Wobbalies v Springboks I: How bad is Aussie really?

[rowan]

"What relevance does all that have with the game last night being shit? The test match still fucking sucked."

Er, reference to the title of the thread...

"There weren't 8 founding IRB members, there were three."

Sure, and England wasn't one of them, and France didn't actually become one until 1978. But this description was taken directly from World Rugby's own official wiki page: "(16) The eight "foundation unions" have two votes each: Australia, England, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Rugby

So, splitting hairs, really, and I'm not sure why this appears to have irked you...

[cashead]

"What relevance does all that have with the game last night being shit? The test match still fucking sucked."

Er, reference to the title of the thread...

"There weren't 8 founding IRB members, there were three."

Sure, and England wasn't one of them, and France didn't actually become one until 1978. But this description was taken directly from World Rugby's own official wiki page: "(16) The eight "foundation unions" have two votes each: Australia, England, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Rugby

So, splitting hairs, really, and I'm not sure why this appears to have irked you...

OK, so what relevance does what the Wallabies did 13~17 years ago have with the current state of them? Who gives a shit about how good the team might have been a lifetime ago? They suck right now.

[rowan]

"They suck right now."

Really? That's not what I read after the game. When was the last time England beat the Boks? If they'd done so today we'd be celebrating them.

I know it's all harmless fun, and there don't appear to be any Aussies on this forum anyway (nor Saffas, for that matter), but I just like to keep things in perspective a little is all.

[cashead]

Did you actually watch the game? Have you watched any of their test performances this season?

[rowan]

Not live. I've watched some of the videos. They obviously had a horror series against England and I expressed my concern about their teams' performance in Super Rugby. But I've been following this game for an awfully long time and I'd say write them off at your peril. It was still less than a year ago that they knocked England out of their own World Cup and went all the way to the final, but the only comment about that on here seems to be about their lucky escape against Scotland. Anyway, a win over the Boks is a win over the 2nd most successful team in international rugby, so they'll be happy with that today.

[Mr Mwenda]

Pretty brainless all round to be honest. I hope the pumas do the aussies over both legs.

[cashead]

Not live. I've watched some of the videos. They obviously had a horror series against England and I expressed my concern about their teams' performance in Super Rugby. But I've been following this game for an awfully long time and I'd say write them off at your peril. It was still less than a year ago that they knocked England out of their own World Cup and went all the way to the final, but the only comment about that on here seems to be about their lucky escape against Scotland. Anyway, a win over the Boks is a win over the 2nd most successful team in international rugby, so they'll be happy with that today.

They knocked out England at their own world cup when the English did a classic bit of self-sabotage, both in squad selection and stupidity in the final quarter when they'd managed to get themselves back into it.

They beat a Springboks team that is in a massive rebuild phase, and are going through their equivalent of what 1998 was for the All Blacks.

Sure, they beat the Springboks, but that doesn't mean they didn't suck. You also keep banging on about what they did ages ago, and I'll keep pointing out that it had little relevance to the context of the game. Unless, of course, you're able to explain how the Wallabies winning the 1999 RWC had any bearing on the test match this past weekend.

[rowan]

I just find it remarkable that anyone would ridicule the Wallabies less than a year after they reached the World Cup final, especially as they have just recorded a win over the world's second most successful rugby playing nation (historically-speaking). Had any 6 Nations team achieved either of these feats we'd be singing their praises right now. The Wallabies are the most unfairly maligned team in international rugby because they are inevitably compared to their closest rivals New Zealand. But everyone comes off looking bad against the All Blacks, because it's New Zealand's national game. It's not the national game in Australia, and it's actually relatively minor away from the East Coast (where it plays 2nd fiddle to league). In my view, Australia punches well above its weight in union, and has done since the end of the 70s - including at the present. & undoubtedly the main reason for that is their close association and regular contact with New Zealand rugby at all levels.

[scuzzaman]

Now you're just confusing the issue with facts and shit ...

[cashead]

I just find it remarkable that anyone would ridicule the Wallabies less than a year after they reached the World Cup final, especially as they have just recorded a win over the world's second most successful rugby playing nation (historically-speaking). Had any 6 Nations team achieved either of these feats we'd be singing their praises right now. The Wallabies are the most unfairly maligned team in international rugby because they are inevitably compared to their closest rivals New Zealand. But everyone comes off looking bad against the All Blacks, because it's New Zealand's national game. It's not the national game in Australia, and it's actually relatively minor away from the East Coast (where it plays 2nd fiddle to league). In my view, Australia punches well above its weight in union, and has done since the end of the 70s - including at the present. & undoubtedly the main reason for that is their close association and regular contact with New Zealand rugby at all levels.

That's a very long-winded way of saying "OK, what the Wallabies did in the past has no bearing on the fact that they're shit now."

[rowan]

& ranked 3rd in the World...

[morepork]

They suck a bit of balls at the moment bro....no way around that.

[rowan]

By their own normally high standards, perhaps. But any team in the Northern Hemisphere would be more than satisfied to be playing at the level the Wallabies are now. As mentioned, everyone comes off looking bad when compared to the All Blacks, and this is a post-World Cup year after all.