RWC 2019 1/4 Final England vs Australia

[Brumby Runner]

Adam, seems many here don't see what we do.

I don't mind Naisarani being considered in the back row, but to explain this because he gives an extra line out target - well that is less than proven.

I have no clue what his skill level was sometime in the past at Super level. And don't care. If he wants to be a jumper at international level ( and God help us this is something to aspire to), he is not there.

PS: We look furtively to our set piece against England for obvious reasons - but I'm not convinced that the English line out is what it once was. They are not the Springboks in this department in this world cup.

So who should be the No 8? Poey doesn't jump at all really and Dempsey wouldn't be any better imo than Isi. Neither Poey nor Dempsey carry as good as Isi. LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) would no doubt be better at lineout time, but he's essentially a lock playing at 6. To my knowledge, he hasn't ever played No 8 at representative level, and it wouldn't be a good idea to start him there against England now.

Who are the options?

 

[Braveheart81]

I think we will play Pocock, Hooper and Naisarani with Dempsey on the bench.

 

[fatprop]

I do wonder how we will play this match

We just struggle against rush defenses - but I think it is clear that we will play a ground and pound game. That can work but I have seen no evidence we have the ability or work ethic to build enough phases to create pressure. We get pressured at the breakdown, commit more units and then we don't have enough units for that next phase

Also England will attack our set piece hard, I see our scrum standing up but our lineout being made to work hard to provide any quality ball. I expect it to be slowed and then they will make us play from deep - and our kick chase game is mediocre whereas England actually have grease lightning out wide who do kick and do chase

 

[Tex]

Our lineout has been functioning pretty well, all things considered.

I reckon England have a more exciting and penetrative back line than us, which hurts me to admit. That said, if we take it into the 50-60th minute either in front or in kicking distance, I'd back us to win it.

Something tells me the Poms would be very confident going into the match and I think Cheika will have the boys running through walls.

 

[Braveheart81]

Hopefully this isn't just my Wallabies bias showing but I genuinely think this is the quarter final with the highest probability of an upset.

 

[Derpus]

Our lineout has been functioning pretty well, all things considered.

I reckon England have a more exciting and penetrative back line than us, which hurts me to admit. That said, if we take it into the 50-60th minute either in front or in kicking distance, I'd back us to win it.

Something tells me the Poms would be very confident going into the match and I think Cheika will have the boys running through walls.

I don't think we've had good clean attacking lineout ball since we dropped LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) from the team.

I'm still in favour of dropping poey to the bench but I don't think it will happen.

 

[dru]

So who should be the No 8? Poey doesn't jump at all really and Dempsey wouldn't be any better imo than Isi. Neither Poey nor Dempsey carry as good as Isi. LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) would no doubt be better at lineout time, but he's essentially a lock playing at 6. To my knowledge, he hasn't ever played No 8 at representative level, and it wouldn't be a good idea to start him there against England now.

Who are the options?

Adam, seems many here don't see what we do.

I don't mind Naisarani being considered in the back row, but to explain this because he gives an extra line out target - well that is less than proven.

I have no clue what his skill level was sometime in the past at Super level. And don't care. If he wants to be a jumper at international level ( and God help us this is something to aspire to), he is not there.

PS: We look furtively to our set piece against England for obvious reasons - but I'm not convinced that the English line out is what it once was. They are not the Springboks in this department in this world cup.

Presuming we have Pocock and Hooper starting whatever the rest of the selection:
1/ If line out is your driver, choose LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) at 6
2/ If line bending is your driver, choose Naisarani at 8
3/ If you want a halfway house, choose Dempsey at 6.

I'm OK with Naisarani, I'm just not bought into his line out prowess. I'm also unconvinced on England's line out ability in 2019. So I suspect I would start Naisarani - use him in the lineout and be prepared to throw long to Hooper as well. And have LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) on the bench in case it goes pear shaped.

 

[Jets]

I actually think we're better off with the French guys and Skeen. The unpredictability will play in our favour. Also I think there is more chance of Hooper and Pocock starting with these guys avoiding policing the breakdown.

