@Billy-Webb agreed. It was fairly even and having not seen the stats i'd imagine they were about even as well.

We won the second half in both matches which is a good sign. Physicality was up as well.

The injuries stopped any momentum, and we needed to deal with that better.

Asking JOC to hit one from 50 out was ambitious. Should have gone touch to set up for something closer.

Nick CdC should have got more time IMHO

We were a few mistakes away from a win, which might have been an injustice. Worst on field was McDermott.

Disrupted performance but still a lot of positives.

Bok: also disrupted a bit by late changes and a swathe of selection changes tho many of them know the drill.

Hard to find rhythm outside "kick it to Cheslin" which worked very well.

Having familiar faces back in the midfield was a positive, however incumbency for long periods can be a problem - replacements are hard to come by.

Going to NZ will be a massive challenge. Does Rassie go back to Libbok? Does he stick with Pollard? Will conditions have a say?

@NTA said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@Billy-Webb agreed. It was fairly even and having not seen the stats i'd imagine they were about even as well.

We won the second half in both matches which is a good sign. Physicality was up as well.

The injuries stopped any momentum, and we needed to deal with that better.

Asking JOC to hit one from 50 out was ambitious. Should have gone touch to set up for something closer.

Nick CdC should have got more time IMHO

We were a few mistakes away from a win, which might have been an injustice. Worst on field was McDermott.

Disrupted performance but still a lot of positives.

Those two highlighted points was my takeaway immediately after the game too.
Physically, this Wallaby team can stand up to and even better many teams. Pardon any perceived arrogance if I say surprisingly so. I now know better.

And they absolutely managed to up the game in the second half in both tests. How much of that can be laid at the Bok door, and how much is to their credit we will only know when they face other opposition - but it is a great place to be for now.

@NTA said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

Bok: also disrupted a bit by late changes and a swathe of selection changes tho many of them know the drill.

Hard to find rhythm outside "kick it to Cheslin" which worked very well.

Having familiar faces back in the midfield was a positive, however incumbency for long periods can be a problem - replacements are hard to come by.

Going to NZ will be a massive challenge. Does Rassie go back to Libbok? Does he stick with Pollard? Will conditions have a say?

Cheslin, Pollard and Grant Williams all played well. The rest of the backs were... meh.
Our forwards and their inability to impose themselves is my real concern.

And no - Rassie will stick with Pollard for NZ.

@Billy-Webb Kriel in the post match saying words to the effect of : "we got back to the way we like to play"

There we go. Anyone who thinks we are in for a Bok revolution in terms of game play probably needs to have a think

@NTA
The only problem for the Boks, is that the past method relied on forward dominance.
The Boks did not have that. Not in the set pieces and not in general play.

@barbarian said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

Pretty happy with that from the Wallabies. Looked with 10 to go like we might pinch it, which would have been just amazing considering our injury toll.

Forwards played with so much heart. Our tactic seemed to be 'try and beat them up close to the ruck', which against the Boks in SA seems like a death wish. But jeez did it almost work! Valetini, Skelton, Hooper, Tupou all great shifts in the tight stuff.

Would have loved to pinch the win but it was still a good watch, great physical rugby from both teams.

I would say you missed Ikatau from the forwards list, some of those hit ups were loose forward like. Loved it.

Shame about the result but so many positives to take away from those two matches, just hope the injuries aren’t too bad

@barbarian said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

Pretty happy with that from the Wallabies. Looked with 10 to go like we might pinch it, which would have been just amazing considering our injury toll.

Forwards played with so much heart. Our tactic seemed to be 'try and beat them up close to the ruck', which against the Boks in SA seems like a death wish. But jeez did it almost work! Valetini, Skelton, Hooper, Tupou all great shifts in the tight stuff.

Would have loved to pinch the win but it was still a good watch, great physical rugby from both teams.

Your forwards were immense. The real engine that almost took the game from the Boks.
Boks forced into playing kick-chase-hope rugby (thank heavens for Kolbe) because we couldn't dominate upfront.
If the Aussie pack continues to operate like that, the Wallabies can take on anyone.
What a turnaround of the team by Schmidt!

@NTA said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

Watching back now.

Firrst scrum penalty was a joke. Ox drops his bind and turned in, driving up to try and make it look like Tupou was under pressure. No forward momentum from the Boks.

Doleman gamed. Big time.

I commented at the time. I think he thought it looked messy and that he ought to penalise someone and guessed.

@NTA said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

Must say the amount of stuff missed by the officials live is damning.

Multiple forward passes, but after Pakman Jr got riled about one particularly bad one I pointed out that they were consistent - missed a few on each side!

@Billy-Webb said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@NTA
The only problem for the Boks, is that the past method relied on forward dominance.
The Boks did not have that. Not in the set pieces and not in general play.

Rassie will be concerned after that. Few savvy younger players coming through, and the older ones may not be sharp enough come RWC.

Not too dissimilar to the ABs, the Boks fell off a lot of tackles. I think they even had a lower tackle completion rate than the ABs. They did kick a hell of a lot though but the difference being the contestable nature of those kicks and the ability to regain possession at times.

