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I hate it. I guess it leads to confidence in each other/the defence? Maybe? I really don't know. It seems totally self defeating to me. You look at the big boys in this competition and the thought of losing never even crosses their mind. They're out there having the time of their lives, because...

Of course they did. You could see them taking their fullll measure of time at lineouts, when kicking, packing scrums. More interested in territory than the ball. They played exactly like a team that's been told not to lose plays. It was the total opposite of what the Chiefs did the other night.

Did Mumm actually get MotM? That's incredible. Watching the replay now. Lees does make some weird calls but he's got excellent rapport with the players - the boys all look like they're enjoying themselves out there.

I think forum posting is going to have approximately dick all effect on the message and growth of the game in Australia. There are big problems with Australian rugby at the moment, the biggest of which is hands down the standard of coaching. No coincidence that our Soup winning teams, or even...

Good call. Fan whinging is definitely all that's holding us back from a decade of Bledisloe dominance. I'm just glad to see Stirzaker back, hopefully his head bang wasn't too bad. He's approx a billion times better than Meehan. Should be in gold this year.

Despite all the handwringing, most of it done by me, we're second in the conference only by points difference. If we'd been offered 4-2 into the bye at the start of the year I reckon we'd have taken it to a man. Still heaps to work on, but they've given themselves a chance to have a real crack...

If it was so easy, everyone would do it. The point is the neither Guildford nor Robinson would have got it. Kellaway has done it at every level of rugby he's played. It might not be as obvious a skill as, say, Rene Ranger's tackle busting, but it's every bit as valuable.

He's never actually started a game with three opensides has he? You'd be completely sacrificing the lineout, which is struggling enough as it is.

CHOO CHOO! That's gone and got my hopes up now. Fuck it, Rebels by 3.

Yes and no. It's a backrow that does some things really well, but others not so much. McMahon and Reid are a great pair of thumpers, but neither of them are much chop at the breakdown - Colby has been missed more badly than I would have thought. To balance this out Inman and Ellison, Inman in...

Brave bench. Skelton and Lousi could cause mayhem in the last 20-30.

That's a genuine skill, one that the vast majority of players don't have. Proper finishers read the play and work their arses off to get in the right spot.

That's a fun pairing. Tuipolutu's going to have to get either bigger or stronger to play 12 though, was getting bossed at the breakdown. And in fairness to Inman, who's been copping it a bit, he's basically an extra flanker there - regularly gets through just as much work as McMahon and Reid...

Totally agree on Guildford. Hope you're right about Kellaway, he's looked the goods at every level he's played.

That's about where my thinking is at as well. The team needs some pace, they need another ballplayer, and they need a second, and even a third, kicking option.

What do the Rebels gain by parachuting a fat journeyman in? He won't be better than Debreczeni in the present, and you're compromising the future at the same time. It's a lose/lose move. If Debreczeni is really struggling then they'll shift Hawkins or Harris into flyhalf and Debreczeni can...

Is Guildford really an X Factor kind of guy? He's like a less good Doug Howlett to me. Incredibly hard working, reads the game well, runs good lines, knows how to pop up at the right time, good finisher. Kellaway strikes me as that sort of player too actually. Maybe Gibson feels like there...

Nailed it. Exactly what I've been saying. I think it's a combination of that and his recent injury history that's got him looking so tentative.

Hopefully I am. You always want players to prove you wrong. But still, I don't think so. He's got a bit about him, bit scrappy, a goer who'll win you games at lower levels. I totally disagree with you about his pass though, it's slow as treacle compared to the top guys. Not sure he's physically...