Australia v England

[The Honey Badger]

Haven’t seen anything official re replacements but guessing samu to 6, Dempsey to 8, Beale to 22

Take the emotion out. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) should be there.

 

[Quick Hands]

I'm sure thats the case but Twickenham sits another 35 000 compared to Mendoza and tickets are probably a lot dearer (starting around 40 pounds) than in Argentina (unsure of cost).

Tickets start at 55 pounds for the Wallaby game with the most expensive 132 pounds.

Capacity 82,000

Ground is owned outright by the RFU, so they keep all profits. (some farsighted administrator bought the land in 1907 for 5 thousand pounds)

 

[Quick Hands]

[

You can put down all the other wallabies coaches stats from pro era and compare them to Cheika's but its not fair if not seen also from this perspective. No other wallabies coach has had to pick from such consistent losers as our current one. You think that's not going to have an affect?

We could run to 100 pages just discussing this paragraph and you haven't even mentioned the maladministration which has run the game into the ground over the past 20 years.

 

[Italophile]

So now we know why Beale and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) are absent.

 

[Wilson]

More details:

Australia duo Kurtley Beale and Adam Ashley-Cooper have been stood down for selection for the Wallabies' clash with England this weekend for bringing three women back to their hotel room in Cardiff.
The Australian reports that the pair have been disciplined for a breach of team protocol, by inviting women back to their Cardiff hotel room after Wales' 9-6 win over Australia earlier this month.
The Wallabies have a strict rule that no guests are allowed back to players' hotel rooms and, while it is understood the women were Ashley-Cooper's sister-in-law and two friends, senior players deemed it an unacceptable breach.
According to a team spokesman, the women joined the two players in their room but left at 10.30pm on the night the Wallabies lost 9-6 to Wales at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
According to the report, Australia coach Michael Cheika only found out about the incident on Monday - which explains why Ashley-Cooper made his international comeback following two years away from Test rugby against Italy last weekend.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/australia-stars-kurtley-beale-adam-15457074

 

[Strewthcobber]

Sigh. Wouldn't it be nice if we could get out of our own way occasionally.

Updated bench Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Jermaine Ainsley, 18 Allan Ala'alatoa, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Ned Hanigan, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Sefa Naivalu, 23 Marika Koroibete

 

[jimmydubs]

Sefa and Koroibete on the same bench? More eyebrows tobe raised.

And what's latu done to cement himself as starting rake?

 

[KOB1987]

Sigh. Wouldn't it be nice if we could get out of our own way occasionally.

Updated bench Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Jermaine Ainsley, 18 Allan Ala'alatoa, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Ned Hanigan, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Sefa Naivalu, 23 Marika Koroibete

Yeah, at least we know the reason they weren’t picked though. There would have been an uproar if he’d picked either of them and then the breach came out. Not a major breach by the sounds of it but would have been better before the Italy game!

Banks must not be ticking the boxes on the training pitch. Unless it’s a deliberate ploy to get two strike wingers out there at the finish.

 

[Wilson]

Doesn't explain tupou, doesn't explain Foley at 12 and doesn't explain latu starting or any of the other merry go round selections we've been seeing

 

[Wilson]

Sefa and Koroibete on the same bench? More eyebrows tobe raised.

And what's latu done to cement himself as starting rake?

Koroibete had to come in I guess, I don't think we have another back 5 forward in the squad who could've come in to replace pocock

 

[kiap]

while it is understood the women were Ashley-Cooper's sister-in-law and two friends, senior players deemed it an unacceptable breach.

I'm holding back judgement until we hear from Adam's mum

 

[KOB1987]

Doesn't explain tupou, doesn't explain Foley at 12 and doesn't explain latu starting or any of the other merry go round selections we've been seeing

Well it kind of does explain Foley at 12 if he’d already decided that To'omua was going to be 10. Kerevi/Sefa is probably the only other remotely viable center combo left. At least this lot have had a game together.

Has to be a reason for TT, am sure it will come out. No real issue with Latu starting over the other options. When he’s hot he’s hot

 

[Wilson]

Long since done with excuses for cheika's left field selections. I guess it'll all come down to the result but even a win will be a hard thing to build off of here.

 

[Quick Hands]

On the face of it it sounds a fairly trivial incident. As long as they are going to consistently apply these rules it's fine by me though.

 

[Quick Hands]

Yeah, at least we know the reason they weren’t picked though. There would have been an uproar if he’d picked either of them and then the breach came out. Not a major breach by the sounds of it but would have been better before the Italy game!

Banks must not be ticking the boxes on the training pitch. Unless it’s a deliberate ploy to get two strike wingers out there at the finish.

Although as one of the visitors was a relative of AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) who had a couple of friends with her and they seem to have left by 10.30pm, I'm not sure that there would have been uproar. It would have been more sensible for them to meet in the hotel lobby though in view of the rules about visitors.

 

[vidiot]

Possibly this is a relatively sanitised version of events.

 

[The Honey Badger]

I would have thought AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) a cleanskin.

Kurtly on the other hand, has form.

Must be more to this than they are reporting.

And if Chieka didn't know for that long, how did it leak out at all.?

 

[Dan54]

I actually surprised if it true reporting of events, if so all the aren't they great fellas for telling Chuckles about it doesn't ring true. They didn't tell him until a week later? Something is not smelling right!

 

[Brumby Runner]

Heard Cheika on ABC radio this morning. Missed who it was, but someone came to him on Monday to report the incident and to ask if action would be taken. Cheika also claimed that there have been discipline issues coming to the fore and he is taking action to stamp it out. Make of this what you will.

 

[vidiot]

I get that culture and effort are important, and this seems to be a recurrent focus (at least from the dribs and drabs that percolate out at interviews).

But.

The messages that come out from the players and coaches are all about trying harder, when from my comfortable seat on the couch it appears that effort isn't the problem. Pocock and Hooper are the most prominent but across 1-22 they look to be trying pretty hard.

The problem isn't effort but their shape and execution. And the pool of available players, which we can't really afford to self-sabotage.