Wallabies Watch

[Inside Shoulder]

What rules? I said flexible in positions, maybe you should watch the game again because JOC (James O'Connor) pops up in the 1st receiver role more than once. I bet if you even asked Hill he'd say that's a plan.

I dont get this idea that because a bloke bobs up in first receiver he can be a 5/8.
On that basis Ben Alexander should be looked at as a potential 5/8.
Part of JOC (James O'Connor)'s value is "surprise value".

 

[cyclopath]

He was the best of a poor bunch. If someone was better why didn't qwerty pick one of them? Rather than a player out of position and going against his own rules of the thread. I'm sorry, this was a good idea, but the thread has already lost credibility.

If we dismiss the non-credible content, we may end up with only Lee Grant and Scott Allen talking to each other.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Paradox]

I thought Kimlin was very strong against the Reds despite a few dumb passes. I don't think Quirk outplayed him this week but haven't looked at stats. Kimlin was quite punishing with his defense.

 

[JFT]

Pyle finding himself out in the backline a little too much to be talked about as a test lock

 

[Slim 293]

I've been trawling the internet for other selections for team of the week.......

Rugbyheaven doesn't seem to be doing it with Grumbles gone, but here is Planet Rugby's attempt:

Team of Round 1

15 Jesse Mogg (Brumbies) - Two tries for the former rugby league man as he followed up a strong debut campaign with a good opening hit-out in 2013. Mogg glided across the turf on Saturday and was solid under the high ball so beats James O'Connor to our opening jersey.

14 Richard Kingi (Rebels) - Made a couple of errors but for a half-back playing out of position, not too bad at all. Kingi finished well after a long pass from O'Connor and before that he put a lovely inside ball out the back door to Hugh Pyle for the Rebels' second. A good showing.

13 Ben Tapuai (Reds) - Out of position yes but no thirteen stood out over the opening weekend. Tapuai possesses an cultured left boot and showed that on Saturday. It is always difficult playing alongside a newbie centre (Aidan Toua) but Tapuai did enough to catch the eye.

12 Kyle Godwin (Western Force) - Beat eight defenders and offloaded four times in what was an impressive season opener from the 20-year-old, born in Zimbabwe. One blot on his copy book would have to be his three from six record off the tee so there's room to improve.

11 Alfie Mafi (Western Force) - Edges out Reds wing Digby Ioane here after his two-try performance that has him alongside Mogg as the early pace-setters in the standings. Mafi always had potential and it seems his pre-season was solid as he hit the ground running.

10 Sam Christie (Western Force) - While Matt To'omua ticked all the necessary boxes against the Reds in a no frills effort and Quade Cooper tried all of his tricks to spark his backline, it was Christie who caught the eye this first weekend. 51 metres gained with ball in hand to accompany beating three Rebels tacklers saw the Tokoroa-born playmaker open his Super Rugby account at the Force like a duck to water. He must back this up in PE.

9 Nic White (Brumbies) - Rarely lets his team down. White was his assured self against the Reds and also stepped up to the plate when kickers Christian Lealiifano and Mogg were struggling, knocking over two kicks, which put the Brumbies clear of their conference rivals.

8 Ben Mowen (Brumbies) - The skipper made 42 metres against the Reds and was used as a regular line-out option at Canberra Stadium. Back in May, boss Jake White admitted to not understanding Mowen's absence from the Wallaby squad following consistent performances in 2012. One wonders if 2013 will finally see Mowen's international debut.

7 Liam Gill (Reds) - Billed as the one-to-watch battle of the weekend, David Pocock versus young Gill lived up to the hype. While the Wallaby starter played well in his Brumbies debut, we had Gill slightly ahead in this scrap. The breakdown contest was fierce in Canberra and Gill was regularly involved. Despite being on the losing side, the 20-year-old made 46 metres to accompany his 11 tackles. Next up, a duel with 'Tahs youngster Michael Hooper.

6 Peter Kimlin (Brumbies) - While the Reds lost Scott Higginbotham to the Rebels, they had Ed Quirk in reserve and he was impressive on Saturday. However, the 21-year-old was up against a blindside who continued from where he left off last season. Kimlin has converted from second-row with consummate ease and was excellent again in the six jersey.

