Brumbieman
Dick Tooth (41)
So, we all know it.
What the Wallabies are sorely lacking, and keeps letting us down, is the fact that we don't have decent enough incumbents in 3 crucial positions: 5, 6 and 8.
Horwill is one lock, but the other is a problem. Sharpie may be playing well, but he's old. We won't magically develop an international quality 2nd row from no where, we need to find one.
What are our options here? I mentioned this on the front row thread, but I think we need a different style of 2nd row to Horwill. A Brad Thorn, Bakkies Botha, Vickerman etc type 2nd row. A tighthead supporting 2nd row who just LIVES to kybosh All Black's who are lying on the wrong side of the ruck/slowing ball down/offside/off their feet etc. Who does this well? Simmons looked great last year but has really fallen off. Fardy has been doing it well at the Brumbies, as have Luke Jones (REALLY big potential in this kid) and Hugh Pyle.
Blindside: Elsom is kaput. Even if he holds it together, there is no sense picking him. He was very, very average during the world cup, and was playing with a buggered shoulder and hammies. (I wont even speculate why, we all know why [Deans]). Time for the glue factory.
So, who else? Higginbotham is the obvious choice, but there are obviously Mowen and Dennis. I'm not interested in anyone less than 190-195cm. They need to be a lineout option.
Number 8: HUGE problem for us. Palu isn't it. He's old, very injury prone, punches well below his weight, and is never going to get any better than what we've seen so far, which is not good enough to oppose Kieren Reid.
So who else is there? Ita Vaea has to be the next option, despite him being behind Auleaelaualauleualuala (who is a potential option) for the moment. He puts in great hits, cleans out well at the rucks, has nice soft hands, and, wait for it, ACTUALLY GETS OVER THE GAIN LINE. And he does that BEFORE he looks for the offload, instead of stepping onto his front foot and stopping, turning (almost before taking contact) immediately and looking for an offload, which Palu does.
The effect is very simple. If Vaea runs into and then over the top of at least one player, it takes another to stop him. If the 2nd player does, by that point Vaea is already 3-4m futher upfield, and behind the gainline, which means that our players run forward into the ruck, and the opposition have to run back around BEHIND to get in through the gate. It creates momentum, and creates many more linebreaks because the offload goes to a player who has no one in front of him.
In short, the same effect that everyone says Palu creates, but he just doesn't. He was flattened by a fecking SCRUMHALF on Saturday night. Caught the ball, ran 4m and was hammered by the Rebels 9, and immediately went down. If this is the best rampaging ball running number 8, to put us on the front foot with ball in hand and truck it up, then we're truly fucked.
The other thign to consider with the backrow is balance. A champion backrow is always made up of players who complement each other, and work well as a unit. Eg McCaw, So'oialo and Collins, or McCaw, Kaino and Reid. etc
If we go with Higginbotham, a notorious seagull, then we would have to find a hard running, gain line making 8 who does a lot of work in the tight, to support Pocock. Higginbotham is great at running loose and wide in space and making metres there, but his work in the tight in minimal, so that needs to be considered when choosing the 8. So someone like Vaea or Mowen. Or you go with two hardworking backrowers, and another more dynamic 2nd rower.
Tis all about balance.
What the Wallabies are sorely lacking, and keeps letting us down, is the fact that we don't have decent enough incumbents in 3 crucial positions: 5, 6 and 8.
Horwill is one lock, but the other is a problem. Sharpie may be playing well, but he's old. We won't magically develop an international quality 2nd row from no where, we need to find one.
What are our options here? I mentioned this on the front row thread, but I think we need a different style of 2nd row to Horwill. A Brad Thorn, Bakkies Botha, Vickerman etc type 2nd row. A tighthead supporting 2nd row who just LIVES to kybosh All Black's who are lying on the wrong side of the ruck/slowing ball down/offside/off their feet etc. Who does this well? Simmons looked great last year but has really fallen off. Fardy has been doing it well at the Brumbies, as have Luke Jones (REALLY big potential in this kid) and Hugh Pyle.
Blindside: Elsom is kaput. Even if he holds it together, there is no sense picking him. He was very, very average during the world cup, and was playing with a buggered shoulder and hammies. (I wont even speculate why, we all know why [Deans]). Time for the glue factory.
So, who else? Higginbotham is the obvious choice, but there are obviously Mowen and Dennis. I'm not interested in anyone less than 190-195cm. They need to be a lineout option.
Number 8: HUGE problem for us. Palu isn't it. He's old, very injury prone, punches well below his weight, and is never going to get any better than what we've seen so far, which is not good enough to oppose Kieren Reid.
So who else is there? Ita Vaea has to be the next option, despite him being behind Auleaelaualauleualuala (who is a potential option) for the moment. He puts in great hits, cleans out well at the rucks, has nice soft hands, and, wait for it, ACTUALLY GETS OVER THE GAIN LINE. And he does that BEFORE he looks for the offload, instead of stepping onto his front foot and stopping, turning (almost before taking contact) immediately and looking for an offload, which Palu does.
The effect is very simple. If Vaea runs into and then over the top of at least one player, it takes another to stop him. If the 2nd player does, by that point Vaea is already 3-4m futher upfield, and behind the gainline, which means that our players run forward into the ruck, and the opposition have to run back around BEHIND to get in through the gate. It creates momentum, and creates many more linebreaks because the offload goes to a player who has no one in front of him.
In short, the same effect that everyone says Palu creates, but he just doesn't. He was flattened by a fecking SCRUMHALF on Saturday night. Caught the ball, ran 4m and was hammered by the Rebels 9, and immediately went down. If this is the best rampaging ball running number 8, to put us on the front foot with ball in hand and truck it up, then we're truly fucked.
The other thign to consider with the backrow is balance. A champion backrow is always made up of players who complement each other, and work well as a unit. Eg McCaw, So'oialo and Collins, or McCaw, Kaino and Reid. etc
If we go with Higginbotham, a notorious seagull, then we would have to find a hard running, gain line making 8 who does a lot of work in the tight, to support Pocock. Higginbotham is great at running loose and wide in space and making metres there, but his work in the tight in minimal, so that needs to be considered when choosing the 8. So someone like Vaea or Mowen. Or you go with two hardworking backrowers, and another more dynamic 2nd rower.
Tis all about balance.
. Vaea is the future and Aulea could be a handful if 100% fit. Not bad options.
