Well. Drua last week and Reds this week. Absolutely nuts getting two send offs and cost the team.

PANIC!…. Sadly the list just emphasizes the massive black hole Aussie Rugby is in. There is nothing physically imposing, clever, or low error about the guys on list and these are the three qualities needed to win test matches now. We are in serious trouble just to avoid beltngs, never mind dreaming of meaningful wins.

More like Peking duck than Mighty Duck. Jones is cooked crispy, and rightfully so. He has failed.

I had to print out this article…. so I could tear it up and toss it in the bin. Eddie Jones is a charlatan snake oil salesman who has been found out. The sooner he is out, the better.

Surely Eddie Jones has to go. Hamish as well. This is has been shambolic humiliation of a proud nation. Wouldn’t Eddie have had a performance clause in his contract i.e having to AT LEAST make the quarters here?

SENSIBLE. Not many people thinks fans are sensible, especially here, but clearly they are. The difference between Eddie and Rennie is CLARITY. Selections are logical based on form and ability, the game plans are clearer to see even though not everything is working yet but fans know there is value in trying and discarding some ideas early, Improvement is apparent in areas from the previous game, showing that coaching is being given and received and that the coaches are watching the same game that fans are. In other words is MAKING SENSE. Contrast with Rennie. I liked Rennie and like many others I felt the team was improving also and “getting there”. The trouble is that even though we could see improvement fans could not follow or understand selections and could not follow the intention of the game plan. There was an air of mystery about it all, even though you still felt it was about to click into place. Ultimately I think Rennie fell because no-one understood his plan quite enough to back it in a board room even though it was starting to gel. Fans are backing Eddie’s selection and are clearly seeing things they like even if the problems you identify are still real. We will not be going nuts or calling for his head while this continues. Go Wallabies!!!!

I do not think what we saw is the Wallabies’ plan at all. I think Eddie is planning one of the greatest “rope-a-dopes” ever seen. The sheer folly of announcing that you intend to kick and play a power game months before the first games and then doing exactly that against the best pack and re-gatherers of the ball in the world when you do not have the players is so gross as to be deliberate. I think Cooper was put in cotton wool intentionally by the game plan even though he was on the park (Why risk exposing him underdone by having him take it to the line against the Bokke loosies rush at this stage?) I fully expect a running game to be deployed in Bledisloe 1 with some of the trick kick variations White tried as surprise options when space avails.

It was a very definite possibility given the debutants, change in plan, new coaches and the conditions. The other option was to rush back everyone into the starting lineup undercooked, go all out with the possession running game that has usually unlocked the Bokke, risk multiple injuries in an attempt to win the “Rugby Championship” when we all know the Bledisloe and RWC are where it is at. Sorry, but if there was a game that didn’t matter in 2023, it was this one. Forget the “beating bokke in Pretoria” media drivel, there was little to be gained in the game except coming out unscathed and finding out if Vunivalu and others are up to snuff.

Wild thought 1! Is Eddie really silly/generous enough to plan a “smash and grab raid” by telling everyone months in advance that he is going to kick the leather off it, and then doing exactly that in the lead up and in the RWC???? Wild thought 2! Did it look a tiny bit like the intention was for White to shield Cooper from the physical onslaught? If my thinking is correct, this week we may see short bursts of the real plan and some experimental stuff thrown in before he tries to catch the All Blacks napping.

This way leads to madness. Wallabies had no clue whatsoever. It was not the venue. They did not look like they will ever be able to play that gameplan and they did not look like they want to play it. Jones is trying to change the rugby DNA of almost all his players in a month. They have never played in box kicking, low possession style teams before, it is not Australian and they were hopeless at it.

The gameplan WILL NOT WORK!!!! Eddie needs to approach the Wallabies as he did Japan. A smaller mobile team and structure around that. If he persists with the dream that he has world class kickers and a “bully boy” pack at his disposal, he will damage Wallaby rugby for the next 5 years. He has to resort to pace and guile as primary options and not kicking or muscle that just isn’t there and won’t be there any time in the foreseeable future. He can coach the necessary style, he just needs to get over his stubborn streak and eat humble pie NOW.

The kicking game will not work. Jones must bin it and implement whatever plan he used with Japan. We are the “smaller” team. Pace and guile must be the order of the day. He does not have an England or Bok pack and will never have it in Australia, the sooner he faces the fact the sooner we will see improvement.

