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Not so crazy as you think. It allows us to do three things: Put Kuridrani on notice that quiet is not quite good enough. Allows us to test Speight in the cauldron that is Eden Park. Doesn't greatly weaken the overall team.

Given that if one of the half backs gets seriously injured then a replacement is only 48 hours away (less if Genia is already in France preparing for his move), I see no good reason why Giteau won't be fine for an emergency ten minutes, just as he was last Saturday. His pass wasn't as good as a...

I thought all three cards were good decisions. Referees who just penalise head high "for the sake of the game" do it a great disservice. My gripes with Barnes are all around his naivety - he thinks that people buffeting Folau in the air are really competing for the ball and that NZ players...

And we are so close to Ireland that a win next week should take us to second. I am not implying that that is any certainty, just a possibility.

3. Pocock 2. Hooper 1. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)

There's a huge amount of criticism tonight for both teams that I really just don't get. I thought it was a great test; the ebbs and flows of the scoreline were enthralling. I was on the edge of my seat right until the final whistle. Sometimes when the other team is playing well they make you...

The title of the thread is "Where to for quality rugby journalism?" so some of you may think that this next note is not in the right place. Steve Samuelson announced this week in The Breakdown SMH video show that this will be his last show. Don't know if GeeRob will replace him or what is...

Not impossible. But if I understand Cheika correctly, he thinks that Foley and Cooper are 10's and To'omua and Giteau are 12's. So any variation on that is going to be because of injury enforced change.

Not the team I would have selected but there is not a standout difference between each of the alternatives and so I am really happy with it. Cheika is certainly mixing and matching to find his best combination. While we expected to see Horwill and Skelton starting, Cheika seems to see Simmons...

This week I'm resting him so no problem. Next week probably has to be 5:3.

My mistake. Probably has to be Dennis or McCalman. Dennis maybe so its like for like.

Agree with most of your thinking, but I'd twist a couple of things. We need to be exploring a few things in preparation for the RWC without seriously weakening the team and I'd give To'omua another week's rest. I'd go with a 6:2 bench, its the forwards where the contest will be, the backs will...

40K Kiwis and 30K Aussies

From what we've seen this season, that's the best backline in the world bar Nonu. :) Hard to imagine even a rest of the world backline that would beat it.

Joeleee, I love your enthusiasm for the team but I would caution you to never bet on the longshot unless you injected them with the gofast juice yourself. This NZ team is not leading the rankings by miles for no good reason. They have world class everywhere while we have world class in a few...

Interesting that while he was still at the Tahs and Wallabies a certain Bob Dwyer wanted him selected at 6. That's a good four years ago now. I don't think we have seen enough of the 2015 Mumm to have any idea of what he can and can't do.

I hate to bring this up but the booing of Cooper was very minor compared to the booing by Queenslanders of Glen Ella when he was selected at full back for his first game for the Wallabies instead of Roger Gould. Booing of individuals in teams is just rubbish, whether its Glen Ella, Quade Cooper...

Cheika was quoted as saying the same on Fox. He also said it was always his intention to rest Palu for the first games of the RC and that he "has come back in great shape and really eager to play". Reading between the lines I think Palu is still Cheika's no. 1 choice for 8. He also said that...

His last two coaching gigs were the Sydney Stars - wooden spooners and looked awful - and the forwards coach for the U-20's. Their forwards got smashed by the big boys and did not look well coached at all. That is not a good look, we should have gone for someone with a proven history of...

The vibe says that SA and Oz don't do well at the judiciary while NZers seem to lead a charmed life. The disgraceful tackle by Fruean for the Crusaders against the Hurricanes (Milner-Skudder I think) is the prime example. Australians and South Africans were both suspended for a number of weeks...