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The legendary Liverpool football manager Bill Shankly famously said “form is temporary but class is permanent.” Perhaps Joe Schmidt had that in mind when…
We need to start making rugby league think twice about which Australian Schoolboys it signs from rugby. The only way to do that is…
The Roar’s coverage of the Australian U18 side in the last week was a welcome addition to the Rugby page. Without it, I might…
So many of the former Wallabies coach's steps are easy to take...They just require some courage and be implemented by a competent leadership with vision.
South Africa awoke from a self-imposed slumber at Ellis Park on August 31. You read that right. After winning back-to-back William Webb Ellis Cups…
What took so long? It was sensational to see the English Rugby Football Union announce that England A will be playing Australia A later…
The Australian way? Exhibit A: Queensland vs Wales, July 19 2024. A Reds second XV full of kids put on jerseys and played like…
The time for platitudes and sympathy for these players is over. Accountability and a hard edge must be found now.
European Rugby is running rings around its competitors in New Zealand and Australia. It’s tougher, more varied and better organised than any of our…
The longer Australian rugby fixates on Eddie Jones, the further it will find itself from solutions. Yes, Eddie’s tenure was a monumental failure. Yes,…
The Reds are the real deal. Les Kiss’ side have now played all five Kiwi sides, beating three and pushing both the Hurricanes and…
Joe Schmidt achieved much of his success by making Eddie Jones look like a Pomeranian, with his coaching methods reported as tough, unpleasant and even brutal.
The pressure on Darren Coleman over the last few months was both foreseeable and unsurprising. Much has been written about Coleman not having enough…
Les Kiss identified the most significant change made since his arrival at the Reds to being his diverse and highly qualified assistants.
The Reds performances against Kiwi opposition over the past two weeks are the most impressive back to back by an Australian side since 2014.…
The saddest thing about Australian Rugby right now is that it hasn’t learnt its lesson. In a month when Tom Brady was throwing darts…
It has been interesting to see the reaction to Hamish McLennan’s purge this week. It was unanimously agreed on these threads that Hammer McLennan…
"I’m not a fan of changing the rules because one team is dominating,” commented one Roarer last week. It is a disappointing interpretation of…
"Winning is winning. We don’t care how we do it.” That was the common refrain from South African supporters before the World Cup and…
Rugby has become 'cynical' on the back of bigger players, confusing laws and game stoppages.
Yes. He doesn’t have the hands but it’s also really difficult to learn the routes and blocking that guys playing WR since 7yo learn.
Jarred Hayne and the guy from Wales have both struggled for the latter reason despite being physically ok.
Has ex-wunderkind Petaia got any chance of cracking notoriously difficult NFL?
One thing I’d say is that Gregor Townsend was smart enough to identify a game plan that Gatland & Borthwick didn’t: Scotland kept the ball away from us.
– White starting exacerbated it by kicking too much possession away
– McReight being rested didn’t help.
– Our set piece struggled with Bell out of sorts and changed in the lineout (Faessler out) made it worse.
But credit to Scotland too in attack, looked far more dangerous than Ireland out wide.
How Roar readers rated Wallabies' loss to Ireland: Loose forward trio show world-class credentials, Edmed debut cops second whack from Roarers
Like my NFL and have watched quite a bit.
Two things are key for running backs:
1. Ball security
2. Being injury resistant
….
Has ex-wunderkind Petaia got any chance of cracking notoriously difficult NFL?
All pretty fair, really pleased to see the locks getting a little recognition, thought they both went really well against the Irish.
McReight must be approaching World XV conversation which is wonderful to see as a Queenslander and also Australian.
Gordon and Lolesio seem to be Joe’s halves of choice and I don’t think either deserve much criticism after the tour. One area I think they need intensive practice in is clearing kicks, kicks for touch etc- their clearances were very poor.
Either way, well done Joe Schmidt and team: a B+ I thought overall for the whole tour.
How Roar readers rated Wallabies' loss to Ireland: Loose forward trio show world-class credentials, Edmed debut cops second whack from Roarers
All fair, I’m intrigued how Schmidt will deal with the Lions game now it’s been telegraphed by Scotland and Ireland.
My take on Bell is that he was gassed and then unwell after having an injury disrupted season.
It’s left field but I wonder whether you could pull a SA and use Bell, Tupou and Skelton off the bench for the second half. A lot depends on how Kailea comes along and injuries.