@Jet said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@W32 said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@Jet said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@Victor-Meldrew said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

Expected the Boks to give Oz a real mullering after last week but really impressed with the Oz performance.

Either the Boks are weak or the Bledisloe will be in serious danger this year.

Without sounding like a sour grape-ist, the Boks have been living a charmed life for ages.

Robbed England in semi final. Robbed us in the final.

They have been getting the rub of the green with calls for years.

Chickens. Roost. Etc

Hilarious.

Genuinely not on a windup.

Water carriers and physios on pitch at inopportune moments. Tactical injuries.
Disingenuous use of the HIA protocols. Youtube diatribes about referees and calls.
Yellows where opponents get reds.

A lot of bounce of the ball games where they were very lucky to get the rub.
RWC 2023 was barely believable from 1/4's onwards.

Playing the race card by stealth in Lions tour saying Kolisi didnt get same respect from refs as opposition captains, which helped turn the series.

I could go on.

Rassie is a great coach and id go into the trenches with/for him.

But they havnt revolutionised the game or anything. It has been more skullduggery than innovation.

And now another doper found in their midst.

@Jet said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@Jet said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@W32 said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@Jet said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@Victor-Meldrew said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

Expected the Boks to give Oz a real mullering after last week but really impressed with the Oz performance.

Either the Boks are weak or the Bledisloe will be in serious danger this year.

Without sounding like a sour grape-ist, the Boks have been living a charmed life for ages.

Robbed England in semi final. Robbed us in the final.

They have been getting the rub of the green with calls for years.

Chickens. Roost. Etc

Hilarious.

Genuinely not on a windup.

Water carriers and physios on pitch at inopportune moments. Tactical injuries.
Disingenuous use of the HIA protocols. Youtube diatribes about referees and calls.
Yellows where opponents get reds.

A lot of bounce of the ball games where they were very lucky to get the rub.
RWC 2023 was barely believable from 1/4's onwards.

Playing the race card by stealth in Lions tour saying Kolisi didnt get same respect from refs as opposition captains, which helped turn the series.

I could go on.

Rassie is a great coach and id go into the trenches with/for him.

But they havnt revolutionised the game or anything. It has been more skullduggery than innovation.

And now another doper found in their midst.

Ok I guess I’ll try and respond to this even though it’s probably a fools errand. If this isn't a windup, then I would say that you are so one eyed that it’s not possible for you to look at another team objectively. I think it’s because of the recent results between the boks and ABs. There are many supporters like you of different nationalities. I challenge you to find one positive aspect of the bok team..

As far as chickens coming home to roost, maybe look to your own team

@W32 said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

I challenge you to find one positive aspect of the bok team..

Even as a mere ABs supporter I can answer that one. The boks won their last game!

@nostrildamus said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@W32 said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

I challenge you to find one positive aspect of the bok team..

Even as a mere ABs supporter I can answer that one. The boks won their last game!

Fish. Barrel.

@nostrildamus said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@W32 said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

I challenge you to find one positive aspect of the bok team..

Even as a mere ABs supporter I can answer that one. The boks won their last game!

Barely. One thing for sure is the games in NZ are going to be awesome. Not to mention the AB Aus games.

@W32 said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

One thing for sure is the games in NZ are going to be awesome.

As much as I want that to be true (being the top 2 ranked teams in the world) all we have seen recently is some pretty poor, error strewn rugby. Particularly from the ABs.

On the positive side both teams are well and truly capable of better, and it is likely that they both took their eyes of the ball (quite literally) while playing what was perceived (incorrectly as it turned out) as lesser opposition. Subconsciously keeping powder dry for each other, although the ABs powder is so fucking dry it has probably spontaneously combusted.

@Snowy both teams are going to be super up for it. It’s going to be epic

@W32 said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@nostrildamus said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@W32 said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

I challenge you to find one positive aspect of the bok team..

Even as a mere ABs supporter I can answer that one. The boks won their last game!

Barely. One thing for sure is the games in NZ are going to be awesome. Not to mention the AB Aus games.

awesome? We could barely lift a finger in a tiddlywinks competition.
And you have a bomb squad. And tactics.
We're just whimpering underdogs.

@nostrildamus said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@W32 said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@nostrildamus said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@W32 said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

I challenge you to find one positive aspect of the bok team..

Even as a mere ABs supporter I can answer that one. The boks won their last game!

Barely. One thing for sure is the games in NZ are going to be awesome. Not to mention the AB Aus games.

awesome? We could barely lift a finger in a tiddlywinks competition.
And you have a bomb squad. And tactics.
We're just whimpering underdogs.

Nice try, you are #1 in the world and coming off a shock loss. The ABs will be unbeatable.

Nigel Owens pointing out that Doleman missed a Bok yellow card right in front of his eyes:

Stone cold YC

@MiketheSnow said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

Stone cold YC

Cards

And therefore penalty try

@NTA said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

@MiketheSnow said in Boks vs Wallabies 2:

Stone cold YC

Cards

And therefore penalty try

Big leap but very plausible