Australia Vs Argentina, September 13, Gold Coast

[KOB1987]

part of me is relieved that Link is backing his judgement and sticking with the same team bar TPN returning and forced changes..I think the decision to play McCalman is due to the fact that he is a much tighter player than Higgers and thus closer to the playing style of Palu and therefor a better balance with Hooper & Fardy, and also Higgers has been a revelation off the bench..McCalman was in good form over the Super season..

the other part of me says those two locks better fucking lift..

 

[Braveheart81]

At least it's only Tuesday.

 

[Pjmil]

I've always found McCalman to play looser, which is fine as we have enough plodders playing in tight. Though not as loose as Higgers who thinks he's playing the role of an edge back rower in league.

 

[chasmac]

I'm sorry wamberal but I can't agree.

I tend to be skeptical of talk of 'traditional roles' as it applies to the modern game. I tend to look at the unique attributes a player can bring to a team, and how that fits in with those around him.

Hooper has a running game unparalleled in Aussie rugby at the moment. He isn't a gun breakdown 7 (though he is still good), but we have Fardy who makes up for that with his skills, so it all fits.

Skelton isn't a lineout jumper, but he brings so much else around the field and the skills of those around him can compensate for this (Fardy and Palu especially). He gave us 14 points off his own bat against the French, how many lineouts can make up for that?

And I don't accept the criticism of his body height either, because he isn't being held up or knocked back in the tackle because of it. Running high actually works to his advantage as it makes him so much harder to bring down and gives him more time to stand in the tackle and get an offload away.

Skelton is never going to be John Eales, and we shouldn't try to turn Will into him.
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I thought Skelton didn't keep up to the pace of the game at Eden Park. His contribution ended up being poor as a result of the AB's playing around him.
If this is going to happen then he needs lineout skills so that he doesn't end up being a passenger.
He only started about 50% of the time for the Waratahs for similar reasons.
Lets hope he can evolve his lineout skills plus his speed around the park.
He needs to see Phipps' strength and conditioning coach.
Plus he needs to see a mate of mine called Murray Burke who in his day was a specialist non-jumping lineout guru.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Jeez I 'd hate to pack behind Slipper, if he's got the shits. Locks will be fighting each other to get behind Kepu

 

[bobdog]

'Knocker' Norton tells the story of his 'follow thru' inthe first scrum against the French. Cleared the field he said.

 

[barbarian]

I thought Skelton didn't keep up to the pace of the game at Eden Park. His contribution ended up being poor as a result of the AB's playing around him.

He came on in the 65th minute when we were down by 26 points. He wasn't great but I'm not sure how much you can take away when he comes on in such circumstances.
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[chasmac]

He came on in the 65th minute when we were down by 26 points. He wasn't great but I'm not sure how much you can take away when he comes on in such circumstances.
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The thing in common with Slipper and Hooper is speed. They are both relatively fast and they are both turning in good performances.

One of the weaknesses in the AB's from previous years was their halfback. They have turned it into a strength now with the emergence of Aaron Smith. He is consistently quick in everything he does.

Speed isn't everything but without it the players are struggling to make an impact in the phase play in this tournament.

Slowness leads to silly penalties, missed tackles, getting dominated in the tackle, lack of line bending etc.

 

[barbarian]

So we should pick our fastest locks then?

I'd suggest Carter and Simmons are both faster than Skelton but in reality neither have had much impact on the series so far.

 

[Hawko]

Interesting to see that Link has not addressed the biggest issue in the pack. The 4,5,6 selections are really not delivering the balance of running that the pack needs. We know Taf will give us another runner, but he can only be expected to give about 50 mins this week and his primary task is scrummaging. Given that we are running a 6:2 split again this week I would have had 4. Horwill, 5. Skelton, 6. Higginbotham, 8. McCalman to start this week with Carter, Fardy and Hodgson on the bench. Why?

• This week we need to strengthen the scrum rather than the lineout. You can have a dodgy lineout and still win but its infinitely harder for a team with a scrum back-pedalling to bring home the bikkies. Penalties and penalty tries are much harder to cover. So our two biggest locks should start and our best scrummaging front row.
• Horwill, Higgers and McCalman are the three jumpers with Hooper and Skelton as the surprise packets (worked OK for the Tahs this season).
• Skelton is told to empty the tank - replaced by Carter at 45-50. Fardy replaces Higgers at 60 and Hodgson replaces Horwill at 65.

