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Wallabies Watch

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Inside Shoulder

Nathan Sharpe (72)
I will give you an example where a dominant scrum was worth absolutely squat. Reds vs Tahs at Suncorp a couple of years back. The Reds scrum (according to most Tahs fans and Phil Waugh) was the weaker scrum yet they couldn't use this advantage to beat the Reds or the Reds won despite of this.


That doesnt mean you dont want a dominant scrum.
It just means that Waugh was not a good captain and that the coaching was shite.
 

Deputy Van Halen

Larry Dwyer (12)
The new Wobs jersey.... return of the crest:

Why do the designers of wallaby kits feel the need to over design things and put weird stabs of green or other patches in random spots on the jerseys? It just dates them and makes them look odd. The shorts are green, that should be enough.

Lose the southern cross and weird green armpit arrow on the chest, make the collar all green and there you have it, a classic wearable jersey that people wont cringe at now or in a few years. You can have that one for free Kooga. The darkness do this very well, rarely do they mess around with the classics (away jerseys excluded).

The crest however can stay, nice to see it back.
 

USARugger

John Thornett (49)
That doesnt mean you dont want a dominant scrum.
It just means that Waugh was not a good captain and that the coaching was shite.

Nobody said we don't want a dominant scrum. The issue is whether you use the scrum or the line out as the platform on which you build the selections for the forward pack for this Lions tour.
 

Scoey

Tony Shaw (54)
That doesnt mean you dont want a dominant scrum.
It just means that Waugh was not a good captain and that the coaching was shite.

Of course you want a dominant scrum also - you want to be dominant in every aspect of the game ideally. My original post that took us down this line said nothing about scrums but it was inferred that I meant we should pick a quality lineout at the expense of the scrum.

Nobody said we don't want a dominant scrum. The issue is whether you use the scrum or the line out as the platform on which you build the selections for the forward pack for this Lions tour.

Bingo. It's almost like at times they pick a forward pack and then go shit, who can jump/call the line out/contest oppo ball etc later.

By all means pick a dominant forward pack. But a dominant forward pack needs to be a strong in the lineout as well as at the scrum and breakdown or else it isn't a dominant forward pack.
 

USARugger

John Thornett (49)
By all means pick a dominant forward pack. But a dominant forward pack needs to be a strong in the lineout as well as at the scrum and breakdown or else it isn't a dominant forward pack.

The line out accounts for 25% of all test tries scored and can entirely dictate the possession dynamic and field position of a team. I'm not sure if it's actually possible to overstate how important it is.
 

Scoey

Tony Shaw (54)
I'm not sure if it's actually possible to overstate how important it is.

Couldn't agree more and I think that's what whoever said it meant when they said, win the lineout and win the game. We have so much chat on here about picking forwards and extensive debate about scrummaging ability vs 'around the park' ability. Occasionally people will chime in with a lineout consideration when someone suggests playing two opensides but that's about it.
 

USARugger

John Thornett (49)
Couldn't agree more and I think that's what whoever said it meant when they said, win the lineout and win the game. We have so much chat on here about picking forwards and extensive debate about scrummaging ability vs 'around the park' ability. Occasionally people will chime in with a lineout consideration when someone suggests playing two opensides but that's about it.

None of the home nations particularly impressed in the line out this last 6 Nations tournament either so it should definitely be an area we target. One good thing about it is that they will almost have to pick Geoff Parling in the locks to call the line out and that should give even a Douglas/Kev combo a physical edge in a head to head comparison.
 

RoffsChoice

Jim Lenehan (48)
Fainga'a over TPN? This isn't womens' rugby.
Comparing the two, TPN has more wallabies caps but both have stood up in big tests and can be considered to have big match temperament.
Both have about the same super rugby caps, both are known for being physical, both have played with Robinson and Alexander (though TPN has also played with Ryan).
TPN is very prone to injury (I think it was Scott Allen who said on the podcast "When he tackles, you don't know who is going to get up") and while I'm not a sucker for the story that he can't through straight, he is not as reliable as Moore or Hanson.
Same story with Fainga'a for the throwing, but he is not at all injury prone. When he and Anthony played John I Dent, I remember them being called Search and Destroy. This has definitely transferred to the super and international stage.

Now that's the history, if we just look at current form, TPN has played two and a bit games this year and while not bad, wasn't overly great either. Fainga'a has played five games starting and two off the bench and has had two good weeks and the others were about the same as TPN.

Looking at all this is what leads me to say I'd want Fainga'a over TPN.
 

Richo

John Thornett (49)
My impression has been that our scrum has frequently (although not always) struggled with Fainga'a on. Whatever else might be said of TPN, he is a bloody good scrummager.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
Further to the discussion I rate line outs more important then the scrum due to the added fact that a opposition team can induce more line outs by kicking for touch, whereas a scum is largely a byproduct of an error or penalty.
 

USARugger

John Thornett (49)
Further to the discussion I rate line outs more important then the scrum due to the added fact that a opposition team can induce more line outs by kicking for touch, whereas a scum is largely a byproduct of an error or penalty.
The back pod of the line out is also the single best attacking platform in rugby. This explains the try scoring stat. Can we start a line out lovers club?
 

Scott Allen

Trevor Allan (34)
Do you happen to know the stats for Australia.

0% and 5% ?

Tri Nations stats from 2011 show the Wallabies at 9% from lineouts and 18% from scrums of the 11 tries tries scored.

TRC stats for 2012 show the Wallabies at 57% from lineouts and 29% from scrums but that was only over 7 tries so an even smaller sample to go by.
 

Scott Allen

Trevor Allan (34)
The other thing to consider about lineouts and scrums is that if you win a scrum penalty, unless you are in great position for a shot at goal, you kick the ball out and follow it up with a lineout more often than taking another scrum so a dominant scrum earning penalties is somewhat reliant on a good lineout for that dominance to be taken advantage of.
 

Inside Shoulder

Nathan Sharpe (72)
Tri Nations stats from 2011 show the Wallabies at 9% from lineouts and 18% from scrums of the 11 tries tries scored.

TRC stats for 2012 show the Wallabies at 57% from lineouts and 29% from scrums but that was only over 7 tries so an even smaller sample to go by.
Trying to understand this.
Does this mean that 14% of our tries come from:
restarts
tap kicks
interecepts
kick returns
?
 
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