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RC - Wallabies vs Springboks, Gold Coast Sunday 12 September 8:05 PM

BDA

Peter Johnson (47)
Yeh I honestly think Swinton is built for test rugby. Super hard nosed. Mind you he could have been pinged more than once for tackling with his head/ shoulder with little or no arms. He'll inevitably get himself in trouble, but you do need a hard c*nt like him at test level. I like his pairing with Valentini. Although I'd like to see them rotate with Wilson against the Argies.
 

BDA

Peter Johnson (47)
I think we can all agree that Banks' time at 15 is numbered. He's more rocks than diamonds at the moment.
 

RebelYell

Arch Winning (36)
Humble pie tastes delicious today. Happy to have been proven wrong with my thoughts on the team selection.
 

Gillys_ghost

Dave Cowper (27)
If you have both Valetini and Isi you nearly double the workload Hooper has to do at ruck from the back row, and you probably change the dynamic of the tight five as well.

Swinton produced some really good plays last night and his physicality was top notch BUT he lost the ball twice on exit (one of them looked dodgy as, mind) and gave away a penalty that could have been a yellow card.

Importantly, Swinton's ability to switch between support player and ball runner / link man allows Hooper some breathing space. If you have Wilson at 8, he also has to perform some of these roles so you lose a bit of his ball carrying.

There are a few ways to balance our back row. None of them are right or wrong until the final whistle has sounded.

What I like about Swinton is he doesn't give a shit who the opposition are, how hard they run, how big they might look. They're all just targets to him, and when he gets it right we don't have a better mongrel backrower in the country.
What makes Naisarani and Valentini ineffective at the rucks? are you saying neither put in the work? the backrow already isn't the best balanced, or else we wouldn't be having the ball turned over like we have been. it may have been less so last night but there was still multiple occasions we lost the ball at the ruck. Swinton had a good game last night, whilst still being outshone by multiple others and still gave away that stupid penalty. i think it was his best game all year, but that's still only 1 good game. Valentini is a better ball carrier, and Naisarani is also good at the lineout. i would be interested to also know how it changes the Tight 5 balance since you still have the 3rd lineout option, you gain size in Naisarani, or you gain mobility in Wilson. I dont see how Sean McMahon for example doesnt bring "Mongrel" whilst also giving us a stronger ball carrier, and slightly better ruck work. i Have no problem if Swinton keeps getting better and plays 100 games for the wallabies, but I dont think he currently the best option, and until he backs it up multiple times i dont like the selection.
 
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cyclopath

George Smith (75)
Staff member
How many lineout takes did Swinton have last night? Looked to me like he was used a fair bit at the front with effect. Boks are a useful barometer. He does still have some dumb plays in him but I think he is progressing pretty well. Can't say he has claimed the spot as his own yet, but I think moving in the right direction. At least we are consolidating some options, if not quite settling on a preferred combo in the BR.
 

Blue

Andrew Slack (58)
For the Boks, this should cause some introspection. The game plan in itself is not sustainable. If you are slightly off, you get into trouble. Smart tactics will expose you. Wallabies did what the Lions failed to do.

Having said that we botched two tries (both Am) and our goal kicking was woeful. If Pollard made his kicks we might well have won. He looked gassed. Odd. And having a 60% kicker as your backup on the bench is bound to cost you big time. Willemse is not a 10.
 

Gillys_ghost

Dave Cowper (27)
Not that is actually our lack of accuracy across the park at ruck time.