So that's what we should have done. What we did instead was to reward Simmons for a yellow card and five of the dumbest penalties imaginable in two weeks. It devalues the jersey. We kept a lock pairing that has threatened no one, resulting in a substantial weakening of our scrum and ball-running options. We still might win and Link is definitely a better selector than Deans, but he has not directly addressed the biggest issues with the team performance so far in the RC. Its got me worried.

 

[chasmac]

I think the 3 best locks are in the 23 and that each of them are struggling to make an impact like Whitlock, Retallick or Etzebeth.
Skeltons debut was excellent, but the French allowed him to play a good game. Same for Carter's debut.
This weekend is a huge opportunity given that the argies are bottom of the table. However they sound like they are playing well, particularly in the forwards.
I really want to see Skelton improve like Phipps has. Then he will demand selection.
Also can we get another 20% from Simmons, Carter and Horwill so that we can match the #1 and #2 sides in the world.

 

[Train Without a Station]

So Simmons penalty count has grown from 4 to 5? Will be 10 by Saturday.

 

[barbarian]

Skeltons debut was excellent, but the French allowed him to play a good game.

Ahh so it wasn't Skelton playing a great game, it was the French allowing him to play so well.

So did Kuridrani have a belter on Saturday, or was it the Boks allowing him to do well?

I understand your point, but the way I see it Skelton provides a valuable point of difference in his carrying and offloading ability, and I think he should be in there somewhere.
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[Joe Blow]

Carter has gone backwards since his debut. He doesn't fit the enforcer type lock role. If we persist with Simmons(which it appears that Link is going to do come hell or high water) then we need Horwill or Skelton there to balance the ledger, and a 6 and 8 that can contribute in the line out.
Not feeling great about our prospects in the forwards 12 months out from the RWC. The mix is wrong. We may scrape home against the Pumas with this pack but I doubt they have the improvement in them to become the best.

 

[chasmac]

Ahh so it wasn't Skelton playing a great game, it was the French allowing him to play so well.

So did Kuridrani have a belter on Saturday, or was it the Boks allowing him to do well?

I understand your point, but the way I see it Skelton provides a valuable point of difference in his carrying and offloading ability, and I think he should be in there somewhere.
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Kuridrani stepped up. I would like to know more about his opposite number so that I could fully judge his performance.
And, the French surrendered down under in June 2014, they didn't have the appetite for an away series. I thought they were poor.

 

[Gnostic]

Interesting that Skelton was able to depower the Sharks & Crusader maul with such bad technique, against those rated the worlds best locks.

I cannot see the love for Simmons. The sheer stupidity of the penalties and their consistency is the biggest downside IMO, closely followed by the "lineout general" failing utterly to exert any pressure at all on opposition throws and not being assured of clean ball on Wallabies throws. To continue is folly.

 

[chasmac]

Fair call Gnostic. None of our locks are consistently dominating in virtually any aspect of play.
Skelton looks like he might be able to have some dominant ball carries but he was nullified last start when he attracted the defense before getting the ball.
Who do you suggest Gnostic?

 

[chasmac]

I cannot see the love for Simmons.

Not here, I love Vickerman.

 

[I like to watch]

I think the biggest problem we have,is we have a handful of locks all around the same level.
Unfortunately that level appears to be below that of a strong Test performer.
We will see heaps of criticisms of the two selected locks each week,no matter who they are.

 

[Gnostic]

Fair call Gnostic. None of our locks are consistently dominating in virtually any aspect of play.
Skelton looks like he might be able to have some dominant ball carries but he was nullified last start when he attracted the defense before getting the ball.
Who do you suggest Gnostic?

The problem as Barbarian has posted above is one of balance.

Skelton doesn't fit because lets face it neither Simmons nor Carter have been fulfilling their primary role at the lineout as it is. To compound that failure they are also failing around the field, and barely holding the scrum.

Since that is the case try something different, because the issue with Simmons in particular has rarely been different with regards to the lack of general play impact and the stupid penalties and how many tests has he played to learn the craft at test level.

In all honesty I would be prepared to concede the lineout as it stands (which we virtually have, it offers no competition to the opposition as its stands anyway) and select Skelton in any event and use him properly standing at 2 offering that short ball option that would have to be guarded. The select Horwill/Carter as the other lock and Higgers & McCalman in the backrow to balance. Replace McCalman with Fardy and move Higgers to 8 and the balance is pretty much maintained.

I could also opine about the lack of foresight in Australian Rugby with regard to player retention and selection of the medium term has directly led to this issue.