Rugby Championship 2025: South Africa v Australia

[Major Tom]

Every test thread, same whingers whinging the same boring argument, only the players names change.


Gonna be great to see JOC (James O'Connor) (James O'Connor) back in the gold jersey! Love the selection if the whispering is accurate.
Hope he gets that backline singing.

I would say, it is good that this should be pretty much the same team from Sydney. Schmidt keeping the bench the same and the run on team the same (minus Lynagh) is a good thing for continuity sake.

Whilst Valetini out does suck, I think it allows us to start Hooper which makes our lineout with Skelton a lot easier.
Only other change I would be looking at is Ross in for Slipper potentially.

 

[parkfootyenthusiast2]

Ah yes, my first thought whenever there is Wallabies news, I wonder what Nick Phipps thinks

"Who gives a f what Ja Rule thinks at a time like this"

 

[Rugby Head]

I would say, it is good that this should be pretty much the same team from Sydney. Schmidt keeping the bench the same and the run on team the same (minus Lynagh) is a good thing for continuity sake.

Whilst Valetini out does suck, I think it allows us to start Hooper which makes our lineout with Skelton a lot easier.
Only other change I would be looking at is Ross in for Slipper potentially.

Agree, would love to see Ross and Bell as the LHP's.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Bell needs to smarten himself up a good bit. Only a shadow of his previous form against the Lions with little ball carrying effort. Also got worked over at scrum time as much as Tom Robertson did, but nowhere near as much criticism. At his best, he is a match winner, but it's been a while since we've seen that sort of form.

 

[Major Tom]

Bell needs to smarten himself up a good bit. Only a shadow of his previous form against the Lions with little ball carrying effort. Also got worked over at scrum time as much as Tom Robertson did, but nowhere near as much criticism. At his best, he is a match winner, but it's been a while since we've seen that sort of form.

He's definitely going through a form slump. Needs to get back to his ball running best. Scrummaging is always his work on.

 

[Rugby Head]

He's definitely going through a form slump. Needs to get back to his ball running best. Scrummaging is always his work on.

Hopefully his time in Ulster next year will help grow his set piece.

 

[Wilson]

Hopefully his time in Ulster next year will help grow his set piece.

I'm a bit worried it's just going to wear him out. Unless they've got an agreement that nets him a bit of time off, he's set to play continuous rugby right through to the end of May - 15 consecutive months, with only occasional breaks for a few weeks in there. It's even worse when you factor in that he only had a month and half off between the last EOYT and super rugby starting.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Bell needs to smarten himself up a good bit. Only a shadow of his previous form against the Lions with little ball carrying effort. Also got worked over at scrum time as much as Tom Robertson did, but nowhere near as much criticism. At his best, he is a match winner, but it's been a while since we've seen that sort of form.

Be like Valetini or Ikitau having a few down games. He's one of a very select few in the Wallabies who have earn't a break. Doesn't last forever but for now he's ok.

 

[Marbig]

"Who gives a f what Ja Rule thinks at a time like this"

I am glad someone got the reference haha

 

[whitefalcon]

Every time there has been an odd selection under the Schmidt reign there has been something come out subsequent to the team release that explains it so I'm going to wait until later today before putting the boot in too much.

BPA sounded pretty sick in the presser he did the other day, maybe there is a flu going around camp

 

[Blue]

What do you gain from playing JOC (James O'Connor)? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You do not increase your chances of winning. You do not build for the future. You are an outgoing coach who wants to save face.

The fact that there are no alternatives after the Lynagh and Lolesio injuries falls squarely on Scmidt. He should have had another youngster in the wings, working in the system from the start of the season.

Terrible planning.

Unless we all agree that there is literally nobody who as worth having 9in th squad and I donlt believe that. Even having Debrezsini around would have been a better idea.

 

[KOB1987]

What do you gain from playing JOC (James O'Connor) (James O'Connor)? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You do not increase your chances of winning. You do not build for the future. You are an outgoing coach who wants to save face.

