Australia v New Zealand - Sydney 16 Aug

[Tomikin]

With a guy Fardy as your 6 Hooper provides better balance as Fardys a breakdown pest

 

[Viking]

With a guy Fardy as your 6 Hooper provides better balance as Fardys a breakdown pest

Unless Higginbotham finds some form. (he arguably has the most potential) A back-row of Higgers, Pocock, Palu could be just as good as Fardy, Hooper, Palu. The ball-running you lose with Pocock over Hooper you gain with Higgers over Fardy. Next year will be interesting.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Fardy plays a much much tighter game than Higgers

 

[boyo]

Unless Higginbotham finds some form. (he arguably has the most potential) A back-row of Higgers, Pocock, Palu could be just as good as Fardy, Hooper, Palu. The ball-running you lose with Pocock over Hooper you gain with Higgers over Fardy. Next year will be interesting.

Nah, he'll be too busy giving penalties away.

 

[A mutterer]

Nah, he'll be too busy giving penalties away.

bit hard to find opportunities to give away penalties out on the wing.

 

[Train Without a Station]

You make a good comment about the balance Seb. I personally favour Fardy and Hooper because they are a bit more versatile in how they play. Fardy obviously isn't as good a wider runner as Higgers but has done it well.

But you're point that Higgers/Pocock could be just as good or better than Fardy/Hooper is a fair point. could be somewhat of "The prototypes" vs "the naturals", with Pocock and Higginbotham being physically superior players certainly.

 

[Richo]

Fardy isn't going to be around forever and could decline quite quickly, given his age. Higgers is 3 years younger, so he'll likely be in the mix for some time to come. Certainly I think he has the talent to hold the 6 jersey for some time to come.

 

[boyo]

bit hard to find opportunities to give away penalties out on the wing.

He'll find a way.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I'm with Mutterer from earlier in the thread about why the Kiwi fans don't rate Hooper. His game has come on in leaps and bounds in the last 12 months, to the point that most scribes had him playing openside in a world XV at the end of last year. He has then carried on in Super rugby and the French series. At this stage of his career I don't know how much more he could be doing to demonstrate his quality. Whether this is enough against the top two teams in the world remains to be seen, but in 2014 he has been immense.

There isn't any real point in talking about Pocock either. He's crocked and may never get back to his previous best. If he does it'll be a great problem to have, but right now it's totally academic. There isn't an openside in the country who is better than Hoops IMHO and that's the end of it.

 

[Bairdy]

Confirmation of the forward pack it seems (2:30)

Slipper
Charles
Kepu
Simmons
Tyro
SMF
Hooper
Palu

 

[KOB1987]

I don't think there are too many expecting a surprise selection in the forward pack, but that said I'm sure they pack down in the scrum machine with combinations other than the starting XV..

 

[Slim 293]

Fardy isn't going to be around forever and could decline quite quickly, given his age. Higgers is 3 years younger, so he'll likely be in the mix for some time to come. Certainly I think he has the talent to hold the 6 jersey for some time to come.

Whether or not he can apply that talent is another matter...........

He could find himself being surpassed by other backrowers before Fardy's gone.........

 

[Pfitzy]

Fardy isn't going to be around forever and could decline quite quickly, given his age. Higgers is 3 years younger, so he'll likely be in the mix for some time to come. Certainly I think he has the talent to hold the 6 jersey for some time to come.

Talent yes.

Brain? Hmmm

 

[wamberal]

Higginbum does not seem to have the work ethic required for a top-flight 6.

 

[Athilnaur]

Wamberal you are channeling Bob Dwyer. I'm a huge fan of 2013 Higgers and as confused as anyone about his efforts this year. My suspicion is that he has a dose of ttitus. Given Ewen should know better than most how to get the best out of him, I wonder if Higgers has managed to do enough in squad to overtake McCalman?

i like a 6 or 8 that is a threat ball in hand as it can put a defense into disarray and create opportunity for others. For mine an inform Higgers will bring us more, even more so if Fardy can't play 6.

 

[BDA]

Slipper
Charles
Kepu
Simmons
Tyro
SMF
Hooper
Palu

I like the look of that pack. its a shame neither TPN nor Moore could play. That Carter/Fardy combo is one of the partnerships that makes the Brumbies such a tough beast. Both guys do a tonne of work in tight quarters.

Palu and Hooper are in as good form as their All Black counterparts at the moment so the backrow battle should be competitive. No TPN/Moore means that we lose one of our main ball runners, so we are going to need a lot of work from Slipper, Kepu and Alexander around the field. It's a shame Sio wasn't available because he is a genuine ball running option off the bench.

On paper the All Blacks should have it over us in the second row department. With that said if there is one area that Simo is world class its in the line-outs. I wouldn't count out a few line-out steals on home soil. If nothing else he'll make sure he win the majority of our line-out ball, provided Charles can throw straight.

Shitloads of pressure on Charles. If he's poor the Wallabies will lose. He was presumably chosen for his set piece work. He has to perform well in those areas if he's gonna be a genuine option going forward.

 

[lpd]

Charles is a very good defender, and pretty quick too if i recall his try against the Crusaders a number of years ago

 

[RugbyReg]

Charles is a very good defender, and pretty quick too if i recall his try against the Crusaders a number of years ago

Hodgo's try?

 

[Brumbieman]

Honestly, comparing Hooper and Pocock directly is a bit of an exercise in futility for what it's worth to me. They're extremely different in the way they play and each has proven merits to their play-style.

I do think that Pocock can have a greater impact as an individual, though. Whether or not he can do the things he used to do is a huge question but he literally fucking broke other teams with his turnovers in the past.

I can't think of another player in world rugby right now that's still playing who has ever had the one-man influence at the ruck that Pocock has/did other than Richie and even then I'd back Pocock in a 1-on-1 at the ruck.

On the whole though I think Hooper contributes more to a team which is already playing relatively well. He offers far more options on attack with his speed, footwork and ability to "play heavy" in contact while still being a more than serviceable flanker from a defensive perspective (RJ, if you're reading this, piss off).

George Smith.

 

[Richo]

Whether or not he can apply that talent is another matter.....

He could find himself being surpassed by other backrowers before Fardy's gone...

Talent yes.

Brain? Hmmm

Yup. Higgers is one of the most frustrating players in Australia, IMO.