T
Ireland v Australia
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Brumby Runner
Jason Little (69)
If I were a Force/Faulkner fan, I'd be very worried about Skelton being on the bench. This could be Faulkner's last game in gold if the scrum goes the way of the French debacle after Skelton comes on. Still, maybe he'll come on as LH lock as many posters here have suggested but in that case Robbo can expect to be monstered late in the game.
Scrubber2050
Mark Ella (57)
Only real surprise was "teflon" Skelton. Chek must see a lot more in the bloke than I. Congrats to Jones and Shatzie and I hope big Henry blitzes them this week.
Seems like Alexander's test career is close to over.Don't think he will be in the mix at all for RWC. Probably the same with Robbo when Scott Sio comes back.....
Seems like Alexander's test career is close to over.Don't think he will be in the mix at all for RWC. Probably the same with Robbo when Scott Sio comes back.....
yeah, we need that sarcasm emoticon
his 2014 international form is a good 15 minutes in June
Maybe Horwill isn't fully fit?
Needless to say, Skelton has to be much better than last weekend. His type of power game and offload could have won the game for the Wallabies last weekend when we had the ball in the France 22 but he dropped it.
Needless to say, Skelton has to be much better than last weekend. His type of power game and offload could have won the game for the Wallabies last weekend when we had the ball in the France 22 but he dropped it.
Wilson
Phil Kearns (64)
As far as Alexander goes it'll all come down to the RC next year, there's only a small amount of time left to find another option at backup tighthead, so if no one secures it then Alexander may well survive for the RWC squad, at least as a 5th prop who can potentially play both sides.
Scrubber2050
Mark Ella (57)
Lilo has played pretty well. To'omua has a chance to lock 12 down. Big opportunity and I'm sure he will make the most of it.
Israel needs to pull his finger out this week as well.
Israel needs to pull his finger out this week as well.
They did the rotation thing and whoever was out there did the job.
And if Alexander is our reserve THP, I don't think we will make the RWC final, he is neither scrummaging well enough or doing enough around the field at test level
And I agree Skelton isn't helping his scrummaging performance
It would surprising if Tier 1 teams fear 2 names on paper, no matter who they are.
Scotty
David Codey (61)
Scotty
David Codey (61)
Balance does seem better with either Foley/Lilo or Cooper/To'omua.
Not that Foley and Lilo did much last game.
vidiot
John Solomon (38)
As Lee Grant said, the appointments were all announced prior to the November tests so Owens hasn't been dropped.
We've got the Frenchman, Jerome Garces to look forward to next week.
Joe Blow
John Hipwell (52)
Simmons and Carter are both 80 minute players if need be. I doubt we will see Skelton till after 60 minutes, except with an injury.
The Irish have made no secret about employing the rolling maul. I think we have defended it well this year but if they do start getting it going we can always throw in Big Will to put a stop to it.
Pretty keen to see Jones and To'omua. Both will be jumping out of their skins...HS too!!
The Irish have made no secret about employing the rolling maul. I think we have defended it well this year but if they do start getting it going we can always throw in Big Will to put a stop to it.
Pretty keen to see Jones and To'omua. Both will be jumping out of their skins...HS too!!
BDA
Jim Lenehan (48)
I must respectfully disagree with those who thought Skelton should be left out.
I don't think anyone is happy where he is at currently, but the idea is to build him up in time for the RWC. The more top level experience he gets, the smoother those rough edges on his game will become.
I have noticed like everyone else that his set piece work is sub-standard, an area he needs a lot of improvement, but I've also noticed that he has allowed us to get good front foot ball toward the end of both games. He played an important role in us closing out the Wales game (despite him losing concentration in the scrums) and played a similar role last week when we again probably should have won at the death. In both games we struggled for front foot ball, in both games Skelton delivered that. Some people on this board seem to be oblivious to that.
It is important to keep some perspective. Skelton played what, 5, 6 games for Super rugby last year? One year later he's a regular in the Tahs 23 with 6 test caps under his belt. He's still only 22 and obviously has a lot of maturing to do on and off the field. In 2015 he'll be starting the season much better equipped than he was at the start of this season. Given that we don't exactly have a production line of test 2nd rowers I'm more than happy to see Chek invest some time in developing Skelton at test level (even if there is a bit of pain now and then).
At the end of the day the Wallabies game plan relies heavily on front foot ball and if we don't generate it, chances are we wont win. If we had the likes of Moore, TPN, Palu, Sio, Fardy, Higgers on tour I might not select him. Hell if we had a better back-up lock on tour (Horwill was poor last week) I might not select him. But we don't.
I don't think anyone is happy where he is at currently, but the idea is to build him up in time for the RWC. The more top level experience he gets, the smoother those rough edges on his game will become.
I have noticed like everyone else that his set piece work is sub-standard, an area he needs a lot of improvement, but I've also noticed that he has allowed us to get good front foot ball toward the end of both games. He played an important role in us closing out the Wales game (despite him losing concentration in the scrums) and played a similar role last week when we again probably should have won at the death. In both games we struggled for front foot ball, in both games Skelton delivered that. Some people on this board seem to be oblivious to that.
It is important to keep some perspective. Skelton played what, 5, 6 games for Super rugby last year? One year later he's a regular in the Tahs 23 with 6 test caps under his belt. He's still only 22 and obviously has a lot of maturing to do on and off the field. In 2015 he'll be starting the season much better equipped than he was at the start of this season. Given that we don't exactly have a production line of test 2nd rowers I'm more than happy to see Chek invest some time in developing Skelton at test level (even if there is a bit of pain now and then).
At the end of the day the Wallabies game plan relies heavily on front foot ball and if we don't generate it, chances are we wont win. If we had the likes of Moore, TPN, Palu, Sio, Fardy, Higgers on tour I might not select him. Hell if we had a better back-up lock on tour (Horwill was poor last week) I might not select him. But we don't.
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