we should be using it more; Biggar, Williams and Patchell are very good at it.

The lads are kicking to the wingers more than chipping it up from inside our own half.

[funnyExiledScot]

Congratulations Wales. Epic effort. Wainwright looks the business.

Anyone still think Gatland is a poor coach??

[maestegmafia]

Congratulations Wales. Epic effort. Wainwright looks the business.

Anyone still think Gatland is a poor coach??

Aye, Wales can’t beat Australia and AWJ is massively over rated. Ha ha ha...!

Cheers mate. The most brilliant part of the welsh defence today was repelling three consecutive line out mauls on our own line. I don’t think I’ve have ever seen a team do that against a tier one nation.

[Taylorman]

Chipping to the wingers seems to be the most common way tier one sides are scoring now. Two in this match, two in the Irish match, expect a lot more as well. ABs have also mastered it. Not a lot being scored through the hands, a blight on the game with rush defences nullifying so much good ball.

[LondonTiger]

Congratulations Wales. Epic effort. Wainwright looks the business.

Anyone still think Gatland is a poor coach??

Aye, Wales can’t beat Australia and AWJ is massively over rated. Ha ha ha...!

Cheers mate. The most brilliant part of the welsh defence today was repelling three consecutive line out mauls on our own line. I don’t think I’ve have ever seen a team do that against a tier one nation.

Australia did it against Wales two or three years ago.

[Guest]

Congratulations Wales. Epic effort. Wainwright looks the business.

Anyone still think Gatland is a poor coach??

Aye, Wales can’t beat Australia and AWJ is massively over rated. Ha ha ha...!

Cheers mate. The most brilliant part of the welsh defence today was repelling three consecutive line out mauls on our own line. I don’t think I’ve have ever seen a team do that against a tier one nation.

In all fairness, two of those were stopped illegally and ended up wth penalties to Australia...

[funnyExiledScot]

Congratulations Wales. Epic effort. Wainwright looks the business.

Anyone still think Gatland is a poor coach??

Aye, Wales can’t beat Australia and AWJ is massively over rated. Ha ha ha...!

Cheers mate. The most brilliant part of the welsh defence today was repelling three consecutive line out mauls on our own line. I don’t think I’ve have ever seen a team do that against a tier one nation.

Well you certainly won't see Scotland bravely defending line out mauls or five metre scrums!! We play such a ridiculously fast and skillful brand of rugby, that defending our line is frankly beneath us.

[Guest]

Chipping to the wingers seems to be the most common way tier one sides are scoring now. Two in this match, two in the Irish match, expect a lot more as well. ABs have also mastered it. Not a lot being scored through the hands, a blight on the game with rush defences nullifying so much good ball.

England have a kicking game unlike any ther side yet. EJ saw/realised how important kicking was, what he had at his disposal, and set about making it a huge part of their game. They don't have the best wingers for the classic crossfield kick, but they basically play long ball football crossed with the American quarterback pass, and are scoring fairly regularly.

As a neutral, I'd personally really, really like NZ to play England in the semi finals. If England turn up it could be a truly amazing game.

[maestegmafia]

Congratulations Wales. Epic effort. Wainwright looks the business.

Anyone still think Gatland is a poor coach??

Aye, Wales can’t beat Australia and AWJ is massively over rated. Ha ha ha...!

Cheers mate. The most brilliant part of the welsh defence today was repelling three consecutive line out mauls on our own line. I don’t think I’ve have ever seen a team do that against a tier one nation.

Well you certainly won't see Scotland bravely defending line out mauls or five metre scrums!! We play such a ridiculously fast and skillful brand of rugby, that defending our line is frankly beneath us.

Ha ha ha...!

[Taylorman]

Oh I’m pretty certain it’ll be an England NZ semi but overall I think the tier one standard has been average, particularly in terms of attacking play.

Most tries have been chips to the wing, maul over the line or intercepts, none of which requires ball through the hands to beat the man.

I’m looking forward to seeing NZ try and expose what is clearly a heavily defensive tournament overall. NZ are largely ‘out of it’ until the quarters where now it seems we could be playing one of three sides. Retallick will be back by then and they’ll be the fittest side by then, having faced the least traffic.

England enter the gauntlet run next week and will do well to get to semis with that run, and will probably be the best winning run of any World Cup if they do.

Wales were ok, as were oz, that match was anyone’s, oz did well to come back from 23-8 down in such heavily defensive game plans, something a side like Ireland could never do...and in fact, hasn’t for a very long time.

A good weekend of close wins, upsets, drama, the usual poor refereeing. Typical fare.

Bring on the next week.

[maestegmafia]

Bring on the next week.

The business end of the pool stages are ahead of us now.

[Taylorman]

Well, Some of us, we’re largely spectators of the rest fighting out 1 and 2. This is the problem with having the top two seeds play first. In our case, bar a massive upset, our section was decided on day two,

[hugehandoff]

Aussies whinging big time re Kerevi penalty. Personally I have always hated ball carriers using their forearms and elbows as offensive weapons striking tacklers in the face. Seems to be a trait of Pacific Islanders in particular and Manu does this a lot as well.

