Thanks Harry. Great piece on many levels, beautiful and evocative writing. Equalling, if not eclipsing, the descriptive travel / historical prose of the Therouxs and Morrises. Loved it….a day in the (rugby) life of Harribaldi. And we insist, it’s just a game….

Just wanted to drop in to congratulate you Brett on an excellent article. Thoughtful, well-written, analytically perceptive.

I fumed about Phipps and Foley throughout the match, when watching live.

After re-watching the game I actually thought Phipps’ core job skills, speed to breakdown and clearances, were not too bad.
Foley’s positioning for me revealed his limitations at this level and perhaps lack of confidence. Something for him to work on.

Phipps to start again. Toomua to 10, probably. White and Lealiifano on bench.

Best, and by that I mean fast and accurate, lineout thrower in Aust before he departed for Italy.
Strong and tough hombre around the field too.
Pity he did not return to the Reds but his skill level will improve in the Brumbies system.

I reckon! What an exciting selection. The best speculative team I have seen posted on the Roar Digger, thanks for that.
Good balance. Throw Arnold and Coleman in the deep end and see what happens? Perhaps not both in the same match, certainly not against the ABs or the Boks,eh?

The rest of the 31 man squad: Alo-Emile, Faingaa, Skelton, Jones, Gill, Phipps, Toomua, O’Connor?

Notable omissions from this group would be the Cheika / Tah “insiders” such as Hooper, Beale, Foley, Dennis, TPN

Undeserved win? Best team clearly won from where I was sitting.

To be a successful coach you need to be an astute manager, psychologist and politician. You need to thoroughly understand the game and be able to operate strategically. If the results don’t come after a couple of seasons, then get out, it’s never going to work out. Try something else, media, sports tourism or go down the coaching ranks to continue your career. Williams went Waratahs, Scotland and Knox college.

Qld rugby politics is notorious and the installation of Graham was really the old gang wresting back control after the EM era demonstrated what a breath-of-fresh-air (and success) choosing a non-political new direction can bring. The EM direction was not chosen so much as forced by despair. The current regime don’t seem to be desperate enough so I don’t expect to see much significant change. Connolly was heralded, quite cleverly, as an alternative, but he is very much a Graham supporter. Graham and Connolly, for example, are bound tightly by an old school tie and the wider coterie are the current power-brokers.

Of course Michael Foley is also a part of the same faction. All three are limited and demonstrably not the answer to rugby success in this era.

Check this interesting article from exactly 10 years ago. Sometimes you don’t need a crystal ball to predict the future if you study the past closely enough.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/michael-foley-flavour-of-the-month-down-under-517968.html

Nah, both malicious bias, mate. Unacceptable and brings the glorious game into disrepute

Yeah, but appointing neutral refs at least nullifies the” was it bias or incompetence” debate. Neutrality removes the PERCEPTION of bias.
So, SANZAR – do it!

Nothing can nullify the reality of incompetence. Just remove Hoffman and Berry. I never want to see or hear then again!!

Worst ref performance in a half of rugby. Hoffman wants to take the crown from Stuart Berry, and he might have just pipped him right there!! Love the comical interchange between Hoffman and Ayoub, it’s also up there with Berry and Veldsman. Sheesh! c’mon once again, why can’t we have neutral refs?!!

Tend to be club players or under 20s i.e up and coming, but inexperienced, players. I recall both Liam Gill and James O’Connor were something of stand-outs at HK Sevens when they were both 17.

This Aussie sevens squad had a fairly good tournament in HK last weekend, winning the plate and picking up about 13 points on the overall log. But I think that took a lot out of the squad. Aussie 7s team beat both Portugal and Scotland last weekend, but both those teams were improving – Portugal drew with NZ 24-24 last weekend, so they are not easy beats and Scotland won the Bowl. One-off games of sevens can be a bit of a lottery.

Agree Harry, very expensive high.

Makes my litre of Laphroaig Quarter Cask look like an absolute bargain.
About $85 for 1000ml – if you know the right dealer.
As a bonus, it’s also legal to possess or distribute and in my opinion, delicious!.

Andrew’s premise seems perfectly reasonable. Clearly the off-load has become a potent weapon for many teams.

I’m intrigued though that a significant element of Joe Schmidt’s strategy with Ireland is to almost entirely eliminate the off-load. Maybe he feels the chances of losing possession are too high. By giving possession to the opposition via a kick Ireland hope to control how, when and where the ball is given to the opposition and back their defence to contain and then their breakdown skills to regain possession.

Seems a bit counter-intuitive. But it’s certainly a strategy that’s been working for Ireland.

Great game to watch as a neutral. Tough and skilful. Great kicking games from hand and tee. But I disagree that it’s “rugby” to accept a loss and loss of a bonus point under these circumstances. TMOs are supposed to make more accurate decisions to provide fairer outcomes. Sharks were robbed of at least a bonus point, if not the win. That TMO performance was based upon either discrimination or incompetence, both of which are unacceptable and SANZAR reviewing officials should act accordingly.

Good to see the SA TMOs are useless at spotting the most obvious forward passes for South African teams as well as other teams. Hopeless TMO decision there. Ridiculous decisions like that lead to resentment amongst players and consequently illegal stuff like punches etc. Pity!

