Australia-France series

First topic message reminder :

Right since Mckenzie announced his team for the first test, let's start a thread i say!


1. James Slipper (Reds)
2. Stephen Moore (c) (Brumbies)
3. Sekope Kepu (Waratahs)
4. Rob Simmons (Reds)
5. Sam Carter (Brumbies
6. Scott Fardy (Brumbies)
7. Michael Hooper (Waratahs)
8. Wycliff Palu (Waratahs)
9. Nic White (Brumbies)
10. Bernard Foley (Waratahs)
11. Nick Cummins (Force)
12. Matt Toomua (Brumbies)
13. Tevita Kuridrani (Brumbies)
14. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Waratahs)
15. Israel Folau (Waratahs)

16. Tatafu Polota-Nau (Waratahs)
17. Pek Cowan (Force)
18. Paddy Ryan (Waratahs)
19. James Horwill (Reds)
20. Ben McCalman (Force)
21. Nick Phipps (Waratahs)
22. Kurtley Beale (Waratahs)
23. Pat McCabe (Brumbies)

Core of the team built around tahs and brumbies players (being the form aussie teams). Horwill on the bench with a rookie instead. No genia or higginbotham. Still looks like a strong team and looking forward to see Foley at test level. Isnt also AAC normally playing at centre?

As for France we dont even know who we will be starting with a 10... Gonna be between Knackered Tales, Michalak (who only played one game in 6 weeks) and Parra (a SH...).
Will France achieve their 1st win away to Australia in 24 games? Would think one win out of 3 games is possible.

It's all about the eyebrows. Did they go backwards?

I often remember Benny Hill on French television late at night. That was a tribute...

You're joking. How lucky was that try?

Bit of a carve up...

Wallabies will be happy with that forty minutes work.

French less so   

Did I see Chris Cairns talking to the French players coming off the bus to the ground?   

jeez LB I think your shouting the bar tonight.

Je m'excuse whocares. This must be pretty hard to watch, mate.   

aucklandlaurie wrote:
 jeez LB I think your shouting the bar tonight.

how about some raisin toast instead?   

Hmmm raisin toast. Fair suck of the sav LB, you're making me nostalgic...

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Did I see Chris Cairns talking to the French players coming off the bus to the ground?   

Chris was driving the bus, and if they didnt promise to loose he was going to take them to the Gabba.

Linebreaker wrote:

aucklandlaurie wrote:
 jeez LB I think your shouting the bar tonight.

how about some raisin toast instead?   

With strawberry jam, sir?

aucklandlaurie wrote:

Linebreaker wrote:

aucklandlaurie wrote:
 jeez LB I think your shouting the bar tonight.

how about some raisin toast instead?   

With strawberry jam, sir?

If you want. Sure   

Kia, had a bit of a cold the last few days. Just recovering from it.
It's sort of raisin toast weather here now in the evenings... especially at half time breaks.

This smells like a flogging, looks like a flogging, it is relentless and unnecessary painful.

like being beaten with a hosepipe.

Im actually having a big mug of tea. Youve got to keep a clear head for this serious rugby business.

Biltong wrote:This smells like a flogging, looks like a flogging, it is relentless and unnecessary painful.

like being beaten with a hosepipe.

Biltong is there something you havent told us?

Biltong wrote:This smells like a flogging, looks like a flogging, it is relentless and unnecessary painful.

like being beaten with a hosepipe.

  Why do I get the feeling personal experience is voicing itself there, mate?

Get better LB. This should be helping. Muggy as ruck here in Madrid and I am feeling the evil eye of the missus. Don't think she's realised it's not the same game but suspicions are mounting!!!

Kia tell her the game has had to go into extra time because its a draw, just dont let her see the score.

Those shirts are sufficiently black enough to make them out to be NZ. The head's down and I'm hoping the Down Under vernacular is beyond her to differentiate. Might turn down Clarke and co though just in case...

When games go into extra time the players have to play in different coloured jerseys, so that the broadcasters know to charge at a higher tariff for doing overtime, tell her that.

No eye contact. No talking. It burns, it burns.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Those shirts are sufficiently black enough to make them out to be NZ. The head's down and I'm hoping the Down Under vernacular is beyond her to differentiate. Might turn down Clarke and co though just in case...

Definitely turn them down... and then casually compliment her on her remarkable embroidery work... or whatever else she likes doing.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:No eye contact. No talking. It burns, it burns.

Like being beaten with a hosepipe?

Honey badger just short of his hole...

He was never behind the hindmost feet.

this is taking ages...

Nicely constructed try.

thats the way to score tries.

heavy tackle from Kuridrani on Fofana

Thats the way to score tries.

Classy try to Beale.

Thats the way to score tries.

What's up with France? Didn't realise this would be such a big demolition.

Did you see that?

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:

Biltong wrote:This smells like a flogging, looks like a flogging, it is relentless and unnecessary painful.

like being beaten with a hosepipe.

  Why do I get the feeling personal experience is voicing itself there, mate?

Get better LB. This should be helping. Muggy as ruck here in Madrid and I am feeling the evil eye of the missus. Don't think she's realised it's not the same game but suspicions are mounting!!!

Well   

French rugby is in a great state.

