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RWC - Wallabies v Ireland - 17th September 2011

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Groucho

Groucho

Greg Davis (50)
Brumby Jack said:
News in from Tele journo Iain Payten is that Stephen Moore is out with illness.
TPN to start with S Fainga'a to the bench.

SHIT!
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Fainga'a on the pitch is a real problem. And the shape of games in this RWC has us starting to pull away, just when he comes on. Maybe that's not so bad - front-foot Fainga'a isn't such a disaster.
 
Braveheart81

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
It was always inevitable, but I guess this is where we see the depth of our 30 man squad. Let's hope TPN, Saia, McCalman, Palu and Mitchell can stand up for the Wallabies.
 
Gnostic

Gnostic

Mark Ella (57)
Sluggy said:
Deans made it clear when the squad was picked that the way the tackle/breakdown was being reffed now discouraged pilfers 'by hand', and influenced the back row selections towards size, speed and power to get turnovers through an immediate and physical presence driving over the tackled ball (and staying on thier feet). Elsom, McCalman, Samo & Higgers/Palu all bring that to the breakdown.

Edit: Something not being commented on as far as I can tell is that our tight 5 are more mobile and useful round the park than the Irish set, and have also been adding that grunt at the breakdown, and not just Vicks, all 5 are getting there fast. Getting forward asendancy is not just down to the backrowers.

Losing Pocock is not ideal, but we'll see if Deans (and plenty of other teams' coaches, including Ireland) was right in the mud tonight.
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Whilst I agree with the whole idea about no more "fetchers" with hands in due to hands in the ruck now being reffed strictly, and have been saying it since February this year. BUT if one is looking for Strength and effectiveness at the ruck and maul McCalman is not a selection I would have made. In last year's 3N and EOYT I compared him with the Blowfly hitting its head on the window, buzzes around all over the field with huge workrate and involvement stats but absolutely no effectiveness. It is a big reason why Samo appears to make such a huge difference, the contrast in effectiveness is just that stark. Samo I would hazard to guess has a lower involvement/worke rate but what he does is massively effective.

IMO if we were to go for a big mobile counter ruck style backrow with only secondary attention on "fetcher" role seeking a "hands on" turn over there are far better option to McCalman. For me from the squad I would take Higginbum before McCalman and would have included Beau Robinson in the squad to cover this eventuality after giving him strict instructions to keep his hands out of rucks and concentrate on defence and counter ruck.
 
Slim 293

Slim 293

Stirling Mortlock (74)
That's 3 of our best struck down... Shit...

Oh well... If we can't win this natch then we're not going to win the World Cup...
 
R

RuckinGoodStats

Guest
Have a whole lot of pre stats I'm going to drop into the live chat. Some werid ones on the ref...
 
Gnostic

Gnostic

Mark Ella (57)
tigerland12 said:
Dammit we lose the best hooker in the world, oh well let's bring in the second best hooker in the world in his place.
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You've got to be joking. He is consistant and consistantly good but the best in the world. Hardly. He is a cheap shot merchant and feigns deafness to get away with constant offside play but at the key points of play for a Hooker B. Du Plesis is streets ahead of Moore, not to mention Mealamu, and a few others here and there.
 
Jnor

Jnor

Peter Fenwicke (45)
Shit my feeling about this game is going steadily down hill.

They SHOULD still get up but I'm feeling nervous
 
P

pete88

Guest
I fear for our lineout with TPN throwing at short notice against Paul O'Connell and friends.

I fear for the breakdown with no Pocock and with McCalman starting.

I'm beginning to fear a little for the result.
 
tigerland12

tigerland12

John Thornett (49)
Gnostic said:
You've got to be joking. He is consistant and consistantly good but the best in the world. Hardly. He is a cheap shot merchant and feigns deafness to get away with constant offside play but at the key points of play for a Hooker B. Du Plesis is streets ahead of Moore, not to mention Mealamu, and a few others here and there.
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Yeah I actually thought that after I posted it, Bismark is the best in the world, but you get the point i was making.
 
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thedubs

Guest
Ireland fans will more than likely make this stadium their own. From what I can see they have a majority - mainly due to Kiwi fans helping out!

From my experience of watching us Irish across all our sports, it only takes around 20% of us to be in the stadium to make it feel like home - we have around 60%+ id reckon here! :D
 
Slim 293

Slim 293

Stirling Mortlock (74)
On a positive note, if we win this with a depleted xv then I'll feel good about our cup chances...
 
T

thedubs

Guest
One things for sure, although Irelands inter form isnt great. Its essentially an on form set of Leinster Vs Reds players. This is as close as we'll come to a S15 vs HC game. Lets be thankful they're probably the best running teams in their respective comps.
 
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