Cooper for mine is now a complete flyhalf and has balance between a tactical kicking, passing, and running game (who knows what could have been if not for the ACL). He is first choice by a million miles. Foley is overly criticized. To me he has only one real weakness. His kicking game has no distance. Unfortunately that weakness is death in rugby at the moment because you are forced to play/run from 15-20m too deep every time (Cheika’s system spring to mind for anyone yet?) The result is inconsistency. Sometimes Foley’s running and passing were enough to get us over but a lot of times defences were up to it. Enter….. Reece Hodge….. His huge boot means he can start to play from further up the field than Foley has to all the time, that takes pressure off the team. He keeps it simple and direct at 10 resulting in less dropped ball and more pressure on opposition. Even if he is not “as good” a flyhalf as Foley, he quickly gets the whole team in better areas with his boot. Wallabies have looked/done better with Hodge on the field. saying anything else is nonsense. His long range last minute near misses came because we were well in the game with him on the park to carve off territory. Does he have to play 10? No. If you really want Foley then Hodge can play 15, he is safest we have under high ball. Cooper is first choice. Foley at 10 without someone else to kick long is death. Hodge is in and then Carter Gordon.

As a non-Aussie Wallabies fan…….. Let all the Super sides be knocked out this weekend so that Eddie can start on the Wallabies. This is the way.

At a wild guess, i’d wager Hodge’s winning percentage is higher than most currently as a Wallaby starter.

If Kerevi is not available then, on current and past form, it has to be Foketi/Hodge in the 12. Foketi was brilliant last time out and showed he is capable. Hodge well… he is Hodge, has played well for Wallabies from 10-15 and brings length to the kicking game that can gain valuable territory. Always a channce for a clean break with either of these two. Paisami just not on par with these two really.

It is telling that Rennie knocked White and Hodge for the kicking woes without touching at all on Lolesio who really should have steered the team. I think Noah is just not ready yet. Rennie must see this and i will expect change in that direction. Hodge at this point would be a better 10 for the TEAM. Noah is good but just lacking the assurance to grab a game by the scruff and impose himself.

Lolesio is not the answer RIGHT NOW at 10. Get Foley in there! Deep down we all know this. Rennie and the coaches know it.

Is Nienaber waiting for “rugby DNA” or “luck of the bounce”? Seems the much vaunted DNA is simply a variation of “hit and hope”. Nienaber has disgraced himself.

Yes, because Australian teams are performing SO well in Super Rugby under the Gitea Law 😂

“Off with their heads!” 😂

The Wallabies already showed them how this game should be played. The great crime of the Boks was not their style of play, it was that they were dishonest. They were dishonest in proclaiming their version of the game to be anywhere near the one the Wallabies played in the past two weeks. They should simply have kept quiet and enjoyed the world cup and lions victories for what they were, happy in the knowledge that they had snuck a couple with their crude approach. Once they began the “entertainment doesn’t matter” nonsense they sought to rise above their station and to make more of their victories than they really were. They sought to challenge the belief system of Australia and New Zealand. The Wallabies put an end to that smartly. Seeing NZ fans cheer as Marika went over said it all. Seeing Bok fans try to brush off the 2 huge losses and pretend the 100th is what counts is pathetic. They were schooled in stepping and running rugby. They railed disrespectfully against the referees, a desperate gamble to win the lions series by forcing them to reward a defensive side. The cost of that victory is evident now as refs seek to reward positive play. The Boks stirred the hornet’s nest and it only gets worse from here. Their selection reeks of a team bereft of creativity or options. There will be no taking NZ by surprise or catching them on an off day.

Fearless prediction? Kerevi and Ikitau are about to tear the All blacks a new orifice! Something about both their styles just gives me the feeling that this is a partnership that may gel big on attack. Let’s GO!

I am excited to see Kerevi and Ikitau get going together, I have a sneaky suspicion the wallabies midfield may just have struck gold. Big, fast moving, bodies that can offload AND pass ;)!

SHOCK! South Africa and New Zealand do WHATEVER it takes for the Boks and All Blacks to win. And they win. New Zealand makes sure its best play in New Zealand. South Africa failed to keep its best in SA and picks its best wherever they are. It is working. CLEARLY the SA way is the way to go. Australia on the other other hand appears to be brain-dead. It keeps coming up with reasons and excuses why not to pick its best. It speaks of maintaining some non-existent “super rugby standard” as if it has not been receiving a yearly belting anyway. Of course NZ and their fans are happy to give all sorts of “advice” on why scrapping the Giteau Law is SUCH a bad idea since all they want to do is to help the Wallabies and Australia be the best they can be by NOT selecting their best active players for the Bledisloe each year. Aussies need to wake up and divert all power to the main reactor (Wallabies) It is becoming a serious farce. Talking about grassroots rugby “blah blah” while the Wallabies humiliate the sport and the nation weekly is madness in the extreme. Open the floodgates and let’s go all out. What ever happened to chancing your arm?