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Australia v New Zealand - Sydney 16 Aug

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emuarse

Desmond Connor (43)
How will Ben Alexander go as the prop coming off the bench?
He had injury problems against the French but will he stamp his impression on this game for the 20 or so mins he's on the field?
 

Joe Blow

Peter Sullivan (51)
How will Ben Alexander go as the prop coming off the bench?
He had injury problems against the French but will he stamp his impression on this game for the 20 or so mins he's on the field?

Yes he will. He would have been our first picked TH in the series against France. No-one else was close to his form pre-injury. He will help bring us home with a very good work rate in the tight as well.
Our bench is strong with he, Skelton and Higgers to enter the fray in the final 30mins along with Kuridrani and Foley letting our back line revert back to how it was in the last test.
Link is planning on finishing strong against a pretty underwhelming AB bench. Well......as underwhelming as one can be.
 

Scrubber2050

Mark Ella (57)
I think Alexander's scrummaging has improved substantially over the past year or so. His workrate around the park is pretty good as well.

Both he and certainly Slipper have the motor to go 80 (if they have to). Coming off the bench he should have an impact around the paddock.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Fekitoa is very dangerous in attack but apart from 1 big shot in defence against AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) in the Tahs v Highlanders game, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) ran rings around him.

Definitely see this as an advantage to the Wallabies.
 

Hugh Jarse

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
Props: NZ lead
Hookers: Parity
Locks: Carter = Whitelock. Rettalick>Simmonds. NZ Lead
Back row: NZ lead. Hooper/Palu close to McCaw/Read. Kaino>>Fardy
Halfback: NZ lead. Aus bench better.
#10: both unpredictable - Parity?
Centres: Smith = huge loss. Nonu = penalties. Parity
Wings: NZ have wings. We have defenders. NZ Lead
#15: Worth the price of admission. Parity.

The Darkness have the lead in the game winning and game finishing departments.

It will be a huge uphill slog for the Men in Gold to stay close, but an upset could happen if all the planets align.
 
T

Train Without a Station

Guest
BH, Fekitoa is prone to go for the stupid big shot also. Remember the one in the Reds game that lead to a penalty try I believe?

I'd disagree HJ that Nonu = penalties and therefore parity. To'omua is a better ball player, a better boot and probably more reliable defender. Nonu is a stronger runner, can ball play a bit, can break tackles and is a quality defender. He's also the type of player that can put fear into opposition.
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
NZ Sevens lose first game at Commonwealth Games ever.

NZ Women's team lose to Ireland at WRWC2014, miss out on semis.

Crusaders lose Super Rugby final.

Am I starting to see a pattern here? ;)
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
BH, Fekitoa is prone to go for the stupid big shot also. Remember the one in the Reds game that lead to a penalty try I believe?

Yep.

The big shot he put on AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was a good one but Ashley-Cooper still managed to recycle the ball and the Tahs went forward next phase. That's been one of his great strengths. Even when he gets smashed, he normally manages to retain the ball and achieve a clean recycle.

Fekitoa is definitely most dangerous in open play particularly when the opposition isn't expecting the backline to run. I doubt the All Blacks will try and run it from their 22 as often as the Highlanders do though.
 

qwerty51

Stirling Mortlock (74)
Yep.

The big shot he put on AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was a good one but Ashley-Cooper still managed to recycle the ball and the Tahs went forward next phase. That's been one of his great strengths. Even when he gets smashed, he normally manages to retain the ball and achieve a clean recycle.

vs Wales EOYT was another great example, North clobbered him, recycled and scored off the next phase.
 

Brian Westlake

Arch Winning (36)
Props: NZ lead
Hookers: Parity
Locks: Carter = Whitelock. Rettalick>Simmonds. NZ Lead
Back row: NZ lead. Hooper/Palu close to McCaw/Read. Kaino>>Fardy
Halfback: NZ lead. Aus bench better.
#10: both unpredictable - Parity?
Centres: Smith = huge loss. Nonu = penalties. Parity
Wings: NZ have wings. We have defenders. NZ Lead
#15: Worth the price of admission. Parity.

The Darkness have the lead in the game winning and game finishing departments.

It will be a huge uphill slog for the Men in Gold to stay close, but an upset could happen if all the planets align.
Steve Hansen = Pieter De Villiers though ;)
 

Hugh Jarse

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
NZ Sevens lose first game at Commonwealth Games ever.

NZ Women's team lose to Ireland at WRWC2014, miss out on semis.

Crusaders lose Super Rugby final.

Am I starting to see a pattern here? ;)


NZ Under 20's fail to make the Jnr RWC final.

NZ Wheelchair Rugby team fail to make semi finals at World champs.
 

Oldschool

Jim Clark (26)
Hmm let me think, Conrad has gone home with his wife expecting....and Steve H didn't know this was a possibility...... the master at mind games. I reckon Conrad was never going to play.
 

BPC

Phil Hardcastle (33)
Gentlemen, gentlemen, how 'bout we make this thread (A v NZ, Sydney 16/8) a Pocock-free zone. And Moore, TPN, Horwill, Gill, Genia, Cooper, Speight et al. They're not in Saturday's 23, they're not part of the match. Their respective, and relative, merits can be discussed elsewhere.

Good, that's settled. Now let's rabbit on about those who will be making an appearance on Saturday.
Bring back David Wilson!
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Jeez there are some stupid pundits around. Stephen Donald has said that he thinks To'omua will actually play 10 and Beale 12 to keep the Brumbies halves combination intact as well as trying to bluff New Zealand with their selections.

An interesting stat that a couple of articles have mentioned today. Beale was 10 for the Wallabies when we drew with the All Blacks in 2012 and was also 10 when we last beat a top 4 ranked nation (England in 2012 at Twickenham).
 

Scoey

Tony Shaw (54)
Jeez there are some stupid pundits around. Stephen Donald has said that he thinks To'omua will actually play 10 and Beale 12 to keep the Brumbies halves combination intact as well as trying to bluff New Zealand with their selections.


I've actually been waiting for someone to put up an 'opinion piece' predicting that Beale will pull up a bit sore after the captains run and a late reshuffle will result in Foley and Beale being swapped. Smoke and mirrors and all that. I know ex-players usually let a few quote's fly like Donald's and probably more to create interest but this year there seems to be more than usual.
 
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