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RWC 2019 1/4 Final England vs Australia

tragic

John Solomon (38)
Swap hodge and Beale and that’s a pretty handy side.
As with Wales I reckon we’ll score more tries and it’ll come down to penalties and or droppies.
Discipline and no early penalties or cards is the key.
And lilo needs his kicking radar to be firing.
 

molman

Peter Johnson (47)
Beale the big weakness at the back, but after dropping JOC (James O'Connor) you need that extra play-maker. Cheika is really going high risk, high reward for this one.

On paper, England the much better squad. But I'm hopeful and bloody excited for this game.

Yeah, that England line up looks very similar to the lineup they had in the six nations when they played Ireland. They played one of their best games that day. Our lineup in comparison is exciting because at the very least I really don't know what we'll get - esp. with that backline.

And lilo needs his kicking radar to be firing.

Agreed. None of our goal kickers have been consistently great. I'm hoping Farrell kicks like that Argentina game.
 

Purce

Jim Clark (26)
My good and bad thoughts on this.
Will start with the Good:
- our tight 5 is better than theirs. It is not very often we have been able to say that v Eng. Excited for these blokes to hopefully play at their potential and completely outperform the SD tighties. Also our reserve piggies are better IMO (exception perhaps hooker and LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto))
- I am glad we stuck with the Pooper. Poop v Curryhill will be a very good battle.
- Lilo start with To'omua on pine. For me this has been our best combo all year. Lilo to settle the game the To'omua to come on at 1000mph, run at tired defense, smack tired attackers and run a flatter attack where players arent flat footed.
- Petaia. Kid has skills. More on this in bad.
- MK making me eat my words this Cup. I didn't want him near the squad but he has improved every game, just needs to use his support more.
- Our Bench. Liking it more than theirs, hoping we really ramp up our game in the 2nd half when they tire a bit(if the players do their job in the 1st half)
- Our 2nd half play.

The Bad.
- will start with credit where credit is due. This is probably the strongest 15 I have seen Eng put out since the 2003 RWC. There are no weaknesses (aware I said our tight 5 is better than theirs but more a reflection on how well ours have performed than theirs underperforming). That backline is as good as any backline in the RWC. If Vunipola fires at 8 that backrow is absolutely deadly.
- Still no dominant 8 for Oz. Isi needs to play put of his skin in this game.
- First start this RWC for our 9/10 combo. Pretty bloody insane for mind. Particularly when you combine that with a 12/13 combo which hasn't played together this Cup and a rookie 13. So a 10/12/13 combo which has never played together starting a QF in a rwc. Genia looks a lot better off the bench and White looks a lot better starting than off the bench.
- Petaia... or rather I should say Hodge and Beale. Playing Petaia at 13 has allowed Chiek to select KB (Kurtley Beale) at 15(2nd playmaker) and Hodge at 14. IMO neither of these guys should be starting. We are playing 2 weaker players at 14/15 to accommodate a rookie 13. Give me 13. JOC (James O'Connor)/Tevita 14. Petaia and 15. DHP 23. JOC (James O'Connor)/KB (Kurtley Beale). Any half decent club coach could find a way to play our 2 best centres(SK & TK) and create a game plan/structures/moves to use their abilities. DHP has been far better than KB (Kurtley Beale) this RWC. Also a ridiculous selection given that he was in lala land last week. Eng will target him, he will try to run around guys quicker than him and we will be turning over ball like there is no tomorrow. DHP has beaten the 1st defender pretty much every carry, is more direct, bigger and better under the high ball. We are not going to run around this English backline DHP is much more suited to this game than KB (Kurtley Beale). Hodge simply is not an Intl winger. He tries his heart out but has not a lot of pace, zero agility, poor positional play on the wing and a poor defender (mainly due to lack of agility and pace on wing). May and Daly will likely run rings around him.
- Our ridiculous attempts to get around teams which clearly have the quicker outside backs / our outside backs without the skills to get around them or create space. Hodge again an issue here. This is actually where JOC (James O'Connor) excelled and I think he and Jordy could have created some issues. JOC (James O'Connor) is very good at creating little opportunities and space for other players however the lact of genuine wingers and an inform 15 has negated this skill half the time.

Final POSITIVE Thought. Wallabies can win this. We need to set the tone up front and dominate the tight 5, get over the advantage line and try to isolate Tuilagi to generate some line breaks. Set piece dominance as well, I honestly don't see why we cannot be on top in scrums and parity in line outs, Rodda to spoil some of their ball. There is a strong chance they are undercooked, their performances so far have been poor with terrible handling at times(remind you of any team?) I think we can surprise them...
 

SouthernX

Peter Johnson (47)
Really happy for Jordy.

The one head scratching selection I've never come to terms with is why does Cheika keep Taniela Tupou on the bench?
It's a do or die match. Tupou is a tone setter, One that would leave England knowing what kind of match the wallabies plan on playing the moment the ball is kicked off.

Wish he'd earned the start because he is the best scrummager and ball running prop on the planet.
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
A real chance at redemption for Farrell after the last world cup. He must be licking his lips.hopefully he gets carded again and i can finally update my profile pic
As much as i want to see that picture upgraded to red, i genuinely hope we see 0 cards this match.
 

Spruce Moose

Fred Wood (13)
Really happy for Jordy.

The one head scratching selection I've never come to terms with is why does Cheika keep Taniela Tupou on the bench?
It's a do or die match. Tupou is a tone setter, One that would leave England knowing what kind of match the wallabies plan on playing the moment the ball is kicked off.

Wish he'd earned the start because he is the best scrummager and ball running prop on the planet.


Think AAA deserves his spot has had a great year in test rugby, really happy to see Tupou on the bench though expect big things from him in the last 30 or so.
 

Spruce Moose

Fred Wood (13)
In all the chat don't forget that for a few of these guys and Cheika this is potentially their last game in the Wallaby gold. I hope they go out and put in a performance that does the shirt proud. Win or lose as long as they leave everything on the park I'll be happy.
 

Slim 293

Stirling Mortlock (74)
Really happy for Jordy.

The one head scratching selection I've never come to terms with is why does Cheika keep Taniela Tupou on the bench?
It's a do or die match. Tupou is a tone setter, One that would leave England knowing what kind of match the wallabies plan on playing the moment the ball is kicked off.

Wish he'd earned the start because he is the best scrummager and ball running prop on the planet.

It’s probably because AAA is an all round better player - better scrummager, has a massive work rate for a prop, and is also a decent ball carrier............

And also less likely to give away dumb penalties.
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
It’s probably because AAA is an all round better player - better scrummager, has a massive work rate for a prop, and is also a decent ball carrier....

And also less likely to give away dumb penalties.
Tupou played himself out of the starting team against Samoa. He's the future but he's no where near as polished as 7As (Allan Ala'alatoa).
 

Penguin

John Solomon (38)
It’s probably because AAA is an all round better player - better scrummager, has a massive work rate for a prop, and is also a decent ball carrier....

And also less likely to give away dumb penalties.



I think AAA deserves his starting spot also. But leave out the dumb bit eh, Tupou is a bonafide test prop & star.
 

Up the Guts

Steve Williams (59)
I think AAA deserves his starting spot also. But leave out the dumb bit eh, Tupou is a bonafide test prop & star.
I don’t think Slim was calling him dumb, more that his hyper aggression can lead to unnecessary penalties. Pretty easy to turnaround, Latu has been penalised once this whole WC.
 
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