Means to say “Unless it’s Barnes with Cross”. That’s a good 12-13 combination.

Just off topic for a short instant. Am I alone in thinking that Berrick Barnes was Australia’s best player last year until he got injured?

Barnes might make a better 10 than Giteau, but after Giteau has played 10 all year (and improved in some areas) maybe they should just stick with him. It’s interesting though because while Barnes doesn’t have the playmaking skills of Giteau, he seems to command the game more than Giteau. Barnes, to me, was Australia’s best player against Italy. Much of what he did went unnoticed. I like James O’Connor a whole lot, but he got two tries on a platter and got MOTM, while Barnes did a lot of the unseen work.

I REALLY LIKE POCOCK AT #7. This is especially since I didn’t think Smith played very well against Italy. Smith made some errors that were just ill-diciplined. They weren’t errors made by pressure. Often he did the hard work and then would do something silly. Australia will look better when Rocky comes back.

I think there’s an outside chance Australia will lose this game. I’m serious! I think Australia will win, but gosh why upset the side so much by interfering with the side so much. I can’t understand changing the front row and the mid-field combination (unless it’s just Cross with Giteau).

Remember what happened when Deans last screwed around with the midfield against South Africa? Mortlock at 12 was a horrid failure and Tahu was unleashed wayyyy to early and was exploited… BADLY.

You ignore my point about lack of leadership. The AB’s were directionless.

George Smith will lead from the front and Barnes will be superior at pivot to Donald

As individuals I thought the AB’s would win. As a team they couldn’t put it together. The scorn if you call it that was deserved. They didn’t look as though they were giving their all for their country. More like jet lagged Chiefs.

This Wallabies team weren’t genius and this ‘new’ team will be tested up front on Saturday. But its Les Bleus that I’m looking foreward to the following week. Despite the soulless stadium and the quiet and restrained Sydney fans, we should be able to beat them.

But you can’t call Robbie spineless, can you?

Swine flu?

The Wallabies may match-up better against France than the All Blacks do, and it’ll be interesting to compare the three Tests, but do you really thinking that your pack is playing well or that he has exactly the right backline?

I’m sure they’ll beat Italy, and they may even score more than the Wallabies did last week, but if you compare this team to the All Black side that played France last weekend, I can’t see how one is genuis and the other scorned.

Some of the changes I think are worthwhile (Barnes and Pocock. Others seem like an attempt to keep Australian players in Australia.

True Tah understand your point but hold off on proclaiming anyone a great redeemer until they achieve something.

in respect of our views of Deans, you have to remember our two most recent coaches.

Steady Eddie started with a full trophy cabinet and proceeded the lose the lot. I know there are a fair few Eddie supporters on here, but he didnt do much apart from overanalyze the game to death and had poor man management skills as well.

John Connolly – well he was a caretake at best, but under him we bombed out at the quarter finals, I see the Reds are considering bringing him back into the fold, as usual the QRU is 20 years behind the time.

Relative to these guys, Deans is the Great Redeemer of Australian Rugby.

It appears that Kiwis and Aussies take great umbrage at inbound tours featuring Nigel Nobodies and yet we explain our rotation policies away as player welfare and building depth. We obviously place greater value on the Tri Nations and Bledisloe Cup games much as Europe value their Six Nations tournament more.

There are complaints about the damage to the credibility of international rugby tests by the impact of the world cup and yet by our own actions we are complicit in encouraging it’s demise. Shall we all just come clean and admit that inbound June tours and outbound November tours are revenue generating exercises and nothing more. Results are meaningless and perhaps they would be better served as a competition for the likes of Australia A, Junior All Blacks and the English Saxons etc than the test teams.

Also I agree with Sam T that Deans and Henry are closer than people might think. You only have to look how both are picking backrowers to play out of their natural position to see that. This comes of trying to find the best athletes rather than the best players, which is a difficult temptation for any coach to resist.

