Scotland v Australia, Murrayfield, 5am 24 Nov 2013

[Brumby Jack]

The IRB are still dicking around about his eligibility

 

[swingpass]

betham wont arrive intime to be on the bench let alone play

i told you so

 

[en_force_er]

It's obvious to me why Link has named this backline combo.

Basically, since probably that last Bledisloe the Wallabies have had QC (Quade Cooper) defending as a back 3 player (usually on the wing), To'omua at 10, Kuridrani at 12, and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) at 13. This is regardless of the number on their back.

With this week's combo I think we can expect to see QC (Quade Cooper) in his usual role, Harris defending at 10, Lelo at 12, and CFS at 13.

In attack, who fucking knows what we'll see. I think we can expect Ewen will mix up the players roles on each play, as he's know to do.

It could get prickly, but I'd guess this backline has been named in order to keep our defensive systems as similar to last week as possible. So while it looks like it's a massive change in the course of a week, it's actually less change than we could have otherwise seen.

 

[Groucho]

Link's selections are at least as bizarre as Deans'.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Wicked step by the looks of it as well.

Some fantastic plays by Christian, but all at 10, 12 or 15. Hope he can do just as well in the unfamiliar No 13.

 

[troxler]

I think this team will go well, Wobs by 15+

 

[lewisr]

Link's selections are at least as bizarre as Deans'.

albeit because hes has 3 self inflicted suspensions, 1 IRB nutjob suspension and a hamstring tear to Matty To'omua.

Realistically, anything we saw was going to be a bit weird.

 

[Paradox]

. Don't forget that Tomane hit a poor patch of form this year and got dropped for Rathbone..

I think that was more a case of Jake White trying to get leaders into the side. Tomane generally played better than Rathbone

 

[Brumby Runner]

It's obvious to me why Link has named this backline combo.

Basically, since probably that last Bledisloe the Wallabies have had QC (Quade Cooper) defending as a back 3 player (usually on the wing), To'omua at 10, Kuridrani at 12, and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) at 13. This is regardless of the number on their back.

With this week's combo I think we can expect to see QC (Quade Cooper) in his usual role, Harris defending at 10, Lelo at 12, and CFS at 13.

In attack, who fucking knows what we'll see. I think we can expect Ewen will mix up the players roles on each play, as he's know to do.

It could get prickly, but I'd guess this backline has been named in order to keep our defensive systems as similar to last week as possible. So while it looks like it's a massive change in the course of a week, it's actually less change than we could have otherwise seen.

Can't say that I've noticed this. Quade seems to have been defending mostly and pretty effectively in the 10 channel to my way of thinking.

 

[Paradox]

Wicked step by the looks of it as well.

I think the injury has reduced his running game this year ( he was on fire last year). In fact, I'd argue exactly the same happened to Quade (and Mitchell). It seems to take about a year of regular game time to recover (on top of time away from playing).

 

[Paradox]

Hopefully the Scots are so worried about Folau running off Cooper our young wingers carve up

 

[Hawko]

New page.


9. Will Genia
10. Quade Cooper
11. Chris Feuai-Sautia
12. Mike Harris
13. Christian Lealif'ifano
14. Joe Tomane
15. Israel Folau


21. Nic White
22. Nick Phipps


Three halfbacks will be interesting.

A very interesting use of the English word "Interesting"

The whole backline is just totally wrong for a multitude of reasons:

1. Lilo should not be expected to play 13 straight off in a test against Scotland. 13 is the most difficult position defensively in the whole backline and I'm pretty certain he has never played senior rugby there. He's not big and will be targeted by any runner over 100kg. Our fully trained up and experienced back up 10 or 12 should be at 12.
2. Because we have problems at 13, its no reason to totally stuff up 12 with a player who is a great trier but has significantly less skills than Lilo unless you think that Link was always going to trial Harris at 12 against Scotland leaving Lilo on the bench. Me, I don't think so, especially as Lilo has had little game time this tour.
3. CFS is the only player available who has 13 experience. So this will be his first run-on test? So what! He at least has some rudimentary knowledge of how to play 13, no one else has. He's got oodles of potential, so give him a go up against a very pedestrian backline. This is not a big risk compared to the risks we are now taking from 11 to 14.
4. Betham has been flown over to top up his frequent flyer miles. Next week we have Tomane, Cummins and CFS who will all be in front of him for a wing spot. He should have started with CFS inside him this week or left at home. You might make a (weak) case for him to be on the bench.
5. Phipps is on the bench as a reserve winger. I know he's very quick and he'll play his guts out but he totally lacks wing experience. This is what comes of squibbing the selections against Italy when White and Phipps should have been given game time because we got a bad result against England, so we picked Genia instead of resting him. Its now our last real chance to give Phipps a run (start or bench) so Link is going to select him as the bench outside back. Being given a token place on the team is demeaning and Phipps will know exactly what Link thinks of him. Won't do his confidence any good, that's for sure.

