RWC: AUS v WAL (Twickenham): POOL A; 2:45am (AEDT) Sunday 11 October

[Viking]

Getting Hooper involved in the line out was finally starting to work out well. He may be short but he gets up there quicker than anyone with his weight.

He's actually not that short, It's an illusion due to his body frame. I think the Tahs state he's 6 foot, same as Poey. Certainly not the height of a normal lock but definitely wouldn't consider him short by normal standards.

When he first burst on the scene I swear he was only 5 foot.

 

[Viking]

singing or poetry?

Haha.. I'll go with singing.

He has played us at 13 last series right? 3rd game?

 

[Cardiffblue]

Haha.. I'll go with singing.

He has played us at 13 last series right? 3rd game?

He did play 13. From memory it wasn't good. Can't for the life of me remember which game it was tho

 

[Cardiffblue]

Don't want to harp on but this business of leaking the team list is a new phenomenon. First there were the hints that circulated to ensured the leak was seen as authoritative and these were confirmed when it was discovered that the leak was spot on. So we can take it that this was an official leak done deliberately.

So who was it aimed at? Certainly not us the supporters and not the press so can only assume that it was directed as a prior notice of intent to field an experimental side directed to Cheika. This is v strange

 

[Blue]

Don't want to harp on but this business of leaking the team list is a new phenomenon. First there were the hints that circulated to ensured the leak was seen as authoritative and these were confirmed when it was discovered that the leak was spot on. So we can take it that this was an official leak done deliberately.

So who was it aimed at? Certainly not us the supporters and not the press so can only assume that it was directed as a prior notice of intent to field an experimental side directed to Cheika. This is v strange

You watch too many movies.

Maybe Fatland thinks he is a funny guy in his own little parallel universe, but I don't buy this bullshit.

Cheika picked the same team he would have no matter what.

So has everyone else so far this World Cup. Except maybe for Wales then?

 

[fatprop]

I do like Cheika

Asked what momentum the Wallabies could take from their rousing win against England, Cheika said: "None. We supposedly had momentum after we beat New Zealand in Sydney and then they put their boot to our backside.

"That's what can happen if you are not 'on' every single day. Today is a day we have got to be better and enjoy that.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/rugby-world-cup/rugby-world-cup-2015-wallabies-learn-momentum-lesson-of-loss-to-all-blacks-20151008-gk4r76.html#ixzz3o2ndSiEf

 

[Pfitzy]

Im worried about the Wallaby line out, last time Mumm ran things it didn't go too smoothly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One lost that was a short throw from TPN.

 

[Tex]

Roberts and North will give Wales a midfield with all the subtlety of a mack truck. TK hasn't been on his best form, but I reckon if Giteau and Foley can manage the heavy tackling then when we've got ball in hand we should be attacking the 13 channel.

 

[fatprop]

Roberts and North will give Wales a midfield with all the subtlety of a mack truck. TK hasn't been on his best form, but I reckon if Giteau and Foley can manage the heavy tackling then when we've got ball in hand we should be attacking the 13 channel.

Inside channels against slow reacting big units as well

 

[No4918]

If only they had picked a 10 able to put people in holes through those channels.Oh, hang on. Never mind.

Should we hope one of the wingers gets injured so Beale can come in early again?

 

[Omar Comin']

Cuthbert is a liability in defence. And North obviously doesn't play that often at 13. Those 2 defending next to each other is a situation I think we can exploit.

 

[Quick Hands]

It will be interesting to see how the two backrows go with Joubert refereeing.

He's traditionally a referee that doesn't allow a lot of slowing down at the ruck and probably favours the attacking team more than most (certainly more than the northern hemisphere referees).

With essentially four opensides starting, both sides will be looking to go hard at the ball but I expect Joubert will be pretty strict on the three big things of competing at the breakdown:

a) clear release
b) not bridging past the ball and therefore not supporting their bodyweight
c) beating the ruck to get their hands on the ball

Luckily it's not at Cardiff with Joubert's home town refereeing.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I'm detecting a bit of triumphalism here regarding the Welsh backline. Let's not forget that other than a few notable exceptions we haven't lit that place up either. This will be a massive dogfight, make no mistake. We're sounding like England fans before the Wales game.

 

[Quick Hands]

Any hubris should be avoided. Fortunately it's only coming from over-excited fans.

The team and the coaches seem well-grounded and know that we aren't even halfway there yet. A lot of rugby to be played before anyone should be tempted to be triumphant.

 

[Cardiffblue]

Roberts and North will give Wales a midfield with all the subtlety of a mack truck. TK hasn't been on his best form, but I reckon if Giteau and Foley can manage the heavy tackling then when we've got ball in hand we should be attacking the 13 channel.

I agree. But this will be obvious to Wales too. There will be a plan. Hope it works!

 

[Cardiffblue]

I'm detecting a bit of triumphalism here regarding the Welsh backline. Let's not forget that other than a few notable exceptions we haven't lit that place up either. This will be a massive dogfight, make no mistake. We're sounding like England fans before the Wales game.

Believe me you're not that bad!

 

[TOCC]

One lost that was a short throw from TPN.

View attachment 7024

that tin foil hat must have protected you from the horror of watching 3 straight line-out losses against Fiji once Mumm replaced Simmons. But hey, the 50% lineout success against England has surely appeased any fears we have in this area.

I expect Mumm to improve this game, and it will help that he is calling with Moore who is a much better thrower, but it's still an area of concern given the height and strength in the Wales second row.

 

[qwerty51]

Re-watched the England match (nothing else on a Friday night). Anyone else noticing Hooper's running game has died down a bit in the last 12 months? However his defensive game is at it's best its been. Seems to be a purposeful change in his game and it's suiting the team a lot better.

 

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I think Gatland will be telling his boys this will be the biggest game of their careers . Cheika will need to make sure the Wallabies leave just one thing back at the team hotel ....MERCY... We need to put Wales away ..should be an enthralling encounter against a motivated opponent .

 

[Quick Hands]

Wallabies are a good team and we have our best available team on the field and we're certainly good enough to win this. Having said that, Wales are also a very good side who will no doubt be confident after their own victory against England. I don't know enough about their individual players as to whether or not this is their best available team or not, but it's a team that is also capable of winning this.

I'm fairly confident that regardless of who plays who, both of these teams should win their quarter finals against Scotland and South Africa.