3rd Place Play Off - Wallabies v Wales.

[qwerty51]

Luke Burgess' last game if it hasn't been mentioned. Hopefully he gets some game time.

 

[Cardiffblue]

The Rawson Cup rugby has been running since 1907.

that's internal to Sydney Uni. Be like claiming vintage of HAC versus WAC games, when they were the same institution until late fourties

 

[Cardiffblue]

That would be an excellent analysis if you could be sure we wouldn't bugger it up in the pool by losing matches we were slated to win.
I think worrying about the draw is another thing the Wallabbies need to put behind them.
The only thing they need to know about all future RWC draws is that the road to Bill goes through the Abs.

Apparently also influences whether wales play in wales

This clip from Scrum V brings back memories of 1987. Ah the irony of the Cody expulsion!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/welsh/15330411.stm

 

[potjiekos]

Imagine if Dingo Deans would surprise us all and do something radical, like at some point during the game, moving Barnes to fly-half in place of a struggling QC (Quade Cooper) and bring on a mobile Samo at inside centre! Now wouldn't that be a sight??!!

Samo the Centre, would have three primary objectives.... (1.) Barge through the Welsh defensive line.... taking no prisoners along the way; (2.) tackle their super-fit backline into the turf and (3.)....more of (1.) and (2.) for the entire 80 !!

The only thing to top that would be if Samo the Centre would take the ball from KB (Kurtley Beale) and place the ball on the kicking tee (...after Wayne Barnes penalised the Welsh 60 meters out...) and seeing him slot it over from way out ala Darth Steyn!

 

[RedCard]

Imagine if Dingo Deans would surprise us all and do something radical, like at some point during the game, moving Barnes to fly-half in place of a struggling QC (Quade Cooper) and bring on a mobile Samo at inside centre! Now wouldn't that be a sight??!!

Samo the Centre, would have three primary objectives.... (1.) Barge through the Welsh defensive line.... taking no prisoners along the way; (2.) tackle their super-fit backline into the turf and (3.)....more of (1.) and (2.) for the entire 80 !!

The only thing to top that would be if Samo the Centre would take the ball from KB (Kurtley Beale) and place the ball on the kicking tee (...after Wayne Barnes penalised the Welsh 60 meters out...) and seeing him slot it over from way out ala Darth Steyn!

Samo opposite Jamie Roberts? That would be fun. I know where I'd put my money on who would come better off.

I'm not even going to bother trying to make prediction on what the score might be for this game. It's a strange game to get up for after last week for both.

 

[Reido]

The play-off between The Wannabes and Wales for 3rd/4th place is important because it will determine the actual team seedings for the next World Cup in England 2015. The higher the team finishes the better the draw for the Quarter finals Its only the top eight teams are seeded and then the process of which seeded teams go into which pool can be worked out from there. Example: 1/8-seeds in Pool A, 2/7 3/6, 4/5, etc!

Just to add to your thoughts on why this is an important game. This is from the IRB website considering the rankings. It basically says that a loss will put us into 5th place in the rankings. We NEED to win this one to keep the credibility of this team alive.

Whoever emerges victorious from the Rugby World Cup 2011 Final on Sunday will not only get to hold aloft the coveted Webb Ellis Cup at Eden Park but will also top the IRB World Rankings when they update the following day.
New Zealand have sat atop the rankings for the past 23 months and will continue to do so if they end their 24-year wait for a second title by beating France in the second RWC Final to be staged at Eden Park, even though victory over Les Bleus will result in only a small increase in their rating points.

VIEW THE FULL RANKINGS >>

The All Blacks increased their cushion over Australia in second to 4.85 points after ending the Wallabies’ hopes of a becoming the first nation to win the Rugby World Cup three times with a dominant display in a 20-6 semi-final victory last weekend.
That cushion will reduce if Australia bounce back from that disappointment by beating Wales in the Bronze Final on Friday, but tournament favourites New Zealand will not care about that if they can get their hands on the Webb Ellis Cup again with a second victory over France at RWC 2011.
However, if New Zealand fall at the final hurdle then France will mark their first ever RWC success with a new high in the rankings, having never been above second before. More than four years have passed since Les Bleus occupied that position.
France will top the IRB World Rankings with any margin of victory over New Zealand and become the first northern hemisphere nation to hold that position since then world champions England relinquished it in June 2004.
New Zealand, who have held the number one position for nearly 80 per cent of the time since the rankings were introduced in October 2003, could slip to third depending on the margin of defeat and the outcome of the Bronze Final.

Lowest ever positions
This would equal the lowest ever ranking for tournament hosts New Zealand, a position they occupied only briefly after Australia ended their RWC dreams for another four years at the semi-final stage in 2003.
For New Zealand to slip to third they must lose by more than 15 points and Australia or Wales win by the same margin in the Bronze Final, otherwise the All Blacks will remain second, ahead of the Wallabies by potentially as little as one-hundredth of a point.
France cannot slip below third even with a heavy loss and the disappointed Les Bleus could actually climb to second if Wales manage only a narrow win over the Wallabies, a result which would also see South Africa and the Welsh rise with Australia dropping to fifth.
Wales will return to fourth, the position they lost after the heartbreaking defeat by France last weekend, with a narrow win, but will climb to a new high of second if they finish with a victory by more than 15 points to also lift them above France and South Africa.
On the flip side, if Wales fail to repeat their third-place finish of the inaugural RWC in 1987 - when they beat Australia 22-21 - then the Dragons will slip below Ireland and Argentina to eighth in the rankings.
The IRB World Rankings update on Monday at 12:00 UK time (00:00 NZL time Tuesday).

