France v Wallabies (RWC Warm-up), 28/8 1.45AM AEST

[dusk]

Don't want to get ahead of myself but is Marky Mark (Nawaqanitawase)'s spot on the wing in contention with Vunivalu? Mark is great in attack but a significant liability in defense. Vunivalu was pretty great in both last night. He's gonna have to pull together a few more performances like that to be considered but who knows.

 

[Joe Blow]

Do you think i agree with the decision of bring one (actually 2 but whatever) 10s? I always said Quade should go along but fuck me he is not our lord and saviour. We are not going to win a semi-final against the boks/ireland whether Quade or Gordon is playing. Your comparison to Noah L is purely speculation. You want to talk about mistakes? We have relied on average mid-30 year olds to try and save the wallabies yet we make no progress. Would much rather see Gordon get a crack and i don't think he's there if the staff don't think he can handle it.

I am not suggesting QC (Quade Cooper) or anyone else is our lord and saviour, and yes Noah was thrown in the deep end too early, albeit in a more measured way than Gordon has been.
What these selections do is get Jones off the hook should we bow out before the quarters. These decisions should have been made post tournament. As said, Gordon should be there but alongside a more experienced campaigner.
Simple stuff.

 

[Dctarget]

Don't want to get ahead of myself but is Marky Mark (Nawaqanitawase) (Nawaqanitawase)'s spot on the wing in contention with Vunivalu? Mark is great in attack but a significant liability in defense. Vunivalu was pretty great in both last night. He's gonna have to pull together a few more performances like that to be considered but who knows.

Vunivalu's time will come when Koroibete inevitably decapitates a Welsh winger and is banned for the rest of the tournament.

 

[Linerunner2023]

This is objectively wrong, Gordon has outplayed Quade this year.

Quade has barely played this year
And gorden can’t kick goals and def is questionable
Let’s see how long he lasts before he is out next 20 year old who gets burnt
If Quade plays v all blacks we win with kicks
If we play v France we are a lot closer
Gorden missed kicks to touch v nz so is not doing any better

 

[Slim 293]

If Quade plays v all blacks we win with kicks

No, we don't...

 

[dru]

At this point the continued Quade fixation has stepped well beyond boring. For both Quade fans and not. He isn't there. He isn't coming back.

Get over it, and can we please leave the match threads for, well, the fucking match?

 

[Tomthumb]

What these selections do is get Jones off the hook should we bow out before the quarters.

It’s really the exact opposite. He had an out by picking the same old players because it was Rennie’s team

This team is clearly Eddie’s team, and their success or failure are firmly on him

 

[Tomthumb]

You have just completely contradicted yourself here
This is why I think your Eddie jones
Saying you need to build a team with experience over years
So why is Quade dropped and carter gorden there will a massive 5 test matches ?

I’m not contradicting anything. We had a 0% chance of winning the World Cup with Quade and a 0% chance of winning with Carter Gordon

All Eddie has done is rip the band aid off 6 months earlier than expected

 

[Dctarget]

'We didn't want to show too much': Is Eddie bluffing in a high stakes game of rugby poker?

PARIS – What was Eddie Jones holding back against France? Despite suffering their fifth straight loss to start 2023 by going down to France…

www.theroar.com.au

Ah fuck don't start with this, don't give me hope.

 

[Linerunner2023]

It’s really the exact opposite. He had an out by picking the same old players because it was Rennie’s team

This team is clearly Eddie’s team, and their success or failure are firmly on him

0 from 5
I’d say failure

 

[molman]

'We didn't want to show too much': Is Eddie bluffing in a high stakes game of rugby poker?

PARIS – What was Eddie Jones holding back against France? Despite suffering their fifth straight loss to start 2023 by going down to France…

www.theroar.com.au

Ah fuck don't start with this, don't give me hope.

It's the hope that kills you. I don't mind the notion of us finding our DNA. I'm not sure I could clearly say what the Australian style of play is these days.

