EOYT 2014

[kiap]

It's going to be a tough 5 weeks in November.

But I like the order of the matches this time.

vs.  Ref     AR1    AR2    TMO
-----------------------------------
Barb Peyper  RFU    RFU    RFU
WAL  Joubert Peyper Doyle  Hughes
FRA  Owens   Barnes Mitrea Hughes
IRL  Jackson Owens  Fraser Gauzins
ENG  Garcès  Owens  Raynal McDowell

 

[BabyBlueElephant]

It's going to be a tough 5 weeks in November.

But I like the order of the matches this time.

vs.  Ref    AR1    AR2    TMO
-----------------------------------
Barb Peyper  RFU    RFU    RFU
WAL  Joubert Peyper Doyle  Hughes
FRA  Owens  Barnes Mitrea Hughes
IRL  Jackson Owens  Fraser Gauzins
ENG  Garcès  Owens  Raynal McDowell

Builds nicely to the Ireland and England games who will be a different class to France and Wales.

What are the expectations over in Aus for the tour? Should beat Barbarians and France with relative ease. Wales could go either way but you guys are a bit of a bogey team for them. Ireland have a fair few injurys but theyre the 6N champs and are superb tactically. England in HQ is a monumental ask. I don't think picking up a win there has been this hard since 2003. I doubt the AB's will beat them there either, but then again the ABs are Englands first game, might catch them off guard.

I can see 3/5 wins with losses or draws against Ire and England, with Eng being the likeliest loss.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

I think developments off the field in the next few days will have a huge bearing on the likely results.
And in my view there is unlikely to be an outcome that improves our prospects.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

What you say is true @Inside Shoulder, however can the Men In Gold do a Les Frogges?

Remember the internal turmoil they had during RWC11, and how they lifted to come within a whisker of beating the hosts at home in the final.

Seems to be some parallels going on in Club Wallaby.

 

[Pfitzy]

I'd rather not have us "whisker" anything - I want a united and committed squad going there to lay waste to all and sundry.

To show the pricks Aussie rugby can be a beautiful thing, with a hard-nosed core. I want the forwards to be a fucking broadsword while the backs are a rapier.

In short, I want ****s to say: fuck those Aussie guys, they can play.

 

[Jets]

I think the French team at home in November is a much distant beast to a French team in Aust in June. They will be smarting from the 3-0 and out for some blood.


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[Viking]

So Wales is not the danger team here? I though the Lions were practically all Welsh players, what happened to them?

 

[Braveheart81]

So Wales is not the danger team here? I though the Lions were practically all Welsh players, what happened to them?

We just have an amazingly good record against Wales.

England and France we seem to alternate between great wins and devastating losses.

Aside from the 2011 RWC, we seem to do alright against Ireland.

There's so much that could happen in the next few weeks before the tour that the whole thing could be a nightmare.

 

[Viking]

I think the Lions win would have given Wales a lot of confidence. I don't see a Grand Slam Victory this tour. Scotland or Italy would have made things easier.

But this is great, I'm looking forward to every game.

 

[Wilson]

I think the Lions win would have given Wales a lot of confidence. I don't see a Grand Slam Victory this tour. Scotland or Italy would have made things easier.

But this is great, I'm looking forward to every game.

Can't get a grand slam without playing Scotland.

 

[Braveheart81]

We're not playing Scotland so there's no Grand Slam up for grabs.

I'm sure the Lions tour gave the Welsh players a ton of confidence but it didn't help them at Millenium Stadium against us last year.

They did have a shocking run of injuries heading into that game though.

 

[Viking]

Bloody Scotland always ruining things.

 

[JSRF10]

So Wales is not the danger team here? I though the Lions were practically all Welsh players, what happened to them?

Wales have been in free fall since then, the form of some crucial players in Gatlandball have fallen off a cliff as well. They are usually pretty vulnerable in their first game of a series.

Ireland have a lot of injuries in the pack and are clueless as to who should replace BOD. I'd be backing the Wobs to win 4/5 at the moment regardless of their terrible form, lets not forget they were in probably worse form on paper last year and beat Ireland Wales and Scotland pretty comfortably.

 

[No4918]

No need for massive concern. Amazing how fast things change for fans. Let's not forget that up until the TRC the Wallabies had won 7 in a row. People were happy and optimistic. Then comes the TRC and if not for the loss to the Argies people would be saying we did ok against the two best teams in the world.

3 out of 5 should be the minimum expected result, any less and Link will be in trouble. Despite the ongoing off field issues the team should simply be good enough. The players should have enough respect for each other to come together for that many wins. If not and divisions are still evident..... well, that is something I don't want to think about.

 

[Braveheart81]

3 out of 5 should be the minimum expected result, any less and Link will be in trouble. Despite the ongoing off field issues the team should simply be good enough. The players should have enough respect for each other to come together for that many wins. If not and divisions are still evident... well, that is something I don't want to think about.

If Link gets to the EOYT I think his job will be safe to the RWC. It's making it that far where the risk lies in my view.

I think this saga is a long way from just ditching Beale and moving on.

 

[TahDan]

They have to give Link until the RWC... he's had a shocking run, but it hasn't been helped by what has been possibly the worst injury crisis in the pro era. The Wallabies aren't the Kangaroos - they can't have 80% of their first choice starting line up and replace them all with almost equally good players.

 

[Braveheart81]

They have to give Link until the RWC. he's had a shocking run, but it hasn't been helped by what has been possibly the worst injury crisis in the pro era. The Wallabies aren't the Kangaroos - they can't have 80% of their first choice starting line up and replace them all with almost equally good players.

If Link loses his job before the RWC (and in my opinion, if it's going to happen it will be before the EOYT) it will have nothing to do with his win/loss record.

 

[Viking]

The good.
3 wins = not bad
4 wins = pretty damn good
5 wins= fucking amazing

The bad.
2 wins = not good enough
1 win = goodbye Link.

 

[kiap]

Potential tourists that are fringe/uncapped/smokeys/recalls/bolters?

Don't know the size of the squad but would guess somewhere in the 32-35 range, with perhaps a few more on standby.

What names outside of recent regular caps should or could make it?

• Speight as a rehab/n00b - too easy.
• Fellow team rehab players TPN/Quade/Genia/Sio, et al.
• Godwin?
• Tala Grey as a bolter?
• Others?

 

[qwerty51]

Toby Smith, Luke Jones, Liam Gill, Kyle Godwin, Henry Speight