For the most part, the Wallabies have plenty of future talent, but why weren’t some players blooded earlier?
There were plenty of injuries in The Rugby Championship and these players could’ve been blooded on home soil.
There are some extreme talents in this team, there is no doubt about it, the combinations are mostly non-existent.
I certainly like the back line, but the Azzuri can counter defensive lapses and may well overcome these untried patterns.
Having said that, perhaps coach Dave Rennie is looking for more of an instinctive playing group. If he can uncover a few gems and fill them with confidence, who knows?
Rennie obviously has Quade Cooper at 10 and Samu Kerevi at 12 for the World Cup, with others playing for back-ups in those two roles. But Len Ikitau, who is coming up as a key player, has held his position, purely on results and building combinations around him in case injuries befall the Cooper/Kerevi combination.
It’s inspired to have Nick Frost and Will Skelton in the locks. If they combine, this could be awesome, but it’s a big if.
Skelton plays out of his skin for his European clubs and did the same for the Waratahs in 2014, however, his impact for the Wallabies has been pedestrian, with the exception of last week off the bench.
He can and will dominate if he gets his mind right.
Throw in Frost finding his feet, who could be awesome in 12 months.
In the back row, Pete Samu has to start as he’s all class. When he’s on, Ned Hanigan is great, but he misses crucial tackles. Fraser McReight should be the starting No.7.
Michael Hooper has been awesome, but needs to show commitment for 80 minutes, even when the chips are down.
McReight sometimes goes off script when down by three. He can’t seem to find a way back. He has the ability, but being on the scoreboard seems to fluster him.
The back three are solid, but clearly looking for x-factor. I actually like it, but to throw these guys in with no combinations in Italy is a huge risk.
Mark Nawaqanitawase is a special athlete. This guy could be everything, but he will want to show up, as will Tom Wright and Jock Campbell.
This Wallabies vs Italy match is filled with both optimism and fear. Adventurous selections are fraught with danger.
Rennie has thrown his youngsters to the wolves and it could make or break him.
If they win flamboyantly, lose disgracefully or just win, he has to take note. It’s strange to leave it till ten months before a World Cup, but maybe it’s a masterstroke.
SDRedsFan
Roar Rookie
Riggers you are a prophet.
Jimbo81
Roar Rookie
Wright makes 9-10 very bad errors every test - not just the one tackle that cost us the game last week against France. His pace has been of benefit once because Campbell set him up. I am yet to see him do anything else positive. He is picked because of multiple leg injuries and the McKeller Brumbies tax. That's it. He would be ranked 8th or 9th best winger in Super Rugby AU which is pretty interesting when there's five teams.
Ozrugbynut
Roar Rookie
It will be the lack of combinations that makes this a tricky proposition. DR has definitely thrown down a challenge to these guys. Will be fascinating to see how they respond and seek to build a win, and in particular start. Would love to see elements of the composed kicking and territory game from last week in action again, just to validation there is a style we are looking to play 10 months out from the RWC.
Khun Phil
Roar Rookie
Jimbo,that's why you are not the coach or selector.What winger do we have who has the pace to match what Wright did in the match last week?Pace is one area we have really been lacking in.Okay,he had a bad missed tackle at the end,but so did Campbell and you still have him in your team.A class finisher like the French winger can make people look bad,so I would forgive both of them for that one.
Bobby
Roar Rookie
Other than that Jimbo, you're pretty happy with the team. :happy:
Bobby
Roar Rookie
Must be a new definition of "Awesome" out there. :happy:
JC
Roar Rookie
Michael Hooper has been awesome, but needs to show commitment for 80 minutes, even when the chips are down. :laughing:
Atlas
Roar Rookie
Eleven changes for the Wallabies, and Italy coach Kieran Crowley announced three changes from the 23 who beat Samoa 49-18 last week. Loose forward Sebastian Negri and fullback Ange Capuozzo both return from injury, and Niccolo Cannone replaces David Sisi in the second row. Italy: 15 Ange Capuozzo; 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Monty Ioane; 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney; 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Sebastian Negri; 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone; 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Danilo Fischetti Replacements: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 David Sisi, 20 Toa Halafihi, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Tommaso Menoncello Date: Saturday, November 12 Venue: Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT; 00.00 AEDT Sunday, November 13) Referee: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand) Assistant Referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland) & Adam Leal (Ireland) TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa) Monty Ioane - Digby's nephew - scored twice v Samoa, in his 16th international faces the Wallabies for the first time.
Jimbo81
Roar Rookie
There are players in this week's team that I would never ever ever pick again: Wright, Skelton, Hanigan, Gordon, Faingaa, Lolesio, Paisami, Swain. Italy would be reading this team sheet and thinking, "We really have a strong chance here." Australia have sent us the least experienced B team fielded since the game went professional coached by a lame-duck coach with the lowest win rate of the professional era, backed up by a partisan Brumbies coach with a chip on his shoulder and a selection bias that makes Cheika's teams look like meritocracy. Watch FMR and Samu work their backsides off covering from anonymous Hanigan. What does Wright have to do to be dropped? Have we suffered so many leg injuries in training that Wright is our best bet to cover from the absent Korobeite?
Tools
Guest
Hahahahaha
Cheika_Mate
Roar Rookie
Mate if I was the Italian coach I would be sending a heap of traffic down Tom Wrights wing. Fingers crossed both he and Jock get low this time, turnstiles last week. Lets see if lessons have been learned.
Tooly
Roar Rookie
We have a number of poor defenders . McReight isn’t one of them . The list : Hodge , Hooper , Foley , Nawaqua , Campbell , Hanigan and Gordon .
Riggers
Roar Rookie
Hi Short Arm, Nothing major with McReight, just a few defensive lapses in some of his games when the chips are down. I think it’s an easy fix and is a maturity thing. He’s a great player
Nobody
Roar Rookie
I'd rather the wallabies lose and learn from it than scraping a win and glossing over the mistakes! Hopefully this game we can focus on discipline and game management, and I'm looking forward to see some new players have a go! (can't wait to see Campbell vs Cappuozzo)
Short Arm
Roar Rookie
Thanks Riggers, will be interesting to see how the young guys go against an improving Azzurri side. What do you mean by McReight getting flustered, could you expand on this please? Looking forward to see how Monty Ioane goes, pity whoever is marking him, he's a real dangerous player. He was the one player from the AB 's test last year that stood out in a flogged team, so much so that he should've got MOM.
Noodles
Roar Rookie
The good thing is that there aren’t really any surprises. The spine of the team has ample experience. There are quite a few players who can play their way into the RWC squad. Guys like slipper have played a lot of minutes. I’d be expecting a good showing against a solid Italian side.