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As others are saying, the backline is a bit of a mess. All of the players have some serious flaws in their game no matter what position you put them in. That said I can't see KB (Kurtley Beale) ever being a test level 10. He is far too helter skelter and has way too much time to muck things up. I prefer him...

Thought Rory Arnold played great, cemented himself as lock # 2. Tui has been so-so. He's a good ball carrier and good in contact in tight, but he looks like he's running in sand out wide. Wish Dempsey was healthy or McMahon was around. Hooper is not himself. Not sure the purpose of...

Genia was basically perfect.

Genia, pocock, coleman. That order.

I do think the Wallabies could tighten up some of their offensive recklessness. For example they constantly go to the open side to use up the entire width of the field. This is clearly part of the game plan because Genia doesn't hesitate to toss the ball out. But it will often be a pass to the...

All he needs to do is slow down in the 8 metres pre tackle. That's an extremely basic skill for a winger. I could be wrong but he and Beale seem to have exceptionally short arms. They fling themselves, but they don't get a wrap at all. Beale's actually not bad in tight, but in the loose he's...

Could not agree more. The ABs will tire you out otherwise and then their speedsters will kill you. Wallabies seem a bit screwed though as the fast-tempo game they play is what gives them success against every other country in the world. It's why they made the RWC final last time around. Other...

As a Canadian who is also a Wallabies fan I feel for you guys. We used to be able to win the occasional game against the likes of France or Wales, but it has been a slow decline to the point that we are losing to Uruguay and Brazil. Along the way people blamed selection, the coaches, sevens...

Kieran Read is basically perfect as a modern 8. He can do everything and can do it well. Doesn't have to be Vunipola sized to be an effective runner.

I was trying to say the same thing to a guy on Reddit who disagreed, so glad that I'm not the only one who sees that. You'd think it'd be the other way around given his build and agility/speed, but he seems completely lost trying to tackle people in open field for some reason.

Good point, I think the defensive aspect gets overlooked since their offense is so potent. Many games lately there just doesn't seem to be any space and the ABs have been dominating at the point of contact. Not indestructible, but extremely good. After a few phases the Wallabies defensive shape...

Always seems that way with the ABs eh? I would say Retallicks absence creates a notable dropoff though, they go from whip to the....insert notably less dangerous implement roughly equivalent to Scott Barrett here please lol

Unlike Beauden he isn't just going to go end to end when a bit of space opens up or things become disjointed. That's much harder to gameplan against IMO.

The good news I guess is that you can control some of the loose turnovers. South Africa last game really rushed a box kick. Kick went too far and there weren't many chasers. I think it was off a turnover and usually that's a good time to blast a kick deep, but you can't afford a poor kick/chase...

It certainly seems like Barrett's always hanging back there on defense.

That's exactly what happened to South Africa against them. A few bad turnovers=tries and game over. The All Blacks have looked almost anemic on structured offense as of late, at least by their standard. The last time they looked great in structured play was in Lions #1 when they were just...

Think the two weeks favours Australia as their forwards could use the rest and time to replace Hanigan in practice. Can't be fun to have two weeks to dwell on the thumping the Boks just took. Interested to see how Cheika and co. try to counter the Springboks kicking game, perhaps leaving...

I don't understand the complaining about the players on here. I don't get the impression they aren't trying their best or that they don't care. Bernard Foley cops so much flack, but I've seen him absolutely battered out there. The team plays heads up rugby as much as any other test side. People...

This is where I think stats get taken way out of context. The key stat that you are missing is passes. The Wallabies passed the ball 167 times while the Springboks passed the ball only 94 times. It is far easier to support your own team when you never move the ball past the 10 channel or kick it...

I don't think I've got too much to say that hasn't already been said aside from the fact that most of the spoiled ball in offensive rucks isn't as much poor rucking but a willingness to move the ball damn near anywhere, even if there's no support. This pays dividends at times, but often you'll...