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I completely agree. Frizell has been so anonymous and passive at test level. You need a real enforcer in that position, someone more in the mould of Tom Robinson. Tough, abrasive, uncompromising. Even Papali'i would be an improvement at 6. Frizell is a journeyman. Ideally you'd start big...

Ledesma mentioned in a interview that he highly regards Cheika as a coach, hence brought him on board for the Tri-Nations. Clearly these guys understand each other and work effectively together, Ledesma was very important on Australia making RWC2015 final having improved their scrum massively...

Didn't Cheika & Ledesma win a Heineken Cup, Super Rugby & Rugby Championship title coaching together? They seem to be an under-rated coaching combination, probably no coincidence the Wallabies last decent period during the Cheika-era was right before Ledesma left (after the 23-18) win over the...

NZ working on emulating that 2015-2019 RWC cycle Springbok plan: Finish third at the previous WC. Hire a new coach that a lot of fans have misgivings about. Produce historic defeats and the worst results in history (when last did an All Black head coach have a 40% win rate btw?). Fire coach...

Precisely, I was just going to touch on that. Rennie was lining up McKellar as his forwards coach with eventually the aim of him being his successor after the 2023 World Cup. McKellar opted out and wanted to concentrate on the Brumbies but it still appears the powers at be are very much grooming...

the wrong ones though! Link and Jim McKay were the real MVPs of that 2011 Reds season, the Red's had the best functioning attack, yet only the 5th best defense in 2011. anyway, the sooner McKellar joins the Wallabies set-up the better, Rennie is merely a caretaker coach until 2023 to bring...

Indeed, they restricted the champion Crusaders to merely 12 points in 2019.

All I know is that Tandy is extremely highly rated in rugby circles, as head coach he's won titles in 2 different Welsh leagues, as well as winning Pro14 title in 2012 as their head coach. Co-incidentally, I just came across an article today that mentioned him. Having parted company with the...

One thing I still can't get my head around was Matt Taylor's appointment. Scotland's world cup campaign was disastrous in 2019. He seemed more of an experience hire simply because he'd been over in Europe for so many years. During Townsends time in charge of Scotland (2017-2019) they...

I recall Castle was lining up Jake White as a caretaker coach in 2018 to take the Wallabies through to the WC? It would've been interesting to see how that situation might've played out in retrospect..

I remember 2017 was the year the pressure was really mounting on Cheika to perform after the disappointing season of 2016 & I thought he was fortunate during that period to come up against a very poorly coached Springboks side under Allister Coetzee. Thinking back there were really two matches...

Really? I'm fairly sure Rennie with an eye on 2023 views O'Conner & To'omua as an extremely critical partnership going forward. They are the key leaders and the most experienced players in the backline & are very composed under pressure. I'm sure that combination would be invaluable for this...

Jordie is a much better fullback than his brother. He also has 10 kg weight advantage over Beauden. Much better in the air, longer stronger pass, more powerful/more accurate boot. Jordie also has far superior defensive statistics over the last 2 seasons. He's a ruthlessly efficient defender, see...

Ardie ruins the balance of the starting loose forward trio. He's playing 8 yet he's only 99 kg. Go look at the matches he played off the bench from 2016-2018, he still had an enormous impact in the 20 jersey. A bit like the role Samu used to play for the Crusaders in the 2017/18 seasons.

He's currently the best fullback in NZ by a considerable margin. If you find it unbelievable he's getting picked then you clearly aren't paying attention. Without Jordie the Hurricanes would've lost an extra 3-4 matches due to his presence. He single-handedly carried the team throughout...

I think the strongest 23 we could field going forward (next year & looking towards 2023 WC): 1. Joe Moody 2. Dane Coles 3. Ofa Tu'ungafasi 4. Sam Whitelock 5. Brodie Rettalick 6. Akira Ioane 7. Sam Cane 8. Hoskins Sotutu 9. Aaron Smith 10. Richie Mo'unga 11. Caleb Clarke 12. Jack Goodhue 13...

both were yellow cards, the ref had to make that call because of consistency.

Genuine attempt at tackle = red Late clean out to the head = nothing wrong here boys!

Well, that wasn't an issue before To'omua and O'Conner's injuries. I'm less talking about this match, but rather the side in the next couple of years in general - with the potential benefit of those overseas players. I mean.. imagine the strength of this Wallabies 23: Slipper, Latu...

Deans understood this, did he not? He recognized the piggies he had weren't good enough to match the ABs 'expansively' and whilst he only managed 3 wins & 2 draws during his tenure, the losing margins were considerably lower compared to the subsequent Bledisloe blow-outs under MacKenzie, then...