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Wallabies finding rhythm in key area to lead World Cup statistics
Amid the doom and gloom in France around the Wallabies’ shock World Cup loss to Fiji, a shining light has been their lineout, spearheaded by new skipper Dave Porecki.
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The shell-shocked Australians are preparing for a must-win clash with Wales in Lyon this Sunday (Monday AEST), with their hopes of a quarter-final berth hanging on a victory.
After two rounds of the World Cup Porecki leads the tournament statistics in lineout throws, nailing each of his 21 deliveries which is eight more than any other hooker.
Porecki, who became the Wallabies’ sixth captain of the year following a training injury to Will Skelton, was more concerned with the high-stakes match that lay ahead for his team.
“Everyone’s talking about how we’ve got an upcoming do-or-die game but it’s a World Cup so every game is do-or-die in my eyes and in the players’ eyes,” the 30-year-old Sydneysider said.
“We didn’t get it right (against Fiji) and we’ll get it right next week.”
The Wallabies were outplayed by Fiji in almost every facet in Saint-Etienne apart from the lineout which rattled the Pacific Islanders, particularly in the second half of the historic 22-15 defeat.
The absence of injured giant Skelton was felt through the loss of his carries and defence through the middle but the World Cup debut of athletic youngster Nick Frost meant Australia had two genuine jumpers.
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Brumbies big man Frost, who missed the tournament-opening win over Georgia due to a troublesome ear injury, was a major disrupter to the Fijians, stealing four lineouts alone.
Richie Arnold was promoted from the bench to cover Skelton and while he had a mixed bag in general play and issues with discipline, he worked well in the lineout with Frost.
Arnold said another jumping option in the side was a trade-off to losing heavyweight Skelton, who doesn’t usually jump.
“When you lose Willy (Skelton) you lose that power, but obviously when another person comes in you have another jumping option,” Arnold said.
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“So yeah, our lineout defence was good and also our lineout attack was good but we still lost the match.”
With Skelton still sidelined with a calf injury, Arnold and Frost will again team up against Wales, with fellow lock Matt Philip covering from the bench.
They are expecting Wales to play a more traditional, grinding game based on their set-piece.
Unbeaten through two rounds, the Welsh line-out was vulnerable against minnows Portugal, who they beat 28-8 in Nice.
Fielding a B-side, Cup debutant Christ Tshiunza and fellow youngster Dafydd Jenkins lost four of Wales’ lineout throws.
But coaching great Warren Gatland will revert to the veteran second-row pairing of Adam Beard and Will Rowlands, who helped the Welsh to a tournament-opening 32-26 victory over Fiji.
Gatland said his team’s performance against Portugal “wasn’t pretty” but he was delighted they took maximum points to sit atop the Pool C table.
“Probably the lineout didn’t function as well as I would have liked and we were a bit lateral at times,” he said.
“When we were direct and in contact we looked comfortable.”
Comments on RugbyPass
1 week for two cynical and dirty plays? Absolutely pathetic punishment. He should’ve at least received 2 weeks - 1 week per trip. The guy is a cheating moron and liability. He should go back to league.
2 Go to commentsTest rugby is different level Some players are just big time players when the stakes are high they play better. The boks often lost to AUS on tour as they wanted to beat AB. Even at school level this is the case where some guys play better in tough games.
41 Go to commentsLet’s hope he misses more than just the Force game or the Reds won’t get very far in the finals.
2 Go to commentsThanks Nick. I’m looking at the other 7 options in Australia and they don’t seem to be close behind Fraser at the moment? Even before reading this I thought he was well ahead. A random one - Slipper and Allalatoa seem to be getting well beaten in the scrum. I can’t remember this happening often before. Is it a technique/teamwork issue or are their bodies finally past it?
26 Go to commentsNZ is now entrenched in Div 2 of womens rugby. Canada would be thrashed by the likes of France or England. Europe are Div 1, with massive competitions, massive money…
2 Go to commentsBlackadder dies not deserve selection. He has not played enough games. Finau is just better. Kaino's replacement at Blindside On form TJ should be the starting 9 .