Jim McKay for 1

I’ve also been looking closely (well as closely as the TV will allow) at Ma’afu at the Saints. He appears to have been srummaging well, and importantly he scrums against the props who out-srummed the Wallabies on their recent tour. Alexander cannot possibly be still considered for RWC surely!? Ma’afu seems to have posted a strong special case for selection in the RWC squad.

Roarers, reacquaint yourselves with the legend- just drop the jaw and marvel.
A Mack truck chased by Minis….”and the 46 year old goes over”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OaELLcWHUo

Completely understand your reasoning Scott. I enjoyed your contributions to the podcasts on GAGR and then your articles and video analyses on the Roar were always extremely informative. But providing detailed analysis to that extent, on a regular basis, is very time consuming. Good luck with your coaching at UQ and, THANK-YOU!

Yes I think so too grapeseed. Most level-headed Roarers I think really want Michael Cheika to take control of the Wallabies and sort out the mess before the RWC.

Yep, good point GD. That’s another scenario that could bite the ARU on the posterior!

The ongoing scrum debacle is confusing.

I don’t think it’s lack of cattle.

Although our best (Slipper and Kepu) are each up around the 50 test mark and that should be enough experience. Robinson should have adapted to the new engagement rules faster and improved is game in general – but he didn’t. Four identified tight heads with future potential went overseas (Palmer, Ma’afu, Longbottom and PAE). Tight head props are in big demand and well compensated. Why can these players not be retained in Australia? Why were Weeks and PAE overlooked for the EOYT?

Agree with Brett this is not only about the Props though.

I am old-school although I still coach so have tried to keep up to date. Still reckon a tightly bound scrum with good body position, coordinated breathing, and coordinated straight push is not that difficult to coach or build. Might have to give up a little mobility but obviously the scrum will be important at the RWC. It must be about coaching and game-plan!

Maybe need more Parakas and less Paddy Ryans

The cattle are not the problem except for Tight head and #8. Even then Kepu is up to the task. Depth is needed.
Scrum coaching for the entire pack needs an overhaul. Back row needs better balance and involvement at scrums.
Horwill, Carter and Simmons have gone fine in the scrum – better than Shape’s time. Douglas would be useful. Skelton clearly has postural problems in the scrum.
The specialist tight head needed must be Ma’afu who has impressed against the players the Wallabies came up against on Saturday. Ma’afu has anchored the Aviva premiership winning scrum for Northampton for the past 2 seasons in the same conditions in which the RWC will be played. He’s not great around the park but solid in the scrum and a better bench option than Alexander. Long bottom may go well but is an unknown quantity at the moment. Sio apparently is experimenting with the tight head side as another possible TH option. Robinson is past it, and, quite frankly has been for a while.

LHP: Slipper, Sio,
THP: Kepu, Ma’afu
Locks: Carter, Horwill, Simmons, Douglas

So imho two overseas contracted players could help the situation. But a new approach to coaching is more urgently needed

Marler was worked over in the scrum by the Wallabies in the 2013 EOYT then becomes a monster in 2014 – it’s coaching and smarts that’s needed.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Scrummaging-History-Dissertation/dp/0987210300

A link to the book and blurb below: Note the use of the word “Groundbreaking”….apt descriptor for a book on scrummaging. Not sure what the “FUSE” has contributed, but it could be the lighter or more humorous moments……

Enrique TOPO Rodriguez has done that with his groundbreaking new book The ART of Scrummaging (TAOS). In his day (1984-87), TOPO was considered the best loose head prop in the world. His expertise in the scrum is legendary and no one played with more passion or determination. This, combined with the frustration he feels at the state of the modern-day scrum and his primary concern for player safety, has led him to produce the book which is set to shake up the rugby world. Not content with just relying on his own expertise, however, TOPO has worked with Dick Marks, Peter Fenton and Ross Turnbull, and called upon some of the great names of international rugby to create a body of work that is unrivalled in its depth and knowledge. Famous names, such as Sir Wilson Whineray, Cobus Visagie, Philip Orr, Al Baxter, Pieter de Villiers, Ray Williams, Philip Keith-Roach and Sir Brian Lochore, have all added their contributions on what they see as the problems with the scrum and offered ways to rectify them.

Yes I don’t think it makes sense. But seems he wants to pick up the paycheque for both roles. This stubbornness might be celebrated by some as “no-nonsense” and hard-headed” but it’s plainly ridiculous. Cheka should listen to his own quotations (from Peter Dutton’s article in the SMH):

“I’m making the list all the time of players that I’ve got to be looking at over the next seven, eight months, really in detail, so I can make the right decision and not just guess when the time comes,” Cheika said.

Cheika also endorsed Daryl Gibson as the man to replace him at the NSW Waratahs in 2016 and says he will have to be “creative” in how he manages his Super Rugby role with his Wallabies duties.

“I have to be well organised so that the Waratahs players know that when I’m there, that’s my priority. But sometimes I’m not going to be there and it won’t be my priority.

Remove the brackets Sheek, the pun’s a good’un!