 

[No4918]

Higgers deserved a better go after his XV season. I'd rather a player have a few consistent run on games than this chopping and changing. Some blokes have a blinder first go then underperdorm regularly and get retained (see samo, mccalman, rocky) while others are left not knowing where they stand and in looking to impress when they do get a sniff often fail. Shows another failure of Deans player management.

 

[Dai bando]

I cant say I watch too much Australian Rugby, S15 or TN, So cant comment on Players that have'nt been in the inner circle, But your biggest Problem is your front row, I never played in the front row, but enough of them have told me a lot of it is to do with Technique, So Why have you been so poor there for so long, This is not a criticism but, an observation, surely you have front row personel that can put this right,
Your Strength is your back line, Unfortunately The opposition will nto want to play to your strengths but , to theirs, to win without a forward platform is almost imposible, yet you do it with some consistency, look how much better you would be with a forward platform.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Higgers deserved a better go after his XV season. I'd rather a player have a few consistent run on games than this chopping and changing. Some blokes have a blinder first go then underperdorm regularly and get retained (see samo, mccalman, rocky) while others are left not knowing where they stand and in looking to impress when they do get a sniff often fail. Shows another failure of Deans player management.

I hope that it is only we the outsiders who are left not knowing where players stand.

In relation to the seedings or next RWC you have to take the view that your pool doesn matter: you have to be able to beat everyone. You have to realize that anyone could beat you. You have to be ruthless in order to make sure that doesn't happen. If you can't beat te ABs, for instance, in a 1/4 or even a pool, you ain't gonna win bill.

I don't see why the Wallabies deserve or need to be ranked higher than 5: in reality they have had a dismal year.
I think a ranking of 5 might tell them where they are really at.
If Rocky has 1 or 2 more good years in him then he should be left out of the spring tour: he is playing like a 35 year old. The flaw (a flaw, no doubt) in this is that he has had a shorter season in 2011 than most other Wibblies.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Cardiffblue]

Samo opposite Jamie Roberts? That would be fun. I know where I'd put my money on who would come better off.

I'm not even going to bother trying to make prediction on what the score might be for this game. It's a strange game to get up for after last week for both.

On paper I think the Australian backs look better balanced than earlier in tournament. Pocock is always dangerous. tight forwards not great but then are wales strong enough to exploit it?

Lot depends on Cooper. We'll see very soon. Hope the pub is lively.

 

[Dai bando]

Its time for Hook to redeem himself too,<<<< tight forwards not great but then are wales strong enough to exploit it?>>>>>, I think the Welsh forwards have played very well against very strong opposition this WC, will give OZ some problems in the tight me thinks.

 

[Richo]

Found this line in Wayne Smith's column for The Oz:

With Elsom and Radike Samo both registering low involvement numbers in the semi-final against the All Blacks last weekend, Higginbotham recognises he and number eight Ben McCalman have been presented with an opening.

Now, Wayne, where would you have gotten those numbers? Calculated them yourself, did you? I can only assume as much, since you don't credit anyone else. Surely you didn't lift them from this article without credit. That would be poor journalistic ethics, wouldn't it? Well, that would be, but it turns out that wasn't what happened... see below

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...nce-to-save-face/story-e6frg7o6-1226172263082

EDIT: After correspondence with Wayne Smith it is clear that an unfortunate instance of editing-down-now-that-the-Wobs-are-out occurred. Looks like some slightly careless sub-editing was responsible. Kudos to Wayne for his prompt and detailed response to my inquiry.

 

[Ruggo]

He writes for the Australian. He probably just made them up.

 

[barbarian]

I won't be so hard on Wayne, normally he's the only journo that acknowledges us when he steals from us. Unlike Messrs Harris, Pandaram and Growden.

 

[biggsy]

This team should have played last week,

Nick Phipps should be in the team not Burgess......He is gone next year so he shouldn't be there. Blood new scrum half's

15 reds made the squad and only 4-5 played decent amount of WC... Should have played then all and we would be playing on Sunday :fishing

 

[Braveheart81]

I would have said that Genia should have sat out this game and Burgess and Phipps should have played.

It might be Burgess' last test for Australia, but he has looked good in the limited opportunities he has had at the RWC and Genia has been well down on his form.

I don't agree with the sentiment that just because someone is leaving they shouldn't be picked. He hasn't left yet.

 

[biggsy]

I think its of waist time on someone that wont be playing next year. If phipps is the going to be the 2nd No 9 for the Wallabies, he should be the one getting more game not Burgees...
This kind of argument can go back and forth all day.

Burgess is always great scrum half but only for a short amount of time,

 

[fatprop]

I think its of waist time on someone that wont be playing next year. If phipps is the going to be the 2nd No 9 for the Wallabies, he should be the one getting more game not Burgees...
This kind of argument can go back and forth all day.

Burgess is always great scrum half but only for a short amount of time,

I would be very surprised if Phipps is the answer as back up in the short term.

 

[Loki74]

On paper I think the Australian backs look better balanced than earlier in tournament. Pocock is always dangerous. tight forwards not great but then are wales strong enough to exploit it?

Lot depends on Cooper. We'll see very soon. Hope the pub is lively.

If the forwards can at least achieve parity and none of the backs are having a Cooper, we should go ok.

 

[Richo]

I won't be so hard on Wayne, normally he's the only journo that acknowledges us when he steals from us. Unlike Messrs Harris, Pandaram and Growden.

I actually wrote to the sports editor noting the problem and received an email from Wayne a little while ago. His unedited version (which he sent to me) includes an additional paragraph in which he discusses the sparsity of back line moves and attributes G&GR with the analysis. He notes that one attribution per article is probably sufficient. Highly commendable from Wayne, I have to say, and I rescind my comments wholeheartedly. His subby, though, needs to show a little more care.