End of Year Tour 2012

[BDA]

I think that's right; it's boring by virtue of the fact that so many fringe squad members have now become familiar faces in the wallabies team this year.

It's quite a decent looking squad in my opinion, which is a welcome surprise given the talent we have on the side line. Some of those guys are 4th, even 5th choice for their respective position, yet there is not really anyone on this list that I see as an obvious weak link. In past years we've had guys like Mafu, Mumm, Brown, etc regularly gettign a spot in the 22 on these tours and so I can only reach the conclusion that the quality of our squad has improved. To think of the players like Genia, Cooper, O'Connor, Horwill, Palmer, McCalman, Fainga'a, Shipperly, Tomane, Horne, Morahan sitting at home shows some depth in our squad.

A few thoughts:
- I'm actually glad to see Simo on tour. A lot of people feel as though he hasn't taken his opportunities and should be disguarded but im not one of those people. He's only 23 and already has good experience at test level. He's great in the line out, and has a good partnership with Horwill. He could potentially play two more world cups so I think he should be kept in the wallabies fold. He does need to up his game to continue to be selected but he should be given a chance to do so.
- Would have been nice to see Pyle and Neville in the squad but I think it's fair to say that they are not in the top 4 available locks.
- Higgers being left out is a blow to him personally. If Dennis can lift his game he might oust him as the encumbant 6 (if you can consider Higger the incumbent).

 

[daz]

My abiding memory of the Irish game was how we continually ran high into the tackle, then the Irish ganged up and by keeping the ball carrier on his feet, drove him back, time and time again.

I also recall the Irish rushing up so quickly that Genia was box kicking all day.

Sorry, off topic a bit. If I keep thinking about it, that game still makes me want to break furniture.

 

[Braveheart81]

My abiding memory of the Irish game was how we continually ran high into the tackle, then the Irish ganged up and by keeping the ball carrier on his feet, drove him back, time and time again.

I also recall the Irish rushing up so quickly that Genia was box kicking all day.

Sorry, off topic a bit. If I keep thinking about it, that game still makes me want to break furniture.

I had a recurring nightmare afterwards of someone screaming MAUL at me over and over again.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

and all those scrum penaltys which days later turned out not to be!!

 

[kiap]

Maybe it really is a 32 man squad, but they'll fly over: (i) H'bum; and (ii) Speight; in the 2nd week.

Deans lets his countrymen get over their preciousness on: (i) Ritchie blagging; and (ii) PI poaching.

 

[Swat]

Is Speight eligible yet?

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

My abiding memory of the Irish game was how we continually ran high into the tackle, then the Irish ganged up and by keeping the ball carrier on his feet, drove him back, time and time again.

I also recall the Irish rushing up so quickly that Genia was box kicking all day.

Sorry, off topic a bit. If I keep thinking about it, that game still makes me want to break furniture.

Being at the ground surrounded by laughing Kiwis and Irishman is my abiding memory. What a shit time I had

 

[Braveheart81]

Being at the ground surrounded by laughing Kiwis and Irishman is my abiding memory. What a shit time I had

My friends who travelled over for the game found solace in a place called The White House after the match.

 

[mudskipper]

Is Speight eligible yet?

Doesn’t look like Deans is taking many outside backs, looks to be relying on ACC to play utility once again... I'd be very surprised if Speight doesnt make the Wallabies next year if his Brumbies form continues... I think Cummins is lucky this year to get a shot, in gold...

 

[Dan54]

The odd thing is, all the arguments over no7s and the WC last year, I don't actually think any of the top teams had specialist back up no 7s.

 

[mudskipper]

Phipps did OK, Stannard solid on a wet pitch...

 

[Scoey]

The odd thing is, all the arguments over no7s and the WC last year, I don't actually think any of the top teams had specialist back up no 7s.

I don't think they did either Dan, but I think the difference was our game relied heavily on having an effective pilfering no 7. Most other nations don't seem to share the same fascination or love affair that we seem to with these 'on-ballers".

 

[Braveheart81]

I don't think they did either Dan, but I think the difference was our game relied heavily on having an effective pilfering no 7. Most other nations don't seem to share the same fascination or love affair that we seem to with these 'on-ballers".

I think the truth is somewhere in between. Pocock is one of our best players (and certainly at the RWC was our best player). When you consider how far below him the next best 7 was, we were always going to struggle without him.

I don't know that our game revolved around having an effective pilfering 7 so much as it relied on Pocock being one of the most dominant players on the field.

Regardless of whether a specialist 7 replaced Pocock, we were never going to have the ascendency at the breakdown that we had with Pocock.

