If Hooper’s primary faults as a half were dubious kicking credentials and a questionable ability to deploy a variable passing game, I’d say he’s the second best half back in Australia and maybe the best on two feet right now. He’d unquestionably be better both ball-in-hand and in the defensive line. He’s probably flat-out faster also. Sanchez at his best could claim to have more darting swerve in his game. Heart is a tossup, with Hooper boasting Glory Boy accolades at such a tender age, not to mention his gallant move from the Suntan Association (aka the Backs) into the righteous and elite Pack, not to mention his workrate which reportedly tents the khakis of coaches everywhere. However, it really does take a special kind of person to voluntarily be the smallest man in a fight, even given the detail of eight tasked with his escort, so I give the 9s a nod here for bravado and audacity. In conclusion, outside of Hooper’s complete lack of experience, there is basically no downside to giving him a go at halfback. I think, though, after it all happened, we would realize that like we learned from Lord of the Rings, even with legs too short for ultimate speed, and the countenance of schoolboys, oddly small people have a part to play in the grand scheme.

+1. Even with Gill, the 6 and 8 shirts are needing new occupants. Beau deserves a valor medal for his efforts, but bless him, he tackles and carries like a little brother: full of ambition, heart, and determination, but gets knocked over every time. Schatz, just damn. I’m new around here, but last year I saw some people put him in their wallabies wide training squad, but he’s a zero in terms of impact.

Unfortunately that would leave him quite safe with the Reds.

/ducks

What you did there…I see it. Well Played.

Some say he appears on high value stamps in Sweden, and that he can catch fish with his tongue…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-oA0o_YOf4

Agreed on your final point, the Bulls almost certainly would have won the league both years he was gone. But I have to argue that Jordan was properly terrible at baseball. The only thing he was remotely proficient in was drawing a walk. But then again, against AA pitching, if you don’t swing for 5 or 6 pitches, there’s a pretty decent chance you’ll be taking first on balls.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jordan001mic

It may be idle speculation, but as an impartial and clearly rational third party 🙂 I’d say it’s not an entirely foolhardy question.
A question of my own to follow up: Would Force at Warratahs sell out without Izzy playing? Honest question

On form, don’t you have to play Higgers at 8? Palu’s health (admittedly an old battle axe) can’t be trusted. Though Reed is a pretty untouchable standard at 8, I think it shows that a do-it-all 8 is just as good at Test level as a hardman-style ball carrying 8. Higgers isn’t on Reed’s level, but I’m suggesting he’s in the mould of a linking, line breaking, inspirational 8 like Reed. If Palu doesn’t work out, I think you MUST play Higgers at 8 and let Dennis/Fardy duke it out for 6. Don’t you wish you could have JaqPot from the Tahs right about now? He’d slot in so nicely at your 6.

Credit for writeup goes to Club President Bob “BT” Taylor.

I was about to type “Rubbish,” but fortunately googled it prior, and you are apparently 100% correct. Now I feel silly wearing one this whole time.

I’m also not so sure that Beale wasn’t suffering from a head knock after that takedown. If you watch the places in the second half where you’d expect vintage Beale to step or create, he offers up the same dummy left, keep ball move repeatedly. Caveats: 1) I haven’t rewatched the game, 2) am a forward, and 3) for sure want to give due credit to the blitz defense of the Sharks. But I was thinking he looked a bit fuzzy in the second half.

Against confrontational teams, would it not benefit the Tahs to slot a harder man into the center and keep the danger man from wasting his magic getting smashed? Horne looked eager to mix it up. How about Beale out to the wing instead?

Participation is so high in the US because all of us who turned out not to be NFL-caliber football players found out in college that we could still go smash people if we played rugby instead of sitting on the bench in football. College rugby is almost everywhere in the states and there are properly big and fit fellows playing it, but the skill level and coaching talent is very scrappy outside the top 10 schools or so. That’s the main thing holding us back. We don’t learn the game till age 20 and once possessing enough skill to be useful, are too old to get into the lower ranks of foreign pro rugby and are needing to find a steady income rather than chasing footy dreams.

Excited to see this coverage. My home club, the Atlanta Renegades, hosted the tourists and by all accounts it was nothing short of full on fun for all. Club rugby is the heart and soul of the game in the US, and our boys did most of the grunt work independently of centralized support. A proud and auspicious day for the club, and all involved in rugby in Atlanta. For any interested, I’ll post the writeup about the event:

Brief recap of Uruguay National side “Los Teros” visit with the Atlanta Renegades.

On Wednesday 26 March the Atlanta Renegades welcomed the Uruguay National side to our facility at Silverbacks Park. A nice crowd of coaches, players and media greeted the team, managers and coaches. “Los Teros” had two sessions on Wednesday. The morning session was an adjustment for the visitors as temperatures started and stayed in the low 30’s. By afternoon the day had warmed up and an impromptu’ed photo session with The Atlanta Girls School soccer team closed out the day. Our friends at High Country Rugby provided “Los Teros” with practice facilities at Oglethorpe University on Thursday. The practice session was closed to media and fans with a few invited “guests” attending.

