A monster Wallaby side to take on the Poms

Seriously? I cant work out if this article is bogus or not. I suspect not in which case its just as well you're not the coach. Its a long held coaching view that you don't play players out of position. Some of these placements are just wrong.

No the ABs were the reason Australia didnt win the RWC .

Kerr -Barlow and one of the Franks were born in Oz to parents working here then returning to NZ werent they ? Kiwi parents count towards being Kiwis dont they >

Its true, the Aussie National anthem almost was the tale of a sheep stealer, who in typical Aussie fashion, got caught and rather than do time he jumped in the creek and likely drowned. Truly a sad tale as he intended to cross the ditch in a boat with his purloined ungulates and set up shop throughout the North and South islands as a bridal broker for the local men. :)

'........take a look at the England team before throwing stones. It could also be called CEIT, for Combined England Islanders Team.' Any actual facts, here, TF, or are you just lashing out because you're uncomfortable at the thought of a virtually Aussie-free Wallaby backline? The only 'islanders' in the England squad just announced (including Tuliagi who is injured and hasn't played for nearly 2 years) are the Vunipola brothers; Tuilagi and Te'o. You've already said in another post that you're OK with parents leading to eligibility so that takes Te'o off your list, so it must be the other three you've got a problem with. Tuilagi has lived in England since he was 12; and the Vunipola brothers moved to Wales as small children and then England for all their post-12 year old education because of their mother's work. So all 3 have been in England since the age of 12. Pocock, for example, arrived in Australia when he was 14. Now let's look at the 'Aussie' backline situation. Your Kiwi fly-half Cooper seems to be out of favour, as is your PNG scrum-half Genia, so you might actually have some Aussies at half-back. Centres appear to be between the Kiwi Lealiifano, and the two Fijians Kuridrani and Kerevi. Wing is up for grabs given that the Kiwi Tomane and the Fijian Speight are injured, but it looks like a shoot-out between the Kiwi Haylett-Petty and the two Fijians Naiyaravaro and Nabuli. With the Kiwi Mike Harris injured it looks a slam-dunk that the Tongan Folau will play, but on the bright side, at least he was born in Australia.

I'll be honest: I assumed the team listed here was for satirical purposes. Author's responses have made me reconsider this opinion (though I'm not quite convinced that the author isn't having a poke at Roar readers). Just in case the author is serious with this team: Consider: Every time the ball goes dead/is knocked on, the Wallabies will surrender possession to opponents. Every. Time. Every time the ball goes out of the field of play, it's opponent's possession. Every. Time. Does having an extra 2 loose forwards on the field make up for the possession lost on set pieces? Probably not due to: - Diminishing marginal returns - Loose forward fatigue due to being scrummed into the deck at every scrum. - Being cleared out at the break down by opponent's bigger second row players and not having the protection of your own heavy weights. - Flagging morale due to being owned by opponents in the tight phases of play. Backline is also problematic. Successful backlines in recent times have at least two playmakers. One in the halves (almost always the 10, with Fourie du Preez being the no. 9 anomaly in recent times) and one in the centres (toomua/Beale at 12 for Aussie set ups and Conrad Smith at 13 for AB set ups). Arguably, the lack of a double playmaker was the undoing of Bok backlines under Heyneke Meyer. But that's a debate for another day. In the proposed backline above, the only playmaker is Foley. The rest are bashers (who have their value in being able to buckle the defensive line and create more space for the playmakers) or runners (who work best playing off a playmaker). With only one playmaker, defensive teams will be able to shutdown this backline eventually by applying pressure to Foley, since he (Foley) won't have the option to move the ball to a playmaker in a wider channel (where they may be more space). This backline needs another playmaker (CLL, Beale, Toomua) at 12 with a hard running option (kuridrani for mine, based on experience, but Kerevi will probably get the job done too) at 13.

look forward to it. He can be really destructive with decent ball. That he got to play under a great coach in Townsend, instead of a more restrictive or conservative coach will have done him a lot of good in the long term.

Will look for it Nicolas. Ta. :)

yeah, Reece Robinson is killing them for the Tahs. :) That said, Izzy Folau, Wendell Sailor, Matt Rogers and Lote Tequiri all went well but some duds also such as T.Tahu, Jarrod Saffy and Will Chambers. The only forwards who transitioned from RL to RU and did well likely had loads of union experience as kids, ie: Brad Thorn and SBW.

for me more than the tackle count , the fundamental difference between league and union and even NFL is the set pieces. there is no other game with such game situations. the NFL scrimmage is a totally differnt affair though the setup looks a little similar. the scrums in league are nothing, they shud not even be called scrums, becoz they dont scrum - they just lean against each other. even in 7s they scrum :) the afl throw in is no the same as a lineout. no lineouts in league or nfl. the besuty of those situations is the fact that there are typical prototype players for them. the roly-poly props , the bean-stalk 2nd rowers - they dont exist in other games , though the nfl tackle guards tend to be big ugly beasts :) if u just put 15 flanks or 15 wings on the park , it is no longer rugby union. irrespective of how u play the beauty will be gone - though am sure all of them will be able ti take linouts or scrum - not the same way props and 2nd rowers will do it. it will be like getting part time bowlers to roll their arms - yes they can bowl but can they bowl like a bowler? nope :)

My article this week will include a feature on TN based on one of his contributions during an ECC group match, so all will be explained there... But he is a monster with Lomu-like physical tools. The video I compiled is both hugely impressive and hilarious!

Yes it is, but Sevens is also about the space available, it's not just a number. With 15s there are going to be a lot more hits, breakdowns, and less space. It has the risk of becoming like League but the breakdown versus six tackles is still a fundamental difference. I don't like it either, but it is different.

@ taylorman but that is what 7S is all about. backs playing props and flanks playing scrum half , etc :D we need only one of each kind ; already people are talking of replacing 50 overs cricket with T20 in future LOL

Huge article - love your team. However I think that you dismiss Ms Pipe's suggestion too readily.

I thought this was going to be 'monster' as in the hypothetical biggest bunch of blokes we could field. Something like this: Sio Moore Kepu Skelton Arnold Timani Houston Pocock Phipps Debreczeni Kerevi Kuridrani Nabuli Folau Naiyaravoro Polota-Nau Slipper Holmes Coleman Palu Frisby Leali-ifano Tomane Obviously the lineout would be shot (although not as bad as the one in the article) and we're in pretty dire straits as far as playmakers but I'm guessing that forward pack wouldn't be far off a tonne and the back line is probably clocking in around 750kg. I'm definitely not advocating anything like this as good selections but I think it probably meets the 'monster' definition a lot better Hugh Jarse's choices.

T.W.A.T., I think you've put yr finger on the solution, sir: Ledesma on the bench and no Slipper.

Top work.

Mmmm, Must be that Horne plays like a 110 kg player is my sub-conscious rationale. Whereas Skelton goes down like a tree with as soon as he's tackled. Huge does deconstruction really well. However there's no need to turn me into another Ronaldo. Rolando is so much more poetic.

Yeah, Christopher if you are a kiwi Steinlager, Tui, Waikato Draught and Speights are top drops. ....EEEEEEEEEUWWWWWWW If you`re a pom.. You don't have any decent beer.. The Dutch Belgium and Germans brew the best,,