Australian Schoolboys and National Championships 2011
- Thread starter The Chosen
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attack21
Guest
Dislocated shoulder, minimum 4 weeks... what's the news with jack walters does anyone know?
O
OppO
Guest
Walters is out needing shoulder surgery.
X
XRugbyX
Guest
Scott Mains, Villanova College, AIC 1(captain) and Combined Stated 2nd rower with the call up for the Aus A schoolboys team for next week.
Australia U19s 8 - England U18s 19
England completely outplayed and outmuscled their older counterparts. England's selection process, like the Kiwis, of picking from Colts/grade teams on form instead of boys who were good when they were 15 was clear to see. Several of the Australian players are clearly still selected from schoolboy glories. England were bigger, stronger and faster in all areas and embarrassed the junior Wallabies up front. Poor conditions and a shocking pitch for a game at this level stopped more tries.
I am worried for the Australian U18s who England play this week. They are really going to struggle with the physicality of the England side, and winning/retaining ball in contact I see as being a real problem. Based on the England pack today, it will be like watching men and boys.
Pleasing to see that England's policy of picking from Colts/Academy has prevailed over our flawed nepotistic system of schoolboy selection dominated. Long live the GPS dominance - England and the Kiwis will keep on winning.
England completely outplayed and outmuscled their older counterparts. England's selection process, like the Kiwis, of picking from Colts/grade teams on form instead of boys who were good when they were 15 was clear to see. Several of the Australian players are clearly still selected from schoolboy glories. England were bigger, stronger and faster in all areas and embarrassed the junior Wallabies up front. Poor conditions and a shocking pitch for a game at this level stopped more tries.
I am worried for the Australian U18s who England play this week. They are really going to struggle with the physicality of the England side, and winning/retaining ball in contact I see as being a real problem. Based on the England pack today, it will be like watching men and boys.
Pleasing to see that England's policy of picking from Colts/Academy has prevailed over our flawed nepotistic system of schoolboy selection dominated. Long live the GPS dominance - England and the Kiwis will keep on winning.
O
OppO
Guest
Apparently this England team is made up of boys 1 year out from school and they are a development squad for the U19 tournament next year. Can anyone confirm, from the looks of the game on the weekend AUS schools don't stand a chance. England by 50 point +.
Honest John
Stan Wickham (3)
Scratch teams V touring sides
It is a shame that so many people are willing to bag this scratch team that had been together for 3 days coming up against a team that has been together for nearly 9 months and that is the same age (most of the English guys are 18 turning 19). In addition to the scratch nature of the side, they were playing this game under schoolboy rules which de-power the scrum to the point of farce. Most of this team is playing senior rugby and to come back to the safe rules is tough.
The game I watched saw the Aussies hold and if not slightly pip the England forwards in the set piece for the first half at least. Some interesting decisions at the scrum re binding did cost the Aussies some penalties along with 5 not straight line outs by the poms all of which not seen by the touchies.
Don't get me wrong, the England team is well drilled and will devour our schoolboys teams. This is England U18 not England schools.. Australia will never be able to compete until we haev a true Australian U18s without this ridiculous focus on having to be at school and a dominant input from the GPS.
I am not looking forward to watching the next two games as it will show how far behind we are here when it come s to a professional attitude to the game.
It is a shame that so many people are willing to bag this scratch team that had been together for 3 days coming up against a team that has been together for nearly 9 months and that is the same age (most of the English guys are 18 turning 19). In addition to the scratch nature of the side, they were playing this game under schoolboy rules which de-power the scrum to the point of farce. Most of this team is playing senior rugby and to come back to the safe rules is tough.
The game I watched saw the Aussies hold and if not slightly pip the England forwards in the set piece for the first half at least. Some interesting decisions at the scrum re binding did cost the Aussies some penalties along with 5 not straight line outs by the poms all of which not seen by the touchies.
Don't get me wrong, the England team is well drilled and will devour our schoolboys teams. This is England U18 not England schools.. Australia will never be able to compete until we haev a true Australian U18s without this ridiculous focus on having to be at school and a dominant input from the GPS.
