Spot on. The guy had a cracking game and I just love watching him play. He and Sam Whitelock are the premier locks in world rugby today and their duel in this year’s RC (not to mention the years to come) will be absolutely fascinating.

*shrug* Each to their own. I’m an ABs fan but I thought the Wallabies were competitive in the first half . Second half the ABs just went up a gear and I think the ratings reflect that. Just my opinion though 🙂

Thank you.

Luatua is a blindside mate no doubt about that. He ha had an outtanding super season in the 6 jersey for the Blues and provides lock cover as a value addition rather than his primary role.

I’m not sure about that tight five Jiggles. They were only on top for the first few scrums and you could see how awkward the ABs were. However, once they got their timing and rhythm right, they started to exert some serious pressure on the Wallaby scrum which was ultimately rewarded with the 3rd Ben Smith try. The Wallabies were cleaned up at the breakdown and that can be directly attributed to the tight five. Simmons had a good game but I’d still have Douglas in for his breakdown work and mongrel. His attributs far outweigh the 1 or 2 lineout steals that Simmons gives you.

I agree with you regarding JOC, bring Cummins in I say. Other than that, my feeling is the rest will be retained.

Tane 2 for pointing that out 😀

I have 7-7-6 vs 6-7-6 and if I’m being honest (I am an ABs fan :)) I do think that is a fair reflection of the game. I think the Wallaby front caught on quicker to the new scrum laws. They were slightly better around the park but not as effective at the breakdown. The ABs won that ball when both sides had replaced everyone in the frontrow other than Moore. AB scrum dominance only came after the front row replacements came on so I am comfortable with the ratings after 1 viewing.

I agree with you about Savea but not enough to give him a 7 mate. 7 is a good performance for me and he was solid rather than being good.

I agree with your point about Cruden as well but for me McCaw was the best on field. For pure inspiration and the confidence he gives his teammates, he definitely gets over Cruden who had a superb game.

Thanks eaglejack, I did try to be objective as possible and I’d need to have a look at the game again to see where I’ve got it wrong (as I undoubtedly have!).

Regarding Mogg’s kicking I’d question the gameplan rather than his kicking per se. The Wallabies had clear dominance there and yet they looked to keep the ball in play which was a serious mistake for me. If Mogg’s instructions were to just kick it downfield, then he did alright with the boot I think. The rest I agree with it completely.

Hooper, for me, did not do enough as a support runner. I do not recall him ever taking a ball off somebody’s shoulder and as a openside that is a core duty. For that reason alone I had only given him an 8.

Apparently Messam has damaged his hamstring badly enough to be out for a few weeks. Luatua looks like he’ll have the time to put in a serious claim for that no.6 jersey!

I dunno bluerose, I’d stick with Toomua and Mogg for now because their performances weren’t all that bad. They will have learnt plenty from this game and McKenzie will give them another I reckon. MMM and JOC on the other hand will have an anxious week.

The All Blacks have genuine options at blindside flank now. Messam and Vito have had serious time there, Luatua put in an impressive shift there last night, Brad Shields has great potential and Kaino is rumored to come back next year. No need for McCaw to go anywhere.

My apologies about the article fellas and whilst I didn’t really want to point fingers it seems I must. This article was centred around the SA and Argentina teams selected which has been completely edited out for what reason I do not know. I did not see a single other article naming the teams for that clash and thinking that a serious omission I did a quick article. The other point is that the SA team list had Juandre Kruger in it and I proceeded to use the family name in the article body. Due to the deletion of the team lists, the editor clearly had to include the given names but made a mistake by going with Werner Kruger.

Without the team lists the article is rather poor and my apologies for that and it would be nice to hear from The Roar editors as to why they omitted the team lists.

What a pointless comment.

Optimistic about the team mate, not the result! Having a team that invokes pride and optimism is all any of us can ask for. Winning is a luxury.

Timani never convinced me either but Douglas has. He’s done plenty of hard work in the rucks and has plenty of mongrel which is what is required. His ball carrying needs improvement granted but he is young and has only played 9 tests. The point being he will improve.

As you say, Deans had some questionable selections and his game plan was not great. What made it worse for me is he could not get all the players working off the same page which meant he was never going to achieve the results everyone wanted consistently.

Against the ABs, you need all the mongrel you can get in the tight five. Right now its just Horwill and MM at blindside. Douglas would’ve been a very nice addition I reckon.

Keep calm and Steve Hansen 😀

The only age-related issues we have I reckon are at hooker, openside and centre. The rest of the team is more than young enough to crack on even after the 2015 WC.

At hooker we’ve got Coles coming along and could probably use Elliot if we needed to. Cane has yet to impress me but the tools are there so I do hope he kicks on. If he doesn’t we still have genuine options in Latimer, Todd and even Luke Braid. Coupla years down the line Ardie Savea could potentially blow everyone outta the water. Centre is a biggest issue for me and no one has really pressed Smith for his spot. Piutau, Ben Smith, and Crotty are all better in other positions and that is where they should remain.