Wallabies ratings: Great white hope's 'panic' moment proves costly, Lolesio's flawless kicking game
I think that is what Joe had in mind when he named Wright captain to be honest. But Wilson growing into the captaincy, the way the back row has starred through the 4 tests… and then Wright has to stay on the field…
No doubt Skelton adds to maul defence but is it a coincidence our best line out and defensive showing was without him?
Wallabies ratings: Great white hope's 'panic' moment proves costly, Lolesio's flawless kicking game
Suali hardly touched the ball – think it was 5 runs and 1 offload. It was so obvious during the game that I thought he’d been banned from receiving the ball.
Mystifying that such a big body, fluid attacking threat was basically used to clear out rucks the whole game.
Wallabies ratings: Great white hope's 'panic' moment proves costly, Lolesio's flawless kicking game
I think Ireland still score those maul tries, Scotland weren’t overwhelmed at maul time although Will definitely makes a difference.
I wonder whether Skelton is best from the bench along with Gleeson and BPA… our version of the bomb squad.
Both Farrell and Townsend have telegraphed how the Lions will play though, they did the opposite to England and Wales. Schmidt will be thinking carefully about the answer (it used to be a good rucking over the back and studs on fingers).
Wallabies ratings: Great white hope's 'panic' moment proves costly, Lolesio's flawless kicking game
Thought McReight was brilliant and the whole back row looked balanced.
Also wonder if big Willy throws the balance of the pack out at times, especially at the line out. Both Frost and Williams did well.
The Irish clearly had seen the Scotland game. They made a mess of the breakdown, got away with what they could in front of an inexperienced ref and starved us of possession. The big difference was they didn’t have Finn Russell.
The Lions will look to do the same and stop clean, quick ball. Will be interesting to see how Joe deals with that.
Wallabies ratings: Great white hope's 'panic' moment proves costly, Lolesio's flawless kicking game
Lols
You really do have a hard on for me don’t you mate?
Think the Scots sat under the same storm in Edinburg. Pretty sure they were missing their best loose forward, a certain Australian born 8.
See you’re up to 45,000 comments for a grand total of 4 articles (last one in 2014). Why don’t you give the people an article instead of throwing stones… tick tock.
'Gutted': Wallabies' Grand Slam hopes dashed by Aussie-born Tuipulotu as Schmidt sweats on Suaalii injury
The point is that all of the things that caused us to lose against Scotland (except for the problems with the maul) were evident last week against a bunch of Welsh kids.
Pointing out last week wasn’t great at stages equated to ‘supporting Eddie’ according to you.
Still looking forward to that article from you TWAS. 45000 comments… tick tock.
'Gutted': Wallabies' Grand Slam hopes dashed by Aussie-born Tuipulotu as Schmidt sweats on Suaalii injury
You can’t take anything away from Scotland… they had a disrupted prep as well and were missing 2-3 important players… they got the simple things right, kept the ball away from us and controlled possession. Russell ran circles around Lolesio literally and in terms of options etc.
We played some dumb rugby- kept going to the lineout when it was malfunctioning, kept going to the maul when it was in pieces. We kicked the ball away too much, missed McReight and needed McDermott on sooner. And our defence was awful – Scotland carved us up.
At the risk of one of the usual culprits telling me being critical equates to loving Eddie Jones, the Scots (with 450 caps) didn’t let us get away with bad decisions like Wales (with 220 caps) did.
'Gutted': Wallabies' Grand Slam hopes dashed by Aussie-born Tuipulotu as Schmidt sweats on Suaalii injury
Just for the record, was a cracking shot from Suali that stopped Tuipoluto dead. Was absolutely nothing illegal or wrong with it.
Kellaway and a few others really let us down with tackling today. The Scots carved us up.
Suaalii suffers 'shocking' blow as Wallabies' injury woes worsen in Scotland defeat
Just thinking outside the box as Schmidt appears to be. The Scots like a fast game and you wonder whether Skelton will enjoy it.
Exclusive: You're a Wallaby, Harry: Most debutants since WWI as Schmidt turns to Potter, Tizzano set for recall
Yes… Wilson is a line out option. You could start McReight, Tizzano and Wilson with Valetini coming off the bench (giving him a little rest).