I didn't actually say that. but fill your boots if you don't comprehend my post.
I must have misinterpreted what you were saying, why does getting rid of Swinton for now with the people I mentioned mean Hooper has to do much more work at the ruck? instead of useless comments like whatever the hell "fill your boots" means, why not elaborate? I agree ruck accuracy is a big issue, but we also seem to be caught with our ball runners isolated a lot more than other teams which isn't a ruck accuracy issue. I also don't think Swinton is any less guilty of ruck inaccuracy, than the rest of the pack. You made a tonne of points in your original post, and i just wanted you to explain them. like how it changes the dynamic of the tight v. Wilson can also switch between Support player to ball runner very effectively, and if you have someone more direct and tight like Val, it gives you the grunt work we need. regardless, if Swinton keeps getting picked I don't think he alone will be the reason we lose, and if he can keep improving I'm sure he will be good. That doesn't mean that if we picked someone else and gave him the same amount of opportunity we wouldn't be even better off
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
For the Boks, this should cause some introspection. The game plan in itself is not sustainable. If you are slightly off, you get into trouble. Smart tactics will expose you. Wallabies did what the Lions failed to do.

Having said that we botched two tries (both Am) and our goal kicking was woeful. If Pollard made his kicks we might well have won. He looked gassed. Odd. And having a 60% kicker as your backup on the bench is bound to cost you big time. Willemse is not a 10.
Which was the second try botched? There was the one where McDermott got underneath Am. I think it's harsh to say Am botched that, he did well to get to it and McDermott did very well with desperate scramble defence.

Are you talking about the one in the corner where it was out about five times before it got grounded?
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
Just reviewing that last scrum now: the triangle of Philip, Tupou, and Kaitu'u was central to the drive that absolutely poleaxed N'che - who had Mostert behind him and Etzebeth next to him, but never looked like their binds were solid.

Could say White was very lucky to get the penalty, but the scrum should have been the penalty.

EDIT: or any 3 of the 10 rucks beforehand. Whatever.

I thought the Boks go away with murder at the breakdown in the last quarter of the game. Not releasing, creeping up around the fringes and generally diving/flopping. There could have been five penalties in the last 10 minutes alone.
 

tragic

John Solomon (38)
If I was QC (Quade Cooper) I’d be tempted to say thank you and goodnight.
What a swansong and a big F-you to Thorne and Cheika. Finish on a high and leave us all wondering what could have been.
Unfortunately it will probably head downhill from here. Consistency has never been his strong point.
Hopefully the bloke backs up with another cracker though as I reckon he’ll stay at 10 with JOC (James O'Connor) on the bench to ease back in.
 

KiwiM

Trevor Allan (34)
Well done Wallabies. Far better individual performances across the board than last week.

Cooper and Kerevi were sublime. I'm sure for Wallaby fans it was great to have an experienced 9-10-12 axis in the second half once White came on.

JOC (James O'Connor) an option at 15 perhaps? Banks underwhelming again.

The Boks? Cripes. Very poor. Other than the maul they offered nothing.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
How many lineout takes did Swinton have last night? Looked to me like he was used a fair bit at the front with effect. Boks are a useful barometer. He does still have some dumb plays in him but I think he is progressing pretty well. Can't say he has claimed the spot as his own yet, but I think moving in the right direction. At least we are consolidating some options, if not quite settling on a preferred combo in the BR.

The way Swinton is being used in the lineout suggests that he is pretty central to Rennie's plans.

He certainly negated his excellent first half performance with a couple of errors in the second half (both skill and discipline) but overall was pretty good.
 

Joe Blow

Peter Sullivan (51)
If I was QC (Quade Cooper) I’d be tempted to say thank you and goodnight.
What a swansong and a big F-you to Thorne and Cheika. Finish on a high and leave us all wondering what could have been.
Unfortunately it will probably head downhill from here. Consistency has never been his strong point.
Hopefully the bloke backs up with another cracker though as I reckon he’ll stay at 10 with JOC (James O'Connor) on the bench to ease back in.
That’s great but seems like something the old Quade might have considered. He no longer plays for BT or Cheika and most likely couldn’t give a rats arse what they think.
Oh ye of little faith.
Quade Cooper is the most naturally talented 5/8 we have had since Mark Ella. In the mean time we have had a couple of blokes with the full package, namely Michael Lynagh and Bernie Larkham. As a kid Cooper did not have his top two inches or his ticker in order. He seems to have rectified that and looks to be in as good nick physically as ever at 33. I’m guessing that he will only get better in the near future.
 
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