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Wallabies v All Blacks Saturday 26th August at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin

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Brumby Runner

David Wilson (68)
1. Sio
2. TPN
3. AAT
4. Arnold
5. Coleman
6. Fardy
7. Hooper
8. Pocock
9. Genia
10. Beale
11. Tomane
12. To'omua
13. Kurindrani
14. Folau
15. DHP

16. Latu
17. Slipper
18. Kepu
19. Jones
20. McMahon
21. White
22. Naivalu
23. Hodge

Too many Tahs. No, seriously.
 

Strewthcobber

Andrew Slack (58)
Same problem as for most of Cheika's time, 3 backs required in the front line of defence, and only two reliable defenders.

One of Foley, Beale, Izzy and DHP has to be up front and that's where the weak link will be.

Having a look at last week's tries (and only the tries!) 1 from kick return, 2 turnovers, 1 on the 5th phase, 1 on the 8th and 1 on the 12th with forwards in the line complicating things

2 tries early in the phase count when the defence should be well set and in both cases it was Foley defending at 10 and Kerevi at 12. Pretty conventional setups! And they couldn't get the job done.

Sent from my D5833 using Tapatalk
 

Brumby Jack

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
This sums it up
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Viking

Mark Ella (57)
Cheika clearly wasn't a fan of Fardy and pushed him out.


Why, is fucken beyond me, when he was the best 6 we had since Finnegan. All we needed then was an 8 and Timani would have filled that role well enough


Plus, given Cheika's way of playing Hooper at 7, Fardy complimented Hooper's style so well by providing another fetcher in the team. No other 6 or even backrower in the country compliments the current wallaby Captain so well.

I just don't get it.
 

tragic

John Solomon (38)
Shitty service from the base of the ruck starts with the forwards really.

I am amazed at how 90-95% of every thread revolves around backline players around here w.r.t Australia.

Where were all the tries scored on the weekend?
Doesnt matter how good your forwards are if your backs can't tackle and your midfield leaks like a seive.
I've said before there is little to discuss regarding the forwards - very little point of difference and most of the selections are pretty clear cut. You can only discuss x2 7s vs a 7 and an 8 so many times before you want to stab yourself in the eye with a pencil rather than read another post.
The backs are a different matter. More controversy, more opinions and more options.
 

Brumby Runner

David Wilson (68)
Clearly not.

Part of the issue is that there aren't any obvious options to replace Cheika. That said i don't think the ARU are close to moving on him unless things go downhill substantially from here.

If we don't win at least 2 games in the Rugby Championship I think pressure will really start to mount.

Win 2 means we lose 5. Is that really the pass mark for keeping Cheika in charge? But it's not just the figures; it is the way we are achieving our ultra-low points. Absolutely questionable selections with underperforming favourites continuing in their undeserved spots, combined with unintelligible game plans and unworkable defensive structures. Anyone, I repeat, anyone imo with the slightest pretension to being a coach would be a better option than Cheika right now.
 

Lorenzo

Colin Windon (37)
Win 2 means we lose 5. Is that really the pass mark for keeping Cheika in charge? But it's not just the figures; it is the way we are achieving our ultra-low points. Absolutely questionable selections with underperforming favourites continuing in their undeserved spots, combined with unintelligible game plans and unworkable defensive structures. Anyone, I repeat, anyone imo with the slightest pretension to being a coach would be a better option than Cheika right now.

the boys are training really well and are up for it though, so we have that going for us, which is nice
 

Brumbieman

Dick Tooth (41)
Plus, given Cheika's way of playing Hooper at 7, Fardy complimented Hooper's style so well by providing another fetcher in the team. No other 6 or even backrower in the country compliments the current wallaby Captain so well.

I just don't get it.



Exactly, Hooper and Fardy traded one skillset each to the other, but together they were the perfect 2/3 of a great backrow.


Now thinking back to the last truly great performance against NZ, or anyone really that we've played since; the final 2014 Bled when McKenzie resigned. I know we lost, but the way we played that night was magical.

