Spare a thought for David Pocock

Smith was lucky in that he didn't really get any major injuries until later in his first stint. McCaw if I remember correctly had a few niggles here and there. Smith for a long time seemed almost indestructible though, part of what helped him amass so many test and SR caps at such a young age. They certainly started to catch up with him but in the earlier periods I can seldom emember anything serious for Smith. Could be completely wrong of course so if anyone can verify that ould be great.

It seems that the RugbyGods have decreed that the penalty for leaving the Force in the lurch is that you won't play much rugby for anyone the following season. Pocock, O'Connor ...

WB u agree Pocock is definitely one of the good guys and we'll respected but he is not married in fact he makes a stand for equal rights by not marrying it's a shame you missed that.

Just wondering, does anyone knows if McCaw or GS had major injuries at the same age as of their careers? Hope Pocock turns out right. It was a shame to see Brussow cope major injuries as well at such young age.

He was a back with no running game?

Pocock is young enough to get more strings to his bow...don't forget that he was a back in his junior rugby days. He can develop a linking and running game.

What about Kahui? Same deal. As a Kiwi, i don't like Pocock, as a rugby fan - i think he's fantastic.

As a Kiwi I don't like him, as a rugby fan I love him. He adds so much to a game and i feel sorry for the guy. Also spare a thought for Richard Kahui who has battled away for years with a crap chiefs side and in the last two years, when we're finally doing something right, he's missing out through injury. It's a tough game and some guys just have bad luck, good for Pocock he's only 25 no doubt he'll be around for a while.

Mace, you make some valid points. Smith in my eyes is one of our greatest ever Wallabies. Pocock maybe limited in some area's however his work at the breakdown is outstanding and was sorely missed against the Lions. That was my original point. As for the AB's working him out, he was basically on his own and had little support.

At this stage perhaps but he has time on his side.

There aren't any

Warburton was blown off the park in game one. He admitted afterwards he didn't even try to compete at the breakdown. Hooper played lone ranger at the breakdowns. Where was his support?

Sorry all pocock can do is pilfer ball. He did this well at first against the all blacks, but then the all blacks worked out a way to nullify his impact, then he lost his affectiveness. Just before the world cup semi pocok was being touted as the best openside in the world then mccaw out played him and on one foot at that. I've never rated pocock.George smith is ten times the better player than he is. Pocock is just a one trick pony.

Maybe I'm a biased Force supporter, but I thought Poey did his best work when he had Hodgson, Brown and McCalman around him. Not flashy players, but made the tackles allowing Poey to be 2nd man in and using his skills at pilfering. On more than one occassion on Wallaby duty with (I think) Elsom and Palu, the All Blacks were intentionally running at Poey so he couldn't be 2nd man in, and that limited his effectiveness. With Higginbotham and Mowan I think Poey would have had a great impact against the Lions, and certainly the Welsh boys would have remembered him from their last tour. Poey didn't seem that affected by the injuries he picked up at the Force (lost almost an entire season to a knee injury and rarely played an injury-free year) - he seems to know his body and works hard at building it to be as good as it can be. Therefore, I reckon Poey will be back in the finals at some stage - great players tend to make the finals.

yeah right.

Pocock's inclusion would not really have seen that much change to Warburton's impact though, it would have just gone a way to ensuring that we won an equal (or bigger) share of the breakdown penalties. Nullifying a scavenger is not so much the domain of the opposing scavenger, but of the rest of the pack. In relation to Gill, it was apparent that both Hooper and Gill's impact on the game had little to do with breakdown turnovers or forcing breakdown penalties, an area where both were equally ineffective, especially in comparison to some of Pocock's game winning efforts in the past.

Good article WB. Some blokes just demand respect.

I think you are mistaken cob, Hooper did get outplayed but Gill, when he got his chance, was outstanding. Looking forward to Pocock getting back on the field.

GRS, Agree we are well served at Number 7 however there is imo a reasonable gap between Pocock and the other 2. Hooper was industrious against the Lions but got physicallty manhandled for the most part. Gill didn't get a lot of opportunities to shine apart from his match saving one handed lineout steal. There aren't many players better over the ball than Pocock.

GRS - we were killed at the breakdown by Warburton in games 1 and 2, even game 3 we lost the breakdown battle convincingly. Pocock would have easily been our most valuable player on the park in that series. I like Hoops and Gill, don't get me wrong, but they were smashed in that series by the bigger, more experienced Lions pack. They are quality 7s but are much lighter and quicker, really tailor made for the pace of SR. Poey is made for a lions series, and was missed immeasurably.