England v Wallabies, Twickenham, Sun 10th Nov 2:10AEDT / 1:10AEST

[KOB1987]

Schmidt has gone too defeatist at this one. He is doing a Rennie ie sacrificing this game in the hope of winning Wales and Scotland. I'm NOT impressed at all.

Has he though? The incumbent 12 is unavailable and all the other options are 2nd graders, and Pietsch has arguably looked the best of all the players vying for the now open 11 jersey. Outside those it’s pretty much the same team he has been rolling out so I’m guessing it’s all about building continuity. Skelton will be there come the Lions and it’s probably more important to get test minutes into the legs of the other lock options than risk the only world class one without getting a chance to acclimatize him with the new systems.

 

[fatprop]

Sure, but JS has been with the Wallabies since they were in Australia and needs to have his debut some time, so just rip the band aid off.

I also don't know how match fit Samu is (I dont know if he's played in any of the Japanese trials?) whereas JS finished NRL then came straight over.

Agreed, but my concerns will be how much NRL is still in his DNA, especially higher tackle lines and defensive reads at 13 against multiple runners under pressure

 

[Yoda]

Has he though? The incumbent 12 is unavailable and all the other options are 2nd graders, and Pietsch has arguably looked the best of all the players vying for the now open 11 jersey. Outside those it’s pretty much the same team he has been rolling out so I’m guessing it’s all about building continuity. Skelton will be there come the Lions and it’s probably more important to get test minutes into the legs of the other lock options than risk the only world class one without getting a chance to acclimatize him with the new systems.

Stewart a ‘second grader’ ? Garbage.

 

[stillmissit]

I suspect that Schmidt had a close look at them and decided their day is over.

In which case I would sack him immediately if he did not understand whether they still capable international players. In which case he wasted 2 spots in the squad. So to answer you Nah!

 

[wamberal99]

In which case I would sack him immediately if he did not understand whether they still capable international players. In which case he wasted 2 spots in the squad. So to answer you Nah!

He is entitled to change his mind, surely? We are locked into Schmidt.......I doubt even you could sack him.

 

[Wilson]

Great to see we've reached the "Red headgear is the problem" stage of the discourse days before we've even kicked off, instead of trying to blame it on something stupid after the match is lost. Really impressed with the efficiency improvements the forum has been making.

 

[Wilson]

A little surprised to see Skelton left out, but I did suggest starting would be a bridge too far on the short turn around and if we saw him it'd be on the bench, so I'm not entirely shocked Schmidt has gone a more conservative approach there. I do really like the consistency we've been building with our pack and there is value in not disrupting that too much, hopefully they've spent plenty of time cleaning up the lineout over the break.

No Kerevi at all is a bit more surprising, but I'm guessing fitness is part of the issue there, given his limited minutes.

 

[Dctarget]

Are the BIL going to be any different for Skelton's availability next year?

 

[stillmissit]

I’m guessing it’s all about building continuity.

KOB, I agree but against England it is different, we need to be in with a shot of beating them. He has reduced our odds and I struggle to agree with this selection.

 

[stillmissit]

He is entitled to change his mind, surely? We are locked into Schmidt.......I doubt even you could sack him.

No you misunderstand, it is not about changing his mind but about picking them in the first place. He is tightly built into the world of international coaches so I think he would have a very good idea about their current condition. He is trying to do an Ireland on Australia and hoping that our stocks will rise with more exposure. I hope he's right and this game will tell us if we are moving in a winning direction.

 

[Spamnoodle]

Red headgear is under 7 stuff.. look at me! Don’t think I’ve ever seen an All Black in red head gear?

There are 2 other players in red headgear... Who gives a toss what All Blacks wear.

 

[Spamnoodle]

Fuck me you're a depressing lot. Whinge and bitch because your favourite players aren't picked, because your expert, armchair analysis isn't validated. Fuck this.
Go Wallabies, do your best to do country and jersey proud. That's all a supporter can ask for.

 

[stillmissit]

Fuck me you're a depressing lot. Whinge and bitch because your favourite players aren't picked,

Maybe you don't remember the times in the 70's when we were easy beats and our pack was small. All the boys could do in those days was fight hard and hope for better times. and they came in the 80's. Now we have slipped again and we can't fit in 2 players we brought in specifically to improve the pack and open up opportunities at inside centre. I've still got the shits but I've had my coffee and the world is not so out of kilter.

 

[Tomthumb]

JB it's like he's brought these guys in and then said 'nah' we don't need you! I'd have the shits if I was Kerevi or Skelton particularly, as his window is short.

Kerevi even getting picked for the Wallabies off the back of very little rugby and mediocre form in the Japanese 2nd division is the problem here. He has no rights to have the shits about anything

 

[Derpus]

Loving the old man yells at sky vibes.

 

[Tomthumb]

Pretty happy with the team overall. Looking forward to seeing how Ikitau goes at 12. No Skelton is a bit weird considering he wont be available for the Irish test so all this hoopla about him coming back is going to be limited to 2 test before the Lions series

 

[stillmissit]

Kerevi even getting picked for the Wallabies off the back of very little rugby and mediocre form in the Japanese 2nd division is the problem here. He has no rights to have the shits about anything

Then why the fuck was he brought in? That is not one of your finer posts.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I'm happy for Joseph but I reckon he should be at 12 and not 13. It does answer the centre sizing question though. All season we've been saying that our midfield is too small, so now we have our solution. I'm hoping that they absolutely kill it out there.

 

[Tomthumb]

Then why the fuck was he brought in? That is not one of your finer posts.

Because Schmidt had never seen him and we aren't exactly flush with 12 talent

 

[stillmissit]

Pretty happy with the team overall. Looking forward to seeing how Ikitau goes at 12. No Skelton is a bit weird considering he wont be available for the Irish test so all this hoopla about him coming back is going to be limited to 2 test before the Lions series

Mate it's about the pack not how well Ikitau will go at 12, doesn't matter a stuff what the backs do if we get shunted in the scrum and get run over in the loose. They will go from penalty to penalty and not only on our own stuff ups but you saw the number of scrum penalties they got last week.