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

[Braveheart81]

McCalman is the wrong backrower if you need him to be the enforcer and leading the physicality of the pack.

Now that we have Coleman at lock and McMahon at 8 being the big physical presence in our forward pack, McCalman's natural game would suit both the rest of the pack and the backrow balance. It would make our backrow slightly shorter than with Hanigan but if he can play close to what he did against the Barbarians it would certainly be beneficial.

His handling taking the ball close to the line whilst really charging onto it was particularly impressive. So often players do that and spill the ball.

Hopefully he gets a shot in the 23 straight away.

Timani is obviously the other guy who comes back into the picture but I think McCalman is a better all round player, particularly balanced with Hooper and McMahon..

 

[TSR]

He played pretty well in that titanic defensive effort against the Welsh IIRC.

Yeah - was excellent in that game.

Didn’t mean to down play him - I agree he’s always been handy. But he hasn’t previously nailed down a spot because he hasn’t previously filled the player profile we wanted at the time. Now maybe he fits it to a tee.

 

[Derpus]

Yeah - was excellent in that game.

Didn’t mean to down play him - I agree he’s always been handy. But he hasn’t previously nailed down a spot because he hasn’t previously filled the player profile we wanted at the time. Now maybe he fits it to a tee.

Get what you are saying. Does anyone know if he's signed to play in Australia?

 

[Brumby Runner]

Agreed but I'm comfortable with Hanigan starting this week and Big Dog upstaging him for the starting jersey by the third game (the Poms). I'd rather Benny at 8 and McMahon at 6 just for his experience at the back of the scrum, it's irrelevant what number they are wearing otherwise though.

KOB, you know quite well my thoughts about Ben McCalman over the past couple of years. Despite that, I acknowledge he played with a lot of aggression last weekend and showed a lot of go forward with ball in hand, quite a difference from his usual game style. I would have no issue with him starting v Japan. Like you, I would rather see him at 8 with McMahon in the 6 jersey, and Hanigan at best on the bench. That backrow has a lot to like about it, not least being a better balance of skills than we've seen in our backrow over this year at least.

 

[KOB1987]

KOB, you know quite well my thoughts about Ben McCalman over the past couple of years. Despite that, I acknowledge he played with a lot of aggression last weekend and showed a lot of go forward with ball in hand, quite a difference from his usual game style. I would have no issue with him starting v Japan. Like you, I would rather see him at 8 with McMahon in the 6 jersey, and Hanigan at best on the bench. That backrow has a lot to like about it, not least being a better balance of skills than we've seen in our backrow over this year at least.

Yes, I think that as a few have pointed out he actually adds a good balance to this back five when he isn't required to play the role of the enforcer. Possibly he has played a bit passively over the past few seasons due to carrying injuries and maybe he has finally won that battle. Also I agree that he has become a champion of earning selection but not so with earning retention so the jury is still out with that aspect, he needs to have an impact when he is out there.

 

[Derpus]

Not against the Soap Dodgers, I hope. If they pick Te’o it could be a bloodbath.

Isn't he injured?

 

[wamberal]

Isn't he injured?

Hope so!!!

 

[Derpus]

Hope so!!!

Just checked, he's out with an ankle injury but will probably be fit by the Australia game.
He certainly bossed Sonny Bill, but then again, so did Beale in Dunedin so it's maybe not saying that much

 

[wamberal]

I would back Te’o any day of the week if it comes to bossing just about any current inside centres going around. There will have to be some very nifty positional flexibility if Beale and Te’o are both selected to start at 12.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Yes, I think that as a few have pointed out he actually adds a good balance to this back five when he isn't required to play the role of the enforcer. Possibly he has played a bit passively over the past few seasons due to carrying injuries and maybe he has finally won that battle. Also I agree that he has become a champion of earning selection but not so with earning retention so the jury is still out with that aspect, he needs to have an impact when he is out there.