I'm further not convinced we've always played to our strengths, looking more like a B-rate AllBlacks side a times. Ireland, Scotland, France, South Africa all have elements that are very much signature to their sides even as they evolve. The Wallabies and England feel like they're working themselves out, including their style. Wales likewise is in a bit of a transition period too, though they've always had a mantra of being the fitter side under Gatland and do love putting the ball up. Argentina have evolved a bit from a forward dominate team to one with some very fleet foot, skillful backs. The AllBlacks are interesting in that I feel like there have been a lot of subtle adjustments that collectively are quiet significant. They're generally quiet novel as a team injecting elements such as the kick-pass, double playmaker axis, playmaking props etc.. a lot earlier than other teams. The injection of Joe Schmidt and Jason Ryan on the coaching staff has had positive impact. I'm genuinely curious to see how they approach their openning game against France.

Anyway, I'm veering off this game

 

[Viking]

Lonergan seems like a poor fix for goalkicking. Or at least, only a partial fix.

Such a dire position to be in. Do we opt for a functional attack with no goal kicking or a dysfunctional attack with a relatively reliable goal kicker. Or somehow shoe horn Hodge in somewhere?

Ship has long sailed but I still can't believe we've thrown Noah aside completely.

Lonergan’s decision making and passing is probably better then Tates so we could gain on attack and goal kicking. We do lose a sniping/running threat but gain in other areas.

I didn’t see the Aus A game, can anyone comment how Lonergan went?

 

[molman]

Lonergan’s decision making and passing is probably better then Tates so we could gain on attack and goal kicking. We do lose a sniping/running threat but gain in other areas.

I didn’t see the Aus A game, can anyone comment how Lonergan went?

Maybe read/ask here:

Aus A v Portugal 26/08

Wilson elected to stay home to play finals for Brothers as I understand it. This still astounds me. Can only imagine he was already on the outer in Eddie’s eyes because otherwise this definitely puts you there. Did Seru Uru have a good game, hard to see how Eddie picks him above Wilson I like...

greenandgoldrugby.com

 

[Viking]

Don't want to get ahead of myself but is Marky Mark (Nawaqanitawase) (Nawaqanitawase)'s spot on the wing in contention with Vunivalu? Mark is great in attack but a significant liability in defense. Vunivalu was pretty great in both last night. He's gonna have to pull together a few more performances like that to be considered but who knows.

possibly Koros spot could be at risk given he’s short and not the greatest under the high ball.

 

[Tomthumb]

0 from 5
I’d say failure

I’d say it’s pretty consistent for Australian rugby

 

[stillmissit]

It is not a bad plan to make the opposing 10 near the top tackle count, my concern is the lack of reaction from the team

Why didn't one of the backrowers make a better decision and adapt

That's my thoughts too. I was not too impressed with Rob Valetini in this test not up to his normal standard and whoever was on the openside needed to step up to take the tackle count off Gordon.
To expect Gordon to be a dominant tackler of Jante is a big ask as he ran through several of our bigger guys.
On the plus: Vunivulu - unbelievable, I had him nailed as a 'why the hell is he there'. MCRight played well, and FOketi had a great game. Bell, Tupoa, Poreki and Arnold played well. Sketon seemed a bit quiet. I have been a big supporter of Petaia but he was hopeless in that game, out of position missing tackles etc etc.
The big change that is coming (to my mind) is the young halfback from WA name? I thought his pass was better, faster and smarter than Tate. I am expecting him, assuming he can play at that level for 60 mins to start in some games and may be the find of the games.

 

[qwerty51]

possibly Koros spot could be at risk given he’s short and not the greatest under the high ball.

Yep, Eddie says he didn’t want to show too much but he showed his hand massively. It’s an air raid and I like it.

 

[Derpus]

'We didn't want to show too much': Is Eddie bluffing in a high stakes game of rugby poker?

PARIS – What was Eddie Jones holding back against France? Despite suffering their fifth straight loss to start 2023 by going down to France…

www.theroar.com.au

Ah fuck don't start with this, don't give me hope.

They haven't shown anything. I suppose if his KPI is 'not showing stuff' before the RWC he's overachieving.

 

[Lorenzo]

doesn't want to show that the backline has a basic grasp of defence in rugby football

 

[qwerty51]

That article is interesting, the headline isn't really what's in it. He talked more about heavy training periods which he claimed they've just gone through, could explain the late blowout.