Wallabies v Lions Game 2 MCG 26 July

[rugbyAU]

Skelton, Valetini and Gleeson should be back, I'd bring in Pietsch too

1 - Bell
2 - Pollard
3 - AA
4 - Frost
5 - Hooper
6 - Valetini
7 - McReight
8 - Wilson
9 - McDermott
10 - Lynagh
11 - Pietsch
12 - Ikitau
13 - Sua'ali'i
14 - Jorgensen
15 - Wright

16 - Faessler
17 - Slipper
18 - Robertson
19 - Skelton
20 - Gleeson
21 - Gordon
22 - Donaldson
23 - Paisami

 

[Sword of Justice]

I love McReight but he wasn’t able to do anything tonight and I don’t think the refereeing will get any easier for him with these NH officials.

 

[dru]

I love McReight but he wasn’t able to do anything tonight and I don’t think the refereeing will get any easier for him with these NH officials.

Yeah but who to put on who would do better? I think he starts.

 

[Sword of Justice]

Yeah but who to put on who would do better? I think he starts.

I’m thinking either CDC or Gleeson into that 7 jersey for more starch. Maybe CDC for the lineout if Skelton is coming in.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Best option for 7 if Skelton plays is surely Tom Hooper.

 

[Froggy]

Really like that side RugbyAU. No way I'm starting Hooper at 7, in fact I would probably start him in the row with Skelton and use Williams off the bench. McReight had a quiet night last night, but he's world class and you don't leave him out on one quiet (but not poor) game, he probably wins you the next one. Frost is an athlete, but seems to get knocked over so easily for such a big guy. I would probably reverse your halves pairing, and start Gordon and Donaldson and bring Tate and Lynagh off the bench, but bring Tate on much earlier than last night.

 

[drewprint]

The reality is we’re not going to see wholesale changes. Skelton, Valetini, and Gleeson roll in. Pick and stick with Lynagh. Tate stays on the bench where he is most impactful. I would like to see Pietch over Potter however but still unlikely.

 

[Drew]

We will know if it’s Pietsch, if he’s withdrawn from the midweek game

 

[TSR]

Surprised of the criticism of McReight. I thought he was everywhere. Number of times he was first or second to the tackle/breakdown on kicks and line breaks plus his work in and around the tackle.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Surprised of the criticism of McReight. I thought he was everywhere. Number of times he was first or second to the tackle/breakdown on kicks and line breaks plus his work in and around the tackle.

His main issue was a number of very poor ball passing efforts gifting possession directly to the Lions or by way of a lineout. Combined with a less than customary performance at the breakdown and overall he was a bit off his usual pace.

 

[TSR]

I remember two poor passes - 1 early and 1 near the end. I don’t agree with your assessment of his game at the breakdown though. He got a couple of turn overs and was one of the few people who had any success slowing the Lions ball down.

In any case, I don’t see him being dropped.

 

[Strewthcobber]

He was credited with one ruck turnover (I guess the one at the start?) and penalised twice.

Two more turnovers won, and one lost on top of that, so kind of adds up to a fairly neutral game.

Tom Curry just the two penalties conceded and no more turnovers

Pretty good discipline from the Wallabies. Conceding only 7 penalties would probably be enough to get a win in most games

 

[TSR]

Do they included penalties forced in the turnover stats? He won a penalty early and then i’m pretty sure he forced another turnover later in the passage were the ball went back and forwards between the teams for about 10 seconds.

But you only have to watch how many times O’Keefe is talking to him during the game in general play to see how many times he got his hands on the ball and slowed the Lions down and/or made them commit extra players to the clean out.

 

[hammertimethere]

I'm actually not really too down on the players after the first test. But Schmidt and Lord are going to have to admit quickly that they got selection and tactics wrong. If they do, it's not actually going to take much to put out a team with much more cohesion, combinations and a coherent game plan. The key take aways for me are
a) Ikitau and JAS are two of our most important attacking threats but we got absolutely fuck all out of them in Test 1 because Lenny was sent rocketing into the rush defence off set piece in most of our starter plays, and Su was skip passed to Potter or Jorgo who just are never going to make something out of a 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 against these guys. Such a waste. They would be much more effective both one further out, where their feet/power and offloads are actually more likely to turn half chances into linebreaks and points.
b). If you want to start Lynagh I think that's ok but make it easy for him to do what they did well at the Reds in attack this year (when they were on song) by picking their whole attacking axis 7-12. The Wallabies on attack used the 12 to go route 1 on the first phase of a starter play which is fine. We also need to go at them with line speed and big hits (see what the tahs and Brums were able to do). Paisami is an obvious, fit and servicable solution for this. Sure, he had a stop-start and injury interrupted year since the Spring tour (though so did Jorgo etc.) but for the role they seem to want/need, he'd do more than adequate job.
c) If we don't get some gain line success early we're fucked. Guys coming back from injury will help, but we don't have the luxury of not starting our best ball runners.
d) We have enough flexibility in our centres and back 3 players that we could go a 6-2 and use a bomb squad of our own to keep the pressure on these guys across the 80.