We took the Darkness on not with a spoiling, grafting game, but with their own game. The fast paced, well executed offloading and keeping the ball alive game. That was IMO the best we've played since we sauteed the Frogs in Paris in 2010.

We had a backrow of Fardy, Hooper and Higgers. Our tight five wasn't much, yet we were able to dominate the rucks with the backrow and get the fast ball we needed for Phipps to get clean ball, which is when he plays well and gets his passes out in front of his receiver, drawing Foley forward and onto the ball at pace while the defence is still resetting. Lealiifano and Kuridrani lit the field up with this quality attacking ball and Folau, Tomane and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) cleaned up.

Higgers had a fantastic game that night, because the Fardy/Hooper support he had let Higgers do what he does best. Those two were the perfect combination of skillsets to complete a full checklist of all the skill sets needed for a complete backrow. I've no idea if those three have played more tests as a starting combo together, considering how much chopping and changing has been going on but i suspect if they did we would have had a great game.

This year, Higgers has been left out for Dempsey, and Fardy left out for Dean Mumm or Hanigan. We could still be rolling out that backrow, but now we have a beast of a tight five for them to work with. With a WC 2 years away, and this year the draw being as good as we could have hoped for in terms of getting 2 wins rather than maybe 1 and FINALLY WINNING THE FUCKING BLEDISLOE BACK, my flabber is absolutely gasted that Cheika hasn't been favouring that and doing everything he could to keep it together.

Fardy not being called up and first choice 6, is the single biggest fuck up with this squad. There are a few more hard done by's but mostly the squad is good. Fardy though has been a huge fuck up and we've blown the best chance in years to have a truly great forward pack out there.

Instead we have Rob fucking penalty magnet guaranteedonebrainlessfucking Simmons, Hanigan and McMahon stumbling around like conscripts, all out of balance and inexperienced and ah fuck it....




I'm skinning up and watch that 2014 game again.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
How the hell is Jack Dempsey pencilled in, looks like a promising young fella, but he isn't a test standard yet, not even close, he isn't even a starting Super Rugby standard.

Rob Simmons, said it before, I'm a long time fan but blind eddy can tell he is having a shit season and drastically out of form. Carter was in far better form, and Arnold is better then both.. so why is Simmons starting??

Backline... well broken record here we go... if a player isn't going to defend in a position then don't play him there..
-KB (Kurtley Beale) should be fullback, that's were he defended at for much of last week so it makes sense.
- Izzy should be wing.. it's no wonder he is getting stood up in defence, he is getting shifted all over the backline and looks lost.. let him anchor the backline from wing, and own his defensive position.

Opposite wing, should be either DHP or Speight, Speight seems to struggle more under Greys defensive ideology then DHP does. So keep DHP on the wing and move Speight to the bench.
 

Lorenzo

Colin Windon (37)
It is curious that Bernie hasn't taken his rugby prowess and translated it into coaching prowess, even if he isn't terrible.

I wonder if the game has just moved on. The focus is now on offloads and rush defense. When he played they were smaller, had more time and more space to play with the ball.

Is it curious, or to be expected? Coaching and playing are two entirely different things, so why would being good at one make you good at the other?

Most sports that are big enough to be true meritocracies (the NFL, for example) have head coaches that weren't especially accomplished players if they played at all. Bill Belichick went straight into coaching after college. Jason Garret got a job as QB coach for the dolphins right after his playing career finished but being a career backup, he'd been wearing a headset for a decade already anyway and was a coach than a player as it was. Others have to start as an assistant at some small university and prove their value.

Larkham got his coaching job at the brumbies on the back of his reputation as a player. I've no issue with that - he started as an assistant and it's not like we've a national club comp to work in. But what has he done to warrant his ascension to offensive coordinator of the national side? For me his trading-on-the-name style rise is just another symptom of the small market amateur approach that is still so ingrained in Australian rugby.
 
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