Australia vs England Match thread (No spoilers please)

[Black Philip]

16 minutes gone, 6 - 8 to England. England are full of beans at the moment and aren't playing too bad, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them run out of steam pretty soon, Australia have too much class.

I wonder if a helping hand from Wayne Bennett could get them playing a bit more competitively? I realise most on here would be massively against seeing Benny help the English but I'm all for anything that can strengthen the international game.

 

[Black Philip]

Lewis scores his second 10-8 to Australia, kick to come

 

[Black Philip]

I think the wind has been taken out of Englands sails, it's all Australia atm. Slaters in off a piss poor error from the English winger... wouldn't be surprised to see the floodgates open now. 16-8 kick to come

 

[Bucking Beads]

really hoping Slater gets smashed.. Boring game TBH a bit over league I wish they would forget about international league

 

[ningnangnong]

Who are you supporting, Scotty?

 

[Black Philip]

Who are you supporting, Scotty?

I'm pretty much indifferent in International league mate. I watch it and enjoy the games, but I don't really care who wins. I do think it's good for the game though when the underdog gets up, like in the World cup. I thought it was a shame Lockyer didn't get to add a WC win as captain to his accolades, but it was great for the game that NZ won.

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

Australia deserved the win but how bad were some of the rulings tonight? Tate knocked on in his try, there was a knock on in the "Benefit of the doubt" one and lewis threw the ball 2m forward in tuquiris try. the refs are shocking!

 

[mrslong]

The last 20 minutes was appalling, anyone put that down to the arrival of Kidley into the team and the departure of Lewis & Cam Smith. How terrible was Kidley's delivery from dummy half. [eusa_doh

I think I shed a tear when Sam thaiday tackled that bloke into the ingoal too. What a play!

 

[Jeba]

Agreed Queenslander. I put down 3 tries from Australia that shouldn't have been awarded, and I reckon England got dudded when the video ref ruled they were short of the line in the video ref decision in the second half. That's a 4 try turnaround, Smith missed 2 kicks, so that's a 20 point turn around. Huge difference, and you can see by the way they started that it affected them mentally. I was at the game last night and for Lewis's second try after Cronk knocked it on, before the decision came up on the big screen, Sam Burgess was absolutely blowing up (must've heard from the ref that it was going to be awarded). Let's be honest, England are a struggling side and to have so much go against them would've been really deflating for them. So it was a very disappointing game in that regard. How the hell could they award Tate's try. Dead set, a video ref should not get something like that wrong. Disgraceful.

AAMI Park gets a big thumbs up from me in terms of the view. Facilities for getting food, drinks and having a slash are a bit Skilled Park-like, but there wouldn't be a bad seat in that whole stadium. Was very impressed. Shame that it was a terrible day in Melbourne weather-wise, would've turned a few walk-ups off going to the game.

Australia were pretty ordinary too. Lewis, Thaiday and Smith were all very good but everyone else was either ordinary or poor.

 

[Anonymous person]

Agreed Queenslander. I put down 3 tries from Australia that shouldn't have been awarded, and I reckon England got dudded when the video ref ruled they were short of the line in the video ref decision in the second half. That's a 4 try turnaround, Smith missed 2 kicks, so that's a 20 point turn around. Huge difference, and you can see by the way they started that it affected them mentally. I was at the game last night and for Lewis's second try after Cronk knocked it on, before the decision came up on the big screen, Sam Burgess was absolutely blowing up (must've heard from the ref that it was going to be awarded). Let's be honest, England are a struggling side and to have so much go against them would've been really deflating for them. So it was a very disappointing game in that regard. How the hell could they award Tate's try. Dead set, a video ref should not get something like that wrong. Disgraceful.

AAMI Park gets a big thumbs up from me in terms of the view. Facilities for getting food, drinks and having a slash are a bit Skilled Park-like, but there wouldn't be a bad seat in that whole stadium. Was very impressed. Shame that it was a terrible day in Melbourne weather-wise, would've turned a few walk-ups off going to the game.

Australia were pretty ordinary too. Lewis, Thaiday and Smith were all very good but everyone else was either ordinary or poor.

i thought we only cared about winning, not HOW we win, on here? cause i sure copped some rubbish for saying i dont like it when my team wins with the aid of some blatantly incorrect decisions only a matter of weeks ago.

the match was terrible, but really, it was what i expect from a test match. its genuinely laughable that after the matches that have been played so far in this four nations, anyone could truly believe that International matches are anywhere near the competitiveness or quality of state of origin.

the video referees once again just decided they wanted to influence the outcome of the match. i could not believe firstly that 'knock back' by Cronk, and then the Tate 'try' especially. to get them that wrong via video referee is just disgraceful. and for the referee and 2 linesmen - one of which who was directly in line with the play - to miss that 2m forward pass by Lewis.........i certainly hope all 3 of them get told they have to go to OPSM today by the NRL.

on the players, Lewis is easily australias best player this series. Gidley, i have to wonder why they keep picking him? its like they are going to choose the team and say 'ok first up, we have to have Gidley in there somewhere'. hes not even the best in his position when he plays in the NRL, so why bring him on in a test match without a real position? hes a useless utility. he shouldnt be there, plain and simple. also, we're really missing some strike power without Inglis, Folau and Thurston. basically all we do apart from Lewis making breaks is get gallen and co to do useless Corey Parker runs for 5 tackles, then do a mediocre kick straight to the fullback. its pathetic to watch.