Well they played a lot better than I expected.
Not so much rust in that performance but a little mechanical hiccup near the end.

Australia will improve on that, and Beale getting that try was very important for him, he can now get back to where he was.

Will the Venga boy come in as hooker?

Will we see a switch up between NZ and Oz in terms of performance? Will France come back stronger and NZ lift their intensity? Because Australia will look at today and be thinking yum yum at the prospect of that first test in Sydney. And they will be to a large extent justified in that thinking. Well played.

At lunch on a terrace flying a text out with the missus in the bathroom. Choose your battles!

I guess we're getting nearer the day when we stop calling this current France enigmatic, and just accept that they're carp (sorry but it's true). We now know "which France will turn up on the day" - the pants one.

What happens to people when they are appointed French Rugby coach? All were sane before: Herr Flick, Mad Marc, Crazy Phil - but as soon as they are appointed they start doing utterly insane things!

Linebreaker wrote:What's up with France? Didn't realise this would be such a big demolition.

Philippe Saint-Andre.

I don't want to take anything away from Australia, because you can only play what is in front of you and they did that well, but how anyone with even a cursory understanding of the game, let alone the expereience PSA has could do so poorly with the number of quality players he could utilise is a mystery. I think a blind lobster could do a better job of selecting the right squad and gameplan.

I have said a few times in the past that I honestly thought PSA would really turn France around but the are as bad now (if not worse) than when Lievremont was in charge.

Is this now the result of Toulon, Racing and the likes buying top class foreigners rather than developing home grown talent.

I don't know why PSA was even offered the job, Toulon had a poor season with him prior to to his appointment, and that had followed a poor last season or two at Sale after initial promise.

The number of foreigners in their league hasn't turned into a problem for national selection YET (though it could well be in few years).  There's no shortage of very talented French players for PSA to choose from, he just doesn't seem interested in selecting them or know how to coach them.

Although extremely risky so close to the RWC, if they could line up a decent candidate I think they should replace him asap, he looks like he's lost his players over the last couple of years and I don't think there is any coming back.

mbernz,

If they are going to get rid of him (wouldn't be a shock given recent performances) then it has to be done ASAP and at latest after summer tour.

That way the new incumbent would have a full domestic season, AIs and 6 Nations to try and get something together ready for the WC.

God guys..............this is just one long French windup. They'll goof everyone again right up to another WC final and we'll all be 'totally shocked' (yet again) that they can actually play IN that final.

We'll never learn. The French love these bluffs. It's art. It's theatre. It's Jean Luc Godard. Losing is nothing, they don't mind losing - the game is the success of the subterfuge. Vive la France!

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Je m'excuse whocares. This must be pretty hard to watch, mate.   

Not to worry. Yesterday was a great day orherwise. Spending a day with friends drinking caipirinhas and rose next to a swimming pool and bbq made up for that pants performance. In fact I even forgot all of the game (that's maybe because I decided not too watch the 2 half). Well done LB anyway

Thanks whocares.

I'm glad you had a great day and forgot all about it.
I know the feeling when Oz are on the wrong side of the scoreboard... time just passes... painlessly.   
France will be back - just hope it's sooner rather than later. Enjoy life in the meantime!   

mbernz wrote:Although extremely risky so close to the RWC, if they could line up a decent candidate I think they should replace him asap, he looks like he's lost his players over the last couple of years and I don't think there is any coming back.

There is a precedent: England ditched Andy Robinson less than a year before the 2007 World cup. Brian Ashton got a Six Nations, a summer tour with most of his players missing, and a few warm up games before heading into the tournament.

French fluctuation of form is an old rugby cliche i.e. one day they're losing to Tonga and a few weeks later they're pushing the All Blacks as close as can be. Well this is the most sustained period of ineptitude for a long time. For years before now it wouldn't have mattered who they lost to or how badly any given day, it would have zero bearing on their next showing and you just couldn't risk trusting them to play that badly again next week. Even if you didn't, they might still overwhelm you with some phenomenal fluid rugby.

But now they're becoming predictably bad. Over the last few seasons I don't think they have any significant away wins whereas before they could come away from places like NZ with a victory. And at home their only notable scalps since before the last WC are Australia once and England once.

It's not the NFQ effect just yet, France still has quality to choose from in its current pool of players. They're just not playing together with any sustained cohesion or structure whatsoever. Still capable of the odd flowing movement but it's becoming a rare sight amongst countless errors. It'd be interesting to observe exactly how PSA is training them to have them playing that way. Always wondered why he seemed universally highly thought of before now when his only past achievement (that I know of) was winning the Prem with Sale and even that was a while back. I can still remember the ravings about how much of a force France were going to become under him. Oh but how reality deviates from expectation...

And the worst thing is despite all that, I'm STILL too hesitant to rule them out entirely of the WC. If any side could recover from such a long slump in a few seconds it'd probably be the French. It'd be ruse of the century but I'm still wary of it!

The NFQ thing could become a HUGE problem after the WC with a whole host of SH players going to the Top 14.

The likes of Toulouse and Clermont (who have always had a good core of French players) have already come out and said they will be sigining more foreign players than usual, following the Toulon model. Tough times ahead for French rugby.