Japan vs Wallabies, Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, Sat 4th Nov 4.40pm AEST

[TOCC]

Wallabies have a habit of dropping to the oppositions standards, whilst I think they should flog the Japanese, I don’t think they will. I’m not expecting methodical or clinical to be the words used to describe this Wallaby performance.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Probably more like ragged, untidy, error-ridden. Very small odds on a poor performance after the travel to Japan, and little real training time with the intervening Baa Baas' game.

 

[Braveheart81]

Wallabies to face Japan

1. Scott Sio (39 Tests)

2. Tatafu Polota-Nau (78 Tests)

3. Sekope Kepu (87 Tests)

4. Rob Simmons (78 Tests)

5. Adam Coleman (18 Tests)

6. Ned Hanigan (9 Tests)

7. Michael Hooper (c) (75 Tests)

8. Sean McMahon (22 Tests)

9. Nick Phipps (vc) (58 Tests)

10. Reece Hodge (20 Tests)

11. Marika Koroibete (4 Tests)

12. Samu Kerevi (14 Tests)

13. Tevita Kuridrani (54 Tests)

14. Henry Speight (17 Tests)

15. Kurtley Beale (vc) (67 Tests)

Reserves

16. Stephen Moore (125 Tests)

17. Tom Robertson (15 Tests)

18. Allan Ala'alatoa (19 Tests)

19. Matt Philip*

20. Ben McCalman (49 Tests)

21. Lopeti Timani (9 Tests)

22. Joe Powell (2 Tests)

23. Curtis Rona (2 Tests)

 

[Derpus]

Well he certainly didn't go with his first 15 (or 23).

I guess we'll see if Hodge can cut it at pivot. Halves combo of Phipps/Hodge doesn't scream 'test rugby'.

Glad to see Benny Mac back. Dunno bout Kerevi starting. I like Beale at 15 though. Also, where is Hunt?

 

[Braveheart81]

Genia has a strained calf.

Foley is sick.

Hunt has a sore neck from a tackle at training.

 

[KOB1987]

We're rooted at 15 if we lose Hodge or Beale. Re Hodge at 10, it could be deja vu from when Bernie was shifted there from fullback. Who knows.

 

[Micheal]

Genia has a strained calf.

Foley is sick.

Hunt has a sore neck from a tackle at training.

Well lets hope they all recover soon or this tour could get interesting.

 

[Up the Guts]

Injuries/illnesses not ideal but the forced changes will make it interesting to see how Hodge plays at 10 and whether Kerevi is a better defender at 12. If Hodge can gel with the Fijian triumvirate the Japanese support staff will need to start preparing the ice baths--some big bodies will be moving at speed if the 3 carriage K train gets up and running.

EDIT: forgot about Speight, surely 4 Fijian born Wallabies in the one backline is a record.

 

[fatprop]

I thought Beale would have been put in at 10

 

[Mr Wobbly]

I thought Beale would have been put in at 10

Yeah, you'd think Beale 10, Hodge 15 would have been more likely.
The 6/2 bench is even more of a mystery though. I would have thought either Meakes or Perese might have been given a run.

 

[Dan54]

You would still imagine a fairly solid win, Wallabies have had a few games last little while, and can't really see Japan having too much to worry them

 

[Joe Blow]

Tough gig for Hodge with Kerevi at 12. He is no second playmaker or a first receiver.
The forward pack is very strong so we should have a multitude of possession.

Hodge is very talented. He has not failed anything he has been asked to do so far, but I reckon he is a 13 or 15.

Should be an interesting match!

 

[KOB1987]

I thought Beale would have been put in at 10

I reckon it's an experiment. Hodge played most of his sub-20s footy at 10, he's finding out if he's competent as a back up there at test level.

 

[Highlander35]

Beale will be popping up at 10 even moreso than he does with Foley methinks.

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[Scrubber2050]

The only worry here is not the result but possible injuries.

It doesn't matter if Hodge goes really well. He's on a floggin' to nothing as soon as Foley is right to go. Foley will walk back into 10 for the real games.

We need everyone fit for the big games.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

How much correlation between the likely Japanese team and the Japanese team that beat the Bokke at RWC2015?

 

[Derpus]

Tough gig for Hodge with Kerevi at 12. He is no second playmaker or a first receiver.
The forward pack is very strong so we should have a multitude of possession.

Hodge is very talented. He has not failed anything he has been asked to do so far, but I reckon he is a 13 or 15.

Should be an interesting match!

For at least the next two years for the Wallabies he is a wing (and potentially a back-up 10, we shall see). Until Folau, Hunt and TK are out of the way i'd say he has no chance of becoming a regular starter as a 13 or 15.

 

[TOCC]

Hodge at 10... I’ve been surprised by Hodge this year but not by his passing or distribution game. Hodges strength is in his running lines and support play, he does them bloody well, he is a solid team player, but I don’t rate him as a 10, I also think he has suspect defence, which doesn’t bode well for a 10-12 partnership of Hodge-Kerevi.


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[Simon.]

This could be a much closer game than the bookies are suggesting. Japan aren't minnows any more, they're currently #11 in the rankings, just behind Argentina, Fiji and France, and comfortably ahead of Italy at #14 - and we know what happened vs Italy in June.

Against that we've gone from two experienced playmakers in Foley-Beale to Hodge-Kerevi with Rona the only sub on the bench. We're one injury or card away from a potential big problem.

I think Kerevi will be more effective than he has in recent tests, he hasn't reproduced his Super Rugby form at test level but his best games have been against looser defences and smaller backs similar to Super Rugby games, and I think he'll get that here. But it'll be interesting to see how much ball we see out beyond the 12 channel in attack.

At least the forwards are close to full strength. Should hopefully dominate the set piece. I'd like to think we'll still win comfortably but a line of 27.5 seems pretty generous...

 

[KOB1987]

I think it is safe to assume we are going to be running at them.