For me, its amazing that Simmons has had the amount of caps for the Wallabies that he has. I personally wouldn't even have him in the Waratahs 23 nor would I have him in the Rebels or Brumbies 15 95% of the time, yet somehow he is one of the two 2nd rowers chosen to play for Australia.
Carter's not much better may I add. If any player from any international side looks at our lineup and is intimidated by the presence of their names, I'll eat my hat. I understand that they are seen to get through a lot of work, but I'd prefer for my 2nd rowers to have an actual impact upon the game as well. They're supposed to be the biggest blokes on the field, yet you wouldn't know it from the way those two go into contact.
Give Horwill or Fardy another shot, bring back Kane Douglas and whack Skelton or Jones on the bench. We need Eben Etzebeth-like physcos in our tight five and at the end of the day, neither Simmons nor Carter have the required mongrel.
No mate. Carter isn't "not much better". He's no better. Or worse in fact.
The reason Simmons is there is because he is a better line out operator than all other locks in Australia and gets through a shit tonne or work every game. I in fact despised the bloke when he debuted for the Reds and lament the fact that I'm not his body shape as I could surely be a Wallaby if I was. But the fact of the matter is he serves a purpose.
Kane Douglas was our first choice last year against the Lions and was shocking. His line out work is poor for a lock and whilst has great impacts in a game, doesn't do the amount of work required. In addition he plays a different role to Simmons.
Skelton is a line out non-entity and the scrum being under pressure has followed his presence at time. In addition he doesn't get through a lot of work. Simmons isn't picked to be Eben Estebeth, Sam Carter is. Look at the good second row combinations and understand the roles required before you comment. Then direct your comments correctly. Something like the fact he gave away 4 penalties and we lost 2 line outs is shocking. Simmons needs to dominate the air and not make stupid decisions that cost us fucking tries like the one on Saturday.
Perhaps Horwill is an option over Rob. Sam Carter right now is a bigger liability as a player though and a more major concern to replace. The even bigger concern is that if it's Horwill over Simmons, who (that hasn't been able to in Super Rugby all year) is going to fill Carter's role.
Interestingly we were all worried about the lack of depth to replace Simmons but Horwill's set piece has improved dramatically in 2014 giving us 2 proven test players there (Horwill based on his career and Simmons based on 2013) which will keep them both honest because only one can get picked and it's now the other lock position that is a concern after Carter has really struggled 2 tests in a row.
and still the game hung in the balance. The goal of gaining the No.2 ranking of world rugby by Capt Hoops prior to the game sums up the head space of the Wobs camp #2ndbest
