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Wallaby 31 players for 2015 RWC

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kiap

kiap

Steve Williams (59)
Dave Beat said:
Interesting that, i reckon a number of people would agree that a good world cup would have the following as world class. If we look back to mid season of 91 were the likes of Horan / Little / Eales world class - by Dec 91 they were.
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Maybe. Dunno if Little was, even after, but he would have been close.

But Horan was before the 91 RWC. Add in Ofahengaue, Kearns, Campese,
Farr-Jones and you had 5, with a few others probably knocking on that door.

with;
Moore - close to world class.
Skelton - may develop into world class (Eales of 91).
Hooper / Pocock - both can have telling impacts on games.
Cooper - of 2011 was would class.
Kuindrani - I think will be world class.
Folau - ???
I wouldn't usually include a fullback as i reference back 3.
I have also looked to chose influence across the park.
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Yep, it's "close to" or "used to be" on that list . . .

Hopefully some of those "will be" players make it happen but the team is just not in the same relative position as 91.

They'll need a big step up and a lot of luck to even match the 2011 result.
 
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Dave Beat

Dave Beat

Paul McLean (56)
kiap said:
Maybe. Dunno if Little was, even after, but he would have been close.

But Horan was before the 91 RWC. Add in Ofahengaue, Kearns, Campese,
Farr-Jones and you had 5, with a few others probably knocking on that door.



Yep, it's "close to" or "used to be" on that list . . .

Hopefully some of those "will be" players make it happen but the team is just not in the same relative position as 91.

They'll need a big step up and a lot of luck to even match the 2011 result.
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And a thing called "confidence" and no injuries.

On song - Genia, Cooper, To'omua, Kurindrani could be awesome with the back 3 working on song.
 
Rugbynutter39

Rugbynutter39

Michael Lynagh (62)
Slim 293 said:
Horwill is becoming greater with every post TWAS.... ;)
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Lot more optimistic on our chances in world cup then six months ago

Lot of players hitting form

Higgers had great season
Pocock made impressive return from injury
Skelton been impressive and never would have thought 6 months ago would be saying that
Moore back and impressive

Horne been the form winger...spreight finally finding some form...big fijian nav.should be in squad as his size offers x factor material...pity we let go that equally big crusader winger who this seen has been carving it up...need to make sure don't make same mistake again
Phipps and genia looking the goods
Foley and Cooper also
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and kuds been consistent performers at 13..pity one of them not suited to 12 as not convinced about others used here as nice safe players but not players that offer that x factor...like the 13's mentioned
folau impressive but still feel he can get even better

What we need is a few x factor players if going to win world cu
 
Brumbieman

Brumbieman

Dick Tooth (41)
Vaea had another huge game last night.

His workrate is astonishing for someone 5 months back from 2.5 years out of the game and not being able to even run.

Even more impressive, is the impact he has which each run. He might be raw, and young, but he's gotta be in the squad this year. Unleash him off the bench with Pocock after 50mins, and let run riot.

Pocock to clean up at rucks with tiring cleanouts (less accurate, less force and co-operation), Vaea to get us over the advantage line, and provide some dominant tackles for Pocock to feed off.
 
Dave Beat

Dave Beat

Paul McLean (56)
Rugbynutter39 said:
Lot more optimistic on our chances in world cup then six months ago

Lot of players hitting form

Higgers had great season
Pocock made impressive return from injury
Skelton been impressive and never would have thought 6 months ago would be saying that
Moore back and impressive

Horne been the form winger.spreight finally finding some form.big fijian nav.should be in squad as his size offers x factor material.pity we let go that equally big crusader winger who this seen has been carving it up.need to make sure don't make same mistake again
Phipps and genia looking the goods
Foley and Cooper also
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and kuds been consistent performers at 13..pity one of them not suited to 12 as not convinced about others used here as nice safe players but not players that offer that x factor.like the 13's mentioned
folau impressive but still feel he can get even better

What we need is a few x factor players if going to win world cu
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I reckon these players can have X factor or can break a game and there is a difference.
Skelton - break game
Hooper - break a game
Poey - break a game
Higgers - bit of each
QC (Quade Cooper) - XXXX
Kuindrani - break game
Speight - bit of each.

Wouldn't mind a bit of the 2011 Digby Ioane type X factor - that was XXXX but disappeared when Dingo became involved in his rugby.
 
kiap

kiap

Steve Williams (59)
Dave Beat said:
And a thing called "confidence" and no injuries.

On song - Genia, Cooper, To'omua, Kurindrani could be awesome with the back 3 working on song.
Click to expand...
Agreed. A healthy Kepu, for example, will be vital to stay in the hunt.

The other factor is last year's EOYT players who have looked jaded in the supe getting back on a upswing.

