2012 Rugby Championship Game 2 New Zealand vs Australia - 25 August

2012 Rugby Championship

25 August 2012:
New Zealand vs Australia at Eden Park, Auckland
Argentina vs South Africa - Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza

1 September 2012: Travel Bye

8 September 2012:
Australia vs South Africa at Patersons Stadium, Perth
New Zealand vs Argentina at Westpac Stadium in Wellington

15 September 2012:
Australia vs Argentina at Skilled Park, Gold Coast
New Zealand vs South Africa at Forsyth Barr in Dunedin

22 September 2012: Travel Bye

29 September 2012:
South Africa vs Australia - Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Argentina vs New Zealand - Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, La Plata

6 October 2012:
South Africa vs New Zealand - FNB Stadium, Johannesburg
Argentina vs Australia - Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario


Probably won't have time to start this thread on Saturday night.

Will probably be a little tired and emotional whatever the result, so just priming the pumps in readiness.

Match Officials are:
Ref N. Owens (WRU), AR1 A. Rolland (IRFU), AR2 L. Van Der Merwe (SARU), TMO B. Skeen (NZRU)


Mods: Help. I hit the "post" button before adding the "Who will win?" Poll. Can this be added retrospectively?

So for this week i'd drop - TPN, Robinson, Horne, Dennis, Timani. Higgers if there was a decent option.

Bring in - COOPER, Simmons, Slipper, Moore.

I don't think Deans will change anything.

Busy week ahead for Robbie he has to teach them how to kick, pass, catch & tackle & on top of that he will have to make up a different game plan & teach them how to come up off the line in defence in a straight line.

and of course he clearly knows a lot about all of that.

Wallabies are not getting close in the 2nd Test. ABs will eliminate errors and Wallabies still will have no clue on how to break the AB defense down.

Don't forgot that Deans also need to get some more conditioning into the forwards in the next week, and increase their accuracy at the collisions.

Taps, Moore, Cooper, Slipper to start? Is Palu still crocked? JOC is still broken I believe. Barnes to 12. Taps at 13? The squad is too weak for any more changes.

genia,cooper,ioane,barnes,AAC,mitchell,beale

should have been in Sydney and must be next week. Both props were crap in general play and at scrumtime. When is Palmer available?

also drop Kepu. fluffed too many runs and didnt get involved.

The whole team looked nervous before the game today. I fear '10 years is too long' was a millstone instead of a touchstone. Deans is going to have to do something radical or I'd say he is going to find himself retired.

I am with the Cooper/Barnes 10-12 camp, at least to try. I don't know how we inject some confidence into Beale, but if he doesn't find any AAC needs to go to 15 and Mitchell (or O'Connor if Coopers hints ring true) needs to come on.

Forwards wise I think we go to the Brumbies/Reds crew and put Robinson and TPN on the pine. Backrow wise I'm inclined to stick with Dennis,I think he will have gained a lot from that game. I am not sure of Douglas form in camp but I think he deserves a run. I'd like to see Hooper get a run from the bench at 6 for his attack, but Gill might be more prudent.

So Cooper, Douglas into the crew, Faingaa/Timani drop out.

The Brumbies' forward crew is really limited to Moore and Alexander...

Palmer is injured...

Mowen didn't make the cut, and Deans snubbed Fardy and Carter for softer options so they've booked themselves shoulder operations...

Do you list the away team first because it's an Australian website? Just wondering, not a wind up.

Team last night Team I'd pick this week
Robinson Slipper
TPN Moore
Kepu Kepu, for lack of another option
Timani Simmons
Sharpe Sharpe
Dennis Dennis
Pocock Pocock
Higginbotham Higginbotham

Genia Genia
Barnes Cooper
Ioane Ioane
Fainga'a Barnes
Horne Ashley-Cooper
Beale Beale

When JOC gets back I'd slot him into 14. Would have considered 12 if he'd been able to play there during the Welsh series, but I think Barnes is what Cooper needs him inside him (other than Ben Tapuai, who feeds off Cooper's ingenuity).

Lazy cut and paste from Game 1 thread title. Nothing sinister. or Tin Foil Hat like.

Here's a mind game for this week.

Dingo to announce Barnes at 10, and Finger at 12 on Thursday with no intention of playing this. On Saturday morning announce Cooper at 10 and Barnes at 12, having practiced this combo all week.

I presume that the guys that played last night for the wallabies were aware of the game plan and had trained for it pretty hard for the last couple of weeks and that the execution was just off last night.

I wouldn't change any of the selections other than the obvious (and previously and oft stated) one. The game plan and training has been set around this team and suddenly changing the team throughout is a recipe for disaster imho.

Quade Cooper is NOT the answer at this time and just putting him in will not result in any differences whilst the forwards continue to not show up and support the ball carrier, set up in attack, defend, etc.

Will we win - I doubt it. I think the all blacks are waaaay ahead at the moment. But I think if this team actually gets its shit together we can be competitive and make it an interesting game (not like last night).

David Pocock could miss game 2 with a knee injury.

Having scans today.

I'm trying to think what change is more obvious than Cooper for Barnes.

Both reserve backs?

Australia can win

It takes attitude. It takes desire to be better than them despite the pain and the physical exhaustion

Australia has been here before. It took selecting people with the right mindset and intestinal fortitude.

Picking fullbacks that can't tackle who spend their time at the hair dressers and at night clubs instead of getting fit and honing their skill to the elite levels of excellence required is the problem. Too many show ponies in the wallabies.

We need mongrel. We need desire. We need people who want to hurt them physically

That'd be a massive chance for Hooper/Gill, I'd be very interested to see how they'd go.

New here.

I think you pick your best players. Cooper is a #10 who has won a Super Rugby title. He makes mistake, yeah maybe. But so did a lot of 'safer' Wallabies last night. No brainer for me.

Beale, O'Conner, Cooper, Ioane, Genia, Ashley-Cooper. These are our best backs. If they aren't injured, you play them.