Giteau welcomes Carter challenge

exactly

Comining from an aussie prop...not at all surprising mate

Just got back from the lizard room with gits, smoo, notso et al - and jeezz, the hair tints (apart from notso o'course) are even more impressive up close. Absolutely slammin down those margaritas (and lots of attention from the punters). Short discussion about Saturday's game gave way to debate about performance based pay ('how dare they...'). Feeling nauseous about game - think I'll mow the lawn instead...

Is de Malmanche over his concussion from Olivier in the S14 final? Will he be a contender for the AB's?

Ok. So we've got an Irishman, a Kiwi In Australia and a South African agreeing - if I haven't mistaken your nationalities. Sounds like the start of a joke to me. Seriously though - I wouldn't say he is "SO FAR" behind the top 5/6 in the world - he has played very well at 10 on occaison - mostly for the Force but a few games for the Wallabies too. But the way he has played the last 2 games... he just hasn't looked right. I'd be inclined to start him at 12 just to see how things go. I assume if anyone had spied Barnes playing at 10 in training we'd have heard about it. Pity. The sad truth is that behind Barnes and Giteau there's a lot of daylight before you get to the next best 10 in Oz at the moment.

Just got back from the gym after working out next to Thorney, Woodcock and de Malmanche and jeez they are bigger than you think just absolutely smashing the weights. looking forward to the game and confident of a win here.

Mumm - his name says it all. Soft as butter, does fark all imo...

I concur re Sharpe. He's had his day. Mumm is a better option there. You don't lose anything anyway, so it's worth a try. Anyone who reckons Sharpe does his fair share of work is either deluded, or his Mum.

Nice one Gits. However, personally I do not welcome the Carter challenge. I'm frightened.

Virgil, I'd be happy to see any of those other three in there. Chose Mumm mainly because he is in the squad, I think he has been going all right and I had already called for quite a few changes. Sharpe, Baxter and Palu sit outside the ruck as their first option while the ball is still there to be won. They tend to do this even when they are arriving at the breakdown first. They are not instinctive ruck and maul players and given the level of their experience its unlikely they ever will be, Sharpe was great against England last year but before then and since then has shown a reluctance to commit to the collision contest, someone else needs to be given a chance. Horwill was doing it last year so I think can probablly get there again, doesn't need to be Mumm would probably be happiest with Caldwell as Kimlin is injured and Chisolm is only just back from injury. I've got a reasonable amount of conviction for most of my selections but this one its about wanting to see any of a few guys given a chance in place of a guy who does not deliver what we need in the role. ie someone to combat Botha and Thorn.

You're kidding yourself if you think Mumm has done more than Sharpe in any game this year. The only thing I've seen Mumm do in the past three games is one short linebreak and a few penalties given away. Sure he hasn't has as much game time as Sharpe but when you come on to the field fresh and everyone else is blowing, you should have an impact. While Sharpe may not be world class he is the best we've got at the moment and he's doing more in the rucks and up the middle stuff than Horwill and Mumm combined. Kimlin, Caldwell or Chisolm would all be better than Mumm.

The Aussies aren't far away just a couple of key selection decisions to make, the team I'd like to see on the weekend is: 1. Robinson - our best player this year 2. Moore - shocker in the lineout last week but deserves another chance 3. Alexander - the scrum has been going well when he comes on although usually its at the same time as TPN which helps 4. Horwill - out of sorts last week but apparently was ill, needs to find some of last years form 5. Mumm - we miss Vickerman but Mumm offers more than Sharpe's constant posting rather than rucking 6. Elsom - assuming he really is fit, interested to see if the NH hype is genuine 7. Smith - Pockock is pushing hard but for now retains his spot 8. Brown - gives away a little size but works hard at the breakdown and Palu doesn't 9. Genia - risky selection but cannot be as risky as Burgess with his wild passes under pressure 10. Giteau - might be worth switching him and Barnes but persist for now 11. Hynes - been very unlucky with injury but on song whenever he plays 12. Barnes - probably our best back this year, guided the 13 man Wallabies around the field with aplomb 13. Ashley-Cooper - Mortlock injury could be a blessing in disguise as the skipper is not performing at his best 14. Turner - fumble led to the try last week but he is still developing and you cannot coach pace 15. O'Connor - was great last week after the Bledisloe debut hiccups 16. Polota Nau - his lineout last week was superior to Moores (not saying much though was a very low bar) 17. Dunning - has improved out of sight as a tighthead and should be the caretaker as Kepu, Cowan and Palmer develope 18. Caldwell or Chisolm - Kimlin would have been worth considering pre-injury 19. Palu - on a final chance or Pocock back if he doesn't provide the impact we know he can 20. Valentine or Phibbs - both seem more dependable than Burgess at the moment 21. Cross - so much versatility in 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15 that a specialist centre can be selected on the bench 22. Mitchell - although Digby would have this spot if fit The guts of our issue this year against the top teams is that Baxter, Sharpe and Palu refuse to put their heads into the rucks and when they do are in effective, that possessional advantage we are giving away is why we lost to the AB's and was why we couldn't just run it when the lineout went to pieces last week. 5 vs 8 in the breakdown battle is going to cost us dearly lets hope the selectors and replacements realise that.

Agreed.

Er, Carter would have been burned in a foot race by Sosene Anesi prior to his injury too. He's never been blisteringly quick. For that matter, Anesi would burn pretty much every inside back in the world and a lot of outside backs too.

Agree Carter has looked very good all round in the ANZ Cup thus far, but with one exception- got absolutely BURNED in a foot race against the Chiefs this weekend. Commentators made mention of it. Possible that he hasn't come back at full speed from his hammie injury I think. Don't know how much difference that will make, if any, but intersting nonetheless. Agree with others here- Barnes to 10 and Gits to 12 (where he IS the world's best).

AussieWallaby. Elsom hasn't played forever and Genia, while he looks good, does not have the experience. Boredom, yep it is reading your senseless posts. Oz will only get better now that you have a kiwi coach showing you how to play along with building team spirit. Mortlock and Waugh has gone (finally) and now Deans can start building a team based on skill and not the old boys club.

Giteau over-rated (back to 12), unfortunately Barnes also over-rated (so major problem in the halves), and disastrously DEANS over-rated, but hopefully Elsom not so. The whole team needs a good long cup of harden the f**k up...

Having watched Carter in the ANZ Cup, he's looked great. However, I think his trademark defence and linebreak abilities haven't really been seen yet. He's been mostly just distributing, kicking and supporting the ball carrier. Having said that, he's looked so much better than Donald. Canterbury's backs were on fire against Waikato on Fri. His goal kicking has been fair only. He'll need to improve next weekend, but suspect he will.

Here here. He's a 12. He's not even the best 10 to play the 3N this year so far - I'd rate him behind M Steyn, Pienaar and Barnes.

Carter is a creature of habit - He always starts the big games with a wedge type kickoff straight ahead at the goal post with Mccaw chasing. Secondly I recall in the last few games Carter has played against Giteua he has scored two tries by running straight through/over him so look for that as well