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Yes, you're right about him being needed if Slipper blows. But I was also thinking about ensuring that we don't give away a bunch of shitty penalties in the final minutes. If nothing else, Robinson is unlikely to do that when he comes on. That's handy.

Last night I was chatting with a mate about the Wallabies and we were talking about how they keep losing these "big" matches that just deflate interest -- the latest being England, which killed any non-tragic interest in the EOYT. We must win the remaining games. We can't have another...

Totally agree. I think the only thing we can definitively say about our scrum is that it's improving. Hopefully we've seen the nadir. Combinations are a work in progress. To my mind, Slipper had his best game in months and Robinson did well off the bench but nowhere near enough to displace him...

3. Cooper 2. Hooper 1. Moore

Can we stop the reflexive ref bashing? It's fucking boring after a 32-15 victory, Big showing by the pack, especially Moore and Hooper. Great to see Slipper have a strong game at the scrum. Kepu provided more stability, it seemed to me, allowing Slipper to attack. Cooper was great, I thought...

That's a pretty damn good team from Ireland. It's going to be a battle and a half. Like Brown Hornet, I'm still scarred from that night in Auckland. As the match unfolded, there was a stunning inevitability to it all. You knew we were in trouble almost straight away. A dismal night, at least...

Great to see you back, Taf! Just don't knock yourself out, big fella.

The stats certainly make for interesting read. With all the usual caveats about them not showing the whole story, it's interesting to compare the work rate of the props. Slipper: 60 mins, 6 tackles, 3 runs (12m), 3 r/m, 2 penalties Alexander: 54 mins, 7 tackles, 3 runs (3m), 2 r/m Robinson: 20...

@tranquility, you might be right, but both Link and Deans agreed that Hooper was a better pick to start. It will be very interesting to see if Gill gets a start against Ireland or Scotland, and what impact he has. While I like Hooper, we've lacked a dominant physical force at the breakdown since...

That's part of it. It's also that most people (myself included) are just not good at recognising or evaluating much that happens outside things like pilfers, big hits, loads of tackles, or line breaks. Stuff like first to rucks or second, or defensive positioning, and so on just doesn't get...

Ha. Touché. Colloquially, however, the Italians are clearly on a distinctly differently level from most of the rest of that group.

If Horwill hadn't been rubbish all season (and Douglas to a lesser extent), I'm not sure Timani would even be playing. As for this: Top-notch analysis. :rolleyes:

I agree with you. But calling Italy a tier one side is delusional. They're a solid team and it was a good win, but it's not like we're suddenly thrashing one of the best teams in the world.

Obviously we are behind NZ and SA. Wales haven't beaten us in 5 years, so I don't think it's possible to say we're "behind them" until we actually lose. France might be closer. Next year's June tests might be very interesting.

What tier does that that put NZ and South Africa on? Italy's current IRB Ranking is 12. Tonga, Argentina, Scotland, Ireland and Samoa are all ahead of them. It was a good win, but let's not kid ourselves about the opposition.

Lucky you. There's been screeds of stuff having a go at Hooper around here. Robinson did not have an impact off the bench in this game. But he has had a strong one in almost every other game he's played since being recalled. Slipper, by contrast, just had his first non-embarrassment in about...

3. Cummins 2. Cooper 1. Moore

Personally, I was really pleased to see players I've been sceptical or critical of play well. Simmons did a good job and the scrum finally put in a good showing -- not sure what did it, but surely lots of credit should go to the front row. Genia's first half was terrible, but he improved his...

It's clear to everyone that there is a perception problem -- that's implicit in Link even making his complaint to the IRB. So if there's a perception problem, you go out and change perceptions. With Alexander, it's clear that NH refs, in particular, have decided that he cannot scrummage. Bite...

According to Link, the front row is "improving" -- so it must just be those dastardly refs that are causing all the problems. Now, I knowing about 0.00000000001% of what Link does about front row play (and you could probably add in a few more zeros there), but I have just watched our scrum get...