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Wallabies v All Blacks Saturday 26th August at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin

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zer0

zer0

John Thornett (49)
Tu'ungafasi needs to follow Romano out the door, but for different reasons. Romano was a solid backup but is now past his use-by date, whereas Tu'ungafasi just isn't up to muster. Replace him with Laulala, who can actually scrummage. Would've also liked to have seen Lienert-Brown and Williams swap positions.

EDIT: And Whitelock as captain, obviously.
 
Ulrich

Ulrich

Nev Cottrell (35)
Cunning Aussie plot last weekend to subdue the All Blacks and shock them in Dunedin?

Nah. Would be nice to see again though where Australia outwits its opponents and get back to where they can be. We really don't like that Australia, but we prefer it above the current status quo.

Same with the Bokke, we are not out of the doldrums yet. We bring something different altogether though. Immense physicality is our game. We need to get back to that.

The most worrying factor is that it seems the NH and SH are starting to change guard so for the sake of competition everyone needs to be at their best. Argentina could certainly do better than they are as well.

Their Achilles being they have no new "fresh" blood coming in to shake things up really. It may very well be that those guys may be sick of one another rather than being brothers at this stage - like living with some friends in a big house for a year after school. It's only fun for a while.

Just enjoy the rugby should be the message to the Aussie players. They all seem extremely unhappy to be rugby players at the moment. Perhaps if they enjoyed the game again they will live up to their potential.
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
The silly thing with the defensive shuffling is that it is hard to comprehend what the actual point of it was.

Beale, Kerevi/Kuridrani, Speight and Rona all made and attempted very similar numbers of tackles.

If the premise is that Beale's the weakest defender out of them, it didn't actually lighten his defensive load in any way.

Foley wasn't required to make a lot of tackles and neither was Folau. To compare that to the All Blacks, Ben Smith and Damien McKenzie made the least tackles which suggests Foley is probably the one hidden most in defence and plays that second fullback role moreso than Speight or Rona.

If DHP comes back in this week I'd like to see him in that second fullback role with Folau and Foley up in the defensive line more.

Keep it simple.
 
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Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Owen Franks is out with an Achilles problem.

Nepo Laulala replaces him and Jeff Toomaga-Allen called in as a replacement.

Not really sure what that means regarding Tu-ungafasi seeing as Laulala wasn't in the 23 before.
 
Up the Guts

Up the Guts

Steve Williams (59)
If DHP isn't fit then maybe they might think about moving Hodge to wing if they value his boot over any benefits Rona brings in attack?
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
DH8-55gVYAAVtpa.jpg:large


Fewer changes than I'd hoped for.

Timani must be under an injury cloud. At least DHP is fit again.
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
It's hard to see Hooper and McMahon having as ineffective games as they did last week so hopefully the forward pack fires up more on the back of improved performances by them.

I'd also hope Moore isn't as far off the pace again. He needs to give everything in 40 minutes knowing that he'll be replaced at half time.
 
Ulrich

Ulrich

Nev Cottrell (35)
Brumbieman said:
ROB FUCKING SIMMONS!!!! :mad:

Moore still starting, same lightweight and ineffective backrow, and same shitty slow service from the base of the ruck.


Sigh.
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Shitty service from the base of the ruck starts with the forwards really.

I am amazed at how 90-95% of every thread revolves around backline players around here w.r.t Australia. The irony being you can have extremely average backline players as long as you get it right up front. For that all you need is strength and in the modern world also extra fitness and a bit of speed. All of which is not beyond the reach of Australia's most modest players really.

If you have that, you can be competitive - particularly if you face your foes week-in week-out and know what to expect.
 
Brumbieman

Brumbieman

Dick Tooth (41)
Ulrich said:
Shitty service from the base of the ruck starts with the forwards really.

I am amazed at how 90-95% of every thread revolves around backline players around here w.r.t Australia. The irony being you can have extremely average backline players as long as you get it right up front. For that all you need is strength and in the modern world also extra fitness and a bit of speed. All of which is not beyond the reach of Australia's most modest players really.

If you have that, you can be competitive - particularly if you face your foes week-in week-out and know what to expect.
Click to expand...




Getting messy service can be the forwards problem if the half isn't getting clean ball, but when he is and the half's passes are consistently average to poor, it's his fault.

Put it out in front of the fucking receiver, draw them forward onto the ball so they're in motion when they catch it. It aint hard, yet Genia hasn't done it since 2010.
 
Up the Guts

Up the Guts

Steve Williams (59)
Alex Sharpe said:
Wouldn't have gone Simmons over Rory Arnold. I don't see Simmons giving more physicality or defensive starch than what Arnold gave on Saturday.
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Must think that Arnold will be a better 'finisher.' I expect to seem Simmons subbed at the 50 minute mark. Not entirely sold on the whole 'finisher' concept unless it's subbing on someone who can guy nuts for 25 minutes like McMahon for someone who plays tighter. I fear that the game could well be lost by the 50 minute mark and it would make sense to have your best players on from the start i.e. Arnold over Simmons
 
Ulrich

Ulrich

Nev Cottrell (35)
Brumbieman said:
Getting messy service can be the forwards problem if the half isn't getting clean ball, but when he is and the half's passes are consistently average to poor, it's his fault.

Put it out in front of the fucking receiver, draw them forward onto the ball so they're in motion when they catch it. It aint hard, yet Genia hasn't done it since 2010.
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It's quite hard when you've had to dig for the ball and the likes of TJ / Smith, SBW & Crotty are charging up the line toward the player you are attempting to pass to.

When you find yourself in that situation you know your forwards have let you down.

Not to mention some roaming loosies in there as well to obliterate your flyhalf.
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
I don't really think the Wallaby forward pack were the issue last Saturday except for their contribution in defence in the first half.

We had a good share of possession, we controlled our breakdown ball fairly well and were solid at set piece.

There were a couple of times when forwards got disconnected in defence and contributed to our defensive woes but generally it was the backs who caused the issues there.

Anyway, hopefully it's a better performance across the park this weekend.
 
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