England v Australia

[ACT Crusader]

TWAS - is it Cheika that is "clearly struggling in the role" or are the players just not stringing together enough good patches of rugby to get them past the post in some tight test matches?

What is it about the coach that is appears to be not working? Has he lost the dressing room already? Are his trainings not concentrating on the key areas of weakness?

On the outside looking in, his selections have hardly been controversial have they? Fardy out, so you need a new blindside. He picks a newbie, that's not earth shattering. He's kept the same captain despite issues. No clear replacement, ok fair enough. And the list goes on.

The team is pretty much the same and like the Argies test and even the AB and Bok games there are the same issues

 

[BDA]

Would you not agree that given the circumstances, winning two of the four tests would be a successful tour?

You're right Braveheart. We are talking about very fine margins here. If we can beat England the tour will have been a success. Lose and its an undeniably poor start to Cheika's reign.

 

[Braveheart81]

I think people considered 4 out of 5 (It was a 5 test tour) to be a pass mark as 2 of the games were Italy and Scotland.

Sorry, forgot about it being a 5 test tour last year.

That's where I think expectations don't match reality though. Winning four out of five tests made it one of our best tours ever.

How is that also the pass mark?

Any away test is difficult regardless of the difference in world rankings.

 

[Cardiffblue]

A joke boyo, a joke.

Hope you're right cos I live here and love rugby. And this thread is not exactly a love fest of aussie supporters already

 

[Train Without a Station]

Sorry, forgot about it being a 5 test tour last year.

That's where I think expectations don't match reality though. Winning four out of five tests made it one of our best tours ever.

How is that also the pass mark?

Any away test is difficult regardless of the difference in world rankings.

Statistically ignoring the opponents perhaps the best ever.

But when 2 were Scotland and Italy, on the fringe of real tier 1 status, and 1 being Wales who at the time had lost 8 in a row to Australia and the other being Ireland who Australia last lost to on an EOYT in 2006, they weren't extremely difficult matches.

Based on who the team played, it was a good return. It should have been 5 from 5 and an exceptional result but for a poor second half against England.

 

[Biffo]

Beating Wales and England in their backyard's a year before the WC would be considered a huge success given the limited prep.

I think we'll get smashed however which is no reflection on Cheika's ability. The whole tour was a write-off, I'm pretty happy with 1 win.

i agree very strongly.
performances (as opposed to scoreboards) have been of the type, but much better, that i expected

 

[Biffo]

Nothing like a little balance to offset the idolatry surrounding The Great Cheika and his cult of personality.

i am sorry to have to disagree, but i have seen zero "cult of personality" from Cheika and his co-coaches.
i have seen the opposite from them - determined efforts to wipe out cults of personality.

tbf, i haven't seen much idolatry surrounding Cheika, either.

 

[boyo]

Shame my recording failed to kick off. I'd like to look at this game.

One 1.55am Fri.

 

[ACT Crusader]

Are some posters underestimating the impact that a very unexpected and public head coaching change can have on a sporting team?

I'm not a Wallaby supporter and I'm not a pessimistic sort of fulla, but whoever got the gig in those circumstances were going to be pushing it up hill in a massive way, not only because of the timing, but because the dressing room, the organisation, the sport had all taken a pounding publicly. The players were put in unchartered waters regarding the line of questioning, they were under scrutiny like never before, the culture was being questioned and internal rifts and differences between players were being questioned.

So address all of that and while you're at it, go on tour against an improving Ireland, an unpredictable French side, a good Welsh side that historically push the Wallabies, and an England side that also is unpredictable but fairly stable.

Unlike Link's appointment, when it was time and there wasn't the internal stuff going on to the degree that Cheika inherited, plus blind freddy could've seen that Deans time was far spent. This situation is completely different and therefore it would be churlish to compare at this early juncture.

 

[Paradox]

If the Wallabies can improve on their performance against Ireland, I think they'll take the points. We must address the decline in the second 40 mins and not give away a shite start. England will be under extreme pressure to win so they will make mistakes. The forwards coming off the bench need to pull their fingers out.

 

[drewprint]

I would take Ben Smith over him anyday, and maybe Izzy Dagg amd Rob Kearney.

I meant replace him with another Australian player. And lol at Kearney. Yeah nah.

 

[qwerty51]

Should Fainga’a be ruled out he will be replaced by James Hanson, while Cheika will likely choose between Kurtley Beale and Rob Horne at outside centre role alongside Matt To'omua who was impressive on the weekend.

