Scotland v Australia - Sunday 26 November 1:30am AEDT

[Hawko]

So if thor debuts he will replace alalatoa then?

Not necessarily. Some of the best Scottish front rowers are in casualty at the moment. Maybe Cheik will take the opportunity to rest Kepu and give 7A's a start with Thor off the bench. It wouldn't be the worst selection decision. Kepu's age means that he should be rested wherever possible to allow better physical recovery. The older you are the longer it takes to recover from strains and bumps. With a hammy that's been over 12 months in recovery I can attest to that personally.

Incidentally, I'd do the same with Taf and have Moore start in his swansong test with the future on the bench.

 

[Micheal]

Don't mind that. Wouldn't mind seeing Uelese start with Moore to come off the bench as well, with Tui starting or on the pine.

Back the boys to get it done, rest the veterans and let the depth build.

 

[Jagman]

Incidentally Stephen Moore is the only current Wallaby with a 7 at the beginning of his number, being Wallaby #796. For reference AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) is #800. Next on the list of current Wallabies are Taf at #806 and then Pocock at #829. So it will be the end of an era.

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[Brumby Jack]

Wallabies will be without Coleman, who needs surgery on his thumb

 

[kiap]

Moore has already had the swansong that matters in the 3rd Bledisloe. Now he's just Nellie Melba on tour. His form doesn't demand a start

Give Uelese a go.

 

[Brumby Jack]

Hanigan out too.

 

[RugbyReg]

Do we reckon they'll mix things up?

I think some changes need to be made. But wouldn't go nuts

15 Hunt
14 Koroibete
13 Kerevi
12 Beale
11 Hodge
10 Foley
9 Genia

8 McMahon
7 Hooper
6 McCalman
5 Philip
4 Tui ???
3 Kepu
2 Moore
1 Sio

16 Uelese
17 Robertson
18 Tupou
19 Simmons
20 Timani
21 Phipps
22 Kuridrani
23 Speight.

 

[KOB1987]

Do we reckon they'll mix things up?

I think some changes need to be made. But wouldn't go nuts

He'll pick the strongest team possible. If he picks TT it will be because he thinks he is better that Alan which I can't see happening. So I reckon he'll pick the same 23 but with McCalman at 6 for Ned (possibly swapping Big Dog & McMahon) and a 5:3 bench, so Speight coming in for Ned. Kerevi will get benched for Khunt, not Kuridrani.

 

[KOB1987]

PS you have Beale playing 10 AND 12. ;-)

 

[kiap]

PS you have Beale playing 10 AND 12. ;-)

That's almost forgivable. Moore in there less so.

Plenty more time to see him anyway as he'll still get to stink up the Reds. ;-)

 

[Brumby Runner]

Reg, I know you are a strong supporter of Hunt, but he did nothing positive when he came on v England, made a couple of mistakes, and was quite ordinary in his last outing in gold as well. I really don't think he's made a case to start at all.

It will come down to a choice between him and Kerevi in my books, and I'd still go with Kerevi. The changes that need to be made are in the second row and in the halves.

 

[Up the Guts]

He'll pick the strongest team possible. If he picks TT it will be because he thinks he is better that Alan which I can't see happening. So I reckon he'll pick the same 23 but with McCalman at 6 for Ned (possibly swapping Big Dog & McMahon) and a 5:3 bench, so Speight coming in for Ned. Kerevi will get benched for Khunt, not Kuridrani.

I'm not convinced Tupou's scrummaging is quite up to the job but It's a long way to fly him over just to have him "around the team" given he was there last year in that capacity and we don't even have a scrum coach currently over there which is really where Tupou could actually gain something. Pretty costly to fly over someone who is effectively a waterboy, imagine the food bill he's racking up.

 

[KOB1987]

In some respects it’s the biggest game of the tour as the freeballers are clearly a team on the up and another loss to them will take us into the off season with a world ranking lower than 3rd. It won’t be used for experiments.


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[Scrubber2050]

I agree BH, you can't look at things in isolation. But I think that it is questionable that we needed to make the move, and it is certainly questionable that it has produced a result. I don't think you can argue he has proved to be a better option then Cowan, Smith or Faulker would have been (or indeed Alaalatao's if he had stayed at LHP). I do think at this point in time that Robertson probably should be moved back to THP for his long term development and Australia & NSW look for other LH alternatives.

I don't agree with your last statement, unless that is their stronger side. I note It was reported Faulkner moved for that exact reason - his preference is LHP. LHP & THP are specialists in the modern game.

I have always assumed that the decision to pick Alaalatao & Robertson on their non preferred side allowed both to go back and be starting props at their super teams with a view that both would get more game time & develop.

In Alaalatao's case I think you can say it has been relatively successful. I am not convinced that it has still been the best thing for him, ACT or the Wallabies (Brumbies already had a number of Super level THPs - but I note one of them was Alexander who they could comfortably switch back) but it has been reasonably successful, so I'll credit that as a win.

In Robertson's case I think they have just weakened one spot to strengthen another. Reserve props play a very important role in the modern game. And they still get plenty of game time & plenty of development opportunity. They will often start as part of the season's player management system.

It seems to me that Robertson has regressed since he was switched. Instead of providing valuable back up at THP for the Tahs and developing into the future cornerstone of their pack, he is a make shift option. Not a bad one mind you, but he definitely isn't showing the potential he was when he started. Would it have been hard to find an alternate LHP. Possibly. But then finding a reliable back up THP at the Tahs hasn't been beer and skittles either. This puts a lot of pressure on Kepu.

As always, everything is easier in hindsight. i don't think Robertson is going as badly as some comments suggest. But he's certainly not showing anything to say he is more than a gap filler at this stage.

Maybe in 12 months I'll be proven wrong. I guess we'll see.

Only one bloke to blame for all that. And thank fuck he's gone back to Argentina

 

[Up the Guts]

This really is a huge game now. Win it and we can safely say we are improving, lose and it will nullify some of our good performances in the Rugby Championship. I'm a touch worried about the mental side of the game for the Wallabies. It's been a long year, players have lost their Super team, been smashed by the rugby public after the losses to NZ and Scotland in Sydney, and since then slowly ground out improvements only to miss a handful of chances and lose in the most frustrating fashion to England. After a loss like the one against the Poms it's natural that a lot of the players would want to just to go out and smash some Englishman. I''m just hoping we don't get too frustrated after last week and if things don't click, push the pass and fail to give Scotland the respect they deserve.

 

[cyclopath]

Only one bloke to blame for all that. And