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England v Australia, Saturday 3 December

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Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Only because of the team we selected not because of rankings or form.


I think there's a pretty reasonable chance we would have still been the underdog just by not as much.

We lose more often than not in Paris against France so I don't think we start as favourites there very often regardless of the World Rugby Rankings.
 

Scotty

David Codey (61)
Only because the expectations are too high.
Currently
There is little depth in aust rugby.

There are very few world class players.

The quality overall is not there.

ARU has little money, can't afford all the assistant coaches, especially of quality, that other unions have.


Err. 2nd in the world surely isn't expected to go 6 from 14.

Even if you discount the NZ games it is only 6 from 11. Pretty bloody average if you ask me!

In saying that I'm definitely seeing signs of improvement.
 

Twoilms

Trevor Allan (34)
Wouldn't be a stretch to have us as low as 4th in terms of actual ability versus ranking points. AB and England clearly superior. Ireland look pretty damn good too.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Err. 2nd in the world surely isn't expected to go 6 from 14.

Even if you discount the NZ games it is only 6 from 11. Pretty bloody average if you ask me!

In saying that I'm definitely seeing signs of improvement.


This is why we've dropped to 3rd and now could drop to 4th.

If we'd beaten Ireland and then England we would have been a chance at retaining our 2nd place ranking from the RWC with an 8 from 15 season.
 

Zero_Cool

Arch Winning (36)
I actually think Australia would be best served by dropping to 4th, it would put us on the oppisite side of the draw to the All Blacks. I'm not sure if it's possible that the Six Nations can create a situation that has it mathematically possible for the Wallabies to fall to 4th.
 

Scrubber2050

Mark Ella (57)
Top 5 probably. No it doesnt feel any better.


No I don't feel better either. I believe in striving for number 1. I am hard to please.
That doesn't mean I wouldn't be happy with number 2. I believe that position in world rugby is achievable but will require some different things to be done at the top (by our coaches and players and some of the issues surrounding both).

Wallowing at 3, 4, 5 or 6 means failure to me. If, as a supporter, people are happy with that then I think those people are muppets
 

KOB1987

John Eales (66)
Err. 2nd in the world surely isn't expected to go 6 from 14.

Even if you discount the NZ games it is only 6 from 11. Pretty bloody average if you ask me!

In saying that I'm definitely seeing signs of improvement.

No, not if we were still second in the world but we have been fluctuating between 3rd and 5th.

A more objective way to look at it is this:

England and New Zealand are the two teams ahead of us and we haven't beaten either of them. Ireland beat us by 3 points with the home advantage. Ireland have beaten NZ, but they also got beaten twice by the Boks earlier in the year, but beat them once as well. We beat the Boks at home but they beat us at altitude and they have clearly been struggling since then. Everyone else below us we have beaten.

I reckon the rankings are about right except that us and Ireland are on par for the 3rd spot at the moment. If we beat England we will justifiably climb to 2nd and then it will be up to Ireland to challenge us for that spot, or for England to get it back, during the 6 nations.
 

Highlander35

Steve Williams (59)
I actually think Australia would be best served by dropping to 4th, it would put us on the oppisite side of the draw to the All Blacks. I'm not sure if it's possible that the Six Nations can create a situation that has it mathematically possible for the Wallabies to fall to 4th.
Sure it works like that? Thought everyone got drawn out of the hat (metaphorical or otherwise) rather than the top 4 teams just being assigned pool numbers
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Highlander35 is correct.

The top 4 ranked teams are drawn at random to a pool.

Assuming we manage to maintain a top 4 ranking it will be pure luck whether we're on the side of the draw which meets the All Blacks in the semi final or not.
 

Highlander35

Steve Williams (59)
So, if the pools were drawn tomorrow, the pots would "probably" look like this:

Pot 1: New Zealand, England, Australia, Ireland

Pot 2: Wales, South Africa, Scotland, France

Pot 3: Argentina, Japan, Georgia, Italy

Pot 4: Oceania 1 (Fiji), Oceania 2 (Tonga), Europe 1 (Romania), America 1 (USA)

Pot 5: Oceania 3/Europe 2 (Samoa/Russia), America 2 (Canada), Africa 1 (Namibia) Repêchage.

With the Repêchage involving loser of the Europe-Oceania Playoff (Samoa/Russia), Africa 2 (Kenya), America 3 (Uruguay) and the winner of the Oceania-Asia Playoff (Cook Islands/Hong Kong).

Based on Current World Rankings, and cross continental playoffs being in the bottom tier.
 

PeterK

Alfred Walker (16)
Err. 2nd in the world surely isn't expected to go 6 from 14.

Even if you discount the NZ games it is only 6 from 11. Pretty bloody average if you ask me!

In saying that I'm definitely seeing signs of improvement.


only 2nd because wallabies over achieved in 2015.

Besides they had the o/s giteau's players then.

In june they weren't available.

If you look at the players man for man and other countries wallabies easily played above their weight to be 2nd.
 

PeterK

Alfred Walker (16)
This is why we've dropped to 3rd and now could drop to 4th.

If we'd beaten Ireland and then England we would have been a chance at retaining our 2nd place ranking from the RWC with an 8 from 15 season.


If wallabies lose to england they stay 3rd.

Sure after 6n's they could drop to 4th , probably will if ireland only lose to england, can't be bothered to work it out.
 

PeterK

Alfred Walker (16)
Highlander35 is correct.

The top 4 ranked teams are drawn at random to a pool.

Assuming we manage to maintain a top 4 ranking it will be pure luck whether we're on the side of the draw which meets the All Blacks in the semi final or not.


No that is not quite true.

1 and 2 seeds are put on the other side of the draw so if they win their pools and qf it is impossible for 1 and 2 to meet in a semi.

3rd and 4th are allocated randomly, followed by 5-8 randomly, followed by 9-12 etc assuming 4 pools of course.
 

Highlander35

Steve Williams (59)
4th is a legit possibility, and not necessarily an inaccurate one.

Having played around with the rankings calculator, even if you have a big (15+) loss to England, only one of Wales and Ireland can finish ahead of you, even if they, (and after them, England) beat everyone else by more than 15, there's not quite enough points available for them.
 

Scotty

David Codey (61)
only 2nd because wallabies over achieved in 2015.

Besides they had the o/s giteau's players then.

In june they weren't available.

If you look at the players man for man and other countries wallabies easily played above their weight to be 2nd.


If that is what you want to believe. I myself believe we should aim for 1st and be happy with no less than 2nd.
 

Spruce Moose

Fred Wood (13)
Yep looking at rankings now and assuming that Ireland and England have a strong 6 Nations you would expect that we will be 4th. However the scary thing is having Argentina in pot 3 which would mean likely there is a pool of death in Japan with potentially Japan in good form with the home world cup. Worst cases for mine:

Australia
South Africa/France
Argentina/Japan
Fiji
Canada

Either of these scare me just as much as England Wales last year.

Also sorry for going off track, I had another question. As this is a non-club approved international weekend are there any English players not allowed to play the test like Genia?
 

Highlander35

Steve Williams (59)
Also sorry for going off track, I had another question. As this is a non-club approved international weekend are there any English players not allowed to play the test like Genia?

Nope. One of the conditions of RFU sending funding to the clubs. Plus they don't select players outside the Premiership.

They do play nice most of the time though. Mostly only 1 extra International in November, and occasionally an extra one in late May/Early June where they don't select players from teams in the playoffs.

With the exception of George North, who has a release written into the contract, they do deny other players releases outside the windows.
 
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