 

[fatprop]

I think that's right; it's boring by virtue of the fact that so many fringe squad members have now become familiar faces in the wallabies team this year.

It's quite a decent looking squad in my opinion, which is a welcome surprise given the talent we have on the side line. Some of those guys are 4th, even 5th choice for their respective position, yet there is not really anyone on this list that I see as an obvious weak link. In past years we've had guys like Mafu, Mumm, Brown, etc regularly gettign a spot in the 22 on these tours and so I can only reach the conclusion that the quality of our squad has improved. To think of the players like Genia, Cooper, O'Connor, Horwill, Palmer, McCalman, Fainga'a, Shipperly, Tomane, Horne, Morahan sitting at home shows some depth in our squad.

A few thoughts:
- I'm actually glad to see Simo on tour. A lot of people feel as though he hasn't taken his opportunities and should be disguarded but im not one of those people. He's only 23 and already has good experience at test level. He's great in the line out, and has a good partnership with Horwill. He could potentially play two more world cups so I think he should be kept in the wallabies fold. He does need to up his game to continue to be selected but he should be given a chance to do so.
- Would have been nice to see Pyle and Neville in the squad but I think it's fair to say that they are not in the top 4 available locks.
- Higgers being left out is a blow to him personally. If Dennis can lift his game he might oust him as the encumbant 6 (if you can consider Higger the incumbent).

Simmons has the opportunity to become our "go to" mobile LH lock as Sharpe retires. IF he improves his accuracy and workrate

 

[Lee Grant]

Is Speight eligible yet?

According to the Canberra Times he became eligible in August 2012.


I'm disappointed not because of individuals named but because there were only 30 of them. As Braveheart mentioned, this indicates that there will be no midweek games to add to the 4 test matches.

A 5th prop, Ryan, gets to tour because of the requirement to have the extra player in a matchday squad of 23 qualified to play in the front row; so he will be just one injury away from that.

I understand the choice of Simmons instead of others who haven't played or undergone heavy training for a while. It's not as though I thought he should stay at home because he was a dud. It's just that he has had a good run of selections and a midweek match or two could have brought someone like Pyle up to speed; but that won't be happening.

As others have indicated: 3 specialist flankers is over-egging the pudding but Dennis, Samo and Palu should be able to cover 6 and 8.

I would have left Pocock at home to make a bird of his recovery because the squad is at risk with only 2 scrummies in it. What happens if Phipps or Sheehan are injured and there's not enough time to fly somebody over? And it's not as though players don't get injured in the warm up.

The easy sentence to write would be to have Burgess at the ground just in case but good luck with Toulouse making him available, though they could do it against France just to give the FFR the shits.

There is a chance that fellows who are 3rd string could be available - like Berry of Wasps and Phibbs of Leicester, though they have played little rugby this year and may be injured.

I would have taken McKibbin instead of Pocock as insurance.
.

 

[DPK]

...the squad is at risk because they have only 2 scrummies in it. What happens if Phipps or Sheehan are injured and there's not enough time to fly somebody over? And it's not as though players don't get injured in the warm up.

The easy sentence to write would be to have Burgess at the ground just in case, but good luck with Toulouse making him available though they could do it against France just to give the FFR the shits.

There is a chance that fellows who are not first string could be available - like Berry of Wasps and Phibbs of Leicester, though they have played little rugby this year and may be injured.

I would have taken McKibbin instead of Pocock as insurance.
.

Burgess has been out of the setup for a while. Drafting him into the squad on gameday would be ugly.

 

[Braveheart81]

If we did lose a halfback in the warmup, it's really hard to know who the backup would be.

It's not like we have a lot of ball players in the backline. Giteau and JOC (James O'Connor) spring to mind in recent years but they're not there.

Benn Robinson as third choice scrum half?

Realistically it would probably have to be Barnes in the event of an emergency.

 

[Scoey]

Are we really that upset that there's no mid-week games? There's been a glut of posts on this site over the last 12 months or more that our boys are playing to much Rugby. After an extended S15 (incl 4 test window in 3 weeks) plus extended TRC I don't think the lack of mid-week games is worth getting upset over.

 

[DPK]

Benn Robinson as third choice scrum half?

Adam Ashley-Cooper. That way he'll just need to play 10 to have the full house of backline caps.

 

[Braveheart81]

Adam Ashley-Cooper. That way he'll just need to play 10 to have the full house of backline caps.

It would be an interesting spectacle to pick a guy who barely passes to play halfback.

It could become a bit like NFL with a team who just uses their running back.