Neville and Pyle are ready to be Wallabies

Mowen has now been added to squad because McCalmann is injured. Mogg has been cut from the squad as well.

DL - Holmes is clearly the new messiah. How come the backline, as YOU say, never got going and they are scratching for tries? Riddle me that one Batman. Also agree with others on the locks. As a Rebs supporter neither are ready for Test footy.

Agreed behold. Not sure wat DL is on. Brumbies could not construct a line break from set piece play or line break and were often not making the gain line in multiple phases. That rests squarely on Holmes. At least hilgendorf could breakdown the brumbies defense. Brumbies won because they played smart in the rebels half and got penalties and opportunities from mistakes. Otherwise they did nothing offensively.

Interesting point here - One thing that the S14 teams have never got really right is that the whole point of an alternate strip is that it should be a completely different colour to the home jersey. Glad to see the Bulls with a bright pink away strip this year, and Highlanders with their green. The rest of the teams seem to think it's supposed to be a minor variation of their normal jersey. This is particularly annoying as 4 of the Australian teams play in a variation of blue

I wouldnt say choking, I would say the difference between overhyped Holmes and Lealiifano. CL could and did set the backline alight, long passes etc. Holmes doesnt get the backline moving.

Last night's match was terrible, but at least the Rebels showed some positive intention, the Brumbies showed nothing. Looks like they are choking at the wrong end of the season based on the last two weeks. Call it mixing up tactics if you will, but I think the safety first Brumbies game is both gutless and stupid. With the quality of backs they have they should really be exploiting possession, instead of playing scared.

I don't think either deserves a Wallabies start after last night's showing. While both Pyle and Neville had strong work rates around the park, the Rebels set pieces were absolutely destroyed. Mowen won more of the Rebels lineouts than those two, and while the repeated collapses in the scrums would be more attributed to the props (both LH and TH were guilty), even when they stayed up they got zero support from behind and were driven backward at a rate of knots. I have no issue with Hooper's penalties. Most of the calls could have just as easily gone his way, and he only really gave them away in low risk areas, generally in the Rebels half. As for the Hilgendorf moment, the one camera angle that had the ball in shot clearly showed Coleman and Mogg had the ball nearly a foot off the ground. Hardly a mystifying decision not to award it.

DL - you have said it yourself "What is fact is the Brumbies would have expected to pick up a vital bonus point for four tries. They never looked like achieving that goal. Another fact: the Brumbies hadn’t scored a try for 117 minutes until Smith crossed in the 26th." Zac Holmes is nowhere near ready for a Wallaby jersey. I missed last nights game but neither Pyle nor Neville have shown me they can be impactful and effective at the breakdown yet. Pyle is closer than Neville. Both these two scream potential but that is all it is at this stage. Lower and harder in the clean out and I will start to be a believer.

I'd agree with that. IMO Adam Ashley-Cooper is a world class 13 who can bust a line however he has been mucked around by Deans and this year at the Tahs. Ioane is also linebreaking but is a wing. Rob Horne has finally completed an injury free run of games and sadly for him and Australian rugby, has been shown to not be the worldbeater it was hoped. Stirling is too old and slow, Inman is too slow and too poor, and IMO Faingaa doesn't quite cut it test level.

I appreciate its a column and opinion piece, however IMO there is no way Neville and Pyle are anywhere near playing for the Wallabies. Its clear they are still learning the game and regularly cockup lineouts and restarts, and a part of a frankly weak scrum, but more importantly, they haven't demonstrated the consistent presence and physicality required at this level. They may well two or three years down the track, however I'd like to see a couple of seasons of strong SuperRugby form before they were even considered. What they, and Zac Holmes (please, this guy is 3rd choice for his province, says it all) need is at least one season playing just below SuperRugby level - and thats NOT the Shute Shield. Or some time playing for Australia A. But of course neither a strong provincial competition or "A" program are in place, and Australian rugby continues to suffer as a result.