I am not looking forward to watching the next two games as it will show how far behind we are here when it come s to a professional attitude to the game.
Iluvmyfooty
Phil Hardcastle (33)
This England side is made up of players that have been part of the various academies attached to the first division professional clubs in England (London wasps, Harlequins, etc.). The players have been in these Academies since they were 15 years old. They have been given very professional coaching and training 5 days a week within the club set-up and are virtually professional players, playing with the clubs in their leagues - albeit in junior grades. They also have been playing international rugby since the age of 16 in a Six Nations type challenge each year. Some of the players currently on tour have 8-10 international caps to their names.
i know that the players in the 19's and the Oz Schoolboys have also been in various training groups since 16 and have some very good coaching at school and from the ARU however, the environment under which most of the English lads are involved with is far superior in experience and physical development than what we do here in OZ. Most of our players have been with our senior clubs for less than a year
Once our players leave school and have a couple of years to develop with their various clubs in Colts and grade we quickly catch up to them as evidenced to our recent record against England in Seniors over the past few years (last years game excluded). However, if we are going to take the U20's seriously and even the 7's then we have to start looking at how we are developing our 17 and 18 year olds, particularly in their physical development. We can match the skills of these overseas sides but fail to match their physical presence. An example of this is that this current England side has several players over 110kg in their forward pack and the physical difference between the two sides was obvious on Sunday
i know that the players in the 19's and the Oz Schoolboys have also been in various training groups since 16 and have some very good coaching at school and from the ARU however, the environment under which most of the English lads are involved with is far superior in experience and physical development than what we do here in OZ. Most of our players have been with our senior clubs for less than a year
Once our players leave school and have a couple of years to develop with their various clubs in Colts and grade we quickly catch up to them as evidenced to our recent record against England in Seniors over the past few years (last years game excluded). However, if we are going to take the U20's seriously and even the 7's then we have to start looking at how we are developing our 17 and 18 year olds, particularly in their physical development. We can match the skills of these overseas sides but fail to match their physical presence. An example of this is that this current England side has several players over 110kg in their forward pack and the physical difference between the two sides was obvious on Sunday
HJ
The team for the U/20 IRB tournament next year would be nearly all U/19 players now and wouldn't have been eligible to play yesterday. As far as I know all the England players were at school in 2010/2011. Their school year would have ended about a month ago but a few may still be at school in 2011/12. Perhaps a few lads left school already in 2009/10 as the new requirement to stay in school until 18 wouldn't have kicked in then.
Quite a few of them would have attended regional academies during their school year, especially in holidays, much like our guys attend NTS or whatever it is now.
Some, but not all of them, may have been in club academies as well, much like league players are in Oz from a young age.
HJ - were weren't 'bagging' the team so much as the Oz system. In particular the Oz U/19 coaches were not to blame for rugby things not already ingrained in them when they got them. The challenge will be to develop most of these lads to be more rugby smart and team focussed than they are now for the 2012 U/20 IRB tournament in South Africa. They are good enough players to improve a lot in 10 months.
PS excellent post Iluv.
The team for the U/20 IRB tournament next year would be nearly all U/19 players now and wouldn't have been eligible to play yesterday. As far as I know all the England players were at school in 2010/2011. Their school year would have ended about a month ago but a few may still be at school in 2011/12. Perhaps a few lads left school already in 2009/10 as the new requirement to stay in school until 18 wouldn't have kicked in then.
Quite a few of them would have attended regional academies during their school year, especially in holidays, much like our guys attend NTS or whatever it is now.
Some, but not all of them, may have been in club academies as well, much like league players are in Oz from a young age.
HJ - were weren't 'bagging' the team so much as the Oz system. In particular the Oz U/19 coaches were not to blame for rugby things not already ingrained in them when they got them. The challenge will be to develop most of these lads to be more rugby smart and team focussed than they are now for the 2012 U/20 IRB tournament in South Africa. They are good enough players to improve a lot in 10 months.
PS excellent post Iluv.
