England v Australia

[Train Without a Station]

There's a chance that Cheika does not think QC (Quade Cooper) is ready for 80 minutes. I don't.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Foley dropped this week - Cheika can see what we all see its a question whether he thinks Foley is to blame, or there's another cause or he doesn't think QC (Quade Cooper) can be exposed yet.
Maybe he learned something with To'omua and he's solved the 12 issue and now he can turn to the 10 issue.
I don't see how you can blame him for sticking with the incumbent: he's not in quite the position Shaggs Hansen was in when he took over. In some ways he needs to isolate the changes to understand their impact.

Have I advocated selecting anybody else? I've merely noted that in 3 test matches he's hardly looked at the alternative. In fact he played him out of position in one and didn't he not even play him in another?

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Have I advocated selecting anybody else? I've merely noted that in 3 test matches he's hardly looked at the alternative. In fact he played him out of position in one and didn't he not even play him in another?

Whats the point of the complaint if not to advocate for someone else's selection?

 

[fatprop]

I expect very few non injury based changes for this week.

People were doing their jobs and stuck to their jobs, even Jones who had a mare early, stuck to it and did some good work as the game progressed.

 

[Joe Blow]

Tomane in for AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).
Cooper at 5/8, Horne and Foley on the bench.
Horwill onto the bench for Skelton (set piece is paramount against the poms).
Beale out of the 23.
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) at 13 if Kuridrani is out.

Will be happy to see this season finish. Hopefully we'll have more success next year. Cheika will be under major pressure if the wallabies lose this game. Unfortunately i can see another stuttering performance this weekend and another close loss

I don't think so. He had no input into the squad or the way they were playing before jumping on the plane.
Link really dropped the ball and left us down the crapper. Cheika had the balls to take the reins where many would not have.
Even if we do lose on the weekend Cheika should not be judged too harshly.
We could easily have been undefeated so far on tour if we had a couple of bounces go our way.

 

[Gillys_ghost]

I don't think so. He had no input into the squad or the way they were playing before jumping on the plane.
Link really dropped the ball and left us down the crapper. Cheika had the balls to take the reins where many would not have.
Even if we do lose on the weekend Cheika should not be judged too harshly.
We could easily have been undefeated so far on tour if we had a couple of bounces go our way.

Maybe, but we didn't get the bounces and we weren't the better team against the french or the Irish. If we lose on the weekend that's 3 consecutive losses, and i don't remember the last time that happened. I don't care if cheikas a new coach, i wont be calling for his head or anything ridiculous, but he will be accountable, as will the players. I'm not going to settle for mediocrity and accept close losses against any NH sides, we didnt under robbie, we didnt under link and I'm certainly not going to under Cheika.

 

[rugbysmartarse]

I think everyone needs to keep in mind that there is a team of coaching staff reviewing and assessing players all week at training, and they probably have more info to go off than us seeing a 15 minute cameo in a game situation. The team isn't what I would choose, but then again, I don't have all the data.

 

[Joe Blow]

Cheika will be judged on our performance at the RWC and rightly so.

Hopefully he will have most of his players available for the RC leading up to it. There are good signs there and with some work here and there I reckon we will be right back at around 2 in the world and have a shot at the RWC.

 

[Joe Blow]

But the decision to bring Beale over was a very poor one on many levels.
He can take responsibility for that one now.

 

[Pfitzy]

he's not feared by opposition defense coaches like Quade is.

What twaddle.

Such a useful statement by Sully there.

Also keep in mind that while Quade has been going well coming off the bench, Foley was absolutely killing it off the bench against NZ. So its very hard to judge these things.

Also if Quade's forward pack is getting killed, or Genia's service continues to be poor, its not going to matter if opposition coaches are browning the trou over him - you're not winning rugby games regardless.

Shame my recording failed to kick off. I'd like to look at this game.

 

[wamberal]

As to the merits of the alternative fly-halves, I would simply say that if we go into a World Cup in the NH with a forward pack that is able to break even, at best, we simply HAVE to have at least one player who can gain territory with a kick out of hand.

A penalty to us is worth 20 metres less territory to us, than it is to most of our opponents.

It is not easy to give that sort of advantage to a good opponent, and still manage to win,

Goal kicking also needs to be as good as it possibly can be, we are not so wonderful that we can afford to neglect these bread and butter aspects of the game.

 

[Tangawizi]

Such a useful statement by Sully there.

Also keep in mind that while Quade has been going well coming off the bench, Foley was absolutely killing it off the bench against NZ. So its very hard to judge these things.

Also if Quade's forward pack is getting killed, or Genia's service continues to be poor, its not going to matter if opposition coaches are browning the trou over him - you're not winning rugby games regardless.

