The Wallabies' end of term report card

I'd like to see Luke Jones at 6 or the lock/6 hybrid on the bench. He won't play lock so I don't know why he is being compared to Arnold, Coleman and Rodda. Some people keep banging on about Hanigan's 'potential'. What potential? He takes some line outs (lost two to Jones on the weekend). He makes zero meters when running the ball (someone said -10 on the weekend, if that is true....!), he is ineffective at attacking rucks and normally just decides to guard them, and he makes some tackles. So he makes most of his tackles and is okay at the line out without being great. Is the bar in Australian rugby really that low that this is showing good potential? Let's be honest, it isn't. Some people keep talking about how Higgers has failed in gold. He hasn't. He has been precisely okay without being spectacular. That being said, he has shown way more than Mumm or Hanigan has. Unfortunately, Higgers is injured. Funny how we're questioning Timani's work-rate while talking about how Hanigan is a good prospect.

1 Game, in isolation and the stat doesn't consider tackles that weren't attempted. Do you have the numbers for the guys that just ran past while defenders looked on, or in the case of Noholo's try, didn't even show up?

When Pocock is available, Hooper must step aside. But won't.

Nice one Jack, a B grading is probably on the money. This would be an end of 3rd term grade. Lets see how the final term plays out on the tour, here is hoping that grade can move up to a B plus.

Yeah heard that about the reds at the beginning of the year. It's like a broken record on here, how about doing it first? The only sure thing is aus will have a team in the finals.

Timani - I kind of agree. He hasn't set the world on fire, but he is a big human that makes the advantage line. I think there are questions over his work rate. Higgers has not made much of his multiple chances with the wallabies. Luke Jones has not impressed me. Arnold, Coleman, Rodda are all ahead of him. He may sneak in ahead of Simmons - think Jones and Simmons are similar players. Foley runs straight, takes the ball to the line and offers a running option and therefore attracts defenders. He is a good attacking 10. He has a major flaw in his kicking out of hand, but this has gotten better this year. His defence is below average, but scrambling defence is excellent. He is not the best in the world, but is clearly the best in Australia at present. We have to stop dreaming that Cooper can offer a running option any more - He doesn't. Sad as he was wasted during the conservative Deans era and destined to be great prior to the injury. Agree that Hanigan has had minimal impact, but with bulk may be a good prospect. He certainly tries to get stuck in and my money is that he will be very valuable to us in 2019. Weren't you clamoring for Hooper to be dropped? Can't see that in your posts anymore.

only 11 tackles missed against nz in the last game, 90% success rate

But it’d be nice to see players just step up and defend in their positions rather than hiding (and therefore exposing) them on the flanks Too many players with weak defense hiding. Cheika has sacrificed his defensive line for attack only specialists. In my opinion it would be better to score a try or 2 less per game and prevent 2 to 4 being scored against. The open air Fruit stall at ruck time needs to be resolved, the Poms and Guiness Guzzlers are going to kill us there. The gaping holes in the back line let too may getaway drivers escape the police cordon.

They should call it what it is though - Possibles vs probables. Although in my head it is more like Force vs Spirit, but I am very biassed. I am going to be glued to my screen. I predict it will be a cracking game to watch. The haters (Waxhead for example) are going to miss out on some great Rugby.

I recon the Rebel Force is going to be on the rise(ing) next season. As much as I hate how the team was formed, it looks like a strong side and playing under the next (not soon enough) wallaby coach they have a real chance of beating some NZ and SA sides. I am predicting that the crowds and eyeballs will come back, if only for the fact that they are winning for a change.