H
high tower
Guest
Agree with your point re dominant input from GPS, GPS rugby is the strength of Australian schools rugby, and the achilles heel. Too many players left out or disenfranchised by the GPS bias in rep school teams.
Honest John
Stan Wickham (3)
Lee - Agree totally - This is where I am concerned with the proposed National Academy... the concept is sound ie: having a squad together for 6 months prior to the 2012 U20s world cup but so far no one has any idea of how this will be run, who is in it, what is involved etc etc. I hope that some thought will be put into this as the raw products out there from all states could be molded into a winning team. These boys will then have the confidence in the playing strategy and each other to compete at the highest level. However, they all need to be exposed to the highest level of senior rugby which is currently Shute Shield... barring Super 15 contracts, which next year will be few and far between for this age group with the reduction of the squad size to 30 and only 5 EPC players rounding them out. Any ideas??
Australia U19s 8 - England U18s 19
Sheer lack of numbers in Australia means it will be very difficult to compete with England and SA junior programmes if something is not changed; I can only see the gap getting wider as England become more professional. This is something they have only been taking seriously since post-95 RWC but are now doing very well. Junior rugby is fighting against the other sports to retain talent. I have witnessed League take the best of a whole year group of NSW players after U16s ! Why ? Many boys get so disenchanted with the unfairness of the system and the dominance of GPS bias and either go to League or quit altogether. In most rep competitions kids from schools outside of GPS believe they are there purely to make up the numbers. Most of the best non-GPS players know that they can go to NRL earn a bit of money and if they dont make it to Toyota Cup, they can still come back to Union and have lost nothing. How do we fix this ? Selectors must recognise that boys (particularly forwards) who were good at school are not necessarily going to be the same as Colts or Grade players. Most importantly, they have to see beyond the GPS system. Everyone at schools knows that the Australian Schoolboys are not the best players in Australia, they are just the players who are at the best schools. Ironic, that the English with such a strong school tie heritage recognised this and moved to a Colts and Academy programme with great success and are now pushing the Kiwis for the top spot in all grades upto and including U20s.
By the way, some of the boys in the England team on Sunday are barely 17 and many are still at school. If they'd brought all their best eligible players i.e. George Ford (youngest ever first grader at Leicester at 16, playing fly half) and Owen Farrell (son of Andy Farrell ex-GB League legend), playing 12 at Saracens, Australia would have been a lot worse off. Compare these 2 boys with the standard of Dion Taumata and Stu Dunbar and you'll realise how the gap is growing.
Sheer lack of numbers in Australia means it will be very difficult to compete with England and SA junior programmes if something is not changed; I can only see the gap getting wider as England become more professional. This is something they have only been taking seriously since post-95 RWC but are now doing very well. Junior rugby is fighting against the other sports to retain talent. I have witnessed League take the best of a whole year group of NSW players after U16s ! Why ? Many boys get so disenchanted with the unfairness of the system and the dominance of GPS bias and either go to League or quit altogether. In most rep competitions kids from schools outside of GPS believe they are there purely to make up the numbers. Most of the best non-GPS players know that they can go to NRL earn a bit of money and if they dont make it to Toyota Cup, they can still come back to Union and have lost nothing. How do we fix this ? Selectors must recognise that boys (particularly forwards) who were good at school are not necessarily going to be the same as Colts or Grade players. Most importantly, they have to see beyond the GPS system. Everyone at schools knows that the Australian Schoolboys are not the best players in Australia, they are just the players who are at the best schools. Ironic, that the English with such a strong school tie heritage recognised this and moved to a Colts and Academy programme with great success and are now pushing the Kiwis for the top spot in all grades upto and including U20s.
By the way, some of the boys in the England team on Sunday are barely 17 and many are still at school. If they'd brought all their best eligible players i.e. George Ford (youngest ever first grader at Leicester at 16, playing fly half) and Owen Farrell (son of Andy Farrell ex-GB League legend), playing 12 at Saracens, Australia would have been a lot worse off. Compare these 2 boys with the standard of Dion Taumata and Stu Dunbar and you'll realise how the gap is growing.
pstoe - great post.