Forum will actually explode if Beale is named @ 13.

 

[Train Without a Station]

Forum will actually explode if Beale is named @ 13.

Certainly won't dispel any notions that Cheika is doing everything he can to find a spot for Beale.

 

[qwerty51]

Most likely just uneducated journos thoughts, they have not had a Monday training yet. Why would he play Beale at 13 over his province's 13, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).

 

[KOB1987]

so much negativity!

Breathe, people..

 

[KOB1987]

Most likely just uneducated journos thoughts, they have not had a Monday training yet. Why would he play Beale at 13 over his province's 13, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).

He won't..as you say, uneducated journos..

 

[Quick Hands]

Most likely just uneducated journos thoughts, they have not had a Monday training yet. Why would he play Beale at 13 over his province's 13, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).

Particularly when he said last week that he thought that Beale and Cooper were ideal bench players who could come on late and make a difference.

 

[Scotty]

TWAS - is it Cheika that is "clearly struggling in the role" or are the players just not stringing together enough good patches of rugby to get them past the post in some tight test matches?

What is it about the coach that is appears to be not working? Has he lost the dressing room already? Are his trainings not concentrating on the key areas of weakness?

On the outside looking in, his selections have hardly been controversial have they? Fardy out, so you need a new blindside. He picks a newbie, that's not earth shattering. He's kept the same captain despite issues. No clear replacement, ok fair enough. And the list goes on.

The team is pretty much the same and like the Argies test and even the AB and Bok games there are the same issues

I think the negativity towards Cheika really comes down to two selections:

1. Beale from exile
2. Skelton when he has proven he isn't quite ready

He may have made these selections for the right reason, but it does appear that he is more selecting players he knows from the province he is still a coach of.

I don't care too much about either selection, because ultimately I believe these two players have the potential to be in a world cup winning squad, but he has opened himself up to criticism by doing so somewhat prematurely.

 

[Bardon]

This is going to be a very interesting game. The English media are sharpening their knives for Lancaster and some of the Aus supporters already have their knives drawn for Cheika. Whoever loses is going to have a pretty uncomfortable next few months.

Will England persist with Farrell, even shunted out to 12 like last week? Ford certainly did a better job at 10 but England's midfield isn't really setting the world on fire. The loss of Kuridrani is a big blow for Australia as he's looked the part in recent tests and grew into test rugby.

Will Cheika give Cooper a start and if he does will it be Cooper's brilliance if they win but Cheika's ineptitude if they lose for some fans?

The contrast between the teams in terms of 2nd row stock couldn't be greater. England have real depth while in Australia the debate seems to be about who should be left out rather than who's pushing for inclusion.

If only England had a hooker to compliment their locks. But neither Webber nor Hartley set the world alight and the latter comes with his well documented discipline problems. For Australia Fainga'a was asked to step up with Moore and TPN out and boy has he stepped up in a big way.

IN the back row Australia have looked unbalanced so far on the tour and have struggled to impose themselves. Hooper seems to have gone from captain fantastic to the villain of the piece. But he's a young bloke and needs others around him to put their hands up.

England suffer from having a lot of very good players to pick from in the back row with very few genuine world class options. This results in a lot of chopping and changing as the form player is given a run out. The only fixture being captain Robshaw.

The form of both full backs have dipper recently with both Folau and Brown really impressing earlier in the year. Now both look a little hesitant and don't stand out like they did before. With this the last test of a long year one or both have a change to finish with a bang.

It'll be interesting to see if England keep Youngs at 9 or revert to Care. Care has been poor in the test window so far. While Phipps has his detractors his delivery has been much faster than England have had to put up with.

On the wing May is emerging as a real talent in the test arena while the long awaited debut of Spheight last week gave a glimpse of what's to come from a guy who's been so impressive at Super Rugby level.

As always England will look to attack the Aussie scrum but they'll find that their front row is made of sterner stuff these days, at least until the bench is emptied.

All in all there's plenty for the neutral rugby tragic to look forward to from this one.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Cheika is clearly struggling in the role. But who would you replace him with?

Even if they lost every game of the rugby championship in 2015 who would you replace him with?

That's the concerning thing. Cheika is rightfully an international coach based on provincial success.

Past him you'd need to blindly hope somebody who hasn't been as successful would suddenly be more successful at international level.

Bring back Link!! Ah, sorry -- forgot he lost the confidence of the team.