Australia Vs. England, Twickenham, 2nd November 2013

[Bairdy]

I think we're resigned to the fact that Link has made his mind up on the starting front row.

Our backrow has their work cut out for them, against the industrious Pom combination - with Hooper and Vunipola likely to make a significant impact.

Link must really rate Foley that he would keep him in the 23 over, say a Tomane or CFS. If Tomane was fit, it would have been a straight swap with Cummins in my view, but Link is hoping for a repeat of last year when the Honey Badger ran over English wingers all day.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Happyish with the team as announced. Still think we will have the measure of the Soap Dodgers.

Time for Big Kev to shape up or ship out, hopefully the former rather than the latter.

 

[lewisr]

Quade as VC is an interesting one... He's just regained his form (we dont even know if its going to last) and made it back into the squad after being considered a contributor to the toxic culture by senior players. Would've gone with moore personally but there must be a reason there.

I really like Mowen as captain and think although surprising, its a good decision.

 

[Braveheart81]

1. With no outside back on the bench we need to pray the injury gods don't bite. One winger down and Folau will be out to pasture and Foley to 15, which is bad enough. Two wingers down and it gets very ugly. This is what happens when you have one 10 in the run-on and two on the bench!

I think we're seeing that Foley is clearly the preferred fullback after Folau.

I don't necessarily think this is a bad choice.

The only other player in the squad I'd see in contention for that role would be AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and Foley has a better kicking game and a better creative attacking game.

If two wingers go down you're almost always going to have an inside back or a reserve halfback playing on the wing regardless of what selection choices you make.

 

[Braveheart81]

Congratulations to Quade Cooper. As they say, one swallow doesn't make a Summer, but he has come a long way along the road to redemption.

Playing a strong test (possibly his best ever) against the All Blacks in New Zealand was a monumental step in his career in my opinion and now we see him elevated to vice captain.

Recapturing some of his attacking flair and more importantly bending his back in defence and committing to his tackles have been huge steps in reclaiming the Wallabies 10 jersey.

 

[Richo]

<insert standard bemusement at repeated selection of poorly performing props>

 

[RoffsChoice]

England line-up:
Mike Brown, Chris Ashton, Joel Tomkins, Billy Twelvetrees, Marland Yarde, Owen Farrell, Lee Dickson; Mako Vunipola, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw (captain), Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: Dylan Hartley, Joe Marler, David Wilson, Dave Attwood, Ben Morgan, Ben Youngs, Toby Flood, Ben Foden

 

[Hairy Test Eagle]

Pretty happy with our side. Hopefully Cummins has another blinder against the Poms, gets some 'test meat' and puts Chris Ashton on his ass.

 

[Braveheart81]

Pretty happy with our side. Hopefully Cummins has another blinder against the Poms, gets some 'test meat' and puts Chris Ashton on his ass.

Have you ever seen a road train hit a camel on the Nullabor?

Well neither have I, but I imagine it's pretty impressive and I hope we see Cummins do this to Ashton early on Sunday morning.

 

[Lee Grant]

There's some interesting players in the England team.

Watch out for "little" 20 y.o. brother Billy Vunipola playing no. 8, who was born in Sydney. He's a line-bender and the Aussies had better cut his legs from under him before he gets moving.

Parling will be a big loss because the lineout quarterback is a master of his craft. Launchbury is a good player, but he's more of a big-engined blindside flanker who can play in the second row, if required. It will be a mobile Pom second row with Lawes partnering him.

Lee Dickson as the scrummie is a big call but Lancaster has to have a good look at him as a starter before the All Black game and Six Nations, and why not against a fairly ordinary Oz team?

Twelvetrees and converted league player Tomkins (on debut) comprise an interesting midfield selection. At their best they both have a whiff of Jonathan Davies (the younger) and Will Greenwood in them, but I will be disappointed if they trouble the Aussies too much.

Watch out for 21 y.o. excitement machine winger Marland Yarde of London Irish, who is fast and elusive, yet can run through people. Believe it or not, his father's christian name is Scotland.

There's some new people in there, including a couple of youngsters. It's a good chance for the Aussies, but I remember thinking that I wasn't worried about the Wobs playing France in their opening game in Europe last year because Les Frogs had a few nose-pickers running on, and we all remember what happened then.

As for the Aussies: I applaud the selection of Mowen as the skipper. Horwill was struggling for form this year and unlike Mowen, is not a natural captain anyway.

Mowen was the best captain of the Oz Super teams by some margin and has no problem carrying that through to test rugby. The other tool in his bag is his lineout management.

He is obviously not in the same class as the likes of McCaw and JdV as a player, and won't be the captain long term because of that, but I think he is the best skipper whilst he can keep his place in the starting team.

Giving the vc job to Quade seems to be an odd call, but it will be good for him. Genia got some mojo back in Dunedin when clearing the ball quickly, except once near the end of the game. Some other things malfunctioned, but I would have given the vice-captaincy to him.

