The game has changed and the long pass is an issue with rush defences. Have a look at how many intercept tries the Wallabies conceded in Rennie’s last season when looking for width. Short passing games are key.

I actually think it has nothing to do with Schmidt and everything to do with Jordy wanting to play fullback and the Reds desperate to keep him happy, given its the last year of his contract and there have been grumblings about league and other rugby clubs being a destination for him.

Heard it here first – watch our for Mary Tuaana and Hollie Twidale at the Rebels!

Mate this is the most absurd piece you have ever penned.
Stop carrying water for this absolute bin fire of a an admin and coaching setup.
If you honestly think that we need to stick cause we are at rock bottom, you are sorely, sorely mistaken.
Wait till we lose to Portugal.

Sheek – Jog on mate, really quite sick of the negativity. If it bore any semblance of logic it would be ok to read but you are so clearly unhappy that the ARU did not follow your preferred model for a 3rd tier – and said so many times.

I would put money on the fact that had the ARU followed your perfect plans to the letter, you would be lauding the crowd sizes and making the appropriate comparisons to other competitions.

Mate, why not celebrate the fact that in their 2nd home game, 3000 people turned up to watch a 3rd tier of Rugby. I go to some Queensland Cup games and there are often crowds that size but it is incredibly rare, they are usually much much smaller. That is not even considering the fact that the competition has been around for only 3 weeks, in comparison with 3rd tier comps that have been around for a very long time.

As for your rant about the rules, I fail to see a real problem and your analogy on another thread about the NRC being to Rugby what the BBL is to Cricket is just farcical. They dont learn how to pass differently, or kick differently, ruck, tackle, maul etc etc. The skills are all the same.

Changing the points system does nothing to change the shape of the game. Australian Rugby does not need to learn how to kick goals better, they need to learn how to play better. They cant regain the number one ranking if we dont learn how to become more ruthless when we play. Linebreaks must be finished, breakdowns must be won, covering tackles must be made. What is the issue. The scoring system changes none of this.

Andy S sums it up perfectly below, we need to be encouraged to play a little more adventurously and if it gets to crazy then change the rules back, but if these guy get S15 contracts then they will be reigned in anyway. It cant hurt to want to play attacking rugby.

I also dont have an issue with the Lineouts. They dont encourage crooked throwing, they only allow it if it is still reasonably straight and the other team does not compete. Hardly earth shattering and I know I have seen countless games where the call is marginal and the other team does not compete and you have to question whether it really is worth a short arm. The same goes with the scrum half rules, its hardly a bad thing to let teams play. This does not reward or encourage poor scrummaging, it just makes sure the game flows. Lord knows as a coach myself and an avid watcher, I have seen so many games where the scrum half is well beyond the ball and is practically in the opposition backline and still gets away with it.

Fans want to see games flow and this allows that, for very minor issues, without losing any of the fabric of what Rugby actually is.

How can you say that King Carlos had better fundamentals than Cooper??

He may have had an unrivalled bag of tricks but he could not pass left to right, he had to turn his back sometimes and pass right to left to get it done, hardly a mastery of the fundamentals.

On the other hand Mr Cooper has probably the best passing game since Larkham and I would argue and even better pass.

Cooper and Spencer were both average defenders and had holes in their games but were/are still exceptional players, i just think that is a flawed argument

Sorry Boomeranga but Alofa is nowhere near Betham. I really think that Betham is an exceptional talent but needs confidence, when he is on he is super dangerous.

you are right with respect the decisions on the field. I noticed that even before Hooper was consulted by the Ref on some decisions, Fardy was already pointing to the sticks or the corner and was telling Hooper as much.

Brett, I posted before the series that I thought that Fardy was the best choice of captain and said so again after Squeak was hurt.

He is a real leader of men and when things were a bit loose on the weekend he was the bloke that was getting up the boys and letting them know that such “looseness” was unacceptable. I like Hooper but he is not a leader in that sense.

