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

[Scotty]

As I said in other posts I would have given Kerevi a crack at 13.

My rationale is that Cheika wanted to switch from essentially playing two 13s in the midfield to playing a second playmaker with our normal 13.

I agree it is harsh on Kerevi who has been one of our better backs but if the option is to bring in a second playmaker that is going to be at 12.

Two points I'd make:

1. Everyone keeps talking about Kerevi in the same way as Kurindrani. While he isn't a full playmaker he is a much more skilful ball player than Kurindrani

2. Why does the second playmaker have to be at 12? There isn't any rule about that - can just as easily work at 13 or 15.

 

[Mr Doug]

Some of you guys are so old I wonder if your grand kids are posting for you :whistle:

saulityvi, In my case, yes they are old enough to, but they don't!
I hope when you have grand kids, you will discover that it is a truly wonderful time in your life!! ......... even if they support the bloody Brisbane Broncos!!

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola. Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Courtney Lawes, 21 Jack Clifford, 22 Danny Care, 23 Elliot Daly

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/harrison-replaces-haskell-for-england/

 

[swingpass]

[quote="tragic, post: 856172, member: 2734"
If we're behind on the scoreboard and get an attacking penalty it's going to be a tough decision . Kick for touch and lose the lineout, or kick for goal and miss.[/quote]

thats a no brainer you kick at goal and blame the kicker

 

[ForceFan]

Are you telling me that the raw statistics don't tell the whole story ....................

Exactly why I gather the Ruck Stats as I found it too hard to assess the work of Forwards without them. Tackles alone and TOW without the Ruck Stats only tell part of the story.

 

[dru]

Neither was Foley so let's drop him as well then?

In any case why aren't looking at a different structure - one that has been used to great success by the ABs

10 playmaker
12 big bopper who can offload
13 great defender who can set up his wings and full back


10 Foley
12 Kerevi or Kurindrani
13 To'omua

There is a world of difference between "playmaker" and "distributor". This comment works for both Foley and To'omua.

 

[Mr Doug]

Current betting: tattsbet: Aust. $1-93; Eng. $1-87.
sportsbet: Aust. $1-90; Eng. $1-90. Draw: $21-00.

 

[tragic]

thats a no brainer you kick at goal and blame the kicker

Cant blame anyone else if the kicking is rubbish. Except maybe the selectors.
Guess we could always opt for the scrum and risk the penalty lottery. Then we could blame the loose head prop and drop him from the 23.

 

[KOB1987]

Man there's a lot of wowsers on here!

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Man there's a lot of wowsers on here!

Yes, apparently it's the end of Australian rugby as we know it. The losses have been very, very hard to swallow, but if we play our best footy or approaching it, there is no reason why we can't win on the weekend and hopefully square the ledger at Twickenham in December.

 

[ACT Crusader]

Regarding comparisons to ABs, one of the better combinations was circa 2003-05

10. Spencer
12. Mauger
13. Umaga

We didn't see a lot of it due to changes, retirements etc, but it was a balanced mix of playmaking, ball carrying in both positions.

The 10. Carter 12. Nonu 13. Smith post 2009 tri nations was very successful. But that trio effectively started post 2007 RWC and it took time to come together especially for Nonu to develop as a 12. Prior to 2008 Nonu had only played 13 for the ABs

 

[kiap]

We won't win with that backrow.

Got a feeling we will win the third test. Merely a hunch.

But I agree about the backrow.

The Pooper is a busted flush, let alone Pooper-lite. While it worked great in Sydney last year, it merely lit up the radar and the ABs weren't troubled by it again.

With Pocock departing anyway, it's time to flush the dunny and move on.

 

[Pfitzy]

Only redeeming action is if we put 50 past them - anything less will just get the "only a dead rubber" bullshit running through the peanut gallery.

 

[USARugger]

Only redeeming action is if we put 50 past them - anything less will just get the "only a dead rubber" bullshit running through the peanut gallery.

We could put 200 points on them and the English press would still call it a dead rubber affair.

These are the same people that support the allocation of 1B GBP/year to defending an island populated almost solely by sheep.

 

[cyclopath]

We could put 200 points on them and the English press would still call it a dead rubber affair.

These are the same people that support the allocation of 1B GBP/year to defending an island populated almost solely by sheep.

NZ is at least 2 islands.

 

[USARugger]

NZ is at least 2 islands.

Oh, to be a blossoming Kiwi boy lucky enough to hit his straps on the Falkland Islands..

Ruminant love interests aside, I got a giggle out of this post on Reddit earlier:

"I like Skelton btw, but a Khal that can't ride is no khal and a lock that can't jump is no lock."

 

[Brumby Runner]

Why is Lilo required on the bench? We have To'omua who can play 10 if Foley goes off.

Goal kicking. Oh shit, I forgot, we don't do that do we.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Yes, apparently it's the end of Australian rugby as we know it. The losses have been very, very hard to swallow, but if we play our best footy or approaching it, there is no reason why we can't win on the weekend and hopefully square the ledger at Twickenham in December.

I have no dispute with what you say TBH - definitely if we play our best footy or approaching it, there is no reason why we can't win on the weekend (perhaps refereeing aside). My beef is that we don't seem to have the best side on the pitch and that won't give us the best opportunity to play to our best

 

[Brumby Runner]

Only redeeming action is if we put 50 past them - anything less will just get the "only a dead rubber" bullshit running through the peanut gallery.

And anything less than 50 will only get the bandwagoners coming out saying that everything is rosy in the garden and Cheika has pulled off the miracle win again.

 

[cyclopath]

And anything less than 50 will only get the bandwagoners coming out saying that everything is rosy in the garden and Cheika has pulled off the miracle win again.

That actually makes no sense.