Honest John
Lots of ideas but I am not an expert on the matter as others are.
One of the disadvantages of Australia is that it is so bloody big. We need a bit of smallness.
Through accidents of some tough geography and poor 19th century transport NZ was broken up into small provinces. Each of them got a rugby union. Although these provinces and groups of provinces have gone in a political sense, there remain 26 rugby unions and each of these unions run their bailiwick in an integrated manner in a way that produces top U/20 teams for the country, and a pathway to their NPC teams.
I sat next to a big Maori fellow at the Bledisloe in Sydney last year and he described what they did. It was pretty frightening but the thing about it was that they didn't throw a lot of money at it, just a lot of common sense and volunteer work. However, it amazed me when I told him how we picked our national schools team, that he said that their system was not as good as ours.
At least that was the situation when he was involved in one of the rugby provinces, he said. The provincial officials were surprised that so many good provincial schoolboys were overlooked for the NZ Schools team as they knew who the good players were and had since they were nippers. Things had improved in the last few years for schools selection but it still wasn't great according to him.
His bottom line was that when the lads left school the real best players in the small provinces were fast tracked into their NPC academies because they knew them better than any national body could or would.
I haven't offered any ideas but whatever the ARU do in their academy system shake up they have to somehow mimic the smallness of the Kiwi system. WA, Victoria and the ACT are small enough to be single units, but do we want one academy unit for the whole of NSW or the whole of Queensland? Probably not.
In Sydney I could see a "province" or region involving the Rats, Manly , North Sydney and Gordon - more or less the old ARC regions, and so on throughout the city. It may not be a popular thing to mention, but Sydney Uni could stand alone as it virtually does now. The same kind of thing would apply to Qld.
Coaching would be the main thing in the regions, but each could have an U/19 team from their academy and play a few midweek night games during the season to help identify the best U/19 players under match conditions in NSW and Qld. That could work into my old idea of having a cheap 3 game national U/19 comp spanning only a week, late in the year. With all that it would make the selection for the U/20 team the following year more seamless.
There are a lot of holes in that but at least something like it would be integrated.
The regional academies could cater for younger lads who are not at big private rugby schools and help them develop as the leagues clubs do with league youngsters.
The treatment of amateur academy players over the U/19 limit would necessarily be different, but I would rather have something regional and integrated with Colts, than the lads, in NSW for example, having to show up with the Tahs at Moore Park all the time and be integrated with a Super outfit. It would be easier for them to get to a regional centre in Parramatta, say, than Moore Park, if they live in the west. Presently it is likely some may have to move east and end up playing for an inner city club.
One thing that hasn't been considered is the coaching in these regions. It is easier to come up with apparently clever ideas than it is to come up with more quality coaches. Unfortunately it would be easier, and cheaper to have NSW lads coached at the Tahs because they already have the set up and would need just one or two more to deal with any increased load, if the ARU have a more intensive franchise based academy system.
If the ARU want to have a regional system it has to go hand in hand with improving the quality and quantity of coaches.
.
Honest John
Lots of ideas but I am not an expert on the matter as others are.
One of the disadvantages of Australia is that it is so bloody big. We need a bit of smallness.
Through accidents of some tough geography and poor 19th century transport NZ was broken up into small provinces. Each of them got a rugby union. Although these provinces and groups of provinces have gone in a political sense, there remain 26 rugby unions and each of these unions run their bailiwick in an integrated manner in a way that produces top U/20 teams for the country, and a pathway to their NPC teams.
I sat next to a big Maori fellow at the Bledisloe in Sydney last year and he described what they did. It was pretty frightening but the thing about it was that they didn't throw a lot of money at it, just a lot of common sense and volunteer work. However, it amazed me when I told him how we picked our national schools team, that he said that their system was not as good as ours.
At least that was the situation when he was involved in one of the rugby provinces, he said. The provincial officials were surprised that so many good provincial schoolboys were overlooked for the NZ Schools team as they knew who the good players were and had since they were nippers. Things had improved in the last few years for schools selection but it still wasn't great according to him.