129 Go to commentsThe difference is Cotter..
6 Go to commentsThey can’t handle the level of comp in the NH. Pollard was a complete waste at Montpellier - and was the backup 12 when he left. Kitschoff was stealing his paycheque every week at Ulster,- getting absolutely rinsed by backup THs in the URC. There is a reason all the Boks go to Japan - they don’t have it in them to be able to compete. And yes, they won the RWC. Where Barnes and O'Keeffe were the direct reason for that tragedy occurring.
41 Go to commentsTrouble with Jones is he has so many impractical innovations. Kemeney wasn't good enough in any position for top level test rugby. I like how Vern has Papalii playing. He's always had the workrate when in form, although I'm not sure that he quite has Cane's mongrel.
26 Go to commentsPut those results on the old CV and send it in to the crusaders bro.
1 Go to commentsJust go with a top 6 system where the top 2 teams go straight to the semi-finals and the other 4 teams fight it out for the other 2 semi-final spots.
8 Go to commentsIt’s a shame that Baxter wasn’t nominated for DoR of the season. what he did is more impressive than McCall imo
1 Go to commentsSeveral boks said during World Cup they play so hard to give people back home hope. As an Englishman the Springboks Captain’s life story is an inspiration which should give us all hope and inspiration. Rather like that other great South African, Nelson Mandela
41 Go to commentsFox News, Tucker Carlson, Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan? Yikes.
1 Go to commentsThat is harsh though. Messi has/had a reputation for trying to keep his feet and keep dribbling for goal. Many of his brethren were the histrionic divers but not him.
2 Go to commentsMcReight is certainly one of the first picked. He’s going to be the glue, a Wallaby with some rugby IQ and the everywhere man for the Wallabies.
26 Go to commentsSophie De Goede is one of the best players we’ve ever produced. Kicked all the points, 2 try assists, line out takes, carries, tackles, charge downs… what a player
1 Go to commentsThe guy had just beasted himself in a scrum and the blood hadn't yet returned to his head when he was pushed into a team mate. He took his weight off his left foot precisely at the moment he was shoved and dropped to the floor when seemingly trying to avoid stepping on Hyron Andrews’ foot. I don't think he was trying to milk a penalty, I think he was knackered but still switched on enough to avoid planting 120kgs on the dorsum of his second row’s foot. To effectively “police” such incidents with a (noble) view to eradicating play acting in rugby, yet more video would need to be reviewed in real time, which is not in the interest of the game as a sporting spectacle. I would far rather see Farrell penalised for interfering with the refereeing of the game. Perhaps he was right to be frustrated, he was much closer to the action than the only camera angle I've seen, however his vocal objection to Rodd’s falling over doesn't legitimately fall into the captain's role as the mouthpiece of his team - he should have kept his frustration to himself, that's one of the pillars of rugby union. I appreciate that he was within his rights to communicate with the referee as captain but he didn't do this, he moaned and attempted to sway the decision by directing his complaint to the player rather than the ref. Rugby needs to look closely at the message it wants to send to young players and amateur grassroots rugby. The best way to do this would be to apply the laws as they are written and edit them where the written laws no longer apply. If this means deleting laws such as ‘the put in to the scrum must be straight”, so be it. Likewise, if it is no longer necessary to respect the referee’s decision without questioning it or pre-emptively attempting to sway it (including by diving or by shouting and gesticulating) then this behaviour should be embraced (and commercialised). Otherwise any reference to respecting the referee should be deleted from the laws. You have to start somewhere to maintain the values of rugby and the best place to start would be giving a penalty and a warning against the offending player, followed by a yellow card the next time. People like Farrell would rapidly learn to keep quiet and let their skills do the talking.
1 Go to commentsThe name “Kwagga” came to mind while I was reading this. And there’s another Sevens convert roaming the wide open kant at the Lions now - JC Pretorius. Keep an eye on him.
26 Go to comments2024 Rugby Championship: Sat, 10 Aug 2024 – Sat, 28 Sept 2024. Looking forward to watching the All Blacks coached by Scott Robertson, with or without the ‘dynamic’ qualities of Shannon Michael Frizell - see his display against South Africa at Go Media Mount Smart Stadium on July 15.
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