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If it came to the crunch in a RWC game without Cooper, I'd take Barnes. Sure, he might kick away a tonne of ball. And maybe he'll stand too deep. But he kicks for field position better than Cooper, defends well and can kick goals too.

Fair call ;)

Goalkicking aside, I still think he could have won us the Sydney Bledisloe in 2009 with a dropgoal.

Hasn't Kingston been thrown in the deep end enough this year?

Why d'you think he's been up all night, bowside!

This was about 2 whole years ago, who cares.

It's because number 8's come in many different styles. There's the blockbuster, like Cliff Palu or Kefu, the linkman like Rocky Elsom or Richard Brown, and then there the guys that play there when there's no room in the 6 or 7 jersey, like Smith and Higginbotham.

TV game?

Don't see it at the moment. It could be that the opposition sides are putting more focus on him and not giving him any space, but I don't think he has the same venom as last year. His best asset is his vision, but I don't think it's been what it was last year. That said, I may have overstated...

Pretty effective at gaining metres and keeping them. Now if the Wallabies would use him off a set move inside the opposition 22 instead of playing warm up touch footy off every set piece, maybe he'd have some more success. Wouldn't mind seeing him at fullback. Beale isn't offering much at the...

I agree with this, but I don't think this is all a question of commitment. The missed tackle against Cliffy Palu that lost them the game against the Waratahs in 2010 for example. He had the right idea; take him by the bootlaces, cut his legs out from underneath him or fix him standing so the...

Austin, could you post a video of Quade's defence in this game? Noticed there were some people saying that he was improved in defence but my recollection of the game is that he still had major technique issues and shirked a couple.

We couldn't tell...

When did Deans drop Chisholm?

AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)'s out of form, but he still wasn't that bad last night. He was still pretty effective in defence. I'd like to see Fainga'a brought in and McCabe moved to 13, with AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) on the bench.

That's a shame about Smit. I really wanted to see if he could turn it around in time for the WC. He's been badly out of form, but he is one of the nice guys of South African rugby.

Not so much scrum cap as hairnet, Dobbie.

By the way, Channel Nine viewers; do you think this game's a Test match? I'm not sure they could mention that more often.

It's because the yellow stands out more, Cyclo.

This isn't much of a spectacle so far; a few bursts of excitement (nerve wracking, certainly). Forwards are doing pretty well; Alexander, Moore in particular. Backs showing some class in flashes; AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) having a shocker in attack, passable in defence.