 

[mrslong]

I reckon we would have more in attack with Scott Prince rather than Cronk. Cronk would have been the better bench utility that KurtwtfGidley.

Billy Slater has also been very good this series. Our front rowers have been disappointing. WTF is Myles doing in the front row?

As for Tate & Tonga - do they know how to pass the ball? [icon_shru

The ref's are to be expected, they're as useless as they are in the NRL - why would internationals be any different? :roll:

Sam Burgess is going to be an epic player, once he cuts the errors out of his game (that are to be expected in a bloke so young) he is going to be one of the brits best of all time. Pity every other pom is useless. Ellis has been disappointing tbh.

 

[Coxy]

Pretty much agree with all said. Refereeing was diabolical yet again. Not the least bit surprising.
Tate and Tonga are in horrible form. I doubt they'd know their winger's name.

While I agree 3 tries Australia got were suspect, 2 of them were "technically" correct under the stupid interpretations video referees apply these days (separation and benefit of the doubt). Even accepting that Cronk touched the ball you could argue it went back. I don't think it did, but the fact it's "possible" led to the benefit of the doubt decision.

Ditto Tate's "no separation" try. He bounced it. He lost control of it. But the notion of "control" is no longer relevant in rugby league when scoring a try, which is ludicrous.

As much as I think Carney is being overrated based on one good season, I think he would actually provide more impact off the bench or at halfback than Gidley or Cronk.

All in all I think this series is showing in glaring spotlight that Tim Sheens is a shit coach. He works well in a team where they have a long time together and can get continuity in terms of lack of injuries. With only a few games and a handful of training sessions, he's fucking useless. Considering the wide spread of club representation in the club, Australia needed a coach that could develop a simple and effective game plan that made the most of the individuals and helped them gel quickly. It seems Sheens has done nothing.

Sam Burgess....epic player indeed! I think the errors in his game yesterday came out of urgency. He was brilliant in his first stint, but when he came back England were down by 18 and he just tried too hard IMO. Good learning experience for him.

 

[Porthoz]

The Tate try is the perfect example why this "no separation" rule is BS. According to that rule it is a try, but how could they ever say he had the ball under control? Having said that, he did an amazing contortionist act to stay inside the field of play until the “put down”.

Agree with most about Kidley, but would like to add Watmough to the culling list. They certainly contributed to the fact that the last 25 minutes of the game were just painful to watch
Without Smith and Lewis, with those two ball hogging centres and a very disappointing Cronk, the team looked disjointed, even though you could still see a significant difference in class between the teams.

The front row went missing. Myles shouldn’t be a front rower, TLL was continuously looking for the big hit and left the line unprotected several times, costing us a try when their half back ran through our defence like it wasn’t there. Petero looked a bit out of puff and Shillington was the only prop that did a decent job on our side. Gallen was… Gallen.
The poor wingers only saw the ball from dummy half or from desperate last ditch passes, except the try from Tuqiri, even though that came after Cronk got a metres forward pass from Lewis.
Cameron Smith was very good and by far the most creative player on the field, followed by a Lockyer on cruise control and an electric Slater as always. Some of his pickups were just amazing!
Lewis thoroughly deserved the MOM, while Thaiday was excellent, especially that raid on the fullback was eye catching.

Hard not to mention Burgess and his enormous potential. Great buy by Russell, but I wish we had snared him before Souths...

 

[Nashy]

Why wern't NZ refs being used for this match?

 

[Coxy]

Why wern't NZ refs being used for this match?

As usual, Australians feel NZ referees aren't up to standard because they don't perform in either the NRL or ESL competition. Ridiculous, I know.

The Kiwi bloke who did the Australia-PNG game would've been fine. Sure, he might've blown a lot of penalties last week, but he didn't get anything glaringly wrong as I recall.

 

[Big Pete]

Basically agree with Coxy hate the rules and not the referee.

Then again it is Archer, he is a wanker.

The real test for Australia begins next weekend.

 

[Kimlo]

Basically agree with Coxy hate the rules and not the referee.

Then again it is Archer, he is a wanker.

The real test for Australia begins next weekend.

Yeah in another "state of origin quality" test match, well it's about as competitive anyway. The first two games of SOO quality have been played, now lets see what game 3 brings.

However I will actually watch this game(watched none so far) because AUS Vs NZ is the only genuinely good IRL game worth watching.

 

[Big Pete]

Australia vs. New Zealand matches are the competitive matches la.