stillmissit
Jim Lenehan (48)
True WF, and I am hopeful that Laurie has seen the light. It has taken a bloody long time and many close losses for the penny to drop on him.
Rugby Championship 2025: South Africa v Australia
- Thread starter Tazzmania
- Start date
We play mostly off our 9 and if someone who isn't a 10 needs to play there most of their role will be kicking.
There still seems to be this perception that our 10 is the player who needs to unlock the opposition defence but the evidence in modern test rugby suggests that very few tries are scored in this manner. Primarily we want our 10 to help us play field position such that we play as much rugby in the opposition half as possible and then a mistake or penalty can give us the opportunity to possess the ball inside the 22 where we are a strong chance of scoring.
Not selecting Edmed is fine. He's only recently joined the squad and if you're running outside of the matchday 23 all week then you have had close to zero training reps with any player playing in the test. He'd be on an absolute hiding to nothing.
There still seems to be this perception that our 10 is the player who needs to unlock the opposition defence but the evidence in modern test rugby suggests that very few tries are scored in this manner. Primarily we want our 10 to help us play field position such that we play as much rugby in the opposition half as possible and then a mistake or penalty can give us the opportunity to possess the ball inside the 22 where we are a strong chance of scoring.
Not selecting Edmed is fine. He's only recently joined the squad and if you're running outside of the matchday 23 all week then you have had close to zero training reps with any player playing in the test. He'd be on an absolute hiding to nothing.
Alex Sharpe
Larry Dwyer (12)
Not sure that JOC (James O'Connor) will be as out of shape as people think. He has been a professional player for nearly 2 decades. His aerobic base will be there. He has also just come out of the Crusaders system which has a significantly better track record of player conditioning than the Australian sides.
I get that he is 35, but that means less and less these days. Sexton regularly played 80 mins until he was 37.
JOC (James O'Connor) may have some cobwebs, but chat of him being hidden in defence and playing to preserve himself are probably off the mark
I get that he is 35, but that means less and less these days. Sexton regularly played 80 mins until he was 37.
JOC (James O'Connor) may have some cobwebs, but chat of him being hidden in defence and playing to preserve himself are probably off the mark
TSR
Steve Williams (59)
Don’t completely agree BH. Modern backline attack is more fluid in terms of roles but guys like Finn Russell, Ritchie Mo’unga etc still pull most of the strings. Still - Kellaway at his best is a savvy footballer. It’s not ideal (and he seems a bit past his best) but one can only hope if he is thrown in the deep end he’ll get the job done. I would’ve never thought Reece Hodge could play test rugby at 10, and he certainly wasn’t a star there, but he got the job done.
TSR
Steve Williams (59)
Whatever happens at 10 I’m hoping some of the glimpses we saw in the last Lions test of how effective Ikitau and Sua’ali’i could be as a defensive pairing come through in this game. They have some way to go yet, but almost every game they show a few things which highlight how good they could be as a pair with time in the saddle.
Tomthumb
Peter Johnson (47)
Sexton was also was one of the Worlds best 10's, whereas O'Connor has never proven to be a Test level 10, and his last performance for the Wallabies there made Dave Rennie banish him from the squad instantly
I hope he goes well but we cant compare him to guys like Sexton
The_Brown_Hornet
John Eales (66)
I can't help but think that in spite of his lack of experience Joe might and probably should change the bench and stick Edmed in there. He's not going to win the game for us, but we need a better option than Tate or Kellaway stepping into a completely unfamiliar position.
Alex Sharpe
Larry Dwyer (12)
Purely using the comparison to highlight that JOCs age doesn't mean he is automatically unable to last a full test match.
Not comparing their abilities as flyhalves at all.
Major Tom
John Solomon (38)
Most concerning thing would be the lack of minutes though. He’ll be expected to go deep into the game which he hasn’t done much this year. Add in that this is a test match and at altitude it’s a big ask.
I actually don’t mind seeing how wright would go at 10 towards the end. Could be something the brumbs work on next year seeing as they don’t have Noah anyways. Would need someone to go to fullback (Pritchard or Wilcox or murihead). It’s not ideal obviously but forces us to think outside the box.
I agree those guys pull most of the strings but at test level those "strings" are largely about getting into the right part of the field to attack. Russell is definitely the most "playmaking" 10 of the top players in my view.
We see very few tries that are generated by some fly half wizardry bamboozling the defence. The crux of my point is that our 10s aren't being asked to touch the ball most phases and our ability to score points isn't tied to whether they can create a try out of nothing against a settled defence through sleight of hand etc.
Clearly Kellaway and White aren't ideal options if they do need to spend time at 10 but likewise, if they do have to stand in for that position it's not like they're going to be asked to play like prime Quade Cooper. They'll be tasked with having less involvement than our actual 10s have which generally isn't a huge amount to begin with.
Marbig
Larry Dwyer (12)
I know playing Wales in a tour match at home is a completely different game to playing South Africa in South Africa at altitude, but it was the last time JOC (James O'Connor) played against an international team and he was outstanding for the Reds against Wales last year.
Would have preferred Dono out there but quietly confident in his ability to manage the game. Up the Wallabies!
Would have preferred Dono out there but quietly confident in his ability to manage the game. Up the Wallabies!
Ignoto
John Hipwell (52)
Pony up a name on who this mysterious young playmaker is that should be starting?
Three of the four starting 10's for our Super teams are busted, so I'd love to know who should it be.
Tomthumb
Peter Johnson (47)
To be fair he did say prior to Donaldson getting injured in the same comment. With Donaldson now injured O'Connor is kind of by default. In terms of a name, I honestly think in 12 months time Tane Edmed will be viewed as the best 10 in Australia. Going to the Brumbies environment and working with Bernie is going to do wonders for the kid. He was kind of shafted by McKellar this year
I think we can all agree it's certainly not ideal to have a 9 & 10 starting that neither of them are apart of the Wallabies future. Hopefully White makes way for McDermott & Lonergan in Cape Town
parkfootyenthusiast2
Bill Watson (15)
There's a lot of park footy about running a 35 year old at 10 and his two covers are out of position guys... for that reason I am optimistic. We love a scrap. Let's trot.
Hogan
Ward Prentice (10)
I was referring to Donaldson (before he was injured) and Edmed. Both will be in the mix for the WC in ‘27 together with Lynagh and possibly Lolesio. JOC (James O'Connor) won’t be around thus my comment re his selection.
whitefalcon
Phil Hardcastle (33)
Schmidt has effectively said they might bring Edmed in before the match its just that Donaldson was very late injury and they wanted Edmed to have a week with the team before getting a game.
Wilson
Tim Horan (67)
I think the goal there is smaller changes - just bring one man into the role while keeping the support system that uses quite a few secondary playmakers (Wright, Ikitau, McReight and Wilson to varying degrees/ways) in place.