His bottom line was that when the lads left school the real best players in the small provinces were fast tracked into their NPC academies because they knew them better than any national body could or would.
I haven't offered any ideas but whatever the ARU do in their academy system shake up they have to somehow mimic the smallness of the Kiwi system. WA, Victoria and the ACT are small enough to be single units, but do we want one academy unit for the whole of NSW or the whole of Queensland? Probably not.
In Sydney I could see a "province" or region involving the Rats, Manly , North Sydney and Gordon - more or less the old ARC regions, and so on throughout the city. It may not be a popular thing to mention, but Sydney Uni could stand alone as it virtually does now. The same kind of thing would apply to Qld.
Coaching would be the main thing in the regions, but each could have an U/19 team from their academy and play a few midweek night games during the season to help identify the best U/19 players under match conditions in NSW and Qld. That could work into my old idea of having a cheap 3 game national U/19 comp spanning only a week, late in the year. With all that it would make the selection for the U/20 team the following year more seamless.
There are a lot of holes in that but at least something like it would be integrated.
The regional academies could cater for younger lads who are not at big private rugby schools and help them develop as the leagues clubs do with league youngsters.
The treatment of amateur academy players over the U/19 limit would necessarily be different, but I would rather have something regional and integrated with Colts, than the lads, in NSW for example, having to show up with the Tahs at Moore Park all the time and be integrated with a Super outfit. It would be easier for them to get to a regional centre in Parramatta, say, than Moore Park, if they live in the west. Presently it is likely some may have to move east and end up playing for an inner city club.
One thing that hasn't been considered is the coaching in these regions. It is easier to come up with apparently clever ideas than it is to come up with more quality coaches. Unfortunately it would be easier, and cheaper to have NSW lads coached at the Tahs because they already have the set up and would need just one or two more to deal with any increased load, if the ARU have a more intensive franchise based academy system.
If the ARU want to have a regional system it has to go hand in hand with improving the quality and quantity of coaches.
.
Iluvmyfooty
Phil Hardcastle (33)
OZ Schools 2011
Good luck to Oz "A" this afternoon against England U18's. If someone is at the match please provide a report.
Is anyone going to Riverview on Sunday to watch Oz Schools v England
Good luck to Oz "A" this afternoon against England U18's. If someone is at the match please provide a report.
Is anyone going to Riverview on Sunday to watch Oz Schools v England
W
woundedronin
Guest
The official RFU twitter just posted the result.
Full Time in Australia, and England U18 have beaten Australia A Schools 27-0, scoring four tries in the process
Eng U18 tries came from @MaxCrumpton, @Nowellsy15, Kyle Sinckler & Marcus Webber. Will Robinson added 2 cons & 1 pen in 27-0 win
Full Time in Australia, and England U18 have beaten Australia A Schools 27-0, scoring four tries in the process
Eng U18 tries came from @MaxCrumpton, @Nowellsy15, Kyle Sinckler & Marcus Webber. Will Robinson added 2 cons & 1 pen in 27-0 win
England Schools 27 Oz A Schools 0
I was probably wrong when I said that the England team on Monday was the dirt-tracker team because the England lads today didn't look the same quality. Many of the starters today will be playing on Sunday but most of those will probably play from the bench. Maybe I am wrong – let's see.
The Oz lineout was truly poor and even worse than that of the Oz U/19 team on Monday. You couldn't excuse it because of windy conditions they had then either. I counted 10 lineouts that were lost but I know that I missed marking some down so it was probably nearer 13 or 14. Just about every lineout fault was evident and the England giraffes did not make matters any easier for the Aussies.
The Oz scrum was very scratchy at first though England got a fair share of scrum penalties against them on the collapse and were free-kicked 3 or 4 times for early hits. I don't know if it was the replacement of the Oz THP that was the difference but when Caterson came on before oranges things changed for the better. Oz scrums still teetered, but teetering was good by comparison, many were solid and a couple were better than that. The same general improvement was seen on the England put in.
