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

[KOB1987]

Skelton was always going to cop it for any set piece deficiencies. The first lost lineout at the end of the first half which was meant to be thrown to Fardy at 2 but missed was Skelton's fault according to some, even though he was up the back somewhere. Surprisingly I haven't heard anyone blame him for the first one to Coleman that missed (that was the touch judge incident I think). However it's apparently Skelton's fault that the scrum went to shit after he went off because Fardy had to go into the row (fault by association because if he was fit enough he would have been able to stay on).

 

[barbarian]

Moore's performance overall was pretty average.
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I think his spot should be under threat, and he was one of the big disappointments of the series.

I can't remember any major contribution he made to any game. No big runs, no big tackles, no pilfers or deft offloads.


He’s a long way from his best, which is a real shame. Hooker is such a vital position for us, and I don’t feel like he’s offering what we need in that spot. I can’t help thinking we’d be better with the cannonball running of TPN, or the pilfering skills of Andrew Ready, or the all-around work of James Hanson.
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[Braveheart81]

Skelton's problem was his discipline. He needs to provide that physicality and aggression whilst staying on the right side of the referee. He didn't do that on Saturday night.

Rob Simmons is a problem. I don't know what his injury was on Saturday night and whether it is just bad lucky but in the two tests he has played he has made it to 25 minutes and 40 minutes (but pretty cactus for the last 10 of those). When you are a player that your coach is relying on getting 80 minutes out of, it becomes a real issue if you start breaking down.

Hopefully it was just coincidence because it isn't really something that has been an issue for him in the past.

 

[Braveheart81]

Re: Moore, it's strange because I've thought his Super Rugby form has been generally excellent this year and his ball running in particular has been a real feature.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Re: Moore, it's strange because I've thought his Super Rugby form has been generally excellent this year and his ball running in particular has been a real feature.

Nah - he has "lost" that part of his mojo. Sadly, it was also reflected in the test matches.

But even more than that his captaincy must or should be under threat.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Whilst Hooper had a reasonable game out there - one thing really shits me to tears about the bloke

He is always waving his arms like a fucking seagull to bring to the attention of the Ref an indiscretion at the ruck or maul. Maybe he should actually join the ruck and maul.

It must piss off Refs and the bloke (any bloke) should get a yellow for continued efforts to intimidate the Ref

 

[Braveheart81]

Nah - he has "lost" that part of his mojo. Sadly, it was also reflected in the test matches.

But even more than that his captaincy must or should be under threat.

Have you watched the Brumbies this year? His ball carrying has been superior to anything I have seen from him in years. He has routinely been busting tackles.

 

[Slim 293]

Re: Moore, it's strange because I've thought his Super Rugby form has been generally excellent this year and his ball running in particular has been a real feature.

Agreed...... his Super Rugby form has been excellent - probably his best in years.

 

[Braveheart81]

Nah - he has "lost" that part of his mojo. Sadly, it was also reflected in the test matches.

But even more than that his captaincy must or should be under threat.

Was that an ironic post then when you just gave him three points in the MOTM thread?!?

 

[Pfitzy]

Whilst Hooper had a reasonable game out there - one thing really shits me to tears about the bloke

He is always waving his arms like a fucking seagull to bring to the attention of the Ref an indiscretion at the ruck or maul. Maybe he should actually join the ruck and maul.

It must piss off Refs and the bloke (any bloke) should get a yellow for continued efforts to intimidate the Ref

It goes beyond that - a lot of players are doing this now, even at park footy level - like the ref is some kind of superhuman with xray vision.

Shut up and play the whistle

 

[Scrubber2050]

Was that an ironic post then when you just gave him three points in the MOTM thread?!?

Braveheart its good to see you follow my posts so closely

All those players are on a bit of a downer and I thought I'd just cheer them up with my personal support

 

[barbarian]

Shut up and play the whistle

On that- if I was English I'd be ropeable at Ben Youngs, did you see what he did when we scored our first try?

He was tracking back in cover defence, but stopped and pointed when the Haylett-Petty 'knock on' happened. Gave up on the play, and we basically scored in the gap where he would have been.