How can anyone sing the praises of Holmes as a top 10? First of all Hilgendorf totally outplayed him. Since CL's injury and Holmes taking over how much ball has McCabe let alone the wingers seen? Someone said he has a crisp pass? How can you say that? I have yet to see him pass a long pass either side. He does some short passes but either kicks the ball or runs himself far too much. Holmes is just a competetnt flyhalf (maybe). He is not anything special, especially the sort that the Wallabies need. Lucas was a FAR better pcik for the squad due to his versatility. If Holmes was a decent playmaker the brumbies would of smashed the rebels like they did when CL played. This with rebles without Cipriani, JoC and Beale. Lets face it he faced a weakened weaker aust team and still did not star or even outplay his opposite. Mowen did play well, his usual workrate, he also starred in thelineouts stealing a few. However he is just the same calibre maybe a bit better than McCalman, nothing special like Thompson, Reid, Kaino etc. Neville looked better than Pyle had more impact. Pyle I had a lot of hopes for but he did not run the lineout well, but he has before this. At least 1 will get a wallaby cap out of the frist 2 tests. Fardy should of been in the wallaby squad.

I don't know, mixing up your tactics from time to time makes a lot of sense to me. People remember negative tactics for a lot longer than they do positive rugby; I might remind you that it wasn't so long ago that the Brumbies were being praised for scoring 16 tries in three games. But if you stick to the same game plan for too long, you get found out. Look at the Wallabies vs. Ireland last year, or the Hurricanes right now. You can only get away with being tactically one-dimensional if you're absolutely sensational at what you do do well (e.g. the Stormers defence). Even past greats like the Crusaders of the early naughties were smart enough to vary their strategies. The Brumbies don't look like a finals team right now, but that's simply because they aren't executing their strategies very well. You can't blame that on the coach.

DC, Funny how back in the 1980s, it was Australian rugby, through the Ellas, Coxs, O'Connor & Campese, who showed NZers how to play expansive rugby. Now in the 2000s, it is the Kiwis who play the expansive rugby, while it is mostly a lost art in Australia.

Harry, Weird how some times one team will change for "sponsorship/merchandising" reasons when there is absolutely no need to. However, last night one of the teams could have worn their alternate outfit. Navy blue was 'heavy' on both the Rebels & Brumbies, right dow to shorts & socks. Although the Brumbies outfit is an excellent design, so was their pre-Brumbies outfit of royal blue & gold hoops (almost identical to Bay of Plenty). 4 of the Aussie outfits have variations of blue as one of their primary colours. Why don't WA Force go back to yellow jerseys as their primary outfit?

Saying Mowen doesn't play a bad game since leaving the Tahs is underselling the work he did at the Tahs. He was an excellent player at the Tahs and has seen his game move forward with the (C) next to his name. Agree with one of the above posts that the reason McCalman pipped him was purely down to being 'in the system' with the short turnaround. Although realistically he is up against Dennis as a bench player for the Wallabies and who could deny Dennis his chance after the season he has had. Holmes has all the markings of a class fly half. He straightens the attack beautifully and has a crisp passing game. I would like to see his defence stand up, he did seem to shirk the occasional front on hit. Noting that only Barnes is currently a top fly half defender. Sheek, 100% agree between the two games. The skills, game plans and desire to play rugby set the two conferences miles apart when playing derby's.

Brumbies v Reds last week 65 kicks

I reckon the Australian backlines run too wide and lateral and don't run straight and direct enough... We saw Tomane only have the narrow end of the sideline to play with and he often got bundled into touch .. Is it a lack of size in the outside backs ..., they need a few robbie freuans methinks ..

Harry - true, true.....

Not really Jack; Zac Holmes should be put under the spot light if he is going to be considered for Wallaby duties anytime soon becuase if he gets to wear Wallaby gold, there is every chance Dan Carter is going to be opposing him. Lets not sugar coat it. The guy has talent but we also have Cooper, Barnes, O'Conner, Beale to consider before Holmes. I egt that David wants to blood him but I have my reservations. The All Blacks are not blooding Anscombe, Taylor or Noakes against Ireland are they? The Australian teams defend really well? The Red's who can defend well had 60 odd points clocked up against them against the Bulls and the Rebels had 60 odd by the Canes. In context to what the New Zealand teams are doing in attack and defence we are not up to that standard consistently yet. The Red's look the most enlightened in attack while the Brumbies enthusiasm has carried them well to this part of the season. I hope they make the finals but that will be an education for them. Watch the likes of the Crusaders, Chiefs, Bulls and Storm lift the intensity then. I am not sure White's men will cope. The Red's really are the only Australian team with the experience and game plan to make any impact in the finals. I expect the Brumbies to be much better next year for what they will learn this year.

See above baz, fully agree.