Cheika names unchanged side to play Ireland

And yet we have a flyhalf who cannot kick tactically and often struggles to pass long. A fullback who is lazy in cover tackles and shows little ability to recognise when to kick. A winger who I have never seen take a high ball nor kick, and who missed 5 tackles. An inside centre who is a poor defender. Very few of our players are in any way 'complete', but Kerevi is one of the best midfield attacking threats in the entire world. No surprise whatsoever that Cheika keeps him. Whether a break leads to points is neither here nor there. The player cannot be blamed for what happens after they miss a tackle. Kerevi defended extremely well all match and kept their attack very quiet when they had a few good opportunities. Here is some good analysis of some of his play: http://www.the42.ie/analysis-wallabies-brilliance-brisbane-4063025-Jun2018/

Oh yeah, the ‘World Series Rugby’. What a ‘spectacle’ that game was.

Unlike France with a third string team.

But 1 of Kerevi’s 2 missed tackles in the 24th minute led to a break out and 3 points subsequently being scored. Pocock was purportedly responsible for the other 6 points. The difference between great and ordinary isn’t that Pocock made 16 tackles and still scored try in right traffics 4 m from the line in the 72 nd minute—something Kerevi could not do in the 56 th minute in less trying circumstances. Yet everyone raves of his hands and running ability. ‘Twas, all he had to do was catch and run, but failed... It’s a joke that he remains in the team while he is still sorting out so many basic flaws...Haniganess

Is Alaalatoa still injured?

Most importantly, you can teach a weaker defender to defend better. You can also plan around their flaws. You can't just make a player a good attacker.

Boomeranga, I like Phillip's work but I don't see him at 6. Not enough Mongrel. He is doing just fine at 4/5 Gus Cotterell is the Guy you want there. Former Force, playing at the Rebels, Chieka has probably never seen him play. Ross H-P is another option.

Lighten up, James.

Still extremely concerned about his scrummaging. And I don't think he should get a whole heap of credit for the scrum the Wallabies won against the feed because that was mainly down to Tupou destroying them. But... On his performance last week he has earned his spot. Even though I would have picked Alaalatoa as backup LHP this week picking Robertson was a defensible decision by Cheika, and I hope Robertson performs as well this week. I feel like the match may again come down to the performances by the bench.

Want me to set the universe back in equilibrium?

I don't think his defence is perfect (he is nowhere near TK on that front). But he defended pretty well there last week and is by far our most potent attacking centre. The more Cheika plays the current back-line the more they will learn to defend together and improve... Hopefully...

I saw Kerevi out of position a few times, but frankly I'd rather we be working with him now against Ireland, a team less likely to exploit these mistakes, than repeat Bledisloe 1 last year. I still have my doubts, you simply don't beat NZ unless you can hold them out, no matter what your attacking threats. But I don't mind that we're doing it. He's a potential long term Wallaby and leader, who I expect will end up playing most of his career at 12. Hopefully the line out will do better. That is the best platform for our backs.

Only made 8 tackles? That's not exactly low for a midfielder. In fact the bloke next to him only made 8 tackles and missed 2... And the highest tackle count for a midfielder was 9...

These opinions are very Foley like...interesting. The same player in the same match is both excellent and shocking at the same time. Only in Oz??

Ireland won the one I watched!?

It's a good point DV. I do hope we've been practising the short lineout and the cheeky ones to #1 because lineouts in the wet are worth twice as in the dry and there will be twice as many of them. Personally I would have selected Simmonds at 6. (Saying that it still requires BPA to hit his throws and Coleman/Simmonds to call smart) Schmidt has made it clear the lineout will be his point of attack - he has very few other options - let's see if our boys can handle it. In the wet I think we should have shown respect and countered it with Simmonds, but happy to be proven wrong.

No, I absolutely do not think he almost cost us the game. I think he was a crucial cog in us winning it. If he had played like his opposite number, Henshaw, then we may easily have lost it.

Thanks, Nic. Yeah, Toner has seemed to have picked up pace in the past 12-18 months. And I have heard good things about Dan Leavy. Should be a great contest.

Putting all the other badness I noted to one side, we both agree 1) his misread in the 24th, led to 3 points to the Irish, 2) his hands like a fish moment 4 m from the line in the 56th minute, cost AU 7 points and 3) he only made 8 tackles in the whole game and missed 2. In short, we agree that he cost us 10 points, and nearly cost us the game, right?

Ah ok, so November ‘14 and ‘16. I was wondering about your comments.