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potogold
Guest
doesnt matter, it cant last forever. the last few matches between australia have been close. THATS what matters. who cares about other higher ranked teams when australia is the only one we have to contend with in the groups.
and anyways, it will probably feel like a home match for them, i hear the kiwis are up for them, and there are tonnes of irish down in OZ and NZ who will travel.
Tangawizi
Peter Fenwicke (45)
Weather hasn't been too bad so far today. Just on and off light showers with sunny periods in between. Just ran a Half marathon in it and conditions are a lot better than Sunday morning was before the Italy match anyway. Think it should stay this way for the rest of the day so good for Australia.
Pocock is a blow but we should still overcome Ireland. We beat the All Blacks a few weeks ago and took a lot of confidence from it. And aside from a scratchy win against the USA, who has Ireland beaten lately? Their fans and media can talk up their chances all they like, but when push comes to shove, this Wallabies team will get the job done.
I hope Rocky makes all those Irishmen's nightmares come true and has an absolute blinder.
Pocock is a blow but we should still overcome Ireland. We beat the All Blacks a few weeks ago and took a lot of confidence from it. And aside from a scratchy win against the USA, who has Ireland beaten lately? Their fans and media can talk up their chances all they like, but when push comes to shove, this Wallabies team will get the job done.
I hope Rocky makes all those Irishmen's nightmares come true and has an absolute blinder.
Robbie's decision to rest Pocock is a very wise one, better to him him completely fit and firing for the important finals' matches than risk him against the Irish. Anyways, if "fringe" players aren't up to the challenge of an important match why send 30 players rather than 22? The quality of the whole squad will win us the RWC, not just the frontline few.
Elsom, McCalman and Samu, with some support from Palu and Higgers, will go just fine against the Paddies.
Elsom, McCalman and Samu, with some support from Palu and Higgers, will go just fine against the Paddies.
Victorian Reds Fan
Bob Loudon (25)
Palu + TPN + Samo = pain for the Irish
qwerty51
Stirling Mortlock (74)
Haha, I'm not sad, I knew we'd lose this game ever since the draw game out, we will still top the pool.
tigerland12
John Thornett (49)
You're a very faithful supporter aren't you.
Fuck it, we will smash them by the same margin we beat Italy.
numbertwo
Peter Burge (5)
Tigerland I like your confidence!! Reading this thread has got me really wound up. This is what RWC is all about: anticipating another great match against Ireland. The two most important factors are the weather and the ref's interpretation of the breakdown as has already been said. More important though is how each team reacts to those factors. A bit of moisture won't bother the Irish at all and for the Aussies it depends a lot on the options QC (Quade Cooper) takes. With the ref for me that is the great unknown as I think the rulings around the breakdown and keeping the defending team onside in phase play has been quite inconsistent. With Pocock out it makes this game very hard to call. I can't remember how Lawrence went with the breakdowns in his last game. How did he run the breakdown??
Another interesting point is Finger v BOD. Finger has a tendency to come up out of the line in defense to make his hits. It creates space around him for angled runs especially from the blindside winger or 15. BOD is no fool and could really exploit this. Wow I'm excited!!
Another interesting point is Finger v BOD. Finger has a tendency to come up out of the line in defense to make his hits. It creates space around him for angled runs especially from the blindside winger or 15. BOD is no fool and could really exploit this. Wow I'm excited!!
qwerty51
Stirling Mortlock (74)
Or a realist? I've backed the Wallabies plenty of time when they've been up against it, got nothing to do with wishing they'll lose. I just think they will, we'll be outplayed by a much more desperate Irish side.
matty_k
Peter Johnson (47)
Mind you with you taking this stance you will either be right or happily wrong.
Lee Grant
John Eales (66)
It's strange to see a Wallabies side without a real fetcher. Sure our players in the past: Smith, Waugh and Pocock could do other things but for the last 10 years we've always had guys who were good with the ball on the ground. The Irish haven't had one of those for ages and the Boks didn't have one between Krige and Brussouw, but it's strange for an Oz team to be in that category.
I can't remember McCalman starting at 7 before even in his school days. At least both countries will have 7s who don't usually play there and methinks both teams will have moves around the scrum to take advantage of it.
Palu should be ready to go. He was part of a hard 45 minute dirt-tracker training session, straight after the game at North Harbour last Sunday. Phil Blake said the boys were all blowing pretty hard after it. That's not even counting what he did during the week. If he is OK to come from the bench (and he's the only backrower available anyhow) it could even work out better for Oz than playing with Pocock - provided we win, of course.
I can't remember McCalman starting at 7 before even in his school days. At least both countries will have 7s who don't usually play there and methinks both teams will have moves around the scrum to take advantage of it.
Palu should be ready to go. He was part of a hard 45 minute dirt-tracker training session, straight after the game at North Harbour last Sunday. Phil Blake said the boys were all blowing pretty hard after it. That's not even counting what he did during the week. If he is OK to come from the bench (and he's the only backrower available anyhow) it could even work out better for Oz than playing with Pocock - provided we win, of course.
G
GC
Guest
Will this be the biggest pack Australia have ever put on the park?
Very happy to see McCalman starting at 7 and getting a full game. He is constantly underated. Deans picks him for a reason. His job from 8 or as a replacement has to been to play a tight hard game and put grunt into the breakdown (cf Hong Kong last year). SOB this, SOB that, heavy blow to the Wallabies, blah blah blah, I hope he is reading all of that and is absolutely seething at the kick off ... our country boys tend to go well at Eden, I'm backing him to perform like a reincarnated Greg Cornelson and play SOB off the park.
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