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Next year will present a very interesting contrast and one which might have long term ramifications. On the one hand a group of Brumbies players were retained as the cornerstone of the Wallabies squad - in particular the pack - and have had the benefit of playing test rugby and the exposure to...

No sure on Hodge, but otherwise agree with all that. I think the really great thing about the re-emergence of Quade (& I still hold hopes for JOC (James O'Connor)) is that it takes a lot of pressure off what appears to be the best young crop of 10s we’ve had for a long time. Not all of them will kick on and...

I actually though we were good under their high balls. Kellaway spilled one, but otherwise I thought we were fine. I can’t remember is giving ourselves too many chances to challenge their players when we put high balls up.

I know it’s no-ones favourite way of playing, but I think we need to kick to a contest more often. Sending the ball deep and letting teams take it uncontested isn’t getting us anywhere. We aren’t winning possession in the attacking part of the field. Box kick to a contest and try and win the...

I think that’s selling Quade short. He was fantastic in the domestic tests. So to was Kerevi and having Koroibete out there was a big plus too. But Quade was very good in his own right and I don’t think it’s fair on him to just attribute that to other players. He did definitely drop back a...

I always thought forwards created front foot ball for backs, not the other way around. In any case, the things that killed us were the 18 penalties and 13 turnovers. We had pretty much zero continuity or field position. From what I saw, pretty much everyone contributed in there somewhere...

Whatever combo Rennie starts with, I’d like to see Swain get the bench spot as his reward for a great year. I thought Swain performed pretty well throughout the year, but I thought he was especially good off the bench. Every time he came on he had a positive influence from memory. He brought...

Sorry - Skelton is doing nothing to push his claim for a jersey. I get that it is a tough gig coming into the squad late, but he has been a non-entity. His work off the ball is average too. It’s not anyone else’s fault other than that in a poor team performance everyone cops some flak. I don’t...

Based in the press conference I believe White was initially then JOC (James O'Connor). Not sure who was when JOC (James O'Connor) came off.

Yes - Samu was awesome, but Hooper on another level. How long has it been, if ever, when Australia has had two players nominated and none from SA or NZ?

Anyhow - this is the Australian v Wales thread. Not that I think this is irrelevant on selections, but I’ve had more than enough say in this thread already, so I’ll leave my thoughts on the conclusions drawn from the weekend there.

After re-watching a good part of the game this afternoon to make sure I wasn’t talking shit about Rodda’s work off the ball I’ll say Arnold is also doing more than I first thought. Rennie is using his locks to do lots of donkey work. This includes not only breakdown work but also running as...

I’ve watched the pass to Wright a half dozen times now. It was hard, but I think Wright should have absolutely caught it and made a shit attempt.

To pick up your point Dru, what I would have liked to see is them smash more rucks. I agree their tackle stats look really low. Beyond what should be expected. But what we needed from our locks, IMO, was to be both accurate and aggressive at the ruck and really cause some pain.

Dru - I’m happy to continue the discussion, because I like chatting rugby with you. But I just want to repeat my point that I have no issue with the general point we want more out of our locks. But I think I can say that I thought they were better than they are being given credit for and still...

In any case, my point was that you appeared to be using the stats to argue Rodda’s work rate was sub par. If I’ve misunderstood and you are simply using the stats to show that the team underperformed, then I apologise and agree.

According to ESPN stats we won 3/4 scrums and 10/13 line outs. We had Slipper out of position and Hoskins debuting. 21 year old Bell was against British Lion Kyle Sinkler. Sure, to pick up Pfitzy’s point, scrums aren’t all about the props, but they are kind of important. If I recall correctly at...

Dru - just to follow up on this point, watch the game again and watch how many times Rodda & Arnold clean out or seal. How many times they work around the corner to be an option in attack. How quickly they both react when there is a mistake. How much work they both do in stopping the driving...

Sure. I think I made that point myself in an earlier post about the performance of the pack, except Valetini & Leota. My only comment above was that he wasn’t the worst. I’m happy to agree to disagree on where he is in the pecking order but I’ll be surprised if Rennie doesn’t see him as part of...

Latu’s tackle looked bad to me, but neither the ref nor 4th official saw fit to make anything of it. And given how keen Berry was to be heard, if he didn’t see anything in it I’m assuming it was okay. I haven’t gone back and checked. I did see Latu later try and knock down the half backs hand...