Pool C - Wales, Australia, Fiji, Georgia, Portugal

[Burgey]

Tbh, I think the kid in me that fell in love with the game watching the likes of Larkham, Eales, Gregan, Tune, Mortlock, Horan, Little, Smith, Kefu, Latham, Burke, Herbert, Noriega, Paul, Roff, Ofahenguae, Finegan etc has died a bit today.

I'll always support them, but this ****ing hurts today. But hurts in a way where I no longer care. For the custodians of the game to have got me to this point says plenty about how **** the situation is.

Tad dramatic sure, but is what it is. Still love the game, will still watch every game I can of the WC, just hope to someday experience the highs again. E.g, being at Twickenham in 2015 when Giteau went over in the corner to formally dump England out of its own world cup was special, as was being at Twickenham for the final in 2015.

How the **** have we fallen so far, so hard, and so quickly. Only way is up. Hopefully.

Yeah it genuinely stings when a team you support so much does so badly. Feel for you mate.

 

[the big bambino]

Feel for ripper here, if not the Wallabies. There is a special something about a WC though so I'll continue following. My disappointment in the Wallabies has been compensated by watching highlights of the often referred to minnows. Of course you shouldn't put too much on highlights but the glimpses I've seen of Portugal and Uruguay has reminded me of the flair new and perhaps semi professional players? play. Absolutely thrilling to watch the crispness of their passing and running games which looks superior to any of the bilge the Wallabies offered.

Also the muscular Georgians are good to watch. The improvement in standards has been noticeable and a pleasing contrast to the fool's gold.

 

[Bahnz]

Really feel for the Aussie fans on here. The Australian team of the 90's and early 00's was a massive part of what got me into the sport as a kid. That time that John Eales sank that penalty at Wellington to retain the Bledisloe in front of 35,000 fuming fans was probably my all-time favourite rugby union moment (and the subsequent reaction by the Crowd was a major reason for my heart turning against NZ's rugby fandom).

Not sure quite where it all went wrong, but hey if Ireland can transform themselves from a running joke into the world's #1 side in 2 RWC cycles, then here's hoping Australia can do the same.

 

[Spark]

Just saw the score and some of the highlights and all I have to say is: lol. lmao.

Maybe binning off an experienced, highly qualified coach who was steadily building up the team in favour of an unreconstructed dickhead just because he was one of the boys was a bad idea eh?

 

[Spark]

Barring the random emergence of some freak talent, we’re 5-10 years away even if we start today

Short of a full government takeover and complete clean out of the existing RA establishment, including all the toxic hangers on, nothing will change.

Not an accident that I've barely followed the Wallabies in years. They were my main sporting team as a kid, and yet...

 

[Prince EWS]

I woke up this morning expecting to be able to have a bit of a chuckle at another loss, but tbh reading the thread and checking out some highlights it genuinely seems sad. It's so bad that even I don't want to sink the boot into the Aus rugby fans on here. There's a lot of passionate supporters on here and rn I feel for them.

The next WC is in Australia isn't it? Stating the obvious but the game needs a total administrative rejig ahead of that tourney to try to parlay it into something which can secure the future of the sport here. There's some lessons they can learn from the mistakes made post-03 WC where they let the profile and development of the game fall away massively. Anyway, they've four years to try to get something out of it.

I don't want to sink the boot into the fans but I definitely want to sink the boot into the team, the ARU and... yeah, probably the fans too actually.

Let it die.

 

[Spark]

No no you see it's all Raelene Castle's fault. Everything is absolutely fine now that she's gone. Right?

Right?

 

[social]

Really feel for the Aussie fans on here. The Australian team of the 90's and early 00's was a massive part of what got me into the sport as a kid. That time that John Eales sank that penalty at Wellington to retain the Bledisloe in front of 35,000 fuming fans was probably my all-time favourite rugby union moment (and the subsequent reaction by the Crowd was a major reason for my heart turning against NZ's rugby fandom).

Not sure quite where it all went wrong, but hey if Ireland can transform themselves from a running joke into the world's #1 side in 2 RWC cycles, then here's hoping Australia can do the same.

Australia faces far more internal competition than Ireland from league, Aussie Rules and basketball

Plus RA is strapped for cash, the structure of the game needs a complete overhaul and it’s perceived to be a dangerous sport by many parents

Anyway, fact is that period was an outlier in terms of Australian rugby success and if John Eales was 18 today, chances are that he’d be playing in the NBL & entering the NBA draft next year

 

[social]

No no you see it's all Raelene Castle's fault. Everything is absolutely fine now that she's gone. Right?

Right?

