Wallabies vs England, Sydney

[RugbyReg]

with all due respect to Higgers, Horwill showed in his one and a half games for the Reds that he is at least 5 times the player Higgers is*.








*Please note: there is no basis for fact in this measurement. It is purely an arbitrary figure concocted to support the argument.

 

[mark_s]

I don't know why this is bugging me but it its. Rugbyreg, how is the reg part pronounced? Reg as in regulator, or reg as in reginald, or reg as in red spelt wrong but you haven't noticed yet?

 

[Xanth]

A Horwill switch just doesn't make much sense to me for 3 reasons.

1. It moves Big Kev from a position he has played since school boys at BBC to one that the reds are not short of depth at. It's hard to argue that Higgers playing No. 6 for the reds hurt the them this season and he was a standout player in many games.

2. In terms of wallaby selection he would be switching from a position where he is an incumbent wallaby at tight head lock to a position where he would be fighting for a bench spot.

3. The wallabies need a tight head lock. For no other reason than our scrum needs every bit of help it can get at the moment. Mark Chisholm is the only other legitimate tight head lock around with Horwill out. Nathan Sharpe will play it but it's clear he doesn't like to if given the option. In past years when playing with Big Kev or further back with Vickerman he would always prefer the left side of the scrum where you have to do slightly less work. I'm not saying that Sharpe is lazy, far from it, but it helps to have a tight head lock being a bit heavier and giving a bigger shove than his 2nd row partner.

 

[Lee Grant]

When Horwill returns he may concentrate on becoming blindside, he was making the switch early this year at the Reds.

He shouldn't concentrate for too long. Van does a good job at tighthead lock for the Reds and you could see a case where Horwill plays 6 in order to get all of Simmons, Van and Horwill in the starting pack.

But Van won't be around for long and the Reds will need a tough lock on the right hand side. The Wallabies certainly do.

 

[RugbyReg]

I don't know why this is bugging me but it its. Rugbyreg, how is the reg part pronounced? Reg as in regulator, or reg as in reginald, or reg as in red spelt wrong but you haven't noticed yet?

Reg as in Reginald. Rhymes with edge!

 

[Gagger]

We need locks, not 5 and a halfs

 

[Ruggo]

Horwall isn't moving anywhere. Link is on record as saying the Blindside move was a Horses for courses move against the Tahs. There is hardly a back row shortage at the Reds next year.

 

[Blue]

England to improve their defense. Scrum like bastards, and kick themselves to a 3 point win.

Sorry.

 

[Lee Grant]

I will be out at Homebush tonight but with no great hopes that I will see a great game of rugby. I think it will be as others have said: England to play a narrow game as much in the right real estate as is possible, and trust that hardhead head referee Poite will be harsher than Owens at scrum time. It beggars belief that Wilkinson, the great implementer of the England narrow game, is not starting.

So what am I looking forward to justify a $100 ticket? Watching Genia and Cooper after the Oz forwards perform a bit of mongrel.

 

[#1 Tah]

We need locks, not 5 and a halfs

Douglas.

 

[RugbyFuture]

im there tonight, the english best be on their english behaviour and lose or else....:baxter:

 

[chief]

Final prediction for tonight.

Poite is refereeing, he knows his shit, he will pin the Aussies off the park and Australia will be reduced to 14 man on two occasions. Predicting another penalty try, but England's backs relying on the scrum and ruck infringements to win them games (no wonder why they hated free kick sanctions). However they will not win them the game, as Australia actually provide some attacking playw. Genia will be the difference from the halves showing up the young English half back.

Crowd prediction will be 39,348. SFS anyone. Lower ticket costs, for fucks sake.

When the English once again get beaten tonight, Martin Johnson will hopefully be sacked from the England job which he was probably out of his depth from the beginning. I think a English selector should have been the furthest he'd have gotten to the English team again.

Come Monday Maul with Greg Growden, he will brutalise the Australian scrum like he actually has a clue what he's talking about, and the debate will continue for a 2nd week in a row whether Baxter and Dunning should be bought back for the Tri-Nations.

Deans will stick with his guns and the front rowers will remain the front rowers.

And then to the Ireland game..

 

[Lee Grant]

You're in great form chief.

 

[the gambler]

Not many are expecting much of a game. Had a hell of a lot of trouble getting rid of a few spare free tickets. Quite sad.

 

[Ignoto]

Final prediction for tonight.

Poite is refereeing, he knows his shit,

If he knows his shit, surely then he will notice the illegal binding thats going on then?

 

[Lee Grant]

Douglas.

Young locks are not quite like young props but they need some time at the coal face to harden up.

His time will come after the RWC and the same for young Simmons. Both turned 21 just recently and we are lucky to have those two in the larder for the future. Peterson will be on the shopping list also.

I trust that those two will be be on the Oz EOYT for the dirt tracker games but I don't expect them to play in any big test matches before the RWC. Don't forget: there are only 4 3N games next year and no inbound tests.

You never know though: with Horwill still out and Deans picking the likes of Chapman for Oz A and ignoring Humphries, an injury to any of Sharpe, Mumm or Chisholm could see one of them on the bench - and with two injures both may be in the 22.

I would pick the more seasoned Simmons first. They are much the same age and ability but Simmons has been around the pro environment longer and played in the S14 a year before Douglas.

 

[Ash]

The reffing has been pretty poor so far but the Wallabies should be able to rise above but they can't. Absolute lack of aggression in the Wallaby forwards and the English forwards have just out enthused them.

 

[Ash]

It would be nice if the Wallaby forwards showed the same aggression in defence that they show when carrying the ball. Pocock quite often looks like being the only one able to force a turnover.

Fainga'a has done alright, as has Pocock although Pocock has missed more tackles than usual.

I am not sure if Elsom and Brown make an effective 6/8 combination.

Wallabies have no composure. They have lacked composure in the tight games for he last few years. Gits in particular.

 

[Ash]

At least the scrum has improved greatly. Slipper seems more steady than Maafu at tight head.

Would be nice if refs were more strict on offside lines. England have lurked offside a lot, but again the Wallabies haven't played it smart. A lot of headless chook stuff.

 

[louie]

god they've been crap second half.
genia, horne, drew, brown have been terrible.
thanks for wasting my saturday robbie