New Blood

[Ash]

Kilmin only got maybe 5 - 8 minutes in the Baabaas game.

Does that mean that Robbie doesn't particularly rate him?
Or think he's not ready?

 

[Lindommer]

Maybe Scarf's stats only include guys that were in the run-on side?

Of your list Cutter the benchies were Cooper, O'Conner, Pocock and Kepu- take them away and you have 8 left.

There were an initial 8 newbies announced before the first test against Ireland: Alexander, Brown, Burgess, Cross, Hynes, Mumm, Pocock & Turner. Tahu was included in the squad to go to South Africa. And then Cooper, Kepu & O'Connor were selected for the EOYT squad for HK and Europe. There's your 12. To which I added the two 1 test wonders, Horwill & Ioane, making 14 players Deans has brought along this year.

Of the longer-standing established players, ie, not Horwill & Ioane, who had the least number of tests played prior to the test against Ireland?

 

[RugbyReg]

Ash I reckon its for three reasons:

1) It was close and he wanted to finish the season on a high.
2) The back 5 were playing damn well and he was rewarding them.
3) He has pride in the Wallaby jersey and doesn't want to give it away willy nilly even in a baabaa game.

 

[Virgil]

As ordinarily as they played in some parts of all games, including in Hong Kong, the Blacks have a gear shift that we don't have, but will have to get if your upward trend is to happen.

The Ab's gearshift was just having a bench, in Bris & Hong Kong we didn't.

We did have a bench to go to in Europe & it paid off especially at twickers when Palu & Mumm come on & really turned the tide of that match.

You had a bench on Brisbane as well, stacked with forwards, trouble is Deans had a case of a possum stuck looking in the headlights and didnt use it.

For us we didnt have that many newbies, more of a case of previously tried guys who never came off succeeding. ie Nonu and Kaino (Jerry who!) Boric was probably the best of the debutantes.