Samoa's Challenge was greater than Aussie's
Sorry about the wait. And sorry to my non-ruggers out there. Really - this is just a super exciting year for rugby. Everybody is ramping up to the World Cup and every team that is part of that Tournament is playing whatever games come their way. Luckily for us that means another Tri-Nations cup. It's super.
But before the tri-nations start there have been some other matches. Manu Samoa vs. Australia. Well - I think that everybody wrote off Samoa before they even stepped foot on the pitch. Weren't we all wrong? Manu Samoa showed up to play and I'm sure the Wallabies expected as much as the rest of us...a solid, but reasonably easy game. But no way. Samoa was not about to be a speed bump. Here's my point form opinions:
- The Wallabies didn't take points...that's about as good as looking a gift horse in the mouth. Pass up the points when you have the points on the boards. It's a test match - Make wise decisions! They kicked for touch twice without answering them with points.There's no excuse for that.
- AAC and Mat Giteau's positions are being questioned. After this game? I'd question EVERYBODY's positions.
- Good to see Mark Gerrard start at 15. He's a hard worker - it's nice to see. He had a great SuperXV season evern though he was playing for the worst team.
- Nice to see Rocky Elsom back after a bit of a time-out.
- Tualagi (Leister) is a massive winger...maybe the biggest winger I've EVER seen. Giteau never had a chance with Tualagi trucking down the sideline. Who was actually going to catch him? And if you catch him - how do you take him down? It's called pain-management. If you don't tackle him, you don't have to manage it.
- Considering that Australia is ranked #2 in the world with Manu Samoa coming ranked #10...You'd think it would be a gimme but Samoa hit hard,hard, HARD. The stats were all weighted in Australia's favour - Possession, penalties, missed tackles, line breaks - pretty much everything and they still came up short. It defied everything that we as coaches actual tell our kids. If you don't have the ball - you can't win the game. Um...big lie? Apparently Samoa likes to make all of us liars.
- There just never seemed to be intensity on Aussie's side. What's up with that? They're professionals - lack of energy at this stage in the game could stick you on the bench in best case scenario - and not in a jersey in worst.
- Mark Gerrard is my player of the first half.
- Mapasua is a wonderful player.
- Stowers is a surprise...a good surprise.
- Beau Robinson...needs a haircut.
- Kurtley Beale subbed in at second, Genia is subbed in...I would imagine - to...save the game? It didn't help.
- Scott Higginbotham...great skills to pull the Wallabies within 10
Final score - 32 to 23 for the Samoans - and GOOD FOR THEM!! I'm sure it turned a lot of heads in the world and made a lot of coaches and players take a good hard look at their bottom line. Some of these teams that have nothing to lose will have a lot to fight for come September.
I'll touch base later in this week - it's not all doom and gloom for Australia. And if you're into twitter...I just joined the 21st Century... [ bear_3_ ].
Peace out peeps
[ bear ]
But before the tri-nations start there have been some other matches. Manu Samoa vs. Australia. Well - I think that everybody wrote off Samoa before they even stepped foot on the pitch. Weren't we all wrong? Manu Samoa showed up to play and I'm sure the Wallabies expected as much as the rest of us...a solid, but reasonably easy game. But no way. Samoa was not about to be a speed bump. Here's my point form opinions:
- The Wallabies didn't take points...that's about as good as looking a gift horse in the mouth. Pass up the points when you have the points on the boards. It's a test match - Make wise decisions! They kicked for touch twice without answering them with points.There's no excuse for that.
- AAC and Mat Giteau's positions are being questioned. After this game? I'd question EVERYBODY's positions.
- Good to see Mark Gerrard start at 15. He's a hard worker - it's nice to see. He had a great SuperXV season evern though he was playing for the worst team.
- Nice to see Rocky Elsom back after a bit of a time-out.
- Tualagi (Leister) is a massive winger...maybe the biggest winger I've EVER seen. Giteau never had a chance with Tualagi trucking down the sideline. Who was actually going to catch him? And if you catch him - how do you take him down? It's called pain-management. If you don't tackle him, you don't have to manage it.
- Considering that Australia is ranked #2 in the world with Manu Samoa coming ranked #10...You'd think it would be a gimme but Samoa hit hard,hard, HARD. The stats were all weighted in Australia's favour - Possession, penalties, missed tackles, line breaks - pretty much everything and they still came up short. It defied everything that we as coaches actual tell our kids. If you don't have the ball - you can't win the game. Um...big lie? Apparently Samoa likes to make all of us liars.
- There just never seemed to be intensity on Aussie's side. What's up with that? They're professionals - lack of energy at this stage in the game could stick you on the bench in best case scenario - and not in a jersey in worst.
- Mark Gerrard is my player of the first half.
- Mapasua is a wonderful player.
- Stowers is a surprise...a good surprise.
- Beau Robinson...needs a haircut.
- Kurtley Beale subbed in at second, Genia is subbed in...I would imagine - to...save the game? It didn't help.
- Scott Higginbotham...great skills to pull the Wallabies within 10
Final score - 32 to 23 for the Samoans - and GOOD FOR THEM!! I'm sure it turned a lot of heads in the world and made a lot of coaches and players take a good hard look at their bottom line. Some of these teams that have nothing to lose will have a lot to fight for come September.
I'll touch base later in this week - it's not all doom and gloom for Australia. And if you're into twitter...I just joined the 21st Century... [ bear_3_ ].
Peace out peeps
[ bear ]
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