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Definitely not in the spirit of the game. McCaw, of all rugby players, should know better. All Australian rugby supporters should deride commentary of this nature from the All Blacks captain.:mad:

As reported by Phil Lutton in the Brisbane Times: The New Zealand reaction to the Cooper selection has depicted Cheika as swaying somewhere between genius or madman: "If they talked to my parents," he responded ... "they'd have realised I was a madman a long time ago." Read more...

Can't agree with an AB win. I think their confidence is rattled after very nearly going down to the 'boks, then never really putting it together against us last weekend. They suddenly have a lot of 'what if...' questions. Also a refreshed Pocock combining with a non-stop Hooper in the 2nd...

Genia has had a half game against the Springbok before going off with a knee injury which who knows hampered him for how long in that half. He played OK but nothing out of the box. White last weekend came on for what, 12 mins & had a blinder. Cheika I think is showing the smarts. He wants to see...

The single biggest chink in the kiwi side IMHO is age. And the problem for the coach is that he can't hook them for probably their last test game wearing the black. They do have a problem.

I've never blown air at the cats ass. There are probably some kool cats who like that:oops:

I hear the tactic is that White is deliberately going for a yellow card 10 minutes into the second half, to give Giteau time at that position, and then to have a refreshed White come back on for the remainder of the game;)

it has to be a given that Palu won't be the run on No 8 on Saturday night, simply because he hasn't got his international fitness level up to scratch. He may come on with 15 mins to go. Skelton might have trained instead of Horwill to allow the latter extra recovery time, as I see him too vital...

BH, if you look at other sides 5/8's such as Cruden, Carter (until recently), Cruden, etc in the other international teams, they have an element of unpredictability. With respect, neither Foley nor To'omua seem to have this ability which is essential for a good attacking back line. I believe...

Foley should not be on the field - end of story. There are better fly halves available. If he'd been playing a good game last weekend, he wouldn't have been hooked when he was.

I see Giteau as the utility player for the inside back positions, also serving as emergency halfback if required. though there are not too many games where both the run on half and the finisher (there, I've used the word;)) halfback have been injured.

Or Cheika might start with Cooper & To'omua at 12, and later bring in To'omua at 10 replacing Cooper & Beale/Gitau at 12. Makes selection day almost as exciting as game day:)

HJ, can't totally agree with your synopsis. Whilst Cheika would most dearly love to put the Bledisloe cup into the trophy cabinet, he would still be wanting to fully determine his best on field side. For instance the halves situation is far from firmed up. If anything, the opposite. He might...

Because the RWC is the next challenge, barring a circus game in USA. Not all the combinations have been sorted out yet. And by inserting some of the players mentioned above, the team could be (not saying would be necessarily) improved, and that is imperative to know before the RWC

just don't throw in the towel;)

But for the RWC final, which I know the Wallabies will get to, here is my first XV team: Slipper Moore (ex Red) Holmes Simmons Horwill Higgers (ex Red) Gill Pocock (ex Red) Genea Cooper Mitchell (ex Red) Kerevi Tevita Kuridrani ( only cause he's Chris Kuidrani's cuz) O'Connor Israel Folau...

Even in the dark ole days of Queensland rugby, circa 1970's, we got more than one player in the Gold. But for the time being I'll accept it with injuries & niggles, as no one is really putting up their hand from north of the border to be included, and I think Cheika is still experimenting.

I suppose Cheika's tactic is to have a more mobile forward pack for 35 to 40 mins to run the AB forwards all over the paddock, and then to bring on the big boys after that to batter the kiwis into submission. If it happens, I'd like that....(if it happens).

The big question is... will those players perform as well as they did when they were younger. For example, McCaw is still good, but a younger McCaw would probably run rings around him. The only player I've seen recently who is performing probably better than before is Nonu, and I think he is...