Viking
Mark Ella (57)
Sounds right to me. Brums got Fardy, Carter and Arnold as jumpers. Rare moments they've thrown to Pocock, maybe even Butler has taken one or two. Means Vaea is no better then 4th jumper, but most like 5th behind the openside.
Wallaby 31 players for 2015 RWC
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Sounds right to me. Brums got Fardy, Carter and Arnold as jumpers. Rare moments they've thrown to Pocock, maybe even Butler has taken one or two. Means Vaea is no better then 4th jumper, but most like 5th behind the openside.
qwerty51
Stirling Mortlock (74)
You cannot play Fardy with Pocock - that would be suicide. Some of these players have to be paired together. Hooper + Fardy. Pocock + Higginbotham.
T
Train Without a Station
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Consider that Holmes and Simmons missed something like the first 6 games and the scrum strengthened significantly when they came back.
I believe in at least one game or more games the Tight 5 was Slipper, Fainga'a, Talakai, McDuling and Kotze.
You need to be careful using overall scrum stats for each Super Rugby team. The Reds tend to struggle a bit when their reserves come on (moreso in some games than others). All we're really interested in is from a Wallaby perspective is how they perform with Slipper and Holmes on the field.
The Brumbies also tend to get pasted when the Smiths are on (and have also missed Sio for a large part of the year).
Dctarget
John Eales (66)
Yep solid point, forgot about that. Be interesting to see the stats across the season and see if there's a dramatic improvement when they came back.
In a separate point, Warren Whitley is an absolute animal. He's topped the tackle count at 231 for the season and has the highest completion rate (I've seen so far) at 97.1 percent.
Floggn'
Jimmy Flynn (14)
I think if Fardy was playing in the Tahs/Cheika structures his run metres would be far more impressive
You also have to consider that his form at test level (like any player) also changes. He wasn't nearly as good for the Wallabies in 2014 as he was in 2013. You would probably also say the same about his Super Rugby form.
Up until a few weeks ago I didn't even have Higginbotham in my predicted RWC squad and certainly wouldn't have had him in a matchday 23. I think his form lately has been sublime though and I think he's best suited to 6 at test level which is where I'd like to see him played.
Likewise I stuck with Hooper until a few weeks ago but now think Pocock's form is too hard to ignore.
My bench would include Jones and Hooper. The idea would be to finish with Jones at lock, Hooper at 6 and Higgers at 8.
Viking
Mark Ella (57)
Fardy/ Hooper and Higginbothom / Pocock certainly offer more balance when playing their natural games but to say it is suicide is a bit far fetched. They are all very adaptable players.
T
Train Without a Station
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Holmes first game was against the Lions. They had the ascendancy in the first half without destroying us. The first scrum Holmes packed when he came on the Reds won a penalty try against the feed.
The reserves struggled a fair bit against the Tahs with Holmes, Simmo and Horwill out and I think they were all out the second Brumbies game also we where we were bested.
I have no idea. I would think a scrum penalty counts as a scrum won or lost but I don't know for sure.
Floggn'
Jimmy Flynn (14)
Now pick the numbers that go towards their cause. With 290 Less carries the other numbers will be affected. They play a different game plan to the Waratahs so the stats you picked don't tell you anything about the player itself. Those numbers here in Super rugby really don't count towards test level anyway with better quality defences and tighter play by most teams. Cheika will need to work with Pocock if he wants to win the WC.
Dctarget
John Eales (66)
I'm really liking this idea.
So your starting pack would shape up as:
4. Simmons 5. Skelton
6. Higginbotham 7. Pocock 8. McCalman
That's fair enough, though still only beating 3 defenders in 84 runs is below where you'd like it to be for a test 6. We desperately need that dynamic edge he provided in 2013.
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Highlander35
Andrew Slack (58)
Putting my Scotland cap on, I'd much prefer to play against a backrow of Fardy, Hooper and McCalman rather than Higgenbotham, Pocock and Palu.
From a Canary POV though, it's difficult to remove Fardy and Hooper from the flanker spots. They're the incumbents, have been playing to a high standard, albeit not at their absolute best, and they complement each other and the obvious second row quite well.
A nice problem for Mr Cheika to have, but not one I envy solving.
From a Canary POV though, it's difficult to remove Fardy and Hooper from the flanker spots. They're the incumbents, have been playing to a high standard, albeit not at their absolute best, and they complement each other and the obvious second row quite well.
A nice problem for Mr Cheika to have, but not one I envy solving.
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