Cheika embraces long Wallabies tour

Correct CUW, Higgers only played one test in 2015, the winning test against The BOKS in Brisbane , then was dropped with no explanation from Chieka to us fans why he was dropped ...He has never been seen since..

Awesome team..

Mate I don't really have a problem with Hoops Foley ( bench only) but you lack any credibility if you think Mumm is anything other than a shute shield player... The Bloke is a hoax, a nuffie,, a prentender,, a fraud a POWDWER PUFF !!! , He is insispid weak hopeless hapless and lazy ... He cant run He cant jump He cant tackle He cant make the advantage line when he runs He cant cleanout effectivley. He cant Pilfer He cant offload

Look at the fixture list it gets worse after that

Watched Gill play against a physical Clermont side yesterday and he was excellent. Carried really well too.

i think he played a full season in 2015 - and was arguably the best 8 in the auzzy super sides. despite his performances ( albeit being a penalty magnet) he was not selected for world cup initially or even after skelton and palu were injured. i think that was a like a slap to him , when a hooker was selected as one replacement and Pocock was told to play 8. most of all becoz Palu was rubbish in 2015 - i think he was injured like most of the season and even when he played , he was a shadow of his 2011 avatar. according to espn - he played between 2010 - 2015 in 32 matches with 16 starts. and 16 times at 8. interestingly , in 2015 when showed his best form , he played just one match against south africa in auzzy.

Long tour.....2 Tests????

This will never happen. You have selected too many players in their preferred position and you have at least 4 lineout options.

He is contracted to play out the season with his club in Japan so realistically would not be eligible to play for the Wallabies until then. I don't know if he's signed a full contract with the Reds yet but he has agreed terms.

chieka embraced a long rugby championship build up also while the others were playing super 18 still.old hands back to Europe,newer ones outspoken & as usual the results will speak for themselves.

It would be great to have players like Higginbotham back in Australia, but how sure are you that he has signed a letter of intent? For 2017 is it?

And 22 hours ago he was still in Japan according to his Instagram.

No. He's been so regularly injured that he has struggled for regular tests. Injured on what was supposed to be his debut. Played some tests in 2011/2012. Was injured for the test season in 2013. I think he also was in 2014. You need to be available to be selected.

Has Higgimbotham actually signed a letter of intent? I'm sceptical.

2012 Higginbotham played every match against Wales and missed only 1 game of the rugby Championship (played every Bledisloe match). To say he never strung many tests together is just nonsense.

Higginbotham like Chris Latham was never given more than 1 or 2 games in a row to settle into the team - something the boys in blue never have to worry about. Latham dominated Super rugby and the kiwis laughed at us for continually selecting a by then over-the-hill Matt Burke or out-of-sorts Matt Rogers. He got his time but only in the last 3 years of a long career Gill has been dominating super rugby for a couple of seasons now and deserves a chance. I think Sio has the superior physical attributes has been incredibly lazy around the field this season - especially ball carrying TPN is injured - he has fractures in a limb and hence ruled out of the tour. Don't disagree he should be starting hooker when fit

TPN is our best hooker - are you ruling him ineligible because he's going o/s?

Aus media loves to hate the Wallabies. They love contraversey and love to stir things up. They take click-bait' journalism to the next level by provoking unrest amongst fans by pouncing on any sniff of something negative and blowing it out of proportion. My opinion is that the unhealthy culture surrounding Aus rugby is due to the fact that it is seen in Aus as a snobby upperclass contact sport, whereas league is seen as more for the working class. This is also played upon by the media and many QLD fans are obsessed with the fantasy that the sport is unfairly controlled by rich NSW snobs from the North Shore. It just creates this horrible mess in which some players and coaches are unfairly treated by fans and media alike. Its very hard for the sport to grow in Aus due to the ridiculous amount of state and class bias surrounding rugby in this country and it always makes me shake my head when the most hardcore Wallaby haters start preaching about how the games lost its way and the ARU is to blame. How are the ARU to win when the biggest fans of the sport are so negative towards the team and its players whilst the media plays off this and offers up such negative articles. If they are winning, its not with enough tries. If they bring back players from Europe its all wrong. If they debut 9 players at the start of the international season, its not enough but if they debuted anymore the fans would no doubt say it was too many. They scapegoat players like Hooper, Mumm and Foley. They make martyrs out of average performers and take the first opportunity to attack the coach they can. They do this whilst ranked in the top 2 teams in the world. Always trying to undermine past victories too.

Has Higginbotham improved or something? He was never much chop at the top level and Id be surpised if thats changed. Off the bench hes been OK in the past. Gill was never good enough and he threw in the towel at 23 years old. Has Slipper showed he should start?

seems his goal is to loose weight :)