Loving your optimism PeterK! Agree that the Wallabies look better balanced and picked in their positions. Hate it when players are shifted around and then criticized when things go pear shaped.

I don’t get the points regarding Deans though. Every team needs an enforcer or three like Thorn, MMM, Bakkies etc. These are the guys who do the hard yakka, hit the rucks and make big tackles. Hooper and Palu had to work harder because the tight five were beaten, not because the mix was wrong. The five who lost the test against the Lions are all here too so where does that leave Mackenzie and his selections?

Make no mistake, I agree with all the selections he has made with the exception of Simmons who still looks clueless at international level despite all his caps. Douglas would have been a much better pick, IMHO, and his mongrel will be missed. Having said that, this is a safety first team. Toomua and AAC have been picked because the midfield needs some starch. The game plan will be to kick for touch and use the lineout as you’ve said. I can see the back three getting heavily involved and I reckon we’ll see a lot of attacking plays with them hitting the line off CLL’s shoulder. None of this, including the bench, will matter much if the tight five get beaten however.

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‘Suspect Cooper’ lmao 😀

My guess is he was worried about the defence in the 10-12 channel. He can’t really switch Cooper with Mogg because Mogg isn’t really that much better. With a Cooper-Leali’ifano channel, quick front foot ball off 1st phase ball is almost guaranteed.

Mate I’m an ABs fan through and through so I’ve got no worries at all! :D. My apologies if I’m being too critical but I did try to be as fair as I could by viewing the team as it were my own.

It isn’t really Hooper or Mowen’s primary task to do the dirty work. That should be the tight five and Slipper, Alexander and Simmons do not have a history of cleaning out the rucks with a great deal of authority. Certainly not to the extent that Woodcock, Franks and Romano (their counterparts) have. Ewen can say what he likes, but IMHO attitude is a very personal characteristic. You can receive all the motivation in the world but unless you turn that switch on yourself, nothing’s going to come of it. I would honestly love to see them maintain the ferocity they are bound to start with after 20 minutes and the ABs matching their intensity, that’ll be the truest test.

All new caps do of course. The point is however you do not know whether they will adjust immediately or will take some time. Any hesitancy and the ABs will be all over the guy.

I agree that the bench is good but I used ‘relatively weak’ because I’m comparing it to the ABs bench. Just looking at their performances this year and leaving aside test experience, there is more to come from the ABs bench than the Wallabies one.

Btw I’m not trying to bring you fellas down. Just trying to analyse the team as objectively as I can from my perspective :D. I personally think it’s going to be a cracker and I cannot wait!

Pros:
1/ Fairly experienced side, especially in the tight five.
2/ Four genuine lineout options
3/ Good kickers, tactical and tee
4/ Genuine pace out wide
5/ Toomua at 10 means the 10-12 channel is better defended
6/ Will Genia
7/ The new caps will bust a nut to show what they’re made of. Unlikely all of them will be on the field at the same time though.

Cons:
1/ Unlikely to outscrum the All Blacks
2/ Relative lack of hard, aggreassive forwards – just Horwill and MMM.
3/ Most of the tight five have yet to show, on a consistent basis, proper technique and willingness to hit every ruck with venom
4/ The new caps will find out the difference between Super rugby and test rugby.
5/ Relatively weak bench

Correct me if I’m wrong Brett, but it seems like you’ve selected the side that you reckon Ewen will go with rather than what you would pick for the game?

A major issue I foresee with this team is the 10-12 channel. The ABs are going to run their big boys (and they have plenty in Read, Romano, Luatua and McCaw not to mention Nonu ) down there all day and it’s going to take something special to prevent them getting plenty of front foot 1st phase ball. Switching Cooper will not work as well because Mogg is inexperienced and to be honest not a whole lot better. He will also have had at best 12 days of practicing in the front line and with a total of 4 caps between him and Leali’ifano that option does not inspire defensive confidence. Having said that, I would pick Cooper too, just because he offers more in attack and is worth a go right now. It’s a tough decision though and I reckon this is why Toomua seems to have the inside lane.

Also true. A wee bit harsh to say that Robinson, Palu and AAC were failures though mate. They’ve all added to rather than brought down Wallaby performances I reckon. Not to the extent that you would like but certainly not failures. We”l just have to wait and see I guess 😀

Oh ok, my mistake. I’ve personally never been a fan of props switching around. You never hear of the Woodcocks and Mas’ of the world switching from one side to the other. Aussie props should be encouraged to stick to and specialize in their chosen side. Hopefully then we’d see some improvement.

Yeah but he has 40 odd caps vs Douglas’ 9.