England v Australia, Saturday 3 December

[Dan54]

I think the Wallabies will be real desperate to win this one, lose and it will go down as a pretty poor season, so may help to get the boys fired up a bit!

 

[Marcelo]

From the snippets I saw of the Soapies playing the Argies, this could be a long night in the office. They looked scary with ball in hand, frankly.

I saw the game too and for me it wasn't a great performance of the Poms. The game was 2-2 in tries against a poor Pumas side who lost all their games in Europe

 

[Strewthcobber]

I saw the game too and for me it wasn't a great performance of the Poms. The game was 2-2 in tries against a poor Pumas side who lost all their games in Europe

Has a team ever had so much possession over a year and lost so many games, as these Pumas? 66% on the weekend

 

[Scrubber2050]

I saw the game too and for me it wasn't a great performance of the Poms. The game was 2-2 in tries against a poor Pumas side who lost all their games in Europe

I think the one thing you can guarantee is that Fast Eddie will have the Dodgers up for this week.

 

[Marcelo]

Has a team ever had so much possession over a year and lost so many games, as these Pumas? 66% on the weekend

Well, this was the first Super Rugby season for the UAR. The same squad had to travel thousands of kilometers.

I hope this experience has been a learning, test players need more rest. Argentina only has an Super Rugby franchise, so you need more players then test players get more rest time. Jaguares should play with many rookies in the early rounds of Super Rugby.

 

[PeterK]

PK, as has been pointed out numerous times Hooper is a key defender. He misses tackles because he pushes up out of the line and looks to compress their attack back inwards, often resulting in a missed tackle as its low percentage but still vital. he also chases kicks and breaks more than any other player which also results in a lot of low percentage tackle attempts.

If anything, based on last game, it's Pocock who should be dropped. Didn't pilfer that much ball, was easily outplayed at the breakdown by his Irish counterparts, tried but wasn't very affective at slowing Irish ball and was pinged for not supporting his weight (i think?). Offers less elsewhere than either Timani or Hooper.

Edit: i actually wouldn't mind a wallabies side that wasn't hopelessly devoted to pilfering ball (or trying to).

Sure Pocock was robinson crusoe at the ruck against 3 or 4 Irish forwards.
Hooper was no where to be seen. Simmons and Mumm fell off cleanouts no wonder the Irish pilferers did better.

So any number of missed tackles by Hooper is fine now thats a great excuse.

Chasing kicks and breaks is fine but it is really the job of backs who are faster than Hooper , a player like Timani doing his job in the middle was needed more. The irish won because they won the battle of the breakdown and Hooper was needed more there.

Note scotland and ireland who have a whole backrow dedicated to pilfering and slowing ruck ball do very well don't you think.

 

[Scrubber2050]

wash your mouth out you blasphemer !

 

[A mutterer]

Sure Pocock was robinson crusoe at the ruck against 3 or 4 Irish forwards.
Hooper was no where to be seen. Simmons and Mumm fell off cleanouts no wonder the Irish pilferers did better.

So any number of missed tackles by Hooper is fine now thats a great excuse.

The irish won because they won the battle of the breakdown and Hooper was needed more there.

Note scotland and ireland who have a whole backrow dedicated to pilfering and slowing ruck ball do very well don't you think.

not sure how it's hooper's fault for playing to the coach's plan for the team.

what, he's just going to, in mid-game no less, go "fuck it, i'm going to go native, piss all of the coaches instructions and game plans to get stuck in the rucks"

 

[Highlander35]

“It seems unlikely [that he will play], the French place more importance on their game for Will than our internationals, that’s the way the rules are and we’ll just have to deal with it.” - Michael Cheika

http://www.rugby.com.au/news/2016/11/28/08/47/genia-england-availability

Something about that quote really really rubs me the wrong way. I don't know what exactly, but of course Stade Francais want him playing in pink when it's not in the international window.

 

[Twoilms]

http://www.rugby.com.au/news/2016/11/28/08/47/genia-england-availability

Something about that quote really really rubs me the wrong way. I don't know what exactly, but of course Stade Francais want him playing in pink when it's not in the international window.

The ascendancy of club Rugby over International, probably.

 

[Highlander35]

The ascendancy of club Rugby over International, probably.

Nah.

It's time for club rugby. The game was always outside the international window.

If Genia was made available for this match it should be with thanks and understanding. It's not something that you should be complaining about.

