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10/12/15 cover and best form after Carter in Sup23. Age might have been against him, but any suggestion Donaldson will be the top ranked 10 for the Lions and RWC 27 is plain nonsense right now.

I assume Barb that you are a keen supoorter of Pete Samu to take the last backrow spot off Langi Gleeson?

The Arnold twins and Cadeyrn Neville must come close to this situation according to reports about their entry to rugby.

The players in the present aquad who are most at risk of missing the cut for France are those who haven't yet played a game or who have had very little game time. So, Schoupp, Philip (maybe), M Hooper (is he even in the squad?), Gleeson, R Lonergan, Pietsch, Donaldson, Vunivalu and Perese might...

Probably just go underground and become more violent.

Like to see him at the Brumbies. IMO he is equal or better than his peers, but plays more like Carter Gordon than the others who are more aligned with game management I think.

Tuipoluto

Thanks for that analysis MPanga. I agree that Pone finished airborne in his last scrum and that Skelton was behind him in the second row. I'd be interested in knowing if our scrum problems in the second half coincided with Skelton coming into the game?

3. Bell 2. Gordon 1. Valetini

The kick chase has been disappointing - not just the box kicks but also the in game kicks by Kerevi/Petaia. On the box kicks, Tate still sends them too far to be contestable, and as often as not against the ABs they turn that few metres of ground into real counter attacking opportunities. Nic...

I think Slipper is part of the problem. His side went backwards in his first scrum. But is there any evidence that Will Skelton is effective at scrum time? He was pushing Pone when the TH side went to pieces. After that, Zane of course leaves a lot to be desired at scrum time but maybe he's not...

Can anyone offer a meaningful explanation of why the scrum went to pieces after 10 or 15 minutes in the second half? About the time McReight went off, but I refuse to accept his replacement being the reason. Must have been something else, and earlier than Nongorr coming on too. Pone finished off...

Collating the stats - good on the keyboard.

Is he that effective? Our starting scrum last week was stronger than our finishing scrum is likely to be this week and it was on skates all night. I am yet to see a dominant Wallaby scrum with Will Skelton part of it.

While we might debate his strengths etc KOB, Eddie has made it quite clear what he sees in Tom after his SRAu semi-final and last week's test in the 7 jumper. But we'll see if he persists, which imo is very likely, or goes to someone like Gleeson or Leota whom he hasn't seen play in the position...

Another aspect Tom performed many times and effectively was the link between a lineout and the backline. He really had a tremendous game and it's hard to fathom why some here think otherwise.

Tom did effect one turnover but it was overturned by the TMO intervention that saw a penalty go the ABs way for a completely separate incident (might have been Kerevi's yc and penalty I think). That's as many as others have been usually making throughout Super and tests these last couple of years.

You know that for certain? In any case they play 70% of the game against the Wallabies with the ball, not chasing it and having to defend.

Defence against the top sides is an issue with each of them. MK is like a dud exocet missile. I like hope hits hard when chasing a kick in general play but too often he is caught out by an attacking backline move and all we get is the sight of him flying through the air and missing his target...

Super rugby players aren't trained or coached for a smash and grab. They have a longer season and need to be able to survive many more games. I don't know how that exactly transpires but I'm pretty sure there could be different fitness requirements. Anyone have some insights to share?