I'd go
1. Bell
2. Pollard
3. AAAA
4. Frost
5. Skelton
6. Valetini
7. McReight
8. Wilson
9. Tate
10. Lynagh
11. Jorgensen
12. Paisami
13. Ikitau
14. Sua'ali'i
15. Wright

16. Faessler
17. Slipper
18. Tupou (or Robbo, whatever)
19. Williams
20. Hooper
21. Tizzano
22. Gordon (covers wing)
23. Donaldson (covers 10/15)

None of these are hard changes, but it would completely change the picture for next week.

 

[KOB1987]

I don’t anticipate a lot of changes but I think Schmidt will be working towards whatever he has written down as what his best 23 is. That will have Valetini at 6, most likely Gleeson at 20, and Skelton at either 5 or 19. He potentially was 50/50 on which 10 to start, and also probably which 2 of Potter, Kellaway and Pietsch. I haven’t seen that Pietsch has been released for Tuesday so highly likely he is in the frame for this week’s 23. Also Tupou for the 3rd test if he performs on Tuesday.

 

[Drew]

Pietsch isn’t named in the midweek 23.

 

[dillyboy]

I'm actually not really too down on the players after the first test. But Schmidt and Lord are going to have to admit quickly that they got selection and tactics wrong. If they do, it's not actually going to take much to put out a team with much more cohesion, combinations and a coherent game plan. The key take aways for me are
a) Ikitau and JAS are two of our most important attacking threats but we got absolutely fuck all out of them in Test 1 because Lenny was sent rocketing into the rush defence off set piece in most of our starter plays, and Su was skip passed to Potter or Jorgo who just are never going to make something out of a 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 against these guys. Such a waste. They would be much more effective both one further out, where their feet/power and offloads are actually more likely to turn half chances into linebreaks and points.
b). If you want to start Lynagh I think that's ok but make it easy for him to do what they did well at the Reds in attack this year (when they were on song) by picking their whole attacking axis 7-12. The Wallabies on attack used the 12 to go route 1 on the first phase of a starter play which is fine. We also need to go at them with line speed and big hits (see what the tahs and Brums were able to do). Paisami is an obvious, fit and servicable solution for this. Sure, he had a stop-start and injury interrupted year since the Spring tour (though so did Jorgo etc.) but for the role they seem to want/need, he'd do more than adequate job.
c) If we don't get some gain line success early we're fucked. Guys coming back from injury will help, but we don't have the luxury of not starting our best ball runners.
d) We have enough flexibility in our centres and back 3 players that we could go a 6-2 and use a bomb squad of our own to keep the pressure on these guys across the 80.

I'd go
1. Bell
2. Pollard
3. AAAA
4. Frost
5. Skelton
6. Valetini
7. McReight
8. Wilson
9. Tate
10. Lynagh
11. Jorgensen
12. Paisami
13. Ikitau
14. Sua'ali'i
15. Wright

16. Faessler
17. Slipper
18. Tupou (or Robbo, whatever)
19. Williams
20. Hooper
21. Tizzano
22. Gordon (covers wing)
23. Donaldson (covers 10/15)

None of these are hard changes, but it would completely change the picture for next week.

I rate that team!

 

[Mr Pilfer]

Skelton, Valetini and Gleeson should be back, I'd bring in Pietsch too

1 - Bell
2 - Pollard
3 - AA
4 - Frost
5 - Skelton
6 - Valetini
7 - McReight
8 - Wilson
9 - Gordon
10 - Lynagh
11 - Pietsch
12 - Ikitau
13 - Sua'ali'i
14 - Jorgensen
15 - Wright

16 - Faessler
17 - Slipper
18 - Robertson
19 - Hooper
20 - Gleeson
21 - McDermott
22 - Donaldson
23 - Paisami

I like this side but lineout could be a disaster.
I don’t think Wilson is undroppable. Could have above team with Hooper at 6 and Valetini 8 to fix the lineout. Make AAA captain

 

[Adam84]

The reality is we’re not going to see wholesale changes. Skelton, Valetini, and Gleeson roll in. Pick and stick with Lynagh. Tate stays on the bench where he is most impactful. I would like to see Pietch over Potter however but still unlikely.

Exactly…
Injuries aside, wholesale changes for a 3 test series is just a reactive knee-jerk reaction that’s not going to improve cohesion.

 

[Derpus]

I’m thinking either CDC or Gleeson into that 7 jersey for more starch. Maybe CDC for the lineout if Skelton is coming in.

EJ (Eddie Jones) tried this and it was a dud. You need a mobile lose forward out there.