Sounds a little bit like Kid A at preschool complaining that Kid B wants his toy back when Kid B is going home, rather than leaving it for him to play with.

 

[Twoilms]

Oh fair enough. It bothers me.

 

[Quick Hands]

Nah.

It's time for club rugby. The game was always outside the international window.

If Genia was made available for this match it should be with thanks and understanding. It's not something that you should be complaining about.

Sounds a little bit like Kid A at preschool complaining that Kid B wants his toy back when Kid B is going home, rather than leaving it for him to play with.

Or a more accurate analogy would be an employee getting 4 weeks leave and complaining that the boss (who's paying his wages) doesn't give him an extra two weeks.

Will Genia is a professional rugby player who is employed (on significant money I might add) to play rugby for them. They are obliged to release him during the international test windows (which they have). If Will wanted to play every test that the Wallabies play, then he should have stayed in Australia.

 

[Highlander35]

Or a more accurate analogy would be an employee getting 4 weeks leave and complaining that the boss (who's paying his wages) doesn't give him an extra two weeks.

Will Genia is a professional rugby player who is employed (on significant money I might add) to play rugby for them. They are obliged to release him during the international test windows (which they have). If Will wanted to play every test that the Wallabies play, then he should have stayed in Australia.

Better analogy.

But I had the mental image of Cheikas head on a toddler throwing a tantrum. So that one came to mind first.

 

[Quick Hands]

http://www.rugby.com.au/news/2016/11/28/08/47/genia-england-availability

Something about that quote really really rubs me the wrong way. I don't know what exactly, but of course Stade Francais want him playing in pink when it's not in the international window.

I'm a Cheika supporter, but he really needs to cut this whinging out. Every game it's the refs and now he has a go at a French club for asking one of their employees to fulfil the terms of a very lucrative contract.

 

[Joe Blow]

I think we can give this a real crack. Phipps brings faster delivery so our backs may have more opportunity if they can be accurate.
It is a different challenge from that of Ireland and probably Timani should feature as well as Fardy or Mumm(if cleared) in the 23.
We can shelve the running from inside our 22 from set piece for the first 75 minutes I reckon and only use that play if we need a 7 pointer to win.
Folau stil commands a starting spot and the backs more or less pick themselves with the only spot up in the air being Speights wing.
Same for the forwards except that the bench LH spot might need a change.
Might as well go 6-2 if the bench halves are not going to be used.

If we win it will have been a very good tour.

 

[KAOPointman]

If we fail miserably at forming a good attack yet again against the poms this week.......ill literally fly over there and assassinate Foley with the half time oranges.
At least Cooper will get a run and we can finally see him unleash on our big fast young freakish backline. I've been waiting all year for crying out loud. I'm soo sick of mediocre, just good enoug and solid! And that's Foley!
I want a back line that actually threatens from time to time!

 

[Joe Blow]

What about those scrums on the weekend? Was it just because the Irish TH was staying straight that they remained up and well contested?
We actually held them for a couple with only 7 men. I feel pretty good about our scrum this week as long as the Poms are not allowed to play silly buggers.

 

[dru]

We'll be going in with the team that pretty much is the culmination of Cheika/Larkham/Grey/Led and their work. We will be down [Edit: Genia and] Coleman and possibly Mumm, its pretty much as close to full strength that you have a right to expect after a campaign.

If Cheika spins selection changes from the obvious, it makes a laugh of what they have been up to. So forget Cooper is the starting line up. Expect the Pooper. Expect Folau wearing 15.

Third jumper v a "bustle" loosie may still be unexpected but I wont be surprised with Fardy.

Also expect the same structures on attack and defense and a game that targets possession.

And with that it is definitely a test of where Cheika is. 0-3 at the moment and he's had plenty of time to re-assess and take action.

There is no reason not to expect a win, just takes faith in Cheika.

 

[Twoilms]

If we fail miserably at forming a good attack yet again against the poms this week...ill literally fly over there and assassinate Foley with the half time oranges.
At least Cooper will get a run and we can finally see him unleash on our big fast young freakish backline. I've been waiting all year for crying out loud. I'm soo sick of mediocre, just good enoug and solid! And that's Foley!
I want a back line that actually threatens from time to time!

Man our backline absolutely carved the Irish up when they FINALLY got a chance to get moving. As they did to the Welsh and Scottish. Issues, as usual, are up front. Throwing Quade in will have a minimal positive or negative effect. That's it.