There is a vital part of the game that isn't graded here. The breakdown. It was poor all season long - even in the games we won or drew. In the Boks games, we were bossed at the breakdown but still managed to get the draws despite this. The Italy game was an embarrassment - undersized backrowers flying into rucks and bouncing off Italian forwards who couldn't seem to believe themselves just how ineffectual their Australian opponents were. The only game I think we definitely had the better of the breakdown by a clear margin was the win against the ABs in Bledisloe 3, which coincided with Dempsey and McMahon both having their best games of the year. If your scrum isn't a weapon (and despite improvements, no one in their right mind could call the Wallaby scrum a thing opposition teams should fear) and neither is your lineout, then it is non-negotiable that you have to be dominant at the breakdown. There has to be something about your forwards that other teams fear. An area of the game that they worry they could lose possession/give away penalties at any time. Obviously you'd like your forward pack to be strong in all three, but that rarely happens. 2/3 is pretty good - for example the Wallabies in 2003 made the World Cup final with a poor scrum but good lineout and excellent breakdown work. To complete your report card, I'd be interested to see your rating of the Wallabies' breakdown work. I'd give it a C- due to it improving as the season went on, but still far, far short of where it needs to be.

Can't wait to spank aus super teams again next year. Oh wait they beat the abs, they're on the rise again.

It’s funny Tom mention a lack of luck costing a team games when they scored two intercept tries against the run of play, luck could’ve also added another loss or two.

Enjoyed the article Jack, agreed with most of your gratings, especially around your comments on defence. When Nathan Grey was being bagged I suggested a good defence system needs consistency of selection so the trust and confidence can be but between the players. It has only been in the last few games where selections have been consistent, always thought Nathan Grey was unreasonably under pressure when the players were changing all the time. In saying that Cheik obviously felt he needed to chop and change to find the right combination, so it was a bit of a catch 22. As for the last day of school, well that was a few decades ago but I'm looking forward to today's Baa Baas game tremendously, weather looking mighty fine.

Agreed tsuru, people may be too young to remember Jones’ success as a rugby coach. Off course he is much older now, but I expect to see some surprises, given that Jones has had very little time to work on combinations.

I think the criticism of the Barbarians game might be misjudged. Just about every one of the Australians in the match is playing for a place on the EOYT squad. I don't think we'll see too many treating this as a " muck-around fixture." In fact it wouldn't surprise me if it's an atypical Barbarians game, played with much less abandon than usual.

Jack D has gone OS and Cheiks is selecting players with the exact opposite of what you (and I want) in a players. The skills are there, and I expect we will see them in the Baa Baas on Saturday. Reds, Rebs, Force and Brumbies to some extent have been playing the game you want to see.

I refused to believe all those who said Australian rugby lacked talent, depth or heart. With the performances of Genia, Folau, TPN, Coleman, Hodge, Korobeite this TRC, we saw the potential of Australian rugby. Just like we saw Pocock and Fardy in RWC15 showing our potential. But let's look also at what is holding us back. Foley is our designated playmaker and kicker while being minimally competent in both. In order to sandbag Foley's spot, Cheika refuses to have any competition in the squad at all. Just like he held out Arnold, Coleman, Jones, Higgers and Timani from RWC15 in order to sandbag Skelton and Mumm. Remember those guys? Now he's protecting Hanigan and Dempsey. What can those guys do that Jones, Higgers and Timani can't? This selection bias undermines the Wallabies. How many tests have Skelton and Hanigan chewed up and for what benefit? To be fair, Dempsey has gotten better with each game and looks a fair prospect. But why didn't Jones get the same indulgence? And Foley! Canpese had lousy defence but was brilliant in attack. Foley is just as lousy but is he brilliant at anything? Even on his best day, was he ever brilliant at anything?

Interesting read As important as the EOYT is for consolidating and building the fundamentals of rugby for the touring group, so is what is going to happen in preparation for next year's Superugby teams, between now and February 2018! My concern is that the Coaching Panel is a year or two too late to drill down the fundamentals of rugby across the AUS rugby landscape, if we want some fruit in the 2019 RWC. So my hope is that we will see improvements across the board (all 4 Super rugby teams) throughout next year and especially against the NZ teams. My fundamentals for all: 1) FITNESS 2) DEFENSE 3) TACTICAL KICKING 4) SET PIECES 5) HARD YAKKA If we don't improve across all teams on these 5 aspects, we will forever be trying to catch up. New Zealand build their whole game on these 5 fundamentals, all their teams and players, all of the time. I still think Jack Debrecs has loads of potential for an international 10..if he can just be mentored for the next year or so.

No its just a permanent state of mind