I love a huge handoff, but not this tactic which I think is a cheap shot and needs banning. But refs need to be consistent. What exactly is the law on this and was this Kerevi penalty valid or was it poor tackle technique as Hooper claimed?

[stub]

Congratulations to Wales - a great result and an entertaining match.
Thought Aussie fightback was very impressive although was less impressed with other aspects of their attitude at times.
This World Cup is shaping up nicely and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

[Guest]

Just seen the Cheika and Hooper post match interview. I used to love Cheika but god he’s salty these days. What a strop! He’s not looking healthy either. Face has changed. I know it’s a stressful job but he needs to chill a little or he’ll do himself a mischief.

[Guest]

Biggar's tackle is fine, as expected. 'Fine' in a legal sense - bad in terms of technique. He took the old Halfpenn tactic of tackling with his head.

[Taylorman]

We are used to that. The worst losing coaching I’ve ever seen. The level of blame he places on anything and everyone other than his own team, his own selections...bringing Foley back was one of the primary failure reasons here, is a joke. Glad he’s going. He’s stressed the RC scene for far too long now.

[mikey_dragon]

Cheika is a right c0ck.

[Taylorman]

Bring on the next week.

The business end of the pool stages are ahead of us now.

On this though Maes I can't stress the advantage the ABs now have bar injuries in the lighter matches, and lack of match play though Italy last is a good enough finale to the group, enough.

They get to observe every potential opposition in detail over the next 3 weeks. The strong and weak points, the injuries, where the opportunities are.

Meanwhile, opposition sides will be too busy worrying about their next match, being cagey with one another and none will learn a thing from the AB matches, as Hansen will be applying his usual stress tests to Canada and Namibia, and possibly Italy.

Definitely the ABs tourney to lose.

[maestegmafia]

Bring on the next week.

The business end of the pool stages are ahead of us now.

On this though Maes I can't stress the advantage the ABs now have bar injuries in the lighter matches, and lack of match play though Italy last is a good enough finale to the group, enough.

They get to observe every potential opposition in detail over the next 3 weeks. The strong and weak points, the injuries, where the opportunities are.

Meanwhile, opposition sides will be too busy worrying about their next match, being cagey with one another and none will learn a thing from the AB matches, as Hansen will be applying his usual stress tests to Canada and Namibia, and possibly Italy.

Definitely the ABs tourney to lose.

Can’t disagree with that at all. Likewise SA have a reasonably comfortable looking few weeks too. The other three pools all have some crunch matches.

Wales will not underestimate Fiji who looked superb in their opening half against the wallabies. Georgia seem to be gaining confidence, particularly when they can tie your front five in a knot.

Ireland Japan Scotland or England France Argentina could throw up some anomalies

[No9]

Cheika said: "He put his arm into his chest. I don't know if that is illegal or not. I don't know the rules any more, honestly.“

What an embarrassing thing for a coach of a top nation to say. And I thought it was supposed to be whinging poms, how things turn.

As for putting his arms into his chest, look again, only this time keep your eyes open. Don’t know if they teach anatomy differently down under, but the throat is not the chest.

And for Hooper to blame it on Pathcells tackle technique, what’s his excuse when he decided to try and take Biggar out. He should be cited for that, personally, I believe both incidents should be cited.

[Pie]

Chipping to the wingers seems to be the most common way tier one sides are scoring now. Two in this match, two in the Irish match, expect a lot more as well. ABs have also mastered it. Not a lot being scored through the hands, a blight on the game with rush defences nullifying so much good ball.

Tier 1 sides using chips is negative for anyone but NZ who have mastered it

What a t$t

[Taylorman]

Yeah its not a nice way to score but you have too, at least we offer spectacular variations. long flat sideways kick passes. Weve mastered it, but its getting boring.

The tries we have scored though included passing and handling no other side is capable of.

[Rugby Fan]

Chipping to the wingers seems to be the most common way tier one sides are scoring now. Two in this match, two in the Irish match, expect a lot more as well. ABs have also mastered it. Not a lot being scored through the hands, a blight on the game with rush defences nullifying so much good ball.

That's such a common tactic on the 5th tackle in rugby league, when the attacking team is close to the tryline. I don't like to see it used so often, as it often seems like a lottery. It can be beautifully executed but it can be hit-and-hope more often than not. Some of these plays are on penalty advantage, which makes it look even more like rolling the dice.

[Taylorman]

Yes agree, it’s very League like, which are also about frustrated defences. ABs only took to doing it as it’s an essential while defence again dominates the game. They do try variations but the triple threat...run, kick, pass option they implemented a few years ago as options for every play gets inevitably dominated by kicks, which suggests favouring those that want less ball.

I believe Hansen wants to opt against that trend this tournament not just as an option, but as an emphatic statement...go out winning how the game should be played.

[eirebilly]

Well lads,

What can I say, that was a fantastic performance by Wales. To hold off a rampant Aussie Attack in the second half was massively impressive. How good did the Aussies look when Toomua came on at 10...

AWJ has some motor on him, constantly hungry and a superb leader on the field.

Any word on if Hooper is/wil be cited for his late challenge on Biggar?

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