The comparison with Meyer's selections for the SA tour up north are stark. Meyer went with a fully planned out selection for all four games. He had planned out which new players he wanted to trial in which games in NH conditions. You could argue with his individual plans but at least he had some. We got one bad result against England, panicked and went conservative against Italy and now have a large portion of the squad whose only contribution is carrying the mascot and the kit. Our friends across the ditch will be laughing themselves silly, they are planning to have three or four experienced back-ups for every player in the best 15 by 2015 - we have lost two 13's and are in a massive crisis, selecting a halfback as a back-up winger and a 10 as an outside centre.

 

[Tahspark]

Even with the very limited options available to Link for this match, I don't think a single pundit on this thread or elsewhere saw a centre pairing of 12 Harris & 13 Lealiifano.

But Harris is very familiar with Genia's & Cooper's games & Lilo is excellent defensively and can chime into the attack, especially on counter.

There is speed and power for the centres to unleash on the wings with Tomane and Feauai-Sautia. We couldn't have envisaged this side after the Irish victory, however, I predict that these 4 players who've had limited opportunities on this EOYT, are all likely to shine. Plus Folau should be too hot to handle from the back.

 

[lewisr]

Hold up Hawko... It's easy to say that they will have three or four experienced back ups for every player but realistically every team has a certain number of injuries or form slumps at a given time in the calendar year. We have Ant Finger in a slump, pat mccabe injured, Rob Horne seemingly out of favour (but very experienced), JOC (James O'Connor) gallivanting around in the NH, Beale out, To'omua out, Drani out, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) out, Cummins out, Matt Giteau ineligible, HEnry Speight ineligible, how many more do I need to list?

The players are there but at the end of the day, if you lose 5 backline members in one week, it fucks up your preparation. For whatever reason, he hasn't had Blokes like Benny taps, AF or Horne in the squad training so it simply isnt viable to call them up. But they are all experienced test players who could come back into the fold in the future. Contrary to what some believe, we have a heap of depth across the board, but a Lions Tour and an extremely grueling season have taken it's toll. Our depth is actually in play at the moment. I reckon you could list 2 or 3 players in EVERY position that either should or already have test experience and can't play for various reasons.

Let's chill out, we're a developing team under a new coach and we have blooded plenty of new players in the past 5 years.

 

[Lindommer]

If that big lug Timani's heading off for fois gras and baguettes why isn't Douglas getting some game time? I'm all for building combinations but also building depth is crucial at this stage of the RWC cycle. Tours like this (and matches like this one on Saturday) are perfect for seeing how potential Wallabies perform. Why pick blokes like CFS, Foley, Phipps, Douglas, et al to tour if they aren't going to get a run? After the shenanigans in Dublin and To'omua's injury it sorta shows what a shit choice Harris was in the first place.

There again, who'd be a selector.

 

[Hawko]

betham wont arrive intime to be on the bench let alone play

He left on QF1 at 1700 on Tuesday. It arrives at Heathrow at 0620 Wednesday. That gives him three and a half days to acclimatise. He's travelling east to west, which is the easier change. If he adjusted his clock before he left and slept accordingly he should have been 100% by Thursday morning and have had two full training runs before game day.

Whoever in team management said he wouldn't arrive in time needs to get properly educated about performance and time zone acclimatisation.

 

[Ash]

Anyone know how Lilo's ankle is, and how much it may or may not be affecting his performance?

That running spark and step has been missing for much of this year, and I wonder if it has been because of that ankle injury he's been carrying.

 

[Ash]

Oh, and if Samo was in the squad, do you think he'd be played on the wing?

 

[Hawko]

Let's chill out, we're a developing team under a new coach and we have blooded plenty of new players in the past 5 years.

My fundamental point was that the wrong players have been chosen in the wrong positions. Even if we win by 50 that point won't change.

 

[Groucho]

I think this team will go well, Wobs by 15+

Yes. Except for the bizarre center pairing it's a very good team.