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Positives The set piece was good and the pack really stood up. We had the lions share of possession in the first half and let several good try scoring opportunities slip. Higgers and Vickerman showed enough when they came on to be considered as starters, particularly Higgers who made some...

3.Horwill 2.Kepu 1.Ioane

It's nice to have that depth in the second row going into a RWC. We have 4 test class locks, much the same as NZ. Now we need to stock up in the front row with a few returns from injury.

31-22 to the Wobs 3 early tries to the Wallabies and then the ABs come back into it just a bit too late.

You could start with Eddie Jones Bruce. And while Deans may not have previously believed that serious grunt up front was required to be successful in test rugby it appears he is coming around to the idea. His Canterbury sides always had it in spades. Gone(for now) are Dick Brown, Al Baxter...

Isn't the Bled a 2 game series this year and the bad guys have their mitts on the cup? P.S. Sorry, I read your post as a win would secure it for us.

ABs side named New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw(c) 6 Jerome Kaino , 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Wyatt Crockett. Replacements...

We need some serious grunt to take on the likes of the ABs and England up front. Deans is looking for it. You couldn't fault him for that. You would have to think that Sharpie will be in the RWC squad and would be a very good candidate to be "mid week"captain.

6 or 8 are more likely so I would go with Higgers. Elsom to go to 7 if Pocock gets injured.

Benny McCalman is conspicuously absent from every category except tackling where he comes in lower mid table at 100% completion. But he really has not been so busy.

and there you have it........Deans feels the same way.

Unfortunately that second row, which was our best available at certain times, lacked any authority whatsoever save for the lineout. If we are serious about the RWC then we need some big angry locks who will not take a backward step. Take nothing away from either of those blokes. They have...

At this point it is unlikely that Palu will make the squad. He is a notoriously slow starter when returning from injury and just underwent surgery. So the legitimate options at 8 right now are McCalman, Samo and Higgers. It does not appear as though Samo is anywhere near the front of the queue...

I thought that Elsom performed much better last week. Looking for further improvement this week. His defence was sound and he made some good yards up the middle with ball in hand. Sharpie does have more tests caps than Vicks, mainly because Vickerman took a break away from the game. It is...

Yep....that's it

The bench may be the key for the Wallabies to remain competitive at the back end of the test. The return of Luke Burgess will help as he normally impacts a test and injects a lot of enthusiasm when he comes on. I am not sold on Sharpie as a bench option. Maybe Vicks would be more effective in...

That's not exactly what I meant. If BB takes a few knocks, and let's face the fact that the oppositions will target him, then he may remain on the pitch but be hesitant and not 100% committed in defense. I hope that he is able to return with no ill effects but it is a risk for RD to assume he...

BB needs to get rid of the kick first mentality. It seems to be his go to ploy as of late. Maybe something to do with his condition? He has a tendency to kick the ball away from all parts of the pitch. That definitely will go against what Deans is trying to do with these Wallabies. If Mitchell...

Barnes is a very good player but it would be a huge risk to pick him in the RWC squad after the year he has had. A couple of knocks and he either cannot be used or he gets gun/tackle shy. I know that is rough on him but we do have other options.

Is it possible that we might not have seen him in the 22 at all if Vickerman was fit?