I hope you're right KOB and I hope Ben takes this opportunity with both hands. However, he just might be compromised by the selections. If Cheika remains true to himself, Hanigan will probably start at 6 and Ben might find himself on the bench as lock replacement. That would be entirely unfair to him, but I can see it being a possibility.

 

[Derpus]

I would back Te’o any day of the week if it comes to bossing just about any current inside centres going around. There will have to be some very nifty positional flexibility if Beale and Te’o are both selected to start at 12.

Well i doubt he'd boss Hunt. As i mentioned above i'd prefer to see hunt in at 12 and Beale at 15.

 

[wamberal]

Well i doubt he'd boss Hunt. As i mentioned above i'd prefer to see hunt in at 12 and Beale at 15.

Yep, I would also much prefer Hunt, I said so earlier. Great minds think almost alike. Te’o is a big boy. But Hunt would certainly hold his own.

 

[Mr Wobbly]

Strange conversation for the Japan match thread

In any case Hodge will be defending the 12 channel, Beale will be on the wing. Beale will have to be careful of getting smashed on one of his sideways running adventures though.

 

[wamberal]

Strange conversation for the Japan match thread

In any case Hodge will be defending the 12 channel, Beale will be on the wing. Beale will have to be careful of getting smashed on one of his sideways running adventures though.

Errrrr. You are right. On both counts.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Wallabies should win by 50 or 60 +

 

[Micheal]

Really, Scrubber? Are you sure this isn't just you preparing a reason to be angry after we win convincingly, but, perhaps, not convincingly enough?

Let's look at that, shall we?

**Rankings**

The current top 16 rankings are:

1-10: NZ, England, Australia, Ireland, South Africa, Scotland, Wales, France, Fiji, Argentina, Japan
11-16: Japan, Georgia, Tonga, Italy, Romania, Samoa

As such, Japan are above Tonga, Italy and Samoa. These are teams that I don't think many would expect us to beat by a margin of 60 points.

For perspective, we beat Italy by 13 points in June. The USA are 17th, and we beat them by only 37 in 2015.

**Recent Results**

Whilst we all know of their famous victory over the Springboks at the World Cup, their other results suggest their a team that aren't so bad.

In June Japan played Ireland twice, losing by 28 and 22 points respectively. In 2014 and 2016, we lost to Ireland by 3 points. That places Japan as 25 and 19 points away from us (hypothetically).

In 2016, Japan played Scotland twice, losing by a margin of 13 and 5 points respectively. In 2016, we beat Scotland by a single point, and in 2017 we lost by 5. This puts Japan at 14 to 0 points away from us.

Later that year, they lost to Wales by 3 and lost to Fiji by 13. In 2016 we clobbered Wales by 24 points (-27 for Japan relative to Australia) and in 2017 we beat Fiji by 23 (-36 for Japan relative to Australia).

All of this points to maximum points differential of 36 points, but I suspect it'll be closer. Japan are no mugs, especially with Jamie Joseph at the helm, and tier 1 nations can't expect to walk all over teams like Japan just because "that's the way it bloody used to be". It just isn't so any more - the game has moved on.

I suspect we'll win by 20-25. If we win by 50 it'll be a bloody revelation (given the presence of Leitch, Mafi, Horie and their incredibly skillful back 3).

 

[TOCC]

I actually agree with Scrubber, this should be a solid score line. Japan have been on a downward trajectory since Eddie Jones left.

Japan’s performance against Ireland earlier this year was hardly flattering, especially considering it was an Irish team missing their 10 best players to the B&I Lions, but they still managed to rack up 85 points across two games.


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[Derpus]

I hope it's competitive. No one is interested in a procession.

 

[fatprop]

This will be a good test of attitude and systems. The Japanese aren't crap and they are very well organised.

There are moments that this side lowers itself to meet the standards of the opposition.

They need to be mentally up for it

 

[wamberal]

I hope it's competitive. No one is interested in a procession.

If I had to choose between a procession and a bumbling loss, I must admit I would prefer the procession.