 

[John S]

I actually think we're better off with the French guys and Skeen. The unpredictability will play in our favour. Also I think there is more chance of Hooper and Pocock starting with these guys avoiding policing the breakdown.

But there's also a fair chance of that going against us

 

[Derpus]

Doesn't Pocock benefit from a properly policed breakdown? He's hardly going to win many penalties when the ref is happy to allow the defense 10 seconds to clear the jackle.

 

[Viking]

I actually think we're better off with the French guys and Skeen. The unpredictability will play in our favour. Also I think there is more chance of Hooper and Pocock starting with these guys avoiding policing the breakdown.

The French refs seem much stricter for fetchers winning the ball which is going to work against Pocock significantly.

 

[Viking]

I do wonder how we will play this match

We just struggle against rush defenses - but I think it is clear that we will play a ground and pound game. That can work but I have seen no evidence we have the ability or work ethic to build enough phases to create pressure. We get pressured at the breakdown, commit more units and then we don't have enough units for that next phase

Also England will attack our set piece hard, I see our scrum standing up but our lineout being made to work hard to provide any quality ball. I expect it to be slowed and then they will make us play from deep - and our kick chase game is mediocre whereas England actually have grease lightning out wide who do kick and do chase

I think I must be the only one who is more worried about the scrum then the line-out.

England's scrum is top notch and ours whilst solid, I think England have the edge and could win a few penalties. Sio and AAA have been penalised before against the English pack.

Our line-out has been functioning well (despite a few messy attempts from Naisa), but the English pack isn't that much better and even paying the Pooper I think they would have the same amount of specialist jumpers we do.

I see parity at the line-out but the edge at scrum time to England.

 

[Viking]

If I was England and wanted to really attack the set-piece I'd consider moving Itoje to 6 and having another 2 specialist locks.

 

[fatprop]

If I was England and wanted to really attack the set-piece I'd consider moving Itoje to 6 and having another 2 specialist locks.

Yeah I really rate Itoje, the guy is that all round pest - athletic, big motor and an arsehole

 

[Braveheart81]

Doesn't Pocock benefit from a properly policed breakdown? He's hardly going to win many penalties when the ref is happy to allow the defense 10 seconds to clear the jackle.

I feel like he needs a bit of leeway. The games where he hasn't made much impact at the breakdown are where he gets called to release after seemingly getting on the ball early enough or gets penalised in that same situation.

 

[Up the Guts]

Argentina actually dealt with the English scrum pretty well even with 14 so I'm not worried about the scrum too much. One thing I'd note is that referees seem to be more inclined to let the non-dominant scrum play their own feed even so long as they haven't collapsed completely even if they are wheeling backwards or their front row is starting to stand up. As the dominant side you actually end up disadvantaging yourself because your loosies stay bound trying to generate a penalty leaving space for the opposition. It's particularly a problem when inside the opposition's 22 as the flankers are not as worried about the opposition scoring so they hang on for a bit longer making the exit easier.

 

[Uh huh]

Yeah I really rate Itoje, the guy is that all round pest - athletic, big motor and an arsehole

He is a superb player and a weapons grade fuckwit.

 

[Dctarget]

Don't know what's up with Poey, recently he seems to die with the tackle a bit more. He used to be so springy in defence, if he tackles someone or gets knocked down in the ruck, normally he'd be back on his feet straight away. Maybe players are keeping him down more, but he's not so great at bouncing back up.

 

[Viking]

Don't know what's up with Poey, recently he seems to die with the tackle a bit more. He used to be so springy in defence, if he tackles someone or gets knocked down in the ruck, normally he'd be back on his feet straight away. Maybe players are keeping him down more, but he's not so great at bouncing back up.

Think he was struggling a bit from match fitness. Despite this his involvement in each game hitting rucks and making tackles still pretty high.

And it's gotten better each game he's played. He should be firing again against England after getting some confidence against Georgia - depending on how the ref is going to interpret his turnovers at the breakdown.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Hopefully this isn't just my Wallabies bias showing but I genuinely think this is the quarter final with the highest probability of an upset.

Spot on. Can't see NZ losing their QF in any circumstances. I really think SA will have too much power and organisation for Japan and either of Wales or France could win without it being an upset.