5 Hugh Pyle (Rebels) - The stand-out lock from the four franchises playing over the weekend. Pyle finished his try well and also amassed eight go-forwards in Melbourne.

4 Scott Fardy (Brumbies) - The former Western Force second-row forward is forming a decent partnership with Sam Carter at the Brumbies and was the hosts' key line-out man against the Reds. He claimed seven in total and was also a powerful running option.

3 James Slipper (Reds) - When you see a 14 in the tackle column next to a player it usually follows a centre or back-row's name. Not in this case as tighthead Slipper got through a heap of work in Canberra. Whether the captaincy spurred him on or not, Slipper was busy.

2 Ged Robinson (Rebels) - Three hookers caught the eye in Round One as Nathan Charles and Stephen Moore were strong for the Western Force and Brumbies respectively. However, the running threat of Robinson at times caused the men from Perth all kinds of bother.

1 Pek Cowan (Western Force) - Some may disagree with this next comment but we feel credit needs to be paid to how much Cowan has improved over the past year and a half. The 26-year-old led the Force superbly on Friday in the absence of captain Matt Hodgson.

The entire front row selection is strange, Gill didn't adapt to the ref as well as Pocock, and personally I thought that Kimlin was probably the weakest performer in the Brumbies' pack (although his stats do show a heavy workrate, which is the norm for him)........

 

[USARugger]

I've been trawling the internet for other selections for team of the week...

Rugbyheaven doesn't seem to be doing it with Grumbles gone, but here is Planet Rugby's attempt:



The entire front row selection is strange, Gill didn't adapt to the ref as well as Pocock, and personally I thought that Kimlin was probably the weakest performer in the Brumbies' pack (although his stats do show a heavy workrate, which is the norm for him)....

Planet Rugby is a pretty weak site in terms of analysis and game commentary, when it isn't plain wrong it is one-eyed to the Red Rose. Not good for much more than your basic international rugby news and game scores.

 

[Lindommer]

Be nice to know who PR's Australian selectors are. Can anyone here give us a clue?

 

[boyo]

Planet Rugby is a pretty weak site in terms of analysis and game commentary, when it isn't plain wrong it is one-eyed to the Red Rose. Not good for much more than your basic international rugby news and game scores.

You're saying Planet Rugby is one-eyed......

 

[USARugger]

You're saying Planet Rugby is one-eyed..

Did you happen to catch the Cobus Visagie column they ran a few months back?

 

[boyo]

Did you happen to catch the Cobus Visagie column they ran a few months back?

No, I don't read Planet Rugby.

 

[The Rant]

no way quirk was the best 6...he wasn't the best 6 on the park! thought kimlin played better.

Quirk's just got the red mullet helping you notice everything he gets involved in and i agree he had a good game. But the other guy (starts with F?) deserves the points.

 

[Scoey]

Fotu Auelua? He will come into the frame eventually but I don't think he played enough minutes to be considered better than the others this week. It's easier to put in if you're only on for a blood bin coz you know you're going to get a rest soon. Same goes for when he came back on later in the game.

 

[James Buchanan]

For mine, I thought Cottrell did a fair job at 6 for the Force.

 

[BigSteve]

Possible team plus reserves

15) Beale/Folau/Harris/Mogg
14) JOC (James O'Connor)/Rathbone
13) Tapuai/F’sautia
12) Lealiafano/McCabe
11) Ioane/Tomane
10) Cooper
9) Genia
8) Palu
7) Hooper/Pocock
6) Higginbotham/Liam Gill
5) Timani/Douglas
4) Horwill/Pyle
3) Alexander/Robinson
2) Moore/TPN
1) Slipper/Palmer

thoughts?

 

[Braveheart81]

Possible team plus reserves

15) Beale/Folau/Harris/Mogg
14) JOC (James O'Connor)/Rathbone
13) Tapuai/F’sautia
12) Lealiafano/McCabe
11) Ioane/Tomane
10) Cooper
9) Genia
8) Palu
7) Hooper/Pocock
6) Higginbotham/Liam Gill
5) Timani/Douglas
4) Horwill/Pyle
3) Alexander/Robinson
2) Moore/TPN
1) Slipper/Palmer

thoughts?

