Toomua locked in for Wallabies

The backline is set and should be left alone. Let Foley and toomua get settled. This will develop well, forget the myth Beale, let him have a sabbatical with the dogs and he may have learnt how to tackle. Genia can come in if he finds form.

Thanks Buk. I have played most positions on the field at different club levels and in both codes, but was struck down with a knee and ankle injury that put me out of rugby for most of my 20s. I went to coaching U19 and schoolboy level, went back and played both codes for a short while against doctors orders, but the doctor won and I spent the next 20 years coaching kids. My philosophy as a coach was to give kids exposure in as many different positions as was practicable because later on at senior club or representative level they may not get their favorite position. I've had lots and lots of kids chosen in representative sides in positions that were not their favorite positions. And selected and coached them at rep level in their second favourite positions. I wanted the no7 jersey in my first year of club senior rugby and ended up in the no2, and so it goes round. Grant Batty and All Blacks of his era are known to say things like: I'd play prop if they wanted me to, just to make the All Blacks. What a great attitude from the smallest man on the Park. The gifted no10 Steven Pokere was put in the 13 jersey by the All Blacks to make way for Wayne Smith and the mighty Canterbury inside back combination in the early 1980s. I'm not sold on Kuridrani yet as the long term centre, but I am on Toomua. However, the big Fijian flyer like so many of his countrymen would be a wrecking ball down that left flank. And that's from a guy who just coached kids.

Thats crap Bunyip .... we lost ball at the back of the breakdown because White was too slow to get there. The first two tests showed Phipps to be much quicker when he came on for White. The increase in tempo was very noticeable on both occasions.

Name drop all you like Chan, but they don't consistently play against the No1 and No2 sides in the world so their measure is different. Aussie isn't No3 in the world for nothing. And Toomua is proving to be in that class of player. He would hold a place in any international rugby playing side in the world, bar none. That's how much confidence I have in this kid.

I don't think Conrad Smith is as much a playmaker as a distributor, and I think there is a difference, just finding it difficult to explain in the right words. I was sort of backing up your point but putting it as "there are two types of centre you need. A smaller skillful one and a big scary one. Each team chooses which order they want them in." Also, as I'm not a huge follower of the English team, I thought that 36 was a playmaker. Can you clarify what you meant in that first sentence. Is Barrit a playmaker and 36 a hit up player who can also kick, or can he only kick?

Not all waratahs fans are the same R from EC! I am a Tahs fan and happy that Toomua is there at 12. I have questioned his out of line defense but that was due to my concerns with Foley. Like Bunyip I would like to see Toomua trialled at 10 with K Godwin at 12 ... Just to mix things up (contrary to my consistency theory).

Of course England do go for a kicking 12 hence they put 12trees instreadof Barrit and look what happened. the term "playmaker" is a fancy way of saying a kicking 12 / 13. r u saying Conrad Smith is not a playmaker? he is the best there is. same goes for Fofana and Bosch. BOD was also a playmaker who rarely kicked. and Nonu kicks albeit with varying success. OZ have not had a decent "playmaker" recently since Giteau left. JOC or Beale could never do it for 80+ Kicking is part of the skill set - but one of the centers need to be a very good defender to offset the big boy's deficiencies - which Conrad and Bsch and JJ Englebrecht are even look at SA playing a natural 12 at 13. Jan Serfontain made Kuridrani look very good, becuse he is not as a good defender.

Yep

The amount of overlaps being left by Aus came up in Scott's Auckland analysis. Argie have got some good backs this year and will punish bad defence. They are offloading and switching point of attack more often too.

I think you basically have the smaller more skillful centre (may be a playmaker, may just be elusive or a distributor ) and the bigger more powerful centre. Most teams just have their personal preference as you say. I dont think Aus/Eng are going for a kicking centre but actually a playmaking centre (smaller skillful centre) at 12. . Sadly, Crusaders didn't get the memo and so had 6 playmakers + nadolo. ;)

Foley and Toomua combination 4-0 says it all really.

" Aussies can moan all you want about Toomua but I rate him as being right up in the top 3 or 4 in the world in the 12 jersey at the moment. " ooops that would be stretching it a bit , considering Nonu and JDV are reall good players and have been for a number of years. then we come to the others like Frank Steyn, Jamie Roberts, Wesley Fofana, Luther Burrell, who are known as very good centers. still IMO it is not easy to compare the players due to different styles of play the teams have. for example SA NZ Wales play their big center at 12 while England OZ France have theirs at 13. England and OZ have a fixation of a kicking 12 . Others dont really care much. Pumas have a kicking 13 in Bosch. Tumooa is good but certainly not one among the top 3-4 in the world.

Kearns is the most biased commentator on TV, who has diificulty seeing beyond the Waratahs. This is Test not Super Rugby and Toomua has shown his worth at 12 both in attack and defence and his kicking game in the Test arena. Beale is much better coming off the bench late in the game. If we want to have a chance of winning the World Cup forget Cooper. He is too brittle in defence and the AB's etc. know he is the weak link and target him. If Leiliifano continues playing at 10 like he did for the Vikings in the NRC last Saturday he would be a better option for the WB's with Toomua at 12.

I don't buy into this Beale's 'a great player" stuff. Sure he does well on occasions but IMO he's a bit too hit & miss, and of course there's that problem with his D. Is hit & miss what people mean by X factor? Having said that, should Toomua be injured, then I'd have KB at 12 in a flash.

"If the coaches had a problem with Toomua coming out of the line then they would have stopped it by now. He’s obviously doing it under instruction" Thankyou for pointing this out

Was it Toomua who put the grubber in for Ashley Cooper to (almost) score?

Sorry but Toomua did the same against the ABs on numerous occasions. However his game against the Boks was a great improvement on his game against the Kiwis. I would leave him at 12 but swap him with Beale after 50 minutes.

If Kearns is calling for Beale it merely confirms my thoughts that he should be on the pine. Kearns knowledge of the game is astoundingly poor for an ex captain

Good points RK. I wasn't thinking about where AAC plays so much as his reliability in a variety of roles. Connolly and Deans shifted him around all over the place but he got on with the job. Now we see Toomua playing at 10 in S15 and at 12 in test, without complaint. There is a place for flexible and reliable players as well as the flashy ones, IMO.

Your point about Cooper is spot on. I don't think McKenzie has anything firm in mind, he will look at Cooper's form etc, and also decide what style of flyhalf he wants. But if he does decide to use Cooper at 10 then Toomua is very useful to have outside him.