I thought he was the only choice in the backs.

Moore, Genia and Mowen are good on-field leaders, but we don't have a lot of others, though Hooper has potential.

I wouldn't be surprised if he is the Tahs' captain next year or in 2014.

But I digress.
.

 

[tranquility]

I don't think he's a starting test player due to his limitations - namely he's too easily exploited on defence, his ruck technique is appalling, and he's not capable in the lineout.

I agree with all of this. However it still made me laugh a bit too much. The fact that this is the case and he is still a starter for AUSTRALIA this weekend, is a bizarre indictment. In saying all of that, I like Sitaleki and think he offers plenty despite his obvious shortcomings.

 

[USARugger]

Timani is your Pierre Spies. Looks impressive but doesn't make the impact you would expect from that physique.

To be fair at least Spies did do this at one point in his career..

 

[fatprop]

Quade as VC is an interesting one. He's just regained his form (we dont even know if its going to last) and made it back into the squad after being considered a contributor to the toxic culture by senior players. Would've gone with moore personally but there must be a reason there.

I really like Mowen as captain and think although surprising, its a good decision.

The concept of Mowen going off and Quade liaising with George Clancy at the end of the match, dunno

Quade has come a long way and his last game was his best in a Wobs jersey, but I thought he should have done a bit more before being rewarded further.

 

[fatprop]

Timani is your Pierre Spies. Looks impressive but doesn't make the impact you would expect from that physique.

If he made the impact you would expect from his physique, there would be deaths

 

[en_force_er]

The concept of Mowen going off and Quade liaising with George Clancy at the end of the match, dunno

Quade has come a long way and his last game was his best in a Wobs jersey, but I thought he should have done a bit more before being rewarded further.

I've basically said this on another thread.

It's no slight on Quade to suggest he's not really fit for a leadership role yet, he's young and has gone through some pretty big controversies in the last 15 months.

This isn't an indication of whether he could be a leader in a year or two, but 2013 Quade is a strange choice.

If he made the impact you would expect from his physique, there would be deaths

If he did all the "supplements" and hypertrophy training the man would send shockwaves through the body building world.

Alas, he's doomed to be an okay international player.

 

[fatprop]

I think we're resigned to the fact that Link has made his mind up on the starting front row.

Our backrow has their work cut out for them, against the industrious Pom combination - with Hooper and Vunipola likely to make a significant impact.

Link must really rate Foley that he would keep him in the 23 over, say a Tomane or CFS. If Tomane was fit, it would have been a straight swap with Cummins in my view, but Link is hoping for a repeat of last year when the Honey Badger ran over English wingers all day.

Foley has looked liked he belongs in test rugby, he slotted straight in, Cummins actually works hard off the ball and that makes things happen.

 

[Lee Grant]

The concept of Mowen going off and Quade liaising with George Clancy at the end of the match, dunno

Quade has come a long way and his last game was his best in a Wobs jersey, but I thought he should have done a bit more before being rewarded further.

If Mowen has to retire it would be best if Moore becomes the acting captain and Quade remains as vice captain. But that practice is uncommon.
.

 

[fatprop]

If Mowen has to retire it would be best if Moore becomes the acting captain and Quade remains as vice captain. But that practice is uncommon.

Agreed, but Moore is likely to be replaced after 60 minutes as well.

As for backs VC options, the only other options are Genia and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper). Genia, I don't rate as a captain and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) is too far from the action on the wing to add real value, despite apparently doing a great job with the Tahs.

 

[vidiot]

The concept of Mowen going off and Quade liaising with George Clancy at the end of the match, dunno

Quade has come a long way and his last game was his best in a Wobs jersey, but I thought he should have done a bit more before being rewarded further.

Yeah, the toxic environment thing was at best dirty laundry not to be aired and rules him out for mine. Certainly rules him out as captain.

I reckon Link wants to get the best out of Cooper because it offers so much to the team, and thinks that this is the best way to do it. Be supportive and pile on the responsibility.

Will be interesting to see how Cooper goes when the going gets tough, though Dunnydin wasn't exactly easy.

High risk strategy for both Link and Cooper.

 

[biggsy]

This VC for Cooper is another boost for his confidence.
And maybe a nice little ploy from Link and the ARU to keep him in the Game.

Maybe from the inside Copper deserves this opportunity.

So Good on him.

The game

Like the back line, it has attack all over it. Genia,cooper and To'omua combo is dangerous. And with 11,13,14 and 15 all hard runners. Let's hope it eats the poms up.....

Forwards, Alexander droooooone. Hooper, top 7 but not the smartest one. Hope he thinks before he pilfers as the poms will kick goals all night.

But to all forwards need to get heavy and not be see so lazy around the rucks and getting back on side quicker. (Horwill,Alexander)