You could also start LSL and bench Skelton and bring him on with Valetini.
Exclusive: You're a Wallaby, Harry: Most debutants since WWI as Schmidt turns to Potter, Tizzano set for recall
Actually those of us who were on here at 3am on the match stream almost all got pretty nervous – hence many people who watched it.
By the way, Joe Schmidt was quoted after the game as saying almost exactly what I’ve said (score didn’t reflect the match) which most on here have overlooked.
Wallabies player ratings: Wright hits the heights, Bell's horror show - and is it time to start Tate?
Joe Schmidt post match:
“The scoreboard exaggerates the difference between the two sides. I don’t think it was as different as a scoreboard suggests, but when you’re trying to chase a game, you start to overplay potentially and then the game loosens up. It either comes off or it doesn’t, and for us, we got a couple of tries on the back of that.”
Wallabies player ratings: Wright hits the heights, Bell's horror show - and is it time to start Tate?
Give it a rest. You’ve obviously got PTSD.
They’ve been great 2 weeks running but at 3am there were some pretty nervous times when they came back to 19 v 13 (from 19 nil down) with Bell being dominated in the scrum and Kerevi carded. Credit to them for showing growth and playing smart.
Wallabies player ratings: Wright hits the heights, Bell's horror show - and is it time to start Tate?
*calm down
“Most of us who watched the game” but happy to change that to “Many” to avoid your triggers.
Wallabies player ratings: Wright hits the heights, Bell's horror show - and is it time to start Tate?
Just a word of caution, most of us who watched the game thought the score line flattered the Wallabies.
They were very good to stabilise and then play smart when a man down but there was a point where a pretty ordinary Welsh side came right back into the game.
Wallabies player ratings: Wright hits the heights, Bell's horror show - and is it time to start Tate?
It wasn’t the basis of his call though. Don’t think anyone has ever said Suali will single handedly transform the team from losers to winners.
As I understand it, McLennan’s argument was that by signing him, the advertising and revenue he would generate would pay for his contract and then go on to grow the game at all levels to help pay other good players.
Like owning a gold mine with a lot of gold you struggle to access easily / cost effectively before investing in better equipment…
Classy Suaalii vindicates huge Schmidt call, defies 'overpriced' tag
If you sign 15 x 20 year olds on 100k a year over a 3 year cycle it’s going to cost 4.5million before any sponsorships or initiatives to share contract values with say Japanese clubs.
– If suali increases ticket sales in the 5 domestic tests next year by 2.5%, assuming there’s 150,000 tickets that’s 3750 extra tickets x say $100 per ticket =$375,000 pa.
– A 30 second prime time advertising slot on TV costs c.$10,000 (before the cost of the advertisement itself). Suali must equal at the very least 10 x prime time slots = $100,000
– Wallaby Jerseys for the Lions series are at $170 each. If only 1000 people by jumpers because of Suaalii that’s $170,000.
So before even talking about minor or major sponsorship for the game or corporate interest in boxes or season tickets, that’s an extra $645,000 as a bare minimum just in 2025 alone.
Your point re inflationary pressures re other player contracts is a good one but my personal opinion is that you either find ways to pay them more or lose them one by one through inflationary pressures or to France and Japan (a much bigger pressure on player salaries than Suaalii’s contract).
Classy Suaalii vindicates huge Schmidt call, defies 'overpriced' tag
I think that’s fair but then I don’t think you see the performance of Ikitau without Sua’ali’i either.
Ikitau really surprised me in that he distributed beautifully but Sua’ali’i did something many Australian backs have failed to do over many years: squared up the defenders by stepping back inside to straighten the line and making space inside and outside him.
Classy Suaalii vindicates huge Schmidt call, defies 'overpriced' tag
For me Bell, Sua’ali’i and Ikitau were brilliant, probably in that order. With the whole backrow not far behind.
Has Len just solved the puzzle at 12?
Classy Suaalii vindicates huge Schmidt call, defies 'overpriced' tag
Yes but it’s slightly easier to adapt. WR routes are even more complex than RB cuts and zone running etc.
Different offenses are also a factor in terms of adaptability.
It’s eft Hayne despite all his natural talent really only ever played decent snaps as a kick returner. From memory he was 4th choice RB on the squad of 53.
Has ex-wunderkind Petaia got any chance of cracking notoriously difficult NFL?