Rennie and Dan coached a Wallabies team which is basically as you suggest, Brumbies with a few extra players. They couldn’t win test matches. They could get close but couldn’t win. No one was happy with how it was going, except for Brumbies fans.

Cheika and Rennie created this issue that finished the Wallabies as a top tier team. Both coaches selected players who proved over and over again, that they just weren’t good enough. I have made the comment several times before: When a player plays poorly in successive matches, and continues to get selected, the player is getting reinforcement that what they are delivering is Wallaby quality rugby. They then fail to work on their game. When the playing group sees that players who don’t perform keep getting selected, the expectation of quality is diminished in everyone. We are now 9 years into a period of diminishing expectation of Wallaby performance by the very players, coaches and staff who pull on the Wallaby colours.

Eddie picked his team with the weight of numbers tipping in favour of new, younger players who don’t carry that baggage of diminished expectation. The test match against Fiji un-balanced that weighting when Slipper and White started due to injury, instead of Tupou/Pone and Tate.

There is no doubt that the older players who have earned most of their caps over the past 9 years are simply not good enough. I don’t think it is terminal for Australian rugby though, as a new culture and expectation of performance can be created in a new youthful Wallaby team. That won’t happen at this WC. It will happen in the next test match season as Jones continues to clean out the losers.

Maybe the Quade info is planted to flush out the leak.

His experience of losing more tests than he has won? I think Hooper’s experience is not what we want passed on to the current and future Wallabies.

Probably best to wait until the culture is a winning one. The current/past culture is a losing one. As the old ‘losers’ are squeezed out by young hungry players the culture will change and will be worth exposing the teens to.

Ikitau has made very bad decisions in both his test matches this season. I would have dropped him for those poor decisions if he hadn’t been injured.

I would like to see White not get any more stamps in his passport. He is the number one fail for the Wallabies. We have no chance with White on the field.

I don’t think he got beaten once today.

Agree Aiden. I don’t recall the TMO being called into the game either.

mrl, what nonsense. The forward subs and Nic White lost us the game. The forwards were owned as soon as they came on. We were leading at that point.

No way should Scott Sio ever be brought back. Far out Harry. How could you even suggest such a thing. Sio hasn’t been good for 5 years and even then he was only servicable. Fassler is the future. BPA is the past.

Once again the Australian commentary on the game looks to the back for the loss rather than the forwards who were completely picked apart the moment the subs came on. I have always been a strong supporter of Slipper but he is part of the losing mentality that has dogged the wallabies for the last 5+ years. Taking McReight off for Leota was a big mistake. Leota may be big but he is not good. If you had to bring him on you had to take Hooper off. Hooper was good though and I would have kept the loosies on for the whole game. This should be a settled starting loose forward combination from now on.

Nic White has been shown up for his part in the losses over the past seasons. He has never been any good and the contrast between McDermott and White couldn’t have been more stark. White needs to be dropped out of the team. I am not sure there is a more predictable player in world rugby than Nic White.

I would not change the starting backline at all. This is our best backline without a doubt.

Farmasili and Bell were excellent. As was Fassler when he came on.

The big difference for the Wallabies was the change in the guard. The new hungry young players out number the old journey men that only have losing in their history.

I just hope that Eddie persists with the young hungry guys and leaves the likes of Michael Hooper, Slipper, White etc out of the squad. These guys have had their time, they constantly failed, never improved and it is time to move on.

Oh, and Petaia is a way better 13 than Ikitau.

There is only one DMac but Jock offers a lot as a specialist FB. A lot more than Tom Wright.

But we can tell Tom Wright is just not good enough. And that is not his potential as 15 at international level, that is the actual result. I disagree that you can tell Jock is not good enough. I rate him as the best 15 in Australian SR. But we don’t know if Jock is good enough because he has never been given a decent shot. Sticking with the same old failed players over and over again creates performances that we saw on the weekend.

The first step too turning things around is accountability. For years, players who don’t perform continue to be selected leaving players who are hungry for a shot sitting on the sideliness and eventually seeking action overseas. When you underperform and continue to get selected, the selection in its self reenforces that what you are doing is good enough. We have a whole era and more of Wallabies who have never developed beyond their initial skill level.

We often remark how players go overseas and get better. They go overseas because they weren’t getting selected. Perhaps they had the best potential and were always going to get better. But for what ever reason, and I know certain supporters form certain teams don’t like to admit that your SR club determines opportunity in Australian Rugby, they just never get a shot or a fair shot. Take Harry Wilson for example. Plays at 8. Always at 8. Gets half a game at 6 and is deemed not good enough. But Ned Hanigan and Tom Robinson got dozens of tests yet never performed and still get dragged back in for another shot. Jock Cambell, Australia’s only genuine 15, never gets a genuine shot because someone thinks he is too small yet DMac is big enough for the AB’s who are vastly more successful. Tom Wright who almost no one thinks should have been named and is not a FB continues to get selected at FB.