The fact that there are no alternatives after the Lynagh and Lolesio injuries falls squarely on Scmidt. He should have had another youngster in the wings, working in the system from the start of the season.

Terrible planning.

Unless we all agree that there is literally nobody who as worth having 9in th squad and I donlt believe that. Even having Debrezsini around would have been a better idea.

So he should have picked a squad with 5 or 6 #10's in it? BTW, picking Debrezceni falls right into all of your criticisms in your first paragraph.

 

[Yoda]

What do you gain from playing JOC (James O'Connor) (James O'Connor)? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You do not increase your chances of winning. You do not build for the future. You are an outgoing coach who wants to save face.

The fact that there are no alternatives after the Lynagh and Lolesio injuries falls squarely on Scmidt. He should have had another youngster in the wings, working in the system from the start of the season.

Terrible planning.

Unless we all agree that there is literally nobody who as worth having 9in th squad and I donlt believe that. Even having Debrezsini around would have been a better idea.

What are you on about? Donaldson is an alternative. Edmed is another. Debrezcini? The bloke is not Test material and is retiring?

 

[Blue]

What are you on about? Donaldson is an alternative. Edmed is another. Debrezcini? The bloke is not Test material and is retiring?

Then why is O'connor even in the discussion. If he is playing him then he has no faith in the other 2. That is my point. Last minute scramble to bring Edmed into the system when a youngster should have been around and in the process as the third choice. That is what I am "on about".

 

[whitefalcon]

What do you gain from playing JOC (James O'Connor) (James O'Connor)? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You do not increase your chances of winning. You do not build for the future. You are an outgoing coach who wants to save face.

We all assume Donno is on the bench but what if he actually isn't available?

 

[Blue]

We all assume Donno is on the bench but what if he actually isn't available?

you miss the point. at this stage in your coaches tenure he should have had three 10's that have a future. regardless of injuries.

 

[Blue]

I bet if Kiss was in place already you ould not have had JOC (James O'Connor). he would have picked three ten's for this tour with an eye on '27.

 

[whitefalcon]

you miss the point. at this stage in your coaches tenure he should have had three 10's that have a future. regardless of injuries.

so 5 test 10s?

Either we go off at the coach for chopping and changing or we go off at the coach for sticking.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not sure JOC (James O'Connor) is the long term answer but he might be the answer right now considering Lynagh is also out.

It is odd that he hasnt started Donaldson but there must be a reason

 

[Hogan]

Donaldson doesn't organise the backline all that well. Go back and watch the last game, the backline didn't function nearly as well in the 2nd half when Donno was on. That's why Noah and then Tom and now JOC (James O'Connor) (James O'Connor) are being considered first choice. I wish we had someone younger than JOC (James O'Connor) (James O'Connor).
Donno is good off the bench when you need to either replace the fullback or get someone on to inject some pace. But if you're lookling for an organised backline from the get go, he is not your man IMO. However, he does have a big (albeit wayward at times) boot which could be pretty handy at altitude.

In the earlier trial against Fiji and the 1st Test against the Lions, Donaldson made an immediate impact on the team’s attack when he came on. He sparked the attack…getting the ball to width and space on the edges which Lynagh struggled to do against the Lions. Lynagh simply caught the ball standing still and shovelled it to Ikitau and was never a threat to the defensive line.

 

[TSR]

Australian rugby pretty clearly has an issue with our development pipeline of 10s and has had for at least the last 6-7 yrs.

COVID (Lucas), the demise of the Rebels (Gordon) and injury (Lolesio, Lynagh, Harrison & Pasitoa) haven’t helped either.

With the benefit of hindsight could Schmidt have handled it better - sure. He went all in on Lolesio to try to produce as much cohesion as possible and it bit him in the arse. I get why some people are highly critical, but chopping and changing for the last 6-7 yrs has hardly been a winning strategy. It’s always easier in hindsight.
Beyond that blaming Schmidt for our current position is divorced from reality IMO.