If we were down two tries against the AB’s in the last 20, I would expect and would want Fardy to be the one to rally the troops – he really just seems like a not bull sh!t kinda guy and someone that the boys will play for.

of course the AB’s slide – every side does.

They play narrow and offer “space” on the outside and slide and shit it down.

Peter K – you are correct in almost everything you say.

The issues from this game are the same ones that have plagued the Wallabies for years.

Simply put we need people who can bend and break the line.

– The Wallabies win when Palu plays. He may not be flashy but he punches forward no matter who is in his way and stops people in their tracks.

– We currently lack some genuinely dominant ball carriers. Horwill should be the bench option for the rest of the year in my opinion. He is experienced and would be calm and composed when coming onto the filed in a tight game.

– We need Skelton to bust the line. His lack of jumping is irrelevant. If he cant jump then – its an incredible and revolutionary thought – THE WALLABIES SHOULD GET CREATIVE!! Fardy and Simmons are fine and Hooper should learn to jump if he cant already. Skelton could be a dummy/front of line jumper. BUT there is nothing to stop Izzy from jumping either, he has better aerial skills than anyone in world rugby and is as tall as most backrowers so why not get him to jump sometimes. It would confuse most teams seeing him in there! There are no valid reasons for not having him jump – you would only use him if the opposition was suffocating your 3 jumpers.

The Wallabies problem is that they need go forward. I think AAC should be our 13 when Speight returns, TK is not yet there! TPN is unfortunately not the same player he was 3-4 years ago. He is solid but not spectacular.

We need Sio on the pine and Skelton and Palu to keep us moving forward. Hooper and Fardy work so hard it more than makes up for any supposed lack of work.

Ultimately it will be of no use this year and next year to have players like Speight, Tomane, JOC and Folau out wide if our forwards are getting smashed.

Workrate is an admirable quality but if all you do is work but never move forward then what is the point. Ben McCalman is the perfect example of this. Good player who works incredibly hard but he never carries 2-3 defenders with him moving forward.

cant help but think that Smith is the best 7 we have seen. He more than matched McCaw at test and Super level and played in vastly inferior packs.

I would also drop matfield for a tight lock – maybe Thorn – that bloke has iron bones, the toughest SOB i can remember and not in a thug way.

Lomu must start for me and my pace winger would be Rupeni. Tough on Habana but Rupeni was quite literally unstoppable. Smokin Joe was also extremely dominant in Super R ugby for the blues.

I Agree with pirates and I am a Queenslander – horwill should not play or even make the bench.

Cant agree with Horne though, I have never rated him but he has impressed although i would like to see him back at 12/13.

Horwill has done nothing to warrant selection in my mind. I also cannot believe that people are saying Skelton is not ready, he is the only player we have that constantly dominates the physical encounters. He through some Bulls forwards around in defence last night and ran strongly.

My First XV:

1. Sio
2. Moore
3. Alexander – only for the combination otherwise its line ball with Slipper
4. Jones
5. Simmons
6. Fardy
7. Hooper
8. Palu
9. Genia – Again only for the combo with QC otherwise White is really close
10. Cooper
11. Cummins
12. Toomua
13. Kuridrani
14. Tomane
15. Folau

16. Slipper
17. Kepu
18. TPN
19. Skelton
20. Higganbotham
21. White
22. Beale
23. AAC

Palu has to see out the first 50 and then Higgers can come on and play against tired defenders. I really think when Jones/Simmons start to tire out you bring in Skelton to replace one of them and take Palu’s ball carrying role in tandem with Higgers. Fardy and Jones will work all day. People say Skelton is not ready but that is rubbish, we have nobody of that physical presence and he might be inexperienced but off the bench he will be fine.

it is line ball at 13 but I like having a specialist, although he needs to pass more, but AAC can cover everywhere from the bench but its close. I could go either way, I think TK is a better runner but AAC a better defender. Toss a coin.

My captain would be either Moore or Cooper.

they may not have bothered to put a team in but they did not publicly hang shite on it, nor did they publicly rally against it. They kept their issues to themselves on the whole it seems.

