No Sharpie

[Rev Spooner]

I think OUR Robbie has made an excellent call by leaving Sharpe out - I've always doubted his ticker and other than a good game here and there he does go missing a lot. There are also murmurs about his scrummaging ability and his prima-dona attitude off the field. Vickerman, whilst short of match-fitness, is a solid and smart rugby player. He has a toughness that has been lacking in the Wallabies since his absence. Timani impressed enormously during the S15 and deserves another chance after a bewildered debut. Simmons is very solid, fast and smart - happy to have he and Horwill (the form lock) as the starters. All are ahead of Sharpe without doubt imo.

 

[Slim 293]

I think OUR Robbie has made an excellent call by leaving Sharpe out - I've always doubted his ticker and other than a good game here and there he does go missing a lot. There are also murmurs about his scrummaging ability and his prima-dona attitude off the field. Vickerman, whilst short of match-fitness, is a solid and smart rugby player. He has a toughness that has been lacking in the Wallabies since his absence. Timani impressed enormously during the S15 and deserves another chance after a bewildered debut. Simmons is very solid, fast and smart - happy to have he and Horwill (the form lock) as the starters. All are ahead of Sharpe without doubt imo.

Didn't watch the Wallabies last year?

 

[Rev Spooner]

Yep - played ok nothing spectacular - still goes missing a lot.

 

[farva]

I reckon it could be for one of two reasons.

1. Remember back in 2008, Sharpe was left at home for the SA tour. And remember how he played when he came back. He was a new man. Deans may feel that he is not playing the game that Deans wants. He might feel that dropping him again might make him gee up a bit.

2. He is carrying an injury.

 

[Braveheart.]

As someone else said, I wonder if Sharpe is the best bench option

I tend to agree with this. Sharpie offered little off the bench against the Boks.

As someone mentioned earlier - Sharpie is a starter or nothing.

Wwe need four locks come RWC - so I'm assuming whoever gets the bench against the blacks will be the 4th lock (and the "impact" lock off the bench).

 

[qwerty51]

I can't believe people are still brining out the resting excuse, it really makes no sense when you look at the chain of events.

 

[tblackadder]

in connection with second row....who is the best lineout jumper in the back row

aussies need a third jumper to shut down the abs in the lineout

with brad thorn added the ab loosies get used a lot (reid esp and kaino)

to give the abs lineout nightnares....like john eales stealing the ball in 01 bledisloe in wellington

 

[barbarian]

I can't believe people are still brining out the resting excuse, it really makes no sense when you look at the chain of events.

Agree. As I said on the podcast, Robbie has a track record of treating veterans like this- Waugh, Baxter and Mortlock were all dropped in very similar circumstances. No pomp or ceremony, just quietly pensioned off, never to be seen again...

 

[qwerty51]

in connection with second row....who is the best lineout jumper in the back row

aussies need a third jumper to shut down the abs in the lineout

with brad thorn added the ab loosies get used a lot (reid esp and kaino)

to give the abs lineout nightnares....like john eales stealing the ball in 01 bledisloe in wellington

Rocky Elsom is a very competent backrow lineout option.

Agree. As I said on the podcast, Robbie has a track record of treating veterans like this- Waugh, Baxter and Mortlock were all dropped in very similar circumstances. No pomp or ceremony, just quietly pensioned off, never to be seen again...

Not only that but as I've mentioned before when you look at the events so far this year it's pretty clear he was on the outer. He was replaced after 50 minutes against Samoa, this was a tactical decision, we were losing so why would you take off a performing player in that game, also he already had a decent rest before the game. He was then dropped for the Springbok game, he was on the bench but I think that's only because Vickerman was injured for that game. He could've been omitted from the 22 that game.

 

[Groucho]

I think the locks are highly likely to be Horwill, Sharpe, Vickerman and Simmons.

 

[Reddy!]

I think the locks are highly likely to be Horwill, Sharpe, Vickerman and Simmons.

I think they are the best people we can take to NZ.

 

[Proud Pig]

I think the scrum may be a major part of the thinking here. I don't think it is any coincidence that our scrum looked stronger with Horwill and Simmons rather than Sharpe. It is one area he has been criticized frequently about. With the World Cup coming a committed 5-man scrumming unit is needed particularly considering the soft binds of Elsom. Alaxander looked like a reasonable scrummaging prop on the weekend rather than a number eight out of position which I think may have a lot to do with the push coming from behind.

 

[Victorian Reds Fan]

Surely resting him. No way at this stage Vickerman is ahead of Sharpe.

 

[Athilnaur]

Might be by Sunday tho VRF... I won't be at all surprised to see Vickerman do well, assuming he gets the game time he needs. I must say I am starting to think BarBar and co were right in the podcast, but like all spots in the team, nothing is certain.

 

[Slim 293]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Sharpe, and maybe even Samo come into contention for the SA tour...

Their scrum isn't an issue, but if they go ahead with their full strength team like expected they will have a very very good lineout, and that's one area Sharpe would be an obvious boost over Simmons... and maybe having Samo at 8 for that game would give us 4 excellent lineout options in the starting XV...

Or maybe Deans has already made up his mind and will field the same team... who knows...

 

[Groucho]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Sharpe, and maybe even Samo come into contention for the SA tour...

Their scrum isn't an issue, but if they go ahead with their full strength team like expected they will have a very very good lineout, and that's one area Sharpe would be an obvious boost over Simmons... and maybe having Samo at 8 for that game would give us 4 excellent lineout options in the starting XV...

Or maybe Deans has already made up his mind and will field the same team... who knows...

I likewise expect to see Samo get a chance in Africa.

 

[Waylon]

What about:

4. Simmons
5. Sharpe
6. Horwill
7. Pocock
8. Samo.

I originally wrote this as a joke, looking at it now doesn't seem so farcical.

Might work well against England in a semi. The less seagulling backrowers the better

 

[Aussie D]

My worry with Vickerman at the moment is that he appeared to struggled to stay with the pace of club rugby on the weekend. What happens if Horwill / Simmons get injured early on the weekend (ouch wood it doesn't happen)? How long does anyone expect Vickerman to keep up with the play? We won't win with 14 men playing the All Blacks we need everyone to turn up and put in an 80 minute effort to have a chance of winning.

 

[Groucho]

My worry with Vickerman at the moment is that he appeared to struggled to stay with the pace of club rugby on the weekend. What happens if Horwill / Simmons get injured early on the weekend (ouch wood it doesn't happen)? How long does anyone expect Vickerman to keep up with the play? We won't win with 14 men playing the All Blacks we need everyone to turn up and put in an 80 minute effort to have a chance of winning.

Nucifora said he lasted very well was still hitting rucks hard at 79m.

Second rower Vickerman, who played his first Test in three years off the bench against Samoa in mid-July, impressed Nucifora with how his fitness was progressing.

The South African-born Test veteran only recently resumed playing following a 10-week layoff after completing three years of study in England.

"He did very well yesterday, he went full throttle for the 80 minutes, he was still making tackles and hitting the rucks in the 79th minute of that match," Nucifora said.

"His aerobic base is very good, he worked very hard on that prior to returning and it's just him getting used to the physicality and the knocks that you take in getting your match fitness.

"Yesterday he proved that he's probably a lot further down the track than we thought he might have been."

http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8279517

 

[Larno]

As an Ireland fan, I'd be far happier not to see Sharpie's bald bake lining up in a gold Jersey come our little pool encounter later on this year. The man is a proven top class lock forward and is the 2nd best lineout operator in the world (Matfield shades him by a very small margin).

It would be a mistake to leave him out for the RWC.