Yes I realised my mistake immediately after I pushed the add comment and by then it was too late.

No offence Christy but that speed sounds hyped – not by you – but whomever gave you the stat – Usain Bolt’s world record for the 100 is 9.58 seconds – the stats you just quoted mean he can do the 100 in 9.61 seconds making him currently the fastest man in the world and a dead cert Olympic champion. Yeh…not sure i am buying that stat mate and if it was at a school event – then take it with a grain of salt – sure he is quick – but that quick???? I doubt it…makes for good reading though I suppose

“80’s possibly the weakest era in test cricket”
That is simply garbage

Not very relevant as Hadlee played to tests less –

“Hadlee was much slower through the air but even more effective in his peerless one-man demolition job of Allan Border’s side. ”

Geoff Boycott has said on record that Hadlee was very sharp and the best corridor bowler he had ever faced or seen and you rarely got a bad ball – Dean Jones has also said before he sadly died, that Hadlee was deceptively quick over 140+ clicks and he got the ball to skid on. Allan Border has said he was pretty much completely unplayable that entire series. And perhaps the greatest rap of all was the great Sir Garfield Sobers saying he would be in his all time eleven with Marshall and Lillee and probably his 1st pick in the attack as he could bat as well. He took more wickets than Lillee and at a slightly better average. And last but not least, Imran Khan said that Hadlee was arguably the best bowler ever on green top as he was could seam and swing it both ways even in very good batting conditions and on turning wickets on the subcontinent.

From what I understand Geoff he already was in tough negotiation with family for this job and I believe that it was agreed to only if he only do the Lions tour and the fat that it was Australia only a short plane ride to Kiwi. For him to stay on their would need to be several weeks of ‘Off Time’ on a regular basis and even then it might not be enough. But money talks but the ARU just don’t have any to spare…it would be a begging job for them.

I think AJ Lam looked excellent at 12 for the Blues when he made the shift from wing. He can play 12 ,13, and wing well making him a superb utility back but I think he is going to really shine this year at the Blues if he stays at 12 but he probably won’t unfortunately but gee he looked good there last season and was working well with Reiko as well.

His problem Geoff is he runs out of puff very quickly when the pace of the game keeps chugging along. IMO he is a good player but has never fully lived up to all the early hype on him. Not that the hype is his fault but still. His ball carrying has never been properly harnessed at test or super rugby level IMO and that was what all the hype was on him in the 1st place not his scrummaging ability. But you rarely see him ranging out wide or surprisingly, by getting a gallop up before being passed the ball. His weight and frame will be his downfall in the end as he gets older, so he needs to make the hay shine while he still has plenty of athleticism IMO. Just sayin’

Hi Geoff, I think the Boks thumping of a completely inept Welsh D puts the Wallaby win against Wales and subsequent convincing win by Scotland into perspective. Let’s be honest Geoff – Wales at the moment are so bad and lack depth that they are a Teir one side in name only and I am sorry, but Gatland has had the position for far too long. He wasn’t very good at all at the Chiefs to put it mildly and had to scurry back to Wales with his tail between his legs. I think the AB’s have shown a lot of improvement over the season and they were on the raw end of some dubious decisions against France triggered of course by the worst TMO Jonker of SA who has a long reputation for always wanting to appease his obvious ego by stopping the game for anything he even thinks is foul play. Jonkers needs to be sacked as a TMO IMO. Game after game that he is the TMO in, he constantly wants to stop the play and be involved. He was far worse before measures were taken to prevent endless TMO stoppages, of which he was by far the worst offender internationally and yet now the water has cooled he is back to his old tricks even if thankfully still tempered slightly. He acts like he is the second referee and in the mic conversations you sometimes hear him almost insisting to the actual Ref that action needs to taken. Wayne Barnes was the only Ref who stood up to him on occasion. Here’s room for thought – Blackadder has yet again become injured and is 32 – with the rise of other younger players now, I think his AB days are numbered as is ALB’s. He is not the player he once was IMO. But we now have depth in the front row – back row – and getting there at lock. It seems also that BB has usurped DMac at 10 as well for now but what will the Blues do at 10? They have 3 very capable 10’s now – two who can play FB and one who can play 12.

exactly

I would have agrred with you on Bumrah until the Kiwis just toured India and won 3-0 – in a clean sweep 3 test series, something no one has done for decades in India and Willaimson was out for that tour. Bumrah did very little on his home grounds in that series which was dominated by spinners in tst 2 and 3 – but not test one. But the real problem for Australia is they offer a guy like him and his cohorts pace bowler friendly wickets which suits both attacks but….Australia just don’t have the batting these days with some of their top order like Marcus looking like bowlers have figured him out = 3 shockers and one dedcent score in NZ and two flops in the sub-continent and Smith has never been the same batsmen since he got worked out and over by Neil Wagner the last time NZ toured here. His not been the same batsmen since that series and we discovered he is not an opener. Australia only have one decent opener, an out of sort, or found out, 3 and 4 and seriously not really much after that bat Trvis Head who is good player but can get out to rash shots as well. Australia has the attack – they don’t have the batting depth anymore. Sadly, after we have a game over in 3 days in this country – the next thing we see is a batting road produced to keep the works happy – so watch this space the next test will do nothing after day one

