Wallabies 2025

[hammertimethere]

Suallii will be less effective at 12 than he was ineffective at 13 (when outside of Ikitau). He can stay 13 and be effective, but with an effective 12. Or Ikitau can hold his obvious position.

I'd guess that in the absence of a solution to Ikitau being at 13 and JAS being on the field somewhere else... we will have the same.

Why is there an absence of a solution? Paisami can play serviceably at 12 if all they are going to do is use 12 as a bash merchant. He had a good game against the Lions for QLD and if we're persisting with Lynagh at 10 which I think is reasonable enough then to me it makes sense to pick the Reds attacking axis from 7/8/9/10/12. Ikitau cannoning straight up the middle is wasteful. We'd get more out of him and Sua'ali'i at 13/14 in wider channels where their footwork, power, offloading ability could turn half breaks into points.

 

[dru]

Why is there an absence of a solution? Paisami can play serviceably at 12 if all they are going to do is use 12 as a bash merchant. He had a good game against the Lions for QLD and if we're persisting with Lynagh at 10 which I think is reasonable enough then to me it makes sense to pick the Reds attacking axis from 7/8/9/10/12. Ikitau cannoning straight up the middle is wasteful. We'd get more out of him and Sua'ali'i at 13/14 in wider channels where their footwork, power, offloading ability could turn half breaks into points.

Love the guy but I'm not sure that is correct against the BIL.

 

[Wilson]

Love the guy but I'm not sure that is correct against the BIL.

He was one of the best on ground for the Reds against them, in a performance that was a fair bit better than serviceable.

 

[dru]

He was one of the best on ground for the Reds against them, in a performance that was a fair bit better than serviceable.

Tell me Wilson, are you actually thinking Paisami has a better than fair chance at starting the next test?

 

[Wilson]

Tell me Wilson, are you actually thinking Paisami has a better than fair chance at starting the next test?

Hard to be in Joe Schmidt's head, but I do think he is a decent chance of it - there are very clearly only 2 inside centre options Schmidt has considered this year based on his squads - Ikitau and Paisami. Given the current centre pairing hasn't worked defensively, is currently struggling offensively, and Sua'ali'i could arguably be better utilized in attack from the wing it makes sense for Schmidt to be considering one that has the centres playing in their natural positions in a partnership that has double figure tests together. It also strengthens the back 3, which I don't think was working well as a unit last night.

That's not to say he'd necessarily be wrong to keep the centre pairing as it stands, the defensive issues were predictable so Schmidt may be happy enough with where it is on balance and decide to stay the course with the series on the line. I'm somewhat biased towards changing it given I've never thought it was particularly well balanced, though I do a see how it could get there in time (years not weeks though).

 

[fatprop]

The fast line speed makes any 13 ineffective, fix the go forward and allow the 13's width to get around the chase

 

[Derpus]

Our centres were not even close to the problem last night. Once our forwards actually managed to deliver some ball 60 minutes in they both started making gainline carries and Suallii should have earnt us a yellow card and penalty advantage.

Defence was slightly concerning but it appears to be a systems issue. The soak and pilfer strategy sucks and leaves the backline reeling with multiple running options coming at them.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Itikau to outside centre. Suallii to inside centre.

Absolutely needs to be considered.

 

[Strewthcobber]

I didn't imagine Bundee Aki blowing straight through Paisami on the way to another Lions try the other week did I?

 

[Wilson]

I didn't imagine Bundee Aki blowing straight through Paisami on the way to another Lions try the other week did I?

You kind of did - Paisami didn't miss a tackle in that game. Aki did have one strong carry through Paisami just after half time crash balling from a Lions scrum, but Paisami still brings him to ground in the end for 5-10m gain. Itoje scores in the next phase, but all the issues for the Reds there stemmed from a scrum that collapsed, trapping most of the forward pack in. Bryant, Salakaia-Loto, Brial and Uru are the only ones that make it out of the scrum and Salakaia-Loto and Bryant arrive late to that tackle and get blown off the ruck, leaving gaping wholes in the defensive line that Gibson-Park exploits.

Would it have been a try if Paisami had have skewered Aki? Probably not, but we don't have any other centres who are making a dominant tackle one on one with Aki crash balling off a dominant scrum, so the point is kind of moot to begin with. The solution there is not getting dominated in the scrum so that we don't have 4-6 forwards out of the game a phase after a scrum in our 22.

 

[Tomthumb]

Love the guy but I'm not sure that is correct against the BIL.

The irony is the Lions are starting a guy at 12 that everyone thought wasn’t up to it when he was in Australia

Paisami is nowhere near as bad as people on here would have you believe

 

[dru]

The irony is the Lions are starting a guy at 12 that everyone thought wasn’t up to it when he was in Australia

Paisami is nowhere near as bad as people on here would have you believe

If you're suggesting that I think Paisami is bad you are wrong. But this is the WBs and they are playing the BIL.

 

[Slim 293]

The irony is the Lions are starting a guy at 12 that everyone thought wasn’t up to it when he was in Australia

Paisami is nowhere near as bad as people on here would have you believe

Is that “irony?”

 

[Tomthumb]

If you're suggesting that I think Paisami is bad you are wrong. But this is the WBs and they are playing the BIL.

Are you suggesting he’s not good enough to play for the Wallabies or not good enough to play vs the Lions?

 

[Tomthumb]

Is that “irony?”

To me, yeah. We are just doing the exact thing we did with guys like Tuipolotu. We give up on guys so early and never give them a chance to develop, and then complain about our lack of talent. Rinse and repeat

 

[Derpus]

The irony is the Lions are starting a guy at 12 that everyone thought wasn’t up to it when he was in Australia

Paisami is nowhere near as bad as people on here would have you believe

The Rebels didnt rate him. Rest of us barely got a glance.

 

[Brumby Runner]

To me, yeah. We are just doing the exact thing we did with guys like Tuipolotu. We give up on guys so early and never give them a chance to develop, and then complain about our lack of talent. Rinse and repeat

I think Paisami has had ample opportunities to develop but still looks like the same player he was three or four years ago.

 

[Mr Pilfer]

It is a shame we don’t really know if Kerevi is still any good or not. Watching them use ikitau as the main crash ball option made me think Kerevi could do a similar thing with more meters, but anyway I think that ship has sailed. I just think they need to give JAS the ball more

Will be interesting to see what coach does with Skelton, lineout was already terrible so Skelton coming in certainly won’t help. It did get better 2nd half not sure if that was anything to do with pollard or they just fixed their issues

 

[dru]

Are you suggesting he’s not good enough to play for the Wallabies or not good enough to play vs the Lions?

Playing for the WBs will always depend on the depth in that position. Paisami may well make the cut depending on injuries and who is still in the country. With who we have available right now, even with the rather odd combination of Ikitau out of position and JAS at 13, I don't see Paisami breaking in to start at 12.

 

[JRugby2]

It is a shame we don’t really know if Kerevi is still any good or not. Watching them use ikitau as the main crash ball option made me think Kerevi could do a similar thing with more meters, but anyway I think that ship has sailed. I just think they need to give JAS the ball more

Will be interesting to see what coach does with Skelton, lineout was already terrible so Skelton coming in certainly won’t help. It did get better 2nd half not sure if that was anything to do with pollard or they just fixed their issues

I think Kerevi's time playing in Japan counts against him. Despite what people are telling us (mostly blokes who are currently or recently did play in Japan trying to advocate for a test spot) the game clearly isn't as physical or abrasive there as Super Rugby or any of the European leagues.

Very likely that Joe doesn't see real value in swapping out our current group for him