Bledisoe I: Will it be another Austrailure? (probably)

[zer0]

Offside line disappears at a charge down, doesn't it?

Hehe. Ref just loudly exclaims as much after that charge down.

[Spy]

Finally score again after all sorts of pressure. Fekitoa wearing gumboots on that run to the line.

[Spy]

Great finish Savea!

[Len]

Destroy the cheats.

[zer0]

When's Aride getting on? We've got the records for most points scored against Australia (61 points) and largest winning margin (45 points) in sight.

[Spy]

That's annoying.

[zer0]

So looks as though we'll miss out on reaching 50 thanks to a scrappy second half. On the flip side, at least they're not in double figures.

[zer0]

Really hope Barrett gets far more time at first-five next week. He's been largely absent in the second half with Cruden there.

[Tre]

Boy does this put some context into England and Wales' summer tours.

NZ on a different planet

[Len]

Boy does this put some context into England and Wales' summer tours.

NZ on a different planet

Poms can now STFU

[scuzzaman]

I can't see these guys beating South Africa. They will probably beat Argentina in Oz. Wales and Ireland will challenge them. England will hammer them. Scotland are a banana skin; beating them means nothing, losing to them will be career ending.

[Spy]

Double up.

[Spy]

FT 8-42, which flatters the Wallabies if anything. Absolute hiding.

[canta_brian]

Are there any aussies left on this board?

[Len]

I'll be interested to hear what happens about this listening device they found too.

[Len]

Are there any aussies left on this board?

Na they've all got a nasty bug.

[canta_brian]

Nice

[Spy]

Are there any aussies left on this board?

Na they've all got a nasty bug.

Virtual rep.

[Tre]

FT 8-42, which flatters the Wallabies if anything. Absolute hiding.

Went easy on them in the 2nd half

[rowan]

I sense a Wallaby surprise or two this year.

I didn't say in this particular match tho

Right now if they beat Argentina it would be a surprise

[Dacre]

Does this put England's whitewash of Oz in perspective?

[canta_brian]

Does this put England's whitewash of Oz in perspective?

Not as much as all that. I just wonder how the aussies made it to the world cup final. Although they basically didn't beat Scotland and England were awful or they may not have got out of the group.

[rowan]

Because Australia, like France, nowadays just focuses on peaking every 4 years, and that's why they punch above their weight at the tournament proper. Still the 2nd most successful team in tournament history.

[rowan]

This result wasn't so surprising when you consider Super Rugby form. The next round will tell us more. Are the All Blacks simply that far ahead of everybody else these days? They've basically created their own 'superheavyweight' tier now, and it appears nobody can live with them. Meanwhile, Australia have had an awful summer series and an awful Super Rugby campaign coming into this.

[rowan]

Answered that in the previous message. No, definitely not. They had an awful summer (spring?) series and an awful Super Rugby campaign (collectively). The fact that it actually seemed quite inevitable they would have an awful Rugby Championship was precisely what inspired me to predict they'd cause a surprise or two - because if four decades of following this game has taught me anything, it is that it has the propensity to elude even the most logical conjectures. On this particular occasion that was not the case, however, and the opening round went according to script.