Missing 4 tackles one resulting in a try is most certainly not nitpicking by any stretch. He was brilliant in attack but last time I checked rugby is a game of defence and attack, both as individual players and collectively. He was a long way from being brilliant in defence. It is big work-on for him he will need to be much bett ter in the D in the against teams like Ireland and even Scotland who are no slouches

No he will finish out his contract which end next year sometime I believe

Sua’ali’i was excellent in attack but his D was not so crash missing 4 tackles – one badly, resulting in a try and one he should have made, so no, that is not being a giant out there unless all you care about is attack.

Proof will be against Ireland…lets see shall we? The Irish D will be superior to the one Australia faced against England tonight and the England D was better against the AB’s….as was the AB’s D and against a close scoring game but one where the D’s of both sides functioned with a lot more cohesion than we saw from either Australia or England.

So your argument is because this was a very good English side leaking nearly 40 points is okay defence and acceptable? And then you go to say Marcus Smith was great in attack and the Australian backline? Yes and part of the reason was poor D from both sides – end of story. Oh and an up tempo games is your other excuse – spare me. No one in their right rugby mind would argue you leak 37 and 40 plus points and then argue that both teams did not have poor D.

And he missed absolutely nothing Australia did? They were simply perfect at every turn?

“Defence remains an issue, shipping 37 points is poor, having a lead with 5 mins to go and not being able to win the restart and letting in a try is poor.”
100% PK – no one can argue the D of either side was anything but poor when one side leaks 37 and the other over 40. Some very soft tries scored in this game and the endless raving by Australian commentators – common sense Tim Horan exempted – was a little over-the-top. It was a good win and much needed for fans and the game in Australia but if the D is like that against Ireland they will lose and lose badly and get a serious wake up call.
But I wish them all the best and hope they can pull it off for Southern Hemisphere rugby as well but their D was Swiss Cheese tonight but luckily for them so was England’s who played too expansively too often and at the wrong time.
Both sides were guilty of giving the opposition too much time on the ball at times and silly errors at the wrong time. JS is the best coach Australia has had in 2 decades IMO but unfortunately it looks like he does not want to resign and spend more time with his family so Rugby Australia are going to have to throw buckets of money at him but they don’t have buckets of money which is a shame. What will entice him perhaps is if – and its a big if – he believes he can get them to the next WC final and perhaps win it but that is a long way off at this point.
England coach should be nervous about his job at this point…this loss will not go down well with English fans.

Reiko was very good in the D and made some significant tackles and your comment about him breaking the line is nonsense – Robertson himself has said the Reiko’s size and acceleration means he almost always gets over the gain line and when he does is very difficult to bring down – so no can’t agree with that comment. In fact is is rare he does not get over the gain line. He was a hell of a lot better than ALB – as you rightly allude to – in his two stints and one unforgiveable and stupid tackle on a player without the ball that allowed England a penalty and if not for bad drop goal kicking would have cost us the game. People seem to not notice how many times Reiko covers the D with his acceleration – thank god Robertson notices. That carry he made was great line break that in the end resulted in a try a short time later so depends on how you view it and looking at it a second time he was tackled just as he was about to pass and yes probably still could have but went to ground instead. Unlike Sittiti who every seems reluctant to criticize as he is the new glamour boy but he pushed that pass to big V when he should have gone to ground.

Hi Geoff I am starting to wonder about so-called midfield cohesion. In the last couple of years I have read -as i am sure you have – from a number of scribes across the globe talking a lot about the lack of cohesion in respective midfields – SA – England – Wales etc etc and at club level as well. ALB had no imp[act when he came on twice and in his best position 12 until he made a really mind numbing stupid tackle without the ball. We have looked better against lame Swizz cheese D’s like Fiji and Japan even with out 2nd midfield but the excellence of the rush D timing – and now off-sides from 12 and 13 in many games – is closing down space with greater ease and we now have a great many forwards in the midfield in many plays. IMO the midfields are being shut down very quickly in top tier games and why we see so many kicks to the wing and high bombs these days and also I think at times, the midfield is too cluttered with players that shuts down space in itself. It also creates a lack of cohesion and fluency between 10-12-13. Also players like ALB and Reiko – not so much Jordie, are very often 1st or 2nd man at the ruck when there is a significant line break which instantly cuts them out of the backline – is this being over done as well? Backlines too often now function as lines made up of forwards and backs – which sure, has its purpose – but it make the so-called cohesion between 10-12-13 nullified if not void. How many times just in the last couple of weekends have we seen players throw short passes to players in midfield almost standing right next to them or hesitation in the pass and there are too many players – options- in a cluttered midfield often causing miss timed passes and handling errors? The ball from Bearden to Jordan was a gem – and because of BB vison, – and there was rare gap in the D as BB switched direction with that subtle skill he has – and because his left was cluttered with players from both sides…It’s easy to blame individual players without looking what is really going on in most games in the midfield.

