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I think Eddie's approach is mental right before a RWC. Make the most drastic changes after. You can still bring in young players without throwing them immediately into positions as starters. And I don't buy the reasoning that "they won't win anyways who cares." You should always put your best...

I don't think it was let's turf anyone, that's crazy, but more so when in doubt err on the side of a new option. Most of the guys kicked aside weren't surefire starters last season when the entire squad was healthy. Leaving out a healthy Kellaway, Koro, Thor, Valetini, Ikitau is unthinkable...

Eddie obviously went with an out with the old in with the new philosophy, wherever humanly possible. He turfed Holloway, Fainga'a, M.Hooper (injury so perhaps not), Wright, Foley, Hodge, Quade. Some of that might be personal preference in terms of player attributes, but taken together it was...

Not enough data. Not much happened his way. Didn't do anything horrible, didn't do anything great.

Foley was accurate kicking from hand and was good at restarts, he just had little distance on his kicks. He'd be a better option at cross field kicks and shorter kicks, less so for long clearance kicks, where Gordon, by comparison, has a cannon.

There has to be a lot of players on PEDs just based on the incentives involved. I'd bet on France/South Africa personally. Based on appearances and knowledge of players from those regions and what they have told me.

This game didn't look good. Both Mark Nawaqanitiwase and Vunivalu looked horrible on defense, as did Petaia. The offense looked disjointed, the lineout was horrible. Tate looked like a 9 that can't pass and Gordon a 10 that can't kick. These aren't minor problems for a rugby team. Sadly they...

The teams they have played have been quality, but they aren't playing like a team that's a sure bet to beat anybody right now, save maybe Portugal. It's a shame because I think it is a solid collection of players, but their play seems totally disjointed. There's no reason the lineout/maul...

In ice hockey it's a bit of a trope that the coach will make a big stink about whatever (the refs, the other team, the media, literally anything) to take attention away from his players. Nobody is talking about Nic White, Jordan Petiaia, Richie Arnold, T Hooper. Even the players on the team...

If I'm EJ (Eddie Jones) I'm playing a full strength roster against Georgia, Fiji and Wales. Against Portugal see which players have any injuries and assess based on Australia's and Portugal's performances. Ideally for that game rest some key players where possible. I'd have the stars on the bench in case...

As a fellow lazy handsome winger I was thrust into chief lineout jumper on an ill-fated and undermanned tour. It took a bit of time to jump straight up, but got that figured out after a practice session. What I didn't anticipate was being dropped from 5 feet in the air. That sucked.

It's fairly high-risk given how common injuries are in rugby, especially with the Wallabies. I also don't think they can afford to take Georgia lightly and field a team of backups. The Georgian pack is legit. Hopefully this debate is about contingencies that never happen. But I think it is...

It's complete nonsense to be dropping a player from the RWC based on one knock-on. That can't possibly be the actual rationale. I'm guessing EJ (Eddie Jones) was leaning in this direction all along: drop as many existing players as humanly possible. Replace them with new players that don't have caps. Nothing...

Obviously Eddie values freakishly tall/large locks. And there isn't a young lock that is nearly 7' tall.

I have no problem replacing Wright, but the time to do it was last season, not immediately prior to the RWC. You can't just select multiple guys that have never played a test match AND don't even appear all that good in the first place. If they are knocking the door down, sure, but they are not...

What a bizarre bunch of selections. Notwithstanding Carter Gordon's replacement, Gordon himself, two games ago, he couldn't kick a rugby ball. And he's a Tier1 starting #10. What if he has a mare kicking again? They put in Donaldson? Also: the props couldn't scrum, the forwards couldn't maul...

"Better to be picked, then dropped, then to never be picked at all" - Tom Wright (2023)

I don't know what to say anymore. The officiating is bewildering. I've played this game for nearly my entire life. I've watched countless matches. I still have no idea, from one game to the next, what they are doing. I don't think they do either. There's no other sport like this where the refs...

What What rules? It's whatever Joe Ref decides on any given Saturday.

I'm not even sure how you call this a sport anymore. ABs can do whatever they want on defense in rucks. Wallabies get pinged for anything. I don't know how you can compete like that. And the Wallabies played a long advantage that was called off, but the ABs gain 25 meters and it goes back to...