For the Wallabies this year?

You'd probably want to include AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), Barnes, Kepu, Dennis and Mitchell in your potentials as they are very likely to make Wallaby squads/teams.

 

[BigSteve]

For the Wallabies this year?

You'd probably want to include AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), Barnes, Kepu, Dennis and Mitchell in your potentials as they are very likely to make Wallaby squads/teams.

that is true that they would make the squad, and certainly i forgot AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and barnes for starting contention, but for the others i question whether they would actually crack the starting 15. Mitchell hasn't shown form for the wallabies in a long while, Dennis has a shot but i think there is better options at 6, Kepu would be the 6th ranked prop in my books these days.

 

[RoffsChoice]

From REBvBRU
Pyle, JOC (James O'Connor), Mowen, To'omua, Rathbone, Mogg.

 

[Brumbies Guy]

Mowen, Mogg, Lilo, Inmann

 

[Reddy!]

I gotta say, I didn't watch the game tonight, but from the highlights, and his game last weekend, Jesse Mogg gets me really excited. Has Joe Roff/ Chris Latham type qualities and is devoid of any bullshit pretty boy shenanigans that surrounds professional sports people these days. He also doesn't skip around the field on the spot and then get tackled. He runs towards, and past people to the try line. Love it!

I'm sick of all our young talent coming through wanting to be the saviour play maker and as a result being shuffled around in positions. Great to see someone like Mogg develop his game at fullback and do a job there. He is my pick for Wallabies fullback this year.

 

[USARugger]

I gotta say, I didn't watch the game tonight, but from the highlights, and his game last weekend, Jesse Mogg gets me really excited. Has Joe Roff/ Chris Latham type qualities and is devoid of any bullshit pretty boy shenanigans that surrounds professional sports people these days. He also doesn't skip around the field on the spot and then get tackled. He runs towards, and past people to the try line. Love it!

I'm sick of all our young talent coming through wanting to be the saviour play maker and as a result being shuffled around in positions. Great to see someone like Mogg develop his game at fullback and do a job there. He is my pick for Wallabies fullback this year.

I don't know a ton about Mogg and haven't caught an awful lot of Brumbies games in the past year, how is he in regards to being custodial in the back on defense and handling the high ball (I know he has a huge boot)? His attack has been absolutely scintillating this year so far and he showed moments of this last year too. If he's as good at the other duties of playing #15 as he is on attack I really can't see him not wearing the gold jersey by the time the Lions come to town.

My 2cents, he reminds me a ton of Cullen or Kurtley back from 2010-11.

Possible team plus reserves

15) Beale/Folau/Harris/Mogg
14) JOC (James O'Connor)/Rathbone
13) Tapuai/F’sautia
12) Lealiafano/McCabe
11) Ioane/Tomane
10) Cooper
9) Genia
8) Palu
7) Hooper/Pocock
6) Higginbotham/Liam Gill
5) Timani/Douglas
4) Horwill/Pyle
3) Alexander/Robinson
2) Moore/TPN
1) Slipper/Palmer

thoughts?

-Rathbone may be a bit of a projection at this point, he's still gotta show us some consistent form before he's pushing JOC (James O'Connor) for a jersey. That aside, seeing him wearing Wallaby gold again would be nothing short of amazing.

-I definitely think Tomane deserves a shot at 11. He's big, fast and has great hands. It's been a while since Digby has deserved the title of "most dangerous wing in Australia", he's been relatively cold for a long time.

-AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) is still the incumbent 13 as far as I'm concerned. How F'Sautia handles this weekend will say a lot about this position. Tapuai is a 12, not a 13.

-I don't think McCabe can hold a candle to a healthy Lealiifano/Tapuai

-While I love Liam Gill, he's a little on the small side for an international #6 in both weight and height. He's also very poach-happy so either he would need to cool down that aspect of his play or the #7 would have to adapt to compensate (which I don't see happening in this squad right now). I think Higgers edges this one because of his proven ability at line out time. To be honest, we really need a #6 that can play in tight AND win line outs, badly.