New Zealand vs Australia Oct 11 2020 Bledisloe Cup

[waiopehu oldboy]

DMac is starting 15. Tough to make him go 10 after 60 minutes of fullback.

When they only picked two 10's it was stated that DMac would provide the cover. Only other options are TJP & JBar & TBF I don't want either of them at 10 if it's close with 10-15 to go, either, let alone if Mo'unga breaks down early- or mid-game.

Edit: not in quotes but Hurld article certainly implies Fozzie said DMac is covering Mo'unga.

 

[Brumbieman]

Absolutely unfair. I have noticed him this season and think he's playing better then he ever was. His running lines at superb. And his work around the park is great. I think he was clearly better then Sio at the Brumbies and was scrummaging better then him too.

If Tupou wasn't such a freak I think everyone would be raving about how good Slipper was this season. I'm actually surprised there are posters who were still selecting Sio in there team. I thought Sio had his worst season to date (although came good in the end).

To be fair, Sio was in pretty good form early in the year. Breaking his arm certainly would hinder a props ability to keep their shoulders strong and technique sharp.

Like Banks with his foot injury, they were vital parts of that players core abilities and take a bit of time to work back from.

I don't think we've ever had such a quality front row, let alone the quality of the replacements.

 

[Hammeroid]

Beauden Barrett usually kills us. This definitely makes things interesting. Is it Sunday yet.....

 

[Silverado]

The no brainer was that both would be in the test squad. Sio was returning from injury early in the season but has been stronger as the year progressed. He more recently has been especially strong with his ball carrying. His issue has been in the scrum where he was being penalised for pulling his opposite THP down, but even that area improved at the end of SRAu.

In truth, Sio is the more physical player while Slipper has better ball skills. Could have gone either way.

Rennie said he was picking on form and IMHO followed through

 

[Purce]

Why did they not just shift J Barret?

Thats good for us i reckon.

I reckon their attack plan will be very heavy on the cross kick/contestable kicks behind our line, particularly to JB's side. Marika isn't great under a kick, often looks flustered. Makes sense to put dmac at 15 and keep JB where he is in that case.

 

[Derpus]

I reckon their attack plan will be very heavy on the cross kick/contestable kicks behind our line, particularly to JB's side. Marika isn't great under a kick, often looks flustered. Makes sense to put dmac at 15 and keep JB where he is in that case.

Could just switch MK and Daugunu if that starts happening

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Thought the news re: Beaugan might've seen the TAB odds move & it has: AB now $1.08 which is verging on the ridiculous.

 

[Up the Guts]

Thought the news re: Beaugan might've seen the TAB odds move & it has: AB now $1.08 which is verging on the ridiculous.

Sportsbet is giving me $7.50 on the Wallabies. Very enticing imo.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^ wow, that's better than our TAB at $6.70, you should put the house on it (or the garden shed depending on your personal circumstances #gambleresponsibly )

 

[Brumby Runner]

Rennie said he was picking on form and IMHO followed through

On form, Silver, you'd almost say HJH (Harry Johnson-Holmes) should have had the bench over Sio. But form is a very indefinite thing. Is form at test match level better than form at Super Rugby level? Is a player coming back into form from injury judged by his form in recovefry or by what he has shown at the relevant level. Is there an inconsistency with how Sio is handled as against how Banks is handled?

 

[BDA]

unfortunately I think the odds are probably about right. All Black 13+ started at about $1.73 that's slowly moved down to $1.50. the line is -19.5...Lots of money going on a big NZ win.

New coach with, presumably, a completely new game plan and approach to cheika. basically a new tight five and spine. Even if Rennie is as good as we hope he is, it's just not possible for him to really have much impact on the team this quickly. If I was to wager a guess we probably won't start seeing his effects for at least 4 or 5 games. Ideally we would be playing some easier games while the team finds its feet. The unavailability of some of our best players makes life even harder (even at full strength we are presently well behind the All Blacks).

The ABs in contrast are relatively settled in their team and game plan. It's hard for me to see anything less than a comfortable ABs win, and I wont judge the team or coaching staff if that is what it is. Personally I'm more interested to see where we are at by the end of the year.

I'm a gold coast titan's fan and I think their 2020 season is a good example of what it takes for a coach to come in a mold a side into winners. when he took over the side they were losing games by 30 point and there was little improvement for the first 5 to 10 games. Then they slowly started to become more competitor and by seasons end they were on a 5 match win streak, beating top 8 sides. Honestly to think that he made that much of an impact in 1 season is surprising but really that's best case scenario for turning a team's fortunes around.

I don't think this will be pretty.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

I reckon their attack plan will be very heavy on the cross kick/contestable kicks behind our line, particularly to JB's side. Marika isn't great under a kick, often looks flustered. Makes sense to put dmac at 15 and keep JB where he is in that case.