OJ regarding the lack of outrage to the changes, I suspect that grumbling may appear if the Wallabies lose matches or if the wholesale changes persist throughout the Tri-Nations. Rotation is needed to build depth but it has to be used somewhat sparingly. I prefer that Deans experiment during the June/July inbounds but if he doesn’t have a settled first XV (barring injuries) and use it fairly consistently throughout the Tri-Nations I will be worried about the lack of stability and settled combinations. Deans is definitely getteing an easier ride than Henry although Henry tends to make a rod for his own back sometimes (the reconditioning program in 07).

One thing these selections have done is make the match a lot more compelling to watch. It may well be a close one and maybe that’s what Robbie is hoping for. Something to make the boys step up to the plate and to force them to lift their game.

Mallett will see this as definitely winable. Yes it’s a gamblefor Mr. Deans but if he’s to bring through hardened forwards they need to be exposed to some tough contests starting now.

If it all goes pear shaped and we see no ball…well……….. it’ll be like England in the RWC all over again.

Has Noriega started coaching them yet? Maybe a few surprises coming our way. I like surprises.

I guess what I’m waiting for, and maybe it’s starting to happen already, is for the critics of Robbie to start gaining momentum. There’s already a view that some of see RD as some kind of ‘walk on water’ style of coach. Perhaps some of us do but I for one just see him as mostly pretty ‘normal’ in his decision making & selections. Or to put in another way, he’s doing things the way most of us wish we could.

I also like his straight talk and prepareness to make the tough decisions and even Blind Freddy could see that he has the Wallabies playing better and heading in a good direction.

Just as players make mistakes so too will coaches. It’s inevitable that Robbie will make the occassional clanger. This weekend against Italy could be just such a case as I expect Italy to see our scrum as an opportunity to roll us.

Has Robbie underestimated the Azzuri? Most of us are concerned but it’s his call. All will be revealed.

I think it goes beyond respect and for many it is outright fanboy worship. Alan Jones, Bob Dwyer and even Rod MacQueen weren’t above criticism from the press/public and they were three of Australia’s most successful coaches. Even as Crusaders coach Deans wasn’t immune to criticism, maybe it’s just the different attitudes towards the game between Kiwis and Aussies.

My last sentence was a sweeping generalisation and there are some like Peter K and Maxxy among others who are questioning selections and decisions.

Tana did not play in the 32003 semi because he was injured after the first round, and was probably not match fit to take the field in the semi.

Tana was captain and would be the first picked if he was fit. It was not a selection error I don’t think, unless you have inside info that we (the public) don’t know about.

Also I see prople are way over the top saying he has moulded a new team etc. Once Elsom and Palu are back then the top starting XV is team is the same as last years model except for JoC and Turner, if Lote does not get back in. 2 backs changes is not that much.

What may have improved is the skills and attitude and tactics. However yet to be proven. Let us see how they go against France and Boks and AB”s before we trumpet how much we have improved.

I may be speaking out of turn but I think what OJ was referring to is the amount of criticism directed at Graham Henry when he implemented his rotation policy during the Grand Slam tour in 2005 and continued it unabated. There were many former players, coaches and public outraged at the notion of “devaluing the All Blacks test jersey by giving it away”.

It’s ironic that on this side of the ditch most people don’t realise that Henry and Deans share similar coaching philosophies and the “playing what is in front of you” edict is exactly what Henry introduced when he took over in 2004. Deans quote yesterday “Not only would it be unrealistic to focus that entire workload on the same players, a policy like that would also deny us the opportunity to develop others” is no different to what Henry has been preaching about player welfare and the intent to develop greater depth within NZ rugby.

I sense that you are clearly not a Graham Henry fan and disagreed with the NZRU’s decision to reappoint him after our results in 2007. Fair enough, I was shocked and dismayed at the decision as well but it’s history now. However I remember vividly the posturings of many on this site as to the reasons for the All Blacks failure and top of the list was the unpopular rotation policy.

I’ve realised that Deans can never do wrong in the eyes of Wallaby supporters and everything he does is genius, brilliance and masterful coaching. He is the Barack Obama of rugby coaches.