Jeznez – its DB but for some reason when i log on from home it has a different log on.

You are right, this story was not that bad and the SS coaches on the whole were quite reasonable but I think that over the years the overwhelming majority of comments coming out of NSW and especially those associated with the SS seems to be negative – I am thinking Poido and NFJ etc. Plenty of people think they know significantly more than the rest of the country it seems. I guess I am just tired of hearing negative tripe. If people from SS land dont like SR or the NRC its a really simple solution – dont watch. But for those of us that want Rugby in australia to thrive, at least give Bill the chance to have a crack.

i want what is best for Australian rugby, not QLD rugby, and if it means my beloved club in the Hospital Cup is not a powerhouse or struggles then so be it. Its amateur football and life goes on. What wont go on is Australian rugby if someone does not do something. Its stuffed!! I just dont see why all the talk from NSW seems contrary and so self serving.

Obviously I am generalising and their are plenty from NSW who are decent and full of common sense, just seems that the most noise comes from there as well.

problem is that their self interest at the present time is the national interest –

Adsa, what an uninformed comment. Take it from someone who has coached against some of these players and has players that were friends of them, JOC’s issues were NOT the result of Deans. He probably expected more maturity but failed to reign it in, especially when they were so often the key to getting in touch with the AB’s and actually beating the Boks.

I have to say that I am very disappointed by Sheeks stance. I respectfully think that it is disgraceful that someone who professes to love rugby as much as he claims is willing to boycott rugby simply because the model chosen by the ARU doesn’t fit his perception of what the tournament should look like. They are the one party that have all available facts about the state of the game, the proposals presented and why the teams were chosen and given their names.

Sheek, I usually love your love of Rugby and its history, but you have respectfully, lost the plot. You are no better than all the faceless men and women who rallied against the ARC in 2007 for no reason other than the own selfish, vested interests. They wanted to maintain the integrity of the Shute Shield to the detriment of Australian Rugby and you are advocating based on a similar line of thinking. If you dont think the competition fits your perception of what it should be, the hell with the greater good of Australian Rugby, you seem to not care.

Poor form mate, you are an Australian Rugby supporter or you are not and if you dont like the path the ARU or the relevant state body have taken then suck it up. I think the game should be on FTA, I think it should be played in state schools, I think that super rugby should be canned and the NRC, Currie Cup and ITM cup should be the primary vehicles for rugby followed by a “Heineken Cup” style competition but none of those things have happened and seem unlikely.

I have not kicked the can and cried about it, its frustrating and I think Australian rugby is suffering but I will do whatever it takes to right the Australian rugby “ship” and if that means supporting Super Rugby – which I do despite my disagreement with it – then I will do it. I cant understand why you cant do the same, it seems petty.

+ 1 million

Scott – hate to be a stickler mate but you are wrong – Genia does get told to use it in the very first ruck of the match at around the 10-14 second mark.

Glad somebody said it – lets not foget Nick Frisby who is the best prospect of all number 9’s in the country.

spot on – Genia has been a problem for a long time and not just his play. He is arrogant (watch his reaction to an interview with Kafe last year) and cannot be told what to do. His service is slow and ponderous and not acceptable when we have players like Quade, Folau, Speight waiting for the ball. He is also too negative for my liking. Always abuses his own players for their mistakes but he makes just as many.

So many people blame Quade for the Semi final loss in the RWC but I still maintain to this day that Genia had a worse game. I have watched the tape numerous times and he is terrible.

I think Sean McMahon will go past them all. He is actually a natural number 7, has incredible strength, speed, skills and is great at the breakdown. GPS boy as well 🙂

Elisha,

I wrote about this a while ago – would be interested in your thoughts?? i have since changed the structure a little bit and would like to see a “Heinkeken Cup” style comp at the end of each domestic season and have a tri series or state of origin series during the year on weekdays, much like the NRL.

Why Australia should get out of Super Rugby