Wallabies v England in Melbourne, 18 June

[TOCC]

1. Slipper
2. Moore
3. Holmes
4. Arnold
5. Horwill
6. Fardy
7. Hooper
8. McCalman
9. Phipps
10. Foley
11. Horne
12. Kerevi
13. Kuridrani
14. DHP
15. Folau

16. TPN
17. Sio
18. Kepu
19. Coleman
20. Houston
21. McMahon
22. Frisby
23. Lealifano

 

[Brumby Runner]

Pocock out, so time to move on from the Pooper. Unfortunately, McMahon just doesn't play with the same intensity or effectiveness at test level as he does at Super. Think he needs to be left out altogether. Gill and Hooper together isn't likely to be in the same class as Pocock and Hooper sharing the duties of 7 and 8. McCalman just doesn't bring the aggression needed to counter the England pack. Houston was encouraged to come back and was included in the squad for a reason, relating to his aggressive play at No 8. He would be my pick to replace Poey.

I assume Simmons will be out, or probably should be. One lineout and again penalised for pulling the catcher down in the air. He has next to no impact otherwise in open play. Replace with Horwill for the second test, paired with Arnold who did enough to warrant more opportunities. Carter probably on the bench but wouldn't be sorry to see Coleman in there.

Horne is another who is likely to be unavailable. I think the only No 11 winger included in the squad was Nabuli. He certainly has more speed than Rob, but is a long way down on experience. The others all seem to be open side wingers - Naiyarovoro and Monaghan. So I'd go with Nabuli.

At this stage, I'd keep Kerevi and Kuridrani together in the centres. CL to cover from the bench.

So,
Slipper, Moore, Kepu
Arnold, Horwill
Fardy, Houston, Hooper

Phipps, Foley
Nabuli, Kerevi, Kuridrani, DHP
Folau

TPN, Sio, Holmes, Carter, Mumm, Frisby, Lealiifano, Hodge (or To'omua if available).

No 8 is the weakest spot, so would consider McCalman on the bench for Mumm. Bench probably needs to be a 5/3 split.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Was Houston playing lock or no 8 in England?

 

[Pfitzy]

Horne is another who is likely to be unavailable. I think the only No 11 winger

You're giving a bit too much credit to the thought processes of wingers. Your blindside winger (14) tends to be a second fullback (DHP) while your openside winger (11) can be any mug who is big or fast enough. Maybe both.

With Pocock out, and the knowledge that we did have enough ball running up front as well as doing some stupidly shit things at the breakdown, I think the balance of the forwards will change as follows:

1 Slipper - ball running
2 Moore - more ball running
3 Kepu - ball running
4 Arnold - don't think he'll be discarded, but please fucking stay THE FUCK away from fucking ball running. Fucking PLEASE.
5 Horwill - for Simmons if injured
6 Fardy - stop doing stupid shit
7 Hooper - running the ball like a mad c***
8 Houston - apparently he's been killing it up north

This gives the pack more ball running options, and roles have to be clear on who covers up the ruck and who gets into first receiver.

Other than that I wouldn't be changing a lot - our backs had England's by the short and curlies. If we need a replacement for Horne then you could end up with one of two options:

9 Phipps
10 Foley
11 Morahan* / Naiyaravoro+
12 Kerevi* / Lealiifano+
13 Kuridrani
14 DHP
15 Folau

Those combinations are paired appropriately; if you have Kerevi you need a pace man outside. If you have Lilo you need a bash man for set piece.

 

[No4918]

Was Houston playing lock or no 8 in England?

8.

 

[Viking]

Houston was dropped from the squad already. The number 8 is a battle between McMahon, Palu and McCalman.

 

[hammertimethere]

He was playing 8 but he's not who I'd replace Poey with.

Sio stays because he might turn it around, Kepu in at 3, Horwill in for injured Simmo (Carter on bench), big dog to 8 (Gill on bench), lilo and Kerevi to swap.

1. Sio
2. Moore
3. Kepu
4. Arnold
5. Horwill
6. Fardy
7. Hooper
8. McCalman
9. Phipps
10. Foley
11. Horne
12. LILO
13. TK (+ rocket up arse)
14. DHP
15. Folau

16. TPN
17. Slipper
18. Holmes
19. Carter
20. Gill
21. McMahon (or Hunt)
22. Frisby
23. Kerevi

 

[Braveheart81]

If Horne passes the concussion protocols this week he will certainly be selected.

 

[Joe Blow]

Love to see Houston come back into the mix but it was odd for Cheika to let him go at the first cut. The lineout was an issue so whoever replaces Poey should have a presence there.
We need ball runners. Kepu in to start if fit. Slipper for Sio is likely. In Sio's defense they didn't start to get to him at scrum time until the second half. He was very good in general play and made some really aggressive tackles and carried the ball well. He just didn't know how to counter whatever Cole was doing. They may be able to fix that this week.
Arnold started well but fell off early in the second half.
We need to play at pace like we did in the first 15 minutes in Brisbane. The Poms were very uncomfortable when we were moving the ball side to side very quickly.