But I look at this 5th ranked squad and ask which players will unlock defences. Foley at 10? . . . Dunno. Toomu at 12; but he's currently crocked. Beale? Maybe off the bench.

The only alternate names I come up with are Genia and Cooper. We'll need some luck relying on a couple wooden spoon contenders, and that's if they even make the 23.
 
Gnostic

Gnostic

Mark Ella (57)
Rugbynutter39 said:
Lot more optimistic on our chances in world cup then six months ago
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I'm not. I'm going the other way. The struggles that the Waratahs are having with conservative field position sides that execute well have me very worried about the Wallabies game plan and ability to have a plan B at the RWC. Given the two big hurdles present those exact strengths I'm feeling pessimistic. If the Tahs had shown anything against the Force maybe I'd feel better, but in both games they were totally bamboozled and just didn't have any answers. Against the Crusaders they executed well but the result could easily have gone the other way.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
Its ok though, our Coach has been putting in months of preparation by studying other international teams and getting around to all the super rugby teams and talking with his players and watching them train/play..
 
The_Brown_Hornet

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
Totally agree BR. My view is that the Cooper/To'omua axis offers the best combination of line breaking ability (QC (Quade Cooper)) and arse kicking defence (MT). Both can pass, both can kick and both can accelerate through a gap. Mainly though, Matt is a superb tackler and will gladly take all the traffic that Roberts and Co. pushes down his channel.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
Nothing like stats to make a solid comparison, players ranked from 1 to 8, i included Fardy and Higgers because i think there is some misconceptions about both players.


From the stats Carter and Arnold are both rather unimpressive and dont see why they keep getting pushed for Wallaby selection.. Skelton and Jones both have impressive stats and Simmons is pretty consistent across the board with the lowest penalty count and second highest tackle busts and offloads per game.

Higgers also has some impressive stats as expected, however disappointingly Fardy's stats aren't really that great.

Penalties conceded
Simmons - 1(7 games)
Dennis - 3(14 games)
Jones - 3(13 games)
Arnold - 3(11 games)
Coleman - 7(11 games)
Carter - 9(13 games)
Skelton - 10(13 games)
Horwill - 13(11 games)


Fardy - 13(14 games)
Higgers - 18(14 games)


Missed Tackles per Game
Dennis - 0.6
Skelton - 0.7
Coleman - 0.7
Jones - 0.9
Horwill - 0.9
Simmons - 1.1
Arnold - 1.1
Carter - 2.0


Higgers - 0.6
Fardy - 0.8

Tackles per Game
Jones - 8.9
Dennis - 6.6
Skelton - 6.6
Horwill - 6.5
Simmons - 6.1
Carter - 6.1
Arnold - 6.0
Coleman - 6.0


Higgers - 6.4
Fardy - 6.1

Runs per game
Jones - 10.2
Skelton - 8.7
Simmons - 6.1
Horwill - 5.9
Denis - 4.5
Carter - 4.4
Coleman - 4.3
Arnold - 4.2


Higgers - 6.6
Fardy - 4.9

Run meters per game
Skelton - 49
Jones - 45
Coleman - 26
Dennis - 21
Simmons - 19
Horwill - 19
Arnold - 19
Carter - 18


Higgers - 37
Fardy - 21

Tackle Busts
Skelton - 27 (13 games)
Jones - 16 (13 games)
Simmons - 11 (7 games)
Coleman - 7 (11 games)
Arnold - 5 (11 games)
Horwill - 4 (11 games)
Dennis - 3 (14 games)
Carter - 2 (13 games)


Higgers - 26 (14 games)
Fardy - 8 (14 games)

Offloads
Skelton - 19
Coleman - 5
Simmons - 4
Dennis - 2
Arnold - 2
Horwill - 1
Carter - 0
Jones - 0


Higgers - 9
Fardy - 0

Errors
Horwill - 0
Arnold - 0
Simmons - 1
Jones - 1
Coleman - 5
Carter - 6
Dennis - 6
Skelton - 9


Fardy - 4
Higgers - 11
 
T

TOCC

Guest
building on the stats posted above, my proposal for starting locks and blindside flanker:

4. Skelton
5. Simmons
6. Jones
 
The_Brown_Hornet

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
Have to agree Qwerty, it's hard to argue with Will's work around the paddock. So long as he does his job in the set piece I think we've got a pretty solid advantage with him in the team.
 
The_Brown_Hornet

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
TOCC said:
building on the stats posted above, my proposal for starting locks and blindside flanker:

4. Skelton
5. Simmons
6. Jones
Click to expand...



The second row pairing practically pick themselves now. I'm a big wrap for Jones so naturally I'd love to see him at 6. It's great to have him and Fardy battling it out for that spot.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
the only thing really counting against Skelton is his error rate and penalty rate, he is in the top 2 for both of those.
 
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