Wallabies vs England, Sydney, 3rd Test, 25 June @ 8:00pm

[Scrubber2050]

Personally whilst I think Kerevi has been OK the bash brothers (both K's) were expected to do just that - bash 'em in the middle

Neither are "dancers" and slide through the defence - they are big and should take on the line in the most physical way possible. IMO that hasn't happened.

To'omua will be underdone but the second playmaker is a role we just had to have.

 

[Scrubber2050]

I just hope when Moore leaves the field Horne takes over the captaincy duties ( and not Michael Hooper) when decisions are made whether to take points on offer.

I find it amusing that some coaches (and Moore) have come out and publicly supported Michael's decision to kick for the line. Says to me they didn't support the decision, merely the VC.

 

[fatprop]

True fat prop. So we just need a 10 who can do most of the playmaking and a 13 who can share some of the load.

10. Cooper
12. Kerevi
13. Hunt/Godwin

Hypothetical of coarse. But I like that balance.

I don't

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I said before the series that my preferred centre combination was a ball player/passer and a sledgehammer, but unfortunately that didn't work out and effectively K-Squared was the only pairing Cheika could pick. Now that To'omua is available I'm happy to see him back in the team. Kerevi will get many more opportunities over the years, don't worry. I think he'll be fighting it out with TK for the 13 spot though. The locks concern me, because I think England will deal with big Will pretty easily. I would have started Cliffy at eight as well.

All we can do now is hope that it works.

 

[Viking]

I don't

Too many Tahs?

 

[Viking]

Is no-one going to mention the fact we only have 2 genuine jumpers in the line-out.
We can expect to win zero opposition ball with this set-up and have extra pressure put on ours.

 

[USARugger]

Two jumpers and a lock who isn't really known for his scrummaging ability has me pretty nervous considering who we're playing

 

[USARugger]

For all the naysayers, Christian really does have a better passing and kicking game than Foley, and those look to be the crucial elements missing from the Wallabies' game plan atm.

Christian is without a doubt the most skillful and deceptive ballplayer in Australia after QC (Quade Cooper) (Lance may have something to say about this if he returns to health in the same form he left it in) but the problem has been getting him to reproduce this form in tests.

If he could manage that and to stay healthy I don't think Bernard Foley would have ever entered the discussion for starting Wallaby 10.

The problem is making those things actually happen.

 

[Tip]

Meanwhile DHP's 2 from 7 tackles in the two tests gets glossed over.

3 of those missed tackles were from Wallaby kick-offs where he's the shooter.

The shooter gets stepped pretty much every time, and it's even harder when half the forward pack's impeding your line.

 

[Viking]

Christian is without a doubt the most skillful and deceptive ballplayer in Australia after QC (Quade Cooper) (Lance may have something to say about this if he returns to health in the same form he left it in) but the problem has been getting him to reproduce this form in tests.

If he could manage that and to stay healthy I don't think Bernard Foley would have ever entered the discussion for starting Wallaby 10.

The problem is making those things actually happen.

Foley absolutely smokes Lilo's running game though.

 

[Tip]

Yes I thought Carter would have got the nod over Simmons. but both lack impact so that's fair enough.

Yes we only have 2 specialist jumpers in Simmon and Fardy. I expect our line-out to go to shit.

I get the feeling that if Skeltons one lock, then the other 2nd row jersey is a poisoned chalice. When the lineout invariably falls to shit, it's going to be all ___(insert here)_____ (Simmons, Carter, Horwill, Coleman, Arnold) fault.

 

[USARugger]

Foley absolutely smokes Lilo's running game though.

Which is great if Foley has aspirations to play in the center or further out. I'm one of those crazy guys that prefers picking guys to perform their core roles first, and anything else is a bonus.

Lilo's running game is nothing to scoff at either. Shame he broke his leg because he was fucking electric before then.

 

[ACT Crusader]

I think Skelton needs to be in the side, if anything to draw in defenders. It was very noticeable that England were able to just commit one to the tackle for most of the night and fan out creating less space for the backs to work with. There were opportunities not taken by Australia for sure, but the biggest problem was the inability of the forward ball carriers to create doubt in their opposition.

 

[Viking]

Which is great if Foley has aspirations to play in the center or further out. I'm one of those crazy guys that prefers picking guys to perform their core roles first, and anything else is a bonus.

Absolutely agree here. Foley would make a good 12, if he was a solid defender.

 

[fatprop]

Too many Tahs?

too much watching QC (Quade Cooper) playing french rugby

 

[USARugger]

I think Skelton needs to be in the side, if anything to draw in defenders. It was very noticeable that England were able to just commit one to the tackle for most of the night and fan out creating less space for the backs to work with. There were opportunities not taken by Australia for sure, but the biggest problem was the inability of the forward ball carriers to create doubt in their opposition.

The question is just if Will Skelton v. France or Will Skelton v. Most Other Nations is going to show up.

So fucking tired of watching him switch from dragging/moving bodies to flopping around like a wounded fish.

 

[USARugger]

Also, what the fuck did James Horwill ever do to Michael Cheika?

How many times does he need to demonstrate that he's got more to offer than Dean Mumm before he's no longer dropped for him? It's not like Mumm is any younger.

 

[Brumby Runner]

I think Skelton needs to be in the side, if anything to draw in defenders. It was very noticeable that England were able to just commit one to the tackle for most of the night and fan out creating less space for the backs to work with. There were opportunities not taken by Australia for sure, but the biggest problem was the inability of the forward ball carriers to create doubt in their opposition.

It was just as noticeable that England had dominance over the Wallabies at the breakdown when they were in possession (as rare as that was). The loss of Poey at the breakdown probably hurt us more than we have acknowledged. Inserting Skelton is unlikely to fix the breakdown problems at all.

 

[gel]

Bit tough on Kerevi. I didn't think he was too bad in his matches. He offloaded quite a few times actually compared to others that have been kept in (ask Hooper how he feels about Kerevi's passing - he's been the recipient of quite a few when he has been out there on the wings).

He's also bent the line repeatedly which is what his job is meant to be.

I hope he takes it well.

 

[KOB1987]

Just out of curiosity I looked up the stats for the SFS (Allianz) for the Wallabies. It's perhaps a bigger fortress than Suncorp was supposed to be.

The Wallabies have played there 24 times for 19 wins.

Losses have been to NZL x2, SAF, FRA and the Lions.

Our biggest ever win there was over Samoa 73-3 in 1994.

We have played England twice for our 5th and 6th biggest wins (25 & 19 point margins) at the ground.

All of our losses there have been by less than 10 points except for an 11 point loss to NZL in 1995.

That loss was also our most recent loss there (21 years ago!).