England scored 3 tries in the 1st half and each was because the Oz backline was outnumbered. It wasn't a matter of canny switching of play either, it was more because the Pom pick and go sucked Oz players of all descriptions in, then they whipped it out wide. Sometimes Oz backs had to go for the intercept as the only way to stop a move.
The England backs on Monday were average in their ball handling but were worse today which is mainly why I thought today's team was not as good. When the had an overlap they often dropped the pill or threw it behind the receiver, then sometimes with 3 on 1 the inside guy would go for glory and get tackled. They left 2 or 3 tries on the park doing that.
Oz were lucky to be behind only 17-0 at half time. England had all the territory; (for the 1st half hour this was almost literally true), and they certainly had all the quality possession. Oz was much better in the 2nd half as their reserves seemed to lift them.
For a long time the 2nd half tally was only 3-0 to England and Oz even had some moments of domination. The coaches must have got in their ears at oranges: ruck defence improved, not so many were sucked in, backs numbered up better and when they were caught short they rushed to neutralise. Then the England replacement winger, reminiscent of Chris F'Sautia, scored a brilliant individual try that lifted my rugby spirits to make it 10-0 England for the 2nd stanza.
It was a fine effort from the outclassed Oz A team in the 2nd half and they should be proud how they turned things around. I'll post something about the players later.
.
I was probably wrong when I said that the England team on Monday was the dirt-tracker team because the England lads today didn't look the same quality. Many of the starters today will be playing on Sunday but most of those will probably play from the bench. Maybe I am wrong – let's see.
The Oz lineout was truly poor and even worse than that of the Oz U/19 team on Monday. You couldn't excuse it because of windy conditions they had then either. I counted 10 lineouts that were lost but I know that I missed marking some down so it was probably nearer 13 or 14. Just about every lineout fault was evident and the England giraffes did not make matters any easier for the Aussies.
The Oz scrum was very scratchy at first though England got a fair share of scrum penalties against them on the collapse and were free-kicked 3 or 4 times for early hits. I don't know if it was the replacement of the Oz THP that was the difference but when Caterson came on before oranges things changed for the better. Oz scrums still teetered, but teetering was good by comparison, many were solid and a couple were better than that. The same general improvement was seen on the England put in.
England scored 3 tries in the 1st half and each was because the Oz backline was outnumbered. It wasn't a matter of canny switching of play either, it was more because the Pom pick and go sucked Oz players of all descriptions in, then they whipped it out wide. Sometimes Oz backs had to go for the intercept as the only way to stop a move.
The England backs on Monday were average in their ball handling but were worse today which is mainly why I thought today's team was not as good. When the had an overlap they often dropped the pill or threw it behind the receiver, then sometimes with 3 on 1 the inside guy would go for glory and get tackled. They left 2 or 3 tries on the park doing that.
Oz were lucky to be behind only 17-0 at half time. England had all the territory; (for the 1st half hour this was almost literally true), and they certainly had all the quality possession. Oz was much better in the 2nd half as their reserves seemed to lift them.
For a long time the 2nd half tally was only 3-0 to England and Oz even had some moments of domination. The coaches must have got in their ears at oranges: ruck defence improved, not so many were sucked in, backs numbered up better and when they were caught short they rushed to neutralise. Then the England replacement winger, reminiscent of Chris F'Sautia, scored a brilliant individual try that lifted my rugby spirits to make it 10-0 England for the 2nd stanza.
It was a fine effort from the outclassed Oz A team in the 2nd half and they should be proud how they turned things around. I'll post something about the players later.
.
England
3. Sinckler – came off the bench an Monday and carried on literally knocking people over nearly every time he got a run.
6. Barrow – the captain is an outstanding athlete and multi-skilled. Similar to Tom Croft.
12. Hill – outstanding defence and leg drive when stopped. Once took 4 players up field.
23. (winger) Webber – set up the England try on Monday and created one himself from nothing today. Stepping at sprinter pace with no apparent slowing down. Magic. Watch this space.
