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Hanigan is tall and skinny. He just doesn't have the power to play to his height. He can either get it over the next two years, litttle by little, or he can take some time off to develop it now and then learn to apply it over the next two years. My vote goes to the latter rather than the former.

Unless there is a substantial change of heart at WR (World Rugby), the only countries with the moolah to pay the guarantees for a RWC are France, England, Japan and USA. NZ will never host another, Ireland has got bucklies, and SA or Australia need government backing. Now, given the NSW government is going...

Can someone clarify whether the Reds are paying $400K or $800K per year for Quade. I understood that RA was picking up the other $400K as an international top-up. I assume the High Performance Manager (or whatever he's called today) must have been a party to that decision. Which just reopens...

This is not an either/or thing. You must have both the necessary attributes developed through skills sessions AND the required strength and power to carry them out. I would argue Hanigan has way more of the attributes than the strength and power. Its why Cheik selected him in the first place...

What pre-season? He returned from the EOYT injured so he has to go into rehab and because he's a Wallaby he doesn't start training till the second week in January. That leaves about 5 weeks before he has to play. He needs at least a full three months to build the sort of bulk and power he needs...

There are some who say "I don't care how we play, as long as we win". But coaching theory now looks at it very differently. Rugby is a game where chance plays a huge part in outcomes. Last week's test, where every 50-50 decision went against us, where the ball can bounce at right angles and the...

He might like to give some thought to the fact that had the Tahs been shut down then the chances of Gibson going to the Rebels would have been zero. What player wants to come to Sydney to be coached by Gibson? McCalman and Rona may have to due to lack of any other options but I bet they're not...

I could accept this as true and in my opinion welcome, BUT. You might recall that a Welsh player blatantly knocked on when "trying for an intercept" and he didn't get carded by Action Jackson. So which interpretation is correct? Did Jackson dud us last week or did the referee over-react this week?

Not necessarily. Some of the best Scottish front rowers are in casualty at the moment. Maybe Cheik will take the opportunity to rest Kepu and give 7A's a start with Thor off the bench. It wouldn't be the worst selection decision. Kepu's age means that he should be rested wherever possible to...

The last few posts illustrate how little there is to talk about now until the team is announced. I reckon just about every Aussie rugby supporter is sitting at the keyboard wondering what can go wrong and why we still won't beat the soapdodgers even though we beat the NZ team just a few weeks...

Watching the Argentina v England game, the Argies made a lot of ground in the second half using quick pick-and-go's through the rucks. Whether that was England fatigue or a weakness in their set-up, its tailor-made for McMahon and co after 50 minutes. England did not look like the world's second...

The history of this award is that the people who win rarely deserve it in that year. McCaw and Carter both won it in the year they played crap and didn't win when they deserved to. It tends not to go to spectacular players, so I think Izzy is in trouble. I think Farrell is favourite because the...

Good luck with that Sully, I've been trying to make a similar point about all the backs for about 2 years. The only stable numbers in the current team are 9 & 13 and this is of course subject to change in the future. But prepare for incoming screams about people playing their numbered positions.

I just had a look at the stats on Fox. Now their stats are sometimes very iffy but: Wales 55% possession Wales 50%territory Wales 659 run metres to 592 Wales 9 linebreaks to 3 Wales 19 offloads to 4 Wales 359 kick metres to 621 Wales 5 missed tackles to 25 Wales 16 handling errors to 7 Wales 3...

Say what you like. Those Whitelock genes are almost as good as the Barrett genes.

They say good teams find a way to win and we did. The NZ team used to do it in the McCaw days too against us, to my endless disappointment. That Wales lost does not take away from the fact they defended really well, better than most of our opposition all season. Completion rates don't guarantee...

That's an epic performance by Wales. Will anyone beat 98% completion rate this year (this century)? They sure dealt well with our midfield threats. Beale's pickpocket job was IMO the turning point in that game, I thought up till then the Welsh were going to overrun us.

I know Joe Schmidt is a super coach, but that's a pretty decent Saffer team and they drew both games with us. I reckon the SA team would be favourites in my book.

And by 2019 the "recruiting genius" that is Daryl Gibson will also be gone, so the Tahs can start getting some proper recruitment planning in place.

You'd be suggesting that Hanson is an idiot for playing Smith and Dagg together in the one team then? This is his preferred line-up when everyone's available. For a whole range of reasons rugby coaches of national teams no longer play two wingers getting frostbite and one fullback. Its probably...