jollyswagman
Ron Walden (29)
We were a tad bit lucky last week against Wales with the substitution timing and the situation could have very easily bit us on the bum. Without being over critical of the coaching / management team, they dodged a bullet in my opinion. It could well have been a "defining moment" for the Wallabies if the substitution timing backfired and we lost the game because we left injured players on the field when they shouldn't have been out there.
Looking ahead to this week, I believe that whatever call is made regarding Folau and Pocock has the potential to be another "defining moment" even before the team runs out. If they play both and they are not 100% and end up needing to be subbed early, or play below their usual standard, or in the worse case aggravate their injuries then we are going to be screwed. There will be some finger pointing no doubt and some tough questions to answer which to date Cheika has deservedly managed to avoid. What irritated me somewhat before last weeks game was Folau saying if he wasn't confident in his ankle he wouldn't strap his boots on.....well he wasn't fine and it impacted on his performance. As fantastic a player that he is, a 80% Izzy Folau does not trump a 100% Kurtley Beale in my book. Australia has been pretty lucky to date with our injuries compared to some other teams that have made it into the quarters.....look at the England V Wales match and again with Ireland v France. It only takes one match like that and we could lose three of our key players......then what?
Looking ahead to this week, I believe that whatever call is made regarding Folau and Pocock has the potential to be another "defining moment" even before the team runs out. If they play both and they are not 100% and end up needing to be subbed early, or play below their usual standard, or in the worse case aggravate their injuries then we are going to be screwed. There will be some finger pointing no doubt and some tough questions to answer which to date Cheika has deservedly managed to avoid. What irritated me somewhat before last weeks game was Folau saying if he wasn't confident in his ankle he wouldn't strap his boots on.....well he wasn't fine and it impacted on his performance. As fantastic a player that he is, a 80% Izzy Folau does not trump a 100% Kurtley Beale in my book. Australia has been pretty lucky to date with our injuries compared to some other teams that have made it into the quarters.....look at the England V Wales match and again with Ireland v France. It only takes one match like that and we could lose three of our key players......then what?
