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No great surprise if true, either way. Link's refusal to instantly name Cooper as the 10 should have indicated he was no shoe-in. Agree it's not a bad tactic for To'omua to take the initial onslaught, although if we are badly chasing the game and Cooper comes are we will likely be toast...

He was talking about coaching style and game plans, not improvement in teams. Cheetahs have been the most expansive of the SA sides for years and been steadily improving, but they haven't drastically changed game plans. Reds and Chiefs changed coaches.

Thought he meant HM, Hichael Mooper, the honourary 10th Brumby in the run on side. In all seriousness, Tomane hasn't shown the form required in the back end of the season to hold down the blindside winger spot. I'd have Tomane as the last winger picked in the squad (behind Folau, Mogg, JOC (James O'Connor)...

I believe so. The Force were stuck playing James Hilterbrand in the last game as Charles, Whittaker and Tessman were all out. edit: I was wrong, Whittaker was on the bench. He was just way out of favour, I guess.

Some of those runs Betham did make for a great upper limit, if that's the case. And we saw more of them in the ITM Cup before that. The main weakness to his game is the mistakes - dropped easy balls, lost balls in contacts, poor defensive reads. The other is getting more involved - something...

I think that you won't be around the forums long if that's your style of contributions. Can this thread be locked now and banished back to the past, where it should remain?

As has been mentioned, the huge wildcard is the new scrum law for props. Would love to hear some inside word on how the props were coping with the new laws. I don't get the Fat Cat omission, either. I could hypothesise two reasons - 1. to put a rocket up him, or 2. he struggled with the new...

Without a doubt. It was either Anae or Siliva, neither should be there but for TPN's and Hanson's (and Charles'?) injuries. I would be shocked if Anae gets a run at hooker. Hopefully TPN will be rushed back in, although I also have concerns about the level that TPN will be at.

I'm wondering also how Genia managed to tie for second.

I agree with Pfitzy that the worry with Slipper is his seemingly inconsistency from scrum to scrum, even if he is close to Kepu technically. I don't know if it's Slipper's fault, but scrums he's been associated with have run the full gamut of outcomes in a game of rugby. I'm not against...

This is what has got me nervous about Cooper (ignoring the errors for now). I largely suspect it may be a hang over from his multiple knee operations. The concern is that he just won't recover that running game, and if that happens, he will need to adjust his game (more than he has so this...

Drop the provincial accusations, please. It's getting tiring. This is the Wallabies, not the "provincial cheap shot" thread. Take it to one of the hate threads, or get over it. The same thing has been said to the people who continually complained about the amount of Waratahs in the side...

Braveheart81 the advantage is twofold for franchises keeping players in their own city. Firstly, as you say, they improve their own rugby comp, potentially giving them a greater pool of local players to call on. Secondly, they can keep an eye on their player - watch their form, their...

I'd think that at least one of the "unfashionable" due of Dennis or MacCalman makes the 30 man squad, the other will be cut with Schatz. Who knows, if Link considers Fardy and MMM as locks only, then both Dennis and MacCalman may make the cut, with one in the starting XV (and the other likely...

I struggle to find someone other than Fardy I'd choose to start at blindside in the Wallabies squad right now. In our pack, the locking partner for Horwill and blindside (or number 8, whichever Mowen isn't playing) are some of the hardest positions to choose, primarily because no one test...

Pfitzy, drop the trolling and chip on your shoulder, please, and actually try to give a real comment about Anae's performances this year rather than a pointless cheap shot. I find this kind of petty comment to be poor form.

Hanson was injured at the end of the S15 season, Anae was covering hooker on the bench (but still coming on at LHP, generally). Can't confirm about Hanson's current status, but willing to bet he is still injured. Huge list of injuryed hookers at the moment, it's really a case of last man...

Reds were actually similar to last year, the difference being no sold out home final. Same goes for the Brumbies - difference being a sold out home final. The Tahs' attendence is very worrying, 17k average is low for a city like Sydney. Falling 15% from 20k after having a better year and...

Exactly, I think that's what cost them the turnover in that case. The scrum actually sat there for close to 5 second dead solid before the shenanigans. If the Chiefs had been instantly (or within 1 - 2 seconds) been moving backwards before around, it would've been a Brumbies penalty. I...

Underpowered vs the All Blacks. Savea, Dagg and Ben Smith will be scary, and Piutau is a great prospect coming off a fantastic season. Dagg is finding form and looking great and appearing disinterestined earlier in the year, Savea has had a good year and Ben Smith has been fantastic (albeit at...