Australia A (couldn't remember the play of everybody)
1. Moloney – shaking the tea leaves you can work out some of the early scrum problems weren't his fault.
2. Lafaitele – unhappy throwing to the lineout but a workhorse on attack and defence.
3. Tolmie
4. Rorke – outstanding enforcing game, first in the 2nd row and later at no. 8 (which will be his natural position as a senior player). Was parked outside the ruck defending at flyhalf in the 2nd half and helped to change the game to closer to parity after oranges.
5. Walls – big bopper, not as agile as Rorke but stopped some England big boppers cold.
6. Whitely
7. Hardwick
8. Tasi – marvellous defensive game until he limped off his body all used up.
9. Merriman – found it hard to shine in first half because of crap backfoot ball.
10. Debreczeni – reasonable game in circumstances of bad ball in 1st half; was able to do some sleight of hand in 2nd.
11. Scarano
12. Johnson – outstanding game. Nathan Grey on defence and even stopped the big bopper prop in full flight, then seconds later went on a stepping run. If the Oz Ones 12 is better than Johnson was today, he's going to be good.
13. Robinson
14. Roye – play went to the other side when he was on.
15. Vaux – Very good game away from his normal flyhalf position; then showed in the 2nd half that he has enough speed to play well on the wing. Good footie player.
Reserves (and the positions I thought they played.)
16. (1) – Lesa - kept the good scrummaging going when he replaced Moloney.
17. (2) – Wakely – had some bad throws too.
18. (3) – Caterson – as mentioned earlier: could have been a scrummage changer. Stopped his share of big boppers too.
19. (4) – Mains
20. (6) - Broome – made sure he tackled everybody even if they had passed the ball first.
21. (9) – McCarthy - did well, though he had better ball than Merriman got.
22. (15) – Davies - excellent stint – did everything right and caused errors.
23. (11) - Duncan
3. Sinckler – came off the bench an Monday and carried on literally knocking people over nearly every time he got a run.
6. Barrow – the captain is an outstanding athlete and multi-skilled. Similar to Tom Croft.
12. Hill – outstanding defence and leg drive when stopped. Once took 4 players up field.
23. (winger) Webber – set up the England try on Monday and created one himself from nothing today. Stepping at sprinter pace with no apparent slowing down. Magic. Watch this space.
Australia A (couldn't remember the play of everybody)
1. Moloney – shaking the tea leaves you can work out some of the early scrum problems weren't his fault.
2. Lafaitele – unhappy throwing to the lineout but a workhorse on attack and defence.
3. Tolmie
4. Rorke – outstanding enforcing game, first in the 2nd row and later at no. 8 (which will be his natural position as a senior player). Was parked outside the ruck defending at flyhalf in the 2nd half and helped to change the game to closer to parity after oranges.
5. Walls – big bopper, not as agile as Rorke but stopped some England big boppers cold.
6. Whitely
7. Hardwick
8. Tasi – marvellous defensive game until he limped off his body all used up.
9. Merriman – found it hard to shine in first half because of crap backfoot ball.
10. Debreczeni – reasonable game in circumstances of bad ball in 1st half; was able to do some sleight of hand in 2nd.
11. Scarano
12. Johnson – outstanding game. Nathan Grey on defence and even stopped the big bopper prop in full flight, then seconds later went on a stepping run. If the Oz Ones 12 is better than Johnson was today, he's going to be good.
13. Robinson
14. Roye – play went to the other side when he was on.
15. Vaux – Very good game away from his normal flyhalf position; then showed in the 2nd half that he has enough speed to play well on the wing. Good footie player.
Reserves (and the positions I thought they played.)
16. (1) – Lesa - kept the good scrummaging going when he replaced Moloney.
17. (2) – Wakely – had some bad throws too.
18. (3) – Caterson – as mentioned earlier: could have been a scrummage changer. Stopped his share of big boppers too.
19. (4) – Mains
20. (6) - Broome – made sure he tackled everybody even if they had passed the ball first.
21. (9) – McCarthy - did well, though he had better ball than Merriman got.
22. (15) – Davies - excellent stint – did everything right and caused errors.
23. (11) - Duncan
- Status