Doesn’t change the fact that she was incompetent and yet another terrible RA appointment

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Australia faces far more internal competition than Ireland from league, Aussie Rules and basketball

Ireland has to combine from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with incredible political complexity and union is only 3rd there behind Gaelic and Association (football). They've done amazingly well to produce a worldclass backline with 3 journeymen Kiwis, a random Aussie, and a 38 year-old 1st 5. Their forwards and defence are excellent.

 

[GotSpin]

No no you see it's all Raelene Castle's fault. Everything is absolutely fine now that she's gone. Right?

Right?

She was terrible though

 

[the big bambino]

No no you see it's all Raelene Castle's fault. Everything is absolutely fine now that she's gone. Right?

Right?

You're right. She was wonderful.

Right?

 

[Silver Silva]

Tbh, I think the kid in me that fell in love with the game watching the likes of Larkham, Eales, Gregan, Tune, Mortlock, Horan, Little, Smith, Kefu, Latham, Burke, Herbert, Noriega, Paul, Roff, Ofahenguae, Finegan etc has died a bit today.

I'll always support them, but this ****ing hurts today. But hurts in a way where I no longer care. For the custodians of the game to have got me to this point says plenty about how **** the situation is.

Tad dramatic sure, but is what it is. Still love the game, will still watch every game I can of the WC, just hope to someday experience the highs again. E.g, being at Twickenham in 2015 when Giteau went over in the corner to formally dump England out of its own world cup was special, as was being at Twickenham for the final in 2015.

How the **** have we fallen so far, so hard, and so quickly. Only way is up. Hopefully.

Is this the first time Australia has never qualified for the knockout stage ?

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Yes.

They still technically have a chance of making though.

 

[Bahnz]

Australia faces far more internal competition than Ireland from league, Aussie Rules and basketball

Plus RA is strapped for cash, the structure of the game needs a complete overhaul and it’s perceived to be a dangerous sport by many parents

Anyway, fact is that period was an outlier in terms of Australian rugby success and if John Eales was 18 today, chances are that he’d be playing in the NBL & entering the NBA draft next year

Australia still seems to be producing a reasonable amount of raw talent though, going by U20 results (drew with England and beat New Zealand at this year's tournament, and were runners-up in 2019). Though yeah, looking at super rugby results it's pretty clear that talent is not being developed as it should.

 

[GotSpin]

Short of a full government takeover and complete clean out of the existing RA establishment, including all the toxic hangers on, nothing will change.

Not an accident that I've barely followed the Wallabies in years. They were my main sporting team as a kid, and yet...

Rugby Australia is already being run like a really bad public government department. Highly inefficient in everything they do, poor with money and giving out favours to their mates and connections

It’s sad to see how far the Wallabies have fallen both in results and interest since the 2003 WC and honestly the only hope I have is for a private company to be brought in and run the game for profit. To be properly incentivised to clear out the boys club and expand the game beyond its shrinking base

 

[social]

Australia still seems to be producing a reasonable amount of raw talent though, going by U20 results (drew with England and beat New Zealand at this year's tournament, and were runners-up in 2019). Though yeah, looking at super rugby results it's pretty clear that talent is not being developed as it should.

It never has been a talent problem

It’s all about management/structure, coaching and retention

For example, many elite youngsters can earn money in other sports before they get a professional contract in union and jump ship

Ponga, Gagai, Angus Crichton, Cameron Murray, Fifita etc are all current State of Origin players who went to GPS schools and played rugby

Burgey should love GPS schools as they produce a disproportionately high number of elite league players

 

[Ali TT]

Ireland has to combine from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with incredible political complexity and union is only 3rd there behind Gaelic and Association (football). They've done amazingly well to produce a worldclass backline with 3 journeymen Kiwis, a random Aussie, and a 38 year-old 1st 5. Their forwards and defence are excellent.

Irish rugby has also created pretty solid foundations for the last 20+ years so while the fortunes of the international side might fluctuate like you'd expect they can still bring through talent (or their clubs acquire it from elsewhere).

 

[Spark]

She was terrible though

You're right. She was wonderful.

Right?

She wasn't good but she was far from the main problem and the manner of her exit just accentuated the worst things about RA

 

[Uppercut]

Ireland has to combine from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with incredible political complexity and union is only 3rd there behind Gaelic and Association (football). They've done amazingly well to produce a worldclass backline with 3 journeymen Kiwis, a random Aussie, and a 38 year-old 1st 5. Their forwards and defence are excellent.

Hurling is at least as popular as rugby too, though with completely different demographics. In any case I think the benefits of a rich sporting culture outweigh the competition for players.

It really doesn’t feel so politically complex. But now that you mention it, that might be because Irish rugby has done such a good job of managing it. Other parts of Irish society wouldn’t be mature enough to drop the flag and anthem to make it work.