Except DMac is also the backup 10 & as Dctarget has pointed out it's a big ask for him to play say 60min at 15 then 20 at 10. Other than having had Josh Ioane in the 35 from the get-go (crazy, I know, but it was an option) the percentage call was to bring Jordan into the XV & DMac the 23. In that scenario it doesn't really matter which jersey JBar wears.

 

[Silverado]

On form, Silver, you'd almost say HJH (Harry Johnson-Holmes) should have had the bench over Sio. But form is a very indefinite thing. Is form at test match level better than form at Super Rugby level? Is a player coming back into form from injury judged by his form in recovefry or by what he has shown at the relevant level. Is there an inconsistency with how Sio is handled as against how Banks is handled?

HJH (Harry Johnson-Holmes) had no form at LHP this year because he got switched. If he didn't he might if had a shot. Not sure about the Banks comparison, but I think DHP would have been picked over him if fit. Either way, I like the look of this team.

 

[Drew]

HJH (Harry Johnson-Holmes) was picked in the PONI list for both sides, but it’s a big ask coming into international rugby, let alone a bledisloe having only packed at LHP at training, if that. Still, you wonder if he’d be brought in there if there was an injury.

 

[Silverado]

HJH (Harry Johnson-Holmes) was picked in the PONI list for both sides, but it’s a big ask coming into international rugby, let alone a bledisloe having only packed at LHP at training, if that. Still, you wonder if he’d be brought in there if there was an injury.

I'd think he'd be third choice on both sides.

 

[dru]

I'd think he'd be third choice on both sides.

For a prop third choice is one injury or rotation from playing.

 

[The Nomad]

Except DMac is also the backup 10 & as Dctarget has pointed out it's a big ask for him to play say 60min at 15 then 20 at 10. Other than having had Josh Ioane in the 35 from the get-go (crazy, I know, but it was an option) the percentage call was to bring Jordan into the XV & DMac the 23. In that scenario it doesn't really matter which jersey JBar wears.

Surprised Jordan wasn’t in the original team , thought he was a stand out in the NZ Super season .

When he wasn’t in the team just assumed he must be injured, best fullback/wing during the NZ Super comp.

 

[molman]

The ABs in contrast are relatively settled in their team and game plan. It's hard for me to see anything less than a comfortable ABs win, and I wont judge the team or coaching staff if that is what it is. Personally I'm more interested to see where we are at by the end of the year.

I think it will be the nature of how the Wallabies play that will be more telling than the result itself... even the much divisive Cheika had a relative impact on the team pretty quickly. I do still think Rennie will need to show some progress this year, not just next, especially when you factor in games against South African and Argentinian outfits that really will be underdone and potentially missing a few key personalities.

I'll just be happy if I see us playing some smart, gutsy Rugby.

 

[Up the Guts]

The ABs in contrast are relatively settled in their team and game plan. It's hard for me to see anything less than a comfortable ABs win, and I wont judge the team or coaching staff if that is what it is. Personally I'm more interested to see where we are at by the end of the year.

I'm a gold coast titan's fan and I think their 2020 season is a good example of what it takes for a coach to come in a mold a side into winners. when he took over the side they were losing games by 30 point and there was little improvement for the first 5 to 10 games. Then they slowly started to become more competitor and by seasons end they were on a 5 match win streak, beating top 8 sides. Honestly to think that he made that much of an impact in 1 season is surprising but really that's best case scenario for turning a team's fortunes around.

I don't think this will be pretty.

Not sure NZ are necessarily settled nor that the Wallabies ever hit the lows of the Titans. I think a lot of the success of Holbrook was from smaller changes, Taylor to five-eight, Fogarty into the starting side, Brimson finding his feet and a couple of big signings for 2021 that galvanised the belief of the pack.

We've made a lot of similar changes for the Wallabies, a change in the halves, young guys into the squad and the 23 with belief and energy, and a coach who knows the opposition very well and is capable of tailoring gameplans.

It certainly doesn't feel like we're on the same hiding to nothing that it usually does.

 

[BDA]

Not sure NZ are necessarily settled nor that the Wallabies ever hit the lows of the Titans. I think a lot of the success of Holbrook was from smaller changes, Taylor to five-eight, Fogarty into the starting side, Brimson finding his feet and a couple of big signings for 2021 that galvanised the belief of the pack.

We've made a lot of similar changes for the Wallabies, a change in the halves, young guys into the squad and the 23 with belief and energy, and a coach who knows the opposition very well and is capable of tailoring gameplans.

It certainly doesn't feel like we're on the same hiding to nothing that it usually does.

I cant agree.

From my perspective the Wallabies were a shambles in 2019.

The big change in the titans was that they went from conceding an average of 30 points a game to 10 points. Thats a result of structures, attitude and fitness, not because of a few positional changes in the backs.

Rennie cant just slap a new coat of paint on the team and expect to beat the all blacks in NZ.

Of course ill be more than happy to be proven wrong