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EOYT 2014

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Ash

Ash

Michael Lynagh (62)
My greatest concern is that Cheika brings too much of his Tahs game plan to the Wallabies, rather than showing bias in the players he picks.

Cheika ignored set pieces to choose the players who could best implement his game plan at Super Rugby level. Having a poor to average set piece is OK in Super Rugby (Reds won in 2011 with an average scrum, Waratahs won this year with both an average scrum and average (or worse) lineout). However, having a faltering set piece in Test rugby is disastrous and much more costly than Super Rugby. I think Cheika knows this, but we will see.
 
Viking

Viking

Mark Ella (57)
Ash said:
My greatest concern is that Cheika brings too much of his Tahs game plan to the Wallabies, rather than showing bias in the players he picks.

Cheika ignored set pieces to choose the players who could best implement his game plan at Super Rugby level. Having a poor to average set piece is OK in Super Rugby (Reds won in 2011 with an average scrum, Waratahs won this year with both an average scrum and average (or worse) lineout). However, having a faltering set piece in Test rugby is disastrous and much more costly than Super Rugby. I think Cheika knows this, but we will see.
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I wouldn't be too concerned about the scrum, The fist choice front row picks itself and they are all strong and/or solid scrummagers. Kepu, Moore/TPN and Slipper.

His choice of locks will be interesting, but I don't see changes decreases the strength of our scrum (Horwill, Jones are good scrummagers I assume) unless Skelton is picked as first choice but that is unlikely.

Line-out I have to admit could be a worry. It has been passable with McKenzie but if it gets any weaker then that's going to cause problems.
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Ash said:
Cheika ignored set pieces to choose the players who could best implement his game plan at Super Rugby level. Having a poor to average set piece is OK in Super Rugby (Reds won in 2011 with an average scrum, Waratahs won this year with both an average scrum and average (or worse) lineout). However, having a faltering set piece in Test rugby is disastrous and much more costly than Super Rugby. I think Cheika knows this, but we will see.
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He made some comments along these lines when he was appointed. I think he's very aware of this.

Obviously he still needs to actually pay attention to that and devote the necessary training time.
 
Jets

Jets

Paul McLean (56)
Staff member
He has coached other team apart from the Tah's. Some of them have even had a good scrum. I think the fact that he is a good coach will allow him to work out a strategy to win test match rugby, and a World Cup, with the group of players he has available.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
The_Brown_Hornet

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
As BH says, he's said point blank that what works in Super rugby doesn't necessarily work at test level. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a huge focus on better forward play. At the top level you just can't shirk it, because we'll be playing teams with very powerful forward packs.
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Troy said:
I wasn't sure where to post this, but given Nigel Owen's will be the man in the middle for some of the August Internationals I thought I'd chuck it in here..

I believe this is from last weekend..
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The Rugby - Not Set Pieces thread is generally a good place for this sort of thing.
 
RugbyReg

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
One thing that is clear is we need more impact from our bench, correct? So assuming the team stays someone the same:

15 Folau
14 Speight (?)
13 Kuridrani
12 Lealiifano
11 AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
10 Foley
9 Phipps
8 McCalman
7 Hooper
6 Higginbotham
5 Simmons
4 Carter
3 Kepu
2 Fainga'a
1 Slipper

We need to ensure we have the right players on the bench to give us some impetus.

16 Hason and Mann-Rea only options. Great story, but don't think JMR is up to it. So Hanson is the man for mine. May perform better if Cheika yells at him
17 & 18. Again limited options. Unfortunately it comes down to whether Faulkner is up to it. Can't see him sitting on the bench so we are really stuck to Robinson and Alexander.
19. Horwill has worked hard but if we want impact, then Skelton is the man here.
20. An option here would be to start Hodgson at blindside and bring Higgers from the bench and utilise his impact there. I actually don't mind this option at all. Alternatively, I'd go with Jones who could also cover lock if we need someone to play for longer than 40 minutes.
21. Genia's experience and ability to close out a game is crucial.
22. Cooper likewise for his ability to dictate a game's outcome. Critical.
23 Unsure here. Tomane has been hot and cold and is probably the leading candidate. To'omua doesn't cover enough, although Lealiifano could play 15 at a pinch. Have to lean towards Tomane probably.

All in all we need more from 16-23. Hopefully MC yells at them a lot.
 
Highlander35

Highlander35

Steve Williams (59)
I understand.

Points was, Inman plays big Inside Center. Something I would see White favouring. Cheiks will likely choose a second playmaker, or will stick with Horne is he wants a running IC.
 
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