Go back and read my posts and explain to me where it is EXACTLY where I said that JD? You have made an assumption but I did not say that and both should have been picked IMO. Both can play 8 and 6 although Sotutu has played 6 more than Sititi by a long stretch but not at ant point did I say Sittiti should not have been picked. IMO Sotutu is better player with a wider skillset and more in form than Finau or Jacobson. I mean seriously – Finau has been hit and miss at best and as for Jacobson – he has made very little impact off the bench, if any at all. Neither of them have convinced me they are genuine test players at this point of their careers.

“I’m not a fan of Sotutu, as he still has a habit of giving away stupid penalties at the wrong time.”

Well Muzzo you know as well as I do the stats very clearly show that Blackadder is one of the worst at giving away stupid penalties and to be fair to both him and Sotutu – it is not an area they both cannot fix. Sititi is playing out of his skin – we will have to see how he goes against Ireland and France but he looks good for sure. Clerke is the best winger in the country IMO right here and now but for me Talea was back his best against Japan – all be it, against a soft defence but a number of the AB’s benefitted from that Swizz Cheese D that Japan had just as they did against Fiji so I am careful not to get carried away with defences like that. For example – and I am a fan – but Love surely benefited on debut with two pretty soft tries it has to be said but hey, good em he was Johnny on the spot. I disagree that we have better than Sotutu – he was one of the the form lose forwards in Super comp and had a blinder in the semi and final and he has a seriously amazing skillset and pace. So we have to agree to disagree there. Jordan ahs been superb on the wing for AB’s as well and I suer I love him at FB but I don’t think we lose a lot by having him on the wing and BB at the back so I am not losing sleep either way. But sure Muzzo, sooner rather than later – Jordan will be the permanent 15. Jordan bring skill to FB position but so does Barrett as he can operate as the second playmaker in attack. I don’t think Proctor will replace Reiko at this point as the starting 13 but it would be good to see how Proctor goes off the bench against Ireland and France for sure. I mean they have just move Reiko to the wing so far as they don’t want to lose his cover defence with that gas and fair enough. But the starting front row will be interesting.

You’d have to ask Razor Muzzo – maybe just not enough game time for the next level up despite form but like I say you would have to ask Razor

Roigard has a decent excuse as he has not fully game ready in the current test side with the new regime. I think Barrett is a better ten than DMac and certainly more experienced at test level in that position. DMac is the superior goal kicker however and the better defensive kicker at fullback but I prefer Barrett at 10. Sotutu will be in the test aide next year IMO. Though he won’t admit it, I think Razor knows now, that it was mistake not picking him as he was in sublime form and Finau and a couple of other have not exactly screamed they deserve to be there over Sotutu. It’s a real shame he got injured.

Yeh Muzzo at times he would get off the deck and seemed to be not quite sure where he was meant to be positionally. He made a couple of big hits but one was borderline yellow card material. I will give you Tip Muzzo – Barrett will be the 10 against England – Telea will be on one wing and Clarke on the other and Ruben love might be on the bench as he can cover 10 – 15 – and with his gas wing but if Barrett is at 10 then DMac will probably assume that role on the bench.

Havilli did nothing to enhance his chances – and ALB didn’t have his best game either but the AB’s looked like a rabble in the 2nd half. But you can’t have a great game every game no matter how good you are it needs to be said. Roigard will almost certainly start at 9 unless Razor feels he is not quite match ready to start against England. But Big T at lock is playing the best I have ever seen him Muzzo after he shed some kilos this season. Boy did he have a great game. Best on ground for this kid. And Scott Barrett needs to get back to best against England IMO…still not in top form but he is physical which we need up North.

I think Barrett at 10 works better in combination in attack with the back three than DMac and especially Jordan. One thing I admire about BB’s game is he is always looking for inside runners and for any space on the flanks. Great Rugby brain on him IMO.

Some of DMac’s tactical kicking at 10 has been a bit ordinary of late which won’t cut it against France and Ireland. Strong running game though as always. It’s a shame Sotutu was injured as Razor wanted him on the tour but even though he was playing very well NPC with an injury – Razor said they got the AB medics to go and test his injury and they said it not to be ready for test football at the moment and needs more time to fully heal. It did not – as some have claimed – have anything to do with him wanting to play for England or whatever. He must have been shattered to hear that after not getting picked initially.