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Bledisloe II @ Eden Park

Tomikin

David Codey (61)
Nah it will be just Cheik's fault
In the end his the head coach, and on the big bucks, its his fault when we lose and his glory when we win, he just managed to smack the All Blacks in Perth beat the Argies, which is fair effort after the first match I thought we could go 0 and 4 or 1 in 4.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
In the end his the head coach, and on the big bucks, its his fault when we lose and his glory when we win, he just managed to smack the All Blacks in Perth beat the Argies, which is fair effort after the first match I thought we could go 0 and 4 or 1 in 4.


Except plenty of people have been keen to lay plaudits on the selection panel for improving the selections.
 

Joe Blow

John Hipwell (52)
Except plenty of people have been keen to lay plaudits on the selection panel for improving the selections.
Well I think they can take a bit of the credit for that. I’m guessing JOC (James O'Connor) at 13 comes from Johnson through Berne. Ditto for White starting.
One would think that with 3 selectors that there is a clear majority regarding most selections and that Cheika no longer has the right to veto the other two.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Well I think they can take a bit of the credit for that. I’m guessing JOC (James O'Connor) at 13 comes from Johnson through Berne. Ditto for White starting.
One would think that with 3 selectors that there is a clear majority regarding most selections and that Cheika no longer has the right to veto the other two.


I think they can certainly take some credit for it. It's a good system and one we should have probably put in years ago. Having more senior support for our head coach rather than less seems like a good plan.

I think the underlying point though is that if the Wallabies do wheel out a whole bunch of changes, that same assumption that it is what the selection panel as a whole thinks should happen has to be continue.
 

BDA

Jim Lenehan (48)
What possible advantage is there to bringing in AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)?


I was using him as an example of someone who hasn't had any game time yet in the Rugby Championship. If you're asking what is the possible advantage of rotating players ahead of a world cup, ask the coaches.
 

BDA

Jim Lenehan (48)
I'd honestly be surprised if we saw Foley selected on Saturday. He got some good game time against South Africa and the coaches already know what he offers. Rotating White and Genia I'm not too fussed about because I think both are in good form. But If I had to wager a guess I'd say we'll see 10.Lilo 12.Kerevi 13.JOC (James O'Connor) again.

I would think there is a big question mark over Arnold's selection. By all accounts he's a bit banged up after the game and given that he's played a lot of minutes this year. I would have expected him to be rotated. If he's left out of the 23 all together I think our chances of winning on Saturday are significantly worse.
 

Brumbieman

Dick Tooth (41)
There's 2-3 games left to go ffs - you need a settled team!

We aren't the World Number 1's looking to build depth - we're just trying to win some bloody games!

Look at NZ from 2004 onwards - in any given team there were only ever a few new/experimental/depth building selections, 2/3 of the team were locked in even if they were shit in Super Rugby (Nonu). The AB's were a TEAM, not a squad with a random matchday 23.
 

KOB1987

John Eales (66)
Listening to the Rugby Ruckus podcast, just a few takeaway points:
- Arnold looked pretty crocked on the plane home. Reckon he'll get the weekend off.
- JOC (James O'Connor) has some serious defensive issues at 13
- Turinui singled out a defensive play that he thought was mammoth. It was about 33 minutes in on an All Blacks lineout - they switched the defensive structure to a blitz, outside in approach, versus the usual soak defence, and it barrelled them.
- it's going to be raining on Saturday in Auckland

So based on that I reckon there will be some changes - at the least I'd say Coleman will be starting and I reckon TK will be back at 13. There's then probably some merit in having LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto), Jones and Pocock all in the 23, rather than bringing Simmons back in.
 

KOB1987

John Eales (66)
Oh I agree, but you watch..

If there are changes I think you need to look at them on their merit rather than having an instantaneous meltdown.

Having heard the podcast I am expecting there to be a few strategic tweaks based on injuries, the wet weather forecast, and that we will take a more defensive approach to this game. We played a few jokers in the last game and they'll be coming up with counterplays, they're usually pretty good at that.
 

Dan54

David Wilson (68)
Absolutely. I'm amazed at how many non rugby friends have been talking about the first game and claiming that they will be watching the second. It's been a long time since I've seen this kind of hype about our game. Apart from that we only have one other game before the WC so building combinations would seem to be a higher priority than tinkering at this point.

Funny you say that Silver, I have found same thing at work, suddenly people who never watch the game are all wired up for this weekend. I actually think it works a bit in NZ, as Eden Park sold out , as it seems everyone wants to get excited and have a test that we don't really know who will win. And regardless of what some are saying in here (mainly for the mocker gods I reckon), I do not actually think it guaranteed the ABs will automatically bounce back, Wallabies went bloody well last week and will be more than prepared for any backlash!
 

Derpus

Nathan Sharpe (72)
Funny you say that Silver, I have found same thing at work, suddenly people who never watch the game are all wired up for this weekend. I actually think it works a bit in NZ, as Eden Park sold out , as it seems everyone wants to get excited and have a test that we don't really know who will win. And regardless of what some are saying in here (mainly for the mocker gods I reckon), I do not actually think it guaranteed the ABs will automatically bounce back, Wallabies went bloody well last week and will be more than prepared for any backlash!
Its almost as if the essence of sport is competition and having one team that wins 95% of their games is uninteresting?
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
I expect we'll see some changes but hopefully not a raft of changes.

I'd like to see us stick with the same starting XV and tinker with the bench with Pocock replacing Jones, and Foley and Petaia replacing To'omua and Banks.

I think there'll probably be a few more changes than that. Arnold seems like the player most likely to be rested due to being a bit banged up but he's also so vital for us given his form. I'd be tempted to push him through with an eye to him only playing 45 or 50 minutes knowing that after this he doesn't need to play again until 21 September.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Although if Coleman can put in a 60 minute shift of the quality of his minutes on Saturday, it will at least go some way to cover Arnold being out.


Absolutely. He was huge off the bench particularly in defence. A couple of his rush tackles where he absolutely swamped the ball carrier preventing any chance of a pass were brilliant.

I was super impressed. I have made numerous posts writing off his chances of going to the RWC but that cameo put him firmly in the frame and a strong chance of being in our best 23.
 
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