Hugh Jarse
Rocky Elsom (76)
We may have played poorly on the Northern Tour. IMHO that means little WRT games that will be played in a years time.
The potential is definitely there for the Men in Gold to go quite far in the RWC15. Anyone thinking otherwise is a miseryguts pessimist who listens too much to the naysayers and Chicken Littles that abound in plentiful numbers in Australian rugby.
The QF qualifiers are rather predictable from all pools less Pool A where any one of AUS, ENG and WAL could miss out on making it to the knockout stages.
From there on, it is anyone's guess who will progress to SF and GF. History has shown this, and will no doubt repeat in 2015, despite the rampant favouritism of The Darkness.
If anything, some of the recent victories by the NH teams may lead to some overconfidence from them. Teams often learn a fair bit from a loss, putting pressure on players to perform, and introducing an edge to training and preparation to prevent recurrences.
The Wobs are in a good place. Let's wait to see who is left after the Team Rehab Selectors tap a few players (worldwide) on the shoulder between now and RWC15.
If anything the recent NH tour games have shown how slim the margin is between the 2nd and 10th Seeded teams in World Rugby.
The potential is definitely there for the Men in Gold to go quite far in the RWC15. Anyone thinking otherwise is a miseryguts pessimist who listens too much to the naysayers and Chicken Littles that abound in plentiful numbers in Australian rugby.
The QF qualifiers are rather predictable from all pools less Pool A where any one of AUS, ENG and WAL could miss out on making it to the knockout stages.
From there on, it is anyone's guess who will progress to SF and GF. History has shown this, and will no doubt repeat in 2015, despite the rampant favouritism of The Darkness.
If anything, some of the recent victories by the NH teams may lead to some overconfidence from them. Teams often learn a fair bit from a loss, putting pressure on players to perform, and introducing an edge to training and preparation to prevent recurrences.
The Wobs are in a good place. Let's wait to see who is left after the Team Rehab Selectors tap a few players (worldwide) on the shoulder between now and RWC15.
If anything the recent NH tour games have shown how slim the margin is between the 2nd and 10th Seeded teams in World Rugby.