 

[Pfitzy]

Horwill in for injured Simmo (Carter on bench)

Love to hear your justification for that - you're saying dispose of ball-dropping Arnold altogether for ball-dropping Carter? And removing Mumm from the equation

Your team looks like "MORE QUEENSLAND AND LESS NSW WILL SOLVE ALL OUR PROBLEMS!"

 

[Viking]

Interesting comments from Cheika this morning, he mentioned replacing Pocock with Liam Gill IF they decide to go for a like-for-like replacement.

Not sure that will be the case though, given the need for securing our own ball with players who can clear rucks probably more important then turnovers at this stage. Great to hear Gills name in the mix though.

 

[Pfitzy]

Realistically if they're going to keep the squad numbers up, Gill is the likely replacement. Does that get him closer to the XXIII? I doubt it.

Ball running up front is what we lacked.

 

[Viking]

If Horne passes the concussion protocols this week he will certainly be selected.

He got the ball in space on one occasion in the first half and I thought "here we go - a winger in space" Then I remembered it was Rob Horne and he was easily tackled 2 metres down the sideline.

As good as he is, we are really missing a dangerous winger with pace and a side-step. I can't help but think if a player like Speight or Tomane were in that same situation they could have turned it into a try scoring opportunity. Especially given the width we were playing in.

Too bad all our wingers are injured or inexperienced.

 

[Viking]

Realistically if they're going to keep the squad numbers up, Gill is the likely replacement. Does that get him closer to the XXIII? I doubt it.

Ball running up front is what we lacked.

Support for ball runners too.

 

[Pfitzy]

And that is where Arnold got it wrong - too many times in first receiver with no mates. Several times we saw him, Holmes, or another forward dish it out the back to Foley and we carved up.

All experience

 

[Braveheart81]

He got the ball in space on one occasion in the first half and I thought "here we go - a winger in space" Then I remembered it was Rob Horne and he was easily tackled 2 metres down the sideline.

As good as he is, we are really missing a dangerous winger with pace and a side-step. I can't help but think if a player like Speight or Tomane were in that same situation they could have turned it into a try scoring opportunity. Especially given the width we were playing in.

Too bad all our wingers are injured or inexperienced.

Space? He had room to make about 10 metres but was always covered by two players. He recycled the ball well.

Do you really want a winger going for the miracle bump off that 90% of the time they will end up in touch? It's not like we were close to the try line. Horne did the right thing there.

No matter how fast the winger is there, they still need to bust two tackles with very little room to work with to make a break there. It's a low percentage play in that position of the field.

I think people's perception of his lack of pace are a bit off the mark. I doubt he'd be slower than DHP.

Of course Tomane and Speight are faster and Tomane would be playing if he was fit. Speight probably wouldn't because his form hasn't been great for a long while.

 

[The torpedo]

Space? He had room to make about 10 metres but was always covered by two players. He recycled the ball well.

Do you really want a winger going for the miracle bump off that 90% of the time they will end up in touch? It's not like we were close to the try line. Horne did the right thing there.

No matter how fast the winger is there, they still need to bust two tackles with very little room to work with to make a break there. It's a low percentage play in that position of the field.

I think people's perception of his lack of pace are a bit off the mark. I doubt he'd be slower than DHP.

Of course Tomane and Speight are faster and Tomane would be playing if he was fit. Speight probably wouldn't because his form hasn't been great for a long while.

Speaking of Tomane, how long is he out for?

 

[No4918]

1. Slipper
2. Moore
3. Holmes
4. Arnold
5. Horwill
6. Fardy
7. Hooper
8. McCalman/Houston
9. Phipps
10.Foley
11. Horne
12. Kerevi
13. Kuridrani
14. DHP
15. Folau

16. TPN
17. Sio
18. Kepu
19. Mumm
20. Palu
21. Gill
22. Frisby
23. Lilo

Don't usually like 5/2 bench but see greater need for it this week than last night.

 

[Viking]

Space? He had room to make about 10 metres but was always covered by two players. He recycled the ball well.

Do you really want a winger going for the miracle bump off that 90% of the time they will end up in touch? It's not like we were close to the try line. Horne did the right thing there.

No matter how fast the winger is there, they still need to bust two tackles with very little room to work with to make a break there. It's a low percentage play in that position of the field.

I think people's perception of his lack of pace are a bit off the mark. I doubt he'd be slower than DHP.

Of course Tomane and Speight are faster and Tomane would be playing if he was fit. Speight probably wouldn't because his form hasn't been great for a long while.

I don't he'd need to tackle-bust 2 players. He'd need to tackle-bust 1 player - which he cannot do, whereas most wingers these days do it with ease.

I don't expect them to go for miracle plays all the time but I think any other winger would have gotten another 5 metres towards the try line, maybe created a potential for an offload, maybe stepped back inside.

I agree he is probably faster then DHP. But at least DHP can act as another fullback, Horne can't even do that. It is very unbalanced with both of them and at this stage I'd prefer DHP and a fast winger.

Horne is so god damn one dimensional it ain't even funny anymore.

 

[tragic]

Your team looks like "MORE QUEENSLAND AND LESS NSW WILL SOLVE ALL OUR PROBLEMS!"

You need to replace your winking emoji with a blind one.
There isn't a single current reds player in his starting line-up.