If that had been Phipps then this place would be a smouldering pile of cyber-rubble by now.
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[Slim 293]

Braveheart its good to see you follow my posts so closely

All those players are on a bit of a downer and I thought I'd just cheer them up with my personal support

And yet you included Fardy who carried the ball strongly, was our best lineout target, brought down an England attacking maul, and as the stats back up was hitting more rucks than the other two backrowers combined.........

 

[Lee Enfield]

"1. In as many posts Skelton is dumped on for being fat and lazy and unfit.
2. Then the suggestion is move him to 8 because the above assertion wouldn't be as noticeable at 8?"


1. I thought of trying him at 8 for Game 3, based on the assumption he would be suitably fit enough to play rugby for 50-60mins at a high level and that he would be a better option there then Palu. This assumption is based on the fact that Cheika deemed him ready by having him in the squad.

2. This was based on Cyclopath asking me to pick a team for Game 3 based on available/eligible players after the fact due to which players I said should be given a spell as a result of game 3. So not taking Game 3 into account for selections.

3. After watching Game 3, it is clear he is nowhere near fit enough to be playing at International Level, and a lot of his discipline issues I believe are related to his lack of fitness and being overweight, which causes him to get lazy. He still did some good work on the field, but his impact his limited due to fitness.

4. He has massive upside and should be told to go away and get fit. I can't believe his coaches have allowed him to get like that. If he gets fit and lowers his bodyweight to around 130kg, he would be a monster and yes going forward I think he could make a successful switch to 8, as I think he has the skillset, size and presence to play 8 with practice.

So as of game 3, Skelton should be nowhere near the Wallabies until fit and the Tahs coaching staff need to kick him up the backside, cause right now, he is a waste of talent and not achieving his potential.

 

[Scrubber2050]

And yet you included Fardy who carried the ball strongly, was our best lineout target, brought down an England attacking maul, and as the stats back up was hitting more rucks than the other two backrowers combined...

Slim
I think Fardy is a very good rugby player that has served Australia extremely well in the last couple of years.

BUT overall in this series, I think he has been poor

 

[fatprop]

I don't think Skelton is a test lock, but I think some of you need to go back and look at the tape, he spent a load of energy on offensive cleanouts. He is clearly not the perfect specimen of a test lock, but he did some good things along with the bad

 

[Scrubber2050]

"1. In as many posts Skelton is dumped on for being fat and lazy and unfit.
2. Then the suggestion is move him to 8 because the above assertion wouldn't be as noticeable at 8?"


1. I thought of trying him at 8 for Game 3, based on the assumption he would be suitably fit enough to play rugby for 50-60mins at a high level and that he would be a better option there then Palu. This assumption is based on the fact that Cheika deemed him ready by having him in the squad.

2. This was based on Cyclopath asking me to pick a team for Game 3 based on available/eligible players after the fact due to which players I said should be given a spell as a result of game 3. So not taking Game 3 into account for selections.

3. After watching Game 3, it is clear he is nowhere near fit enough to be playing at International Level, and a lot of his discipline issues I believe are related to his lack of fitness and being overweight, which causes him to get lazy. He still did some good work on the field, but his impact his limited due to fitness.

4. He has massive upside and should be told to go away and get fit. I can't believe his coaches have allowed him to get like that. If he gets fit and lowers his bodyweight to around 130kg, he would be a monster and yes going forward I think he could make a successful switch to 8, as I think he has the skillset, size and presence to play 8 with practice.

So as of game 3, Skelton should be nowhere near the Wallabies until fit and the Tahs coaching staff need to kick him up the backside, cause right now, he is a waste of talent and not achieving his potential.

Agree.

How the fuck does a player in the Wallaby mix (and with a door wide open for being a consistent starter) fail to be fit.

Says to me, he does not have the required "mental toughness" to do what is necessary to play for his country, i.e. get fucking fit

 

[fatprop]

Despite all the hand wringing I expect the vast majority of the units marked by many here as "never to play again" to be in the RC squad.

And a decent RC and all will be forgiven.

 

[Slim 293]

Despite all the hand wringing I expect the vast majority of the units marked by many here as "never to play again" to be in the RC squad.

And a decent RC and all will be forgiven.

And the majority of the same starting XV...........

 

[fatprop]

And the majority of the same starting XV.....

Yeah lots of whinging about how better kicking would solved all problems, but the marines returning are 3 backs. The pigs are essentially the same and they are the reason you win or lose test matches.