Shame my recording failed to kick off. I'd like to look at this game.

It's only twaddle coming out of the blue camp. I've given references above of Gatland and Meyer saying Cooper is one they fear. But try googling "Bernard Foley Fear" and see how many results like that you can find.

But back to actually talking about the match rather than if someone is "feared" or not.

I actually thought Skelton was a lot better this weekend and Cheika will probably stick with him but got to pray there are no scrums while he's on the field. In fact, no scrums all match would be great for us.

 

[Sully]

Such a useful statement by Sully there.

Also keep in mind that while Quade has been going well coming off the bench, Foley was absolutely killing it off the bench against NZ. So its very hard to judge these things.

Also if Quade's forward pack is getting killed, or Genia's service continues to be poor, its not going to matter if opposition coaches are browning the trou over him - you're not winning rugby games regardless.

Shame my recording failed to kick off. I'd like to look at this game.

I was referring to the imaginary Foley hate by Reds fans. A completely false statement.

 

[ACT Crusader]

An opposition coach tells media they fear player X is code for put as much public pressure on player X because player X has been known to crack under pressure before....

 

[Braveheart81]

I agree that Cooper should start this weekend because I think his form looks pretty good and I'd like to see what our shape looks like with him starting.

Trying to say that opposition coaches fear him seems to be a stretch though. If Cooper was in his best form sure, he'd absolutely be a player the opposition would have to focus on closely as is the case with any 10. It's a leap to suggest that he's close to his best form though. He hasn't played enough rugby lately to provide a reasonable insight that that is the case.

ACT Crusader is right though. Opposition coaches will focus attention on certain players in the media if they think that focus might put them off their game.

 

[chasmac]

Think this game will be won up front.
Seems most posters want to keep the same pack as last week.
Most comments are on who plays where in the backline.
Are we rearranging deckchairs?

 

[BDA]

I don't think so. He had no input into the squad or the way they were playing before jumping on the plane.
Link really dropped the ball and left us down the crapper. Cheika had the balls to take the reins where many would not have.
Even if we do lose on the weekend Cheika should not be judged too harshly.
We could easily have been undefeated so far on tour if we had a couple of bounces go our way.

But we are not undefeated. In fact when we lose this weekend, it will go down as our worst EOYT in a long, long time. We lost two games that we clearly had the players to win. Two teams we put to the sword under Link. Cheika should feel pressure. 2 out of 4 tests would have been a pass mark. 1 out of 4 is a disaster.

I realise he has been put in a tough situation but he chose to except the position. So far he's failing to make any positive impact.

A lot of people were calling for Cheika to replace Link, like he was the bloke that could get the most out of this team. So far I'm not seeing it. Cheika was tactically beaten on the weekend. His decision to bring Beale into the squad was horrible. He'll no doubt continue to choose Beale, even though he is not worthy of selection

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

To consistently beat the top five sides you've got to win in the tough stuff. There is no way we can beat England this week without every one of our pack aiming up and smashing their opposition number. The set piece battle will be crucial, because firstly we want to give our backline as much serviceable and clean ball as we can and secondly, we don't want to be leaking points from a creaking scrum or lineout. Beating England is hard enough as it is without making it unnecessarily difficult. We're going to have focus on a continuation of the current game plan, which is quick ball from breakdown and passing the ball out in front of runners hitting the line at pace. It's going to require relentless concentration and accuracy until we can hopefully break down the English defence and provide the space and time needed to score. Most of all, because England have a way of grinding oppositions down, we're going to have to be patient.

 

[Train Without a Station]

But we are not undefeated. In fact when we lose this weekend, it will go down as our worst EOYT in a long, long time. We lost two games that we clearly had the players to win. Two teams we put to the sword under Link. Cheika should feel pressure. 2 out of 4 tests would have been a pass mark. 1 out of 4 is a disaster.

The biggest failure if that is the case will be what has been taken out of the tour?

That two injury-forced replacements at 6 have struggled? McCalman has performed well against NH teams. I think I knew that about 4 years ago though.

What is known about the Wallabies now, that wasn't at Bledisloe 3? Very little.

So a 25% winning tour could result in knowing that 2 players aren't quite ready.

 

[MrTabua]

And only 3 TRC games to go after England until World Rugby Rugby World Cup? Let's hope Super Rugby does wonderful things for Wallaby selections.

 

[BDA]

I'm sorry but I've stepped off the Chieka bandwagon. After we lose next week that wagon will be a mere blip on the horizon.

The fact that Beale got a chance ahead of Godwin is an embarrassment on so many levels.