There is no accountability of some players in the Wallabies and this over several years has dumbed us down to where we are now.

100% Dusty10. You have to have the team for low possession rugby. We do not. We don’t actually select the right team for high possession rugby either.

Lolesio’s Wallaby career is over. At best he might get a bench spot but even that is a long shot. He had way more opportunity than he ever deserved and this was mainly because there were no other options.

Yes Bob. A team full of Brumbies just got ripped apart. Entitled players are not hungry. There is at least a full second team of players from other franchises that are hungry to wear gold. If this team was deemed our best, which I strongly disagree with, then try players who are hungry.

John, Ikitau was the worst back by far. That is saying something when you have Tom Wright and Suli on the field. The 2 times we had attacking ball Ikitau kicked the ball away. The second time he kicked it out on the full. Both times the Boks scored tries in the following phases. I would drop him to the bench at best and out of the squad potentially. You can not reward such bad play.

This is just not true. Hooper has been talked up for a decade but has consistently not delivered.

That would probably be the worst game plan that any Wallabies team has had since Michael Cheika coached teams. Springboks played rugby from the first minute and the Wallabies kicked the ball away. Eddie needs to smarten up because that game plan works for no one but France.

The couple of times we were on attack, Ikitau hopelessly kicked the ball away. The first time resulted in Springboks first try and the second time resulted in another. There is no way he should be rewarded next week with selection.

AAA was so comprehensively beaten in every aspect of the game there is no way he can be selected again. However, he was not alone as Valetini and the rest of the pack were so ineffective it was almost comical. Slipper should be the only survivor from the pack. Who ever thought Tom Hooper was ready and Michael Hooper is still capable have not been watching.

Tom Wright proved what everyone knew accept the selectors, that he is not a test match quality player. Please don’t select him again. Suli also has zero to offer.

Nick White once again, never read the game. He never gave the Wallabies any chance of going forward. His game is so predictable he puts everyone else under pressure.

Cooper never got any ball but also never took charge. I don’t think any 10 stands a chance with White at 9. This game was by no means Cooper’s fault but I would expect him, with his experience to read what is happening and change course. The captains should also have been able to read the game and change course but Hooper has never been a good captain who can read a game and Slipper was too busy trying to cover for the rest of the useless forward pack. When Carter came on it showed what a 10 who is hungry to impose himself on the game can do.

Personally, I would bench the whole team. I know this sounds drastic but that performance was so bad it is warranted. The only survivors from the starting team would be: Slipper and Korobiti. Carter Gordon to start with Cooper on the bench. Tate to start with White out of the team. A whole bunch of players out of the squad: Wright, both Hoopers, AAA, Ulese, Suli. Until the Wallabies start making players accountable for their performance there will be no hunger and no development. A lot of players play like they are entitled to Wallaby jersey’s. This has been the case for years. The only way to fix this is to take it away. There are a lot of players who are so hungry due to feeling like they deserve a spot but constantly get overlooked for players who continue to not deliver.

It is hard to say that Noah led any team, anytime. That is his problem, he is totally passive as a 10 and is rarely seen. It is also hard to say that Noah touches the ball more than almost any other player. He was always absent and never wanted the ball. Another reason he is not in the team.

He may as well go to France and see if he can develop his game as he has not improved at all over the past 2-3 seasons. Problem is when he gets back, he will find that Carter Gordon has seized the opportunity and will continue to get better and better.

I think McReight needs to prove himself in the Test matches in the lead up to the RWC and then at the RWC before he becomes a captain option post RWC. There are a lot of ifs for sure, but if he does secure his spot, I see leadership in him.

Harry Wilson in attack is a platform player. By that I mean, he is a 1st phase player who lays a platform for fast 2nd phase ball. Valetini is a different player who makes metres post contact but doesn’t produce fast 2nd phase ball. Gleesan is the same. So it comes down to what style of play you want. Multiple phase possession style of game or short duration possession where you attack or give the ball up. Both styles have their merits but you need to consider the broader squad. Do we have players who can play free flow attack and are always there for the offload or support or are we better off playing structured play and building pressure and opportunities. I think we are weak in both directions to be honest. Last test season we constantly got turned over at the breakdown because there was no support. Will be interesting to see how Eddie wants to play and if he picks the right team for the game plan.

There is no way based on current form or his previous history of leading successful teams that Hooper deserves selection in the squad or the co-captaincy. I think this is a RA decision rather than an Eddie decision. Hooper’s recent mental health issues and the Tah’s disastrous end to their season and Hoopers final game in Blue has probably led to RA making a decision to give Hooper a more fitting send off. I am fine with that as long as it doesn’t stand in the way of the Wallabies success at the RWC. He can be a figure head and get some game time but not be played in clutch games.
The other part of the captaincy issue is there is simply no one else who is ready for the role. For all the talk of Cheika and Rennie being good man managers they certainly have not brought leaders through the organisation. I believe that McReight is likely to be the next Wallaby captain if he can prove he is an automatic pick at 7.