Thursday evening The Atlanta Renegades hosted a reception and dinner for “Los Teros” at RiRa Irish Pub in midtown Atlanta. An overflow crowd of 200 greeted the visitors as we tried to make them feel at home. We had the privilege of URU President, Sebastian Pineyrua and USA Rugby South President Kevin Kitto in attendance. The Renegades presented the visitors with over 40 gifts including a welcome letter from Georgia’s Governor Nathan Deal and a plaque commemorating their visit to Atlanta. The Renegades Club Captain, Brent Vickers presented “Los Teros” Captain, Arturo Avalo with the captain’s gift.

Around 9:45 the “Webb Ellis Cup” arrived giving everyone in attendance the “photo op” of a lifetime.

At the end of the evening we wished both countries success but not too much. Three cheers for rugby and new friends followed.

Our thanks goes out to the URU, IRB and RiRa.

Of course on Saturday we cheered the USA side on to victory and a place in the World Cup.

+1 As immortalized by Mike Tyson, I believe, everyone has a game plan until they get hit in the face. Sometimes effort, structure, and momentum combine to defeat what was undoubtedly believed to be superior talent and verve prior to the contest.

But as to the inability to mount a serious comeback whilst on a 2 man power play, I’m just a mediocre forward, but you have to think the half-combination is to blame. Is Beale’s license to roam at first receiver complicating things?

+1 Pure Gold

Pure Win. +1

I’d suggest having a roving lock isn’t a bad thing, given the number of times the Wallabies had a line break and no forwards in support to contest at the tackle area. Sure Higgers and Hooper might roam wide looking for a ball carry, but a mobile lock can be equally handy in support with the proper understanding that he’s a secondary ball carrying option.

Interesting take on JOC. I thought he looked fantastic against huge opposition in that video. I was coming here to say that as much as I get people’s fatigue over his attitude and actions, he is clearly a cut above Cummins in terms of pace and class. With Folau set at 15 and Cooper at 10, I think JOC is the best option at 11. And I like Cummins a lot.

He also appears to have the pace of a toddler.

As the outermost of outsiders to Oz rugby, I tended to defend JOC’s seemingly trivial actions in comparison to his talent. But then, I heard more people saying the same things as you are, and the truth is either that the locker room is full of bed-wetting babies who can’t handle a slightly insane talent or that talent is much more insane than the public is being let on. It seems the latter is a clear favorite.

Carl Lewis, Tiger, and Bolt were all also probably on PEDs for at least some of their careers. If we’re being intellectually honest, most of the top flight athletes in sports where speed and strength are important have probably done PEDs at some point. Just to save some time, here are some links.

Lewis with braces as an adult, a telltale sign of HGH usage: http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/3179/carllewis4.th.png
Longer Article detailing his positive tests:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/17/1050172709693.html

Tiger linked with recent Biogenesis PED scandal in south Florida:
Is the PGA Hiding Tiger Woods Link to Biogenesis and Steroids?
Tiger’s former doctor pleads guilty to smuggling PEDs (also Tiger was linked to a BALCO guy, but I can’t remember his name)
http://www.golf.com/ap-news/woodss-doctor-anthony-galea-pleads-guilty-bringing-banned-drugs-us

Usain Bolt with notorious steroid dealer/chemist Angel Heredia/Hernandez: https://twitter.com/Guruscience/status/322039847957168128/photo/1
http://www.muscleweek.com/is-usain-bolt-on-steroids

As you’ll notice I have Horford on the roster, and in my last comment, I listed five of the guys you listed as clear contenders. I’m not much of a stat-head in basketball, but I recognize the validity of what you’re saying. Garnett, Bosh and Griffin I don’t have on my team because I don’t like them, and I acknowledge the absurdity of that. I lived in Atlanta for 30 years, so I’ve watched Smith be a knucklehead for his entire career. He’s a petulant knob of a person and his skill set is exciting, but limited. And he hoists up several pointless 3-pointers per game with the entire home crowd yelling “NOOOOOOO” every time he catches the ball outside the arc.

A reasonable question, so a reasonable answer: Last year he was 5th among PFs in both scoring and rebounding, and 6th in assists and minutes per game. He’s reliable on both ends of the floor. Duncan, Lamarcus Aldridge, Griffin, and Zach “Z-Bo” Randolph are the other contenders in my mind, and there’s not much between them. Anthony Davis might be the best in 3-5 years. Boozer is a personal preference for sure, but I think one that’s defensible, stat-wise.

It’s a pretty clutch time for him to get healthy. I think that Festus Ezell should develop into a nice complementary piece, but is hurt right now. The only other center on the Warriors is the walking knee injury called Jermain O’Neill.

Don’t forget that they jettisoned the reprehensible coach Todd Haley. He ruined Matt Cassell and is now on to Pittsburgh, where he is leading Ben Rothlesberger to an all-time-terrible season. It can’t be overstated how terrible Haley is, both as a person and a coach. If you have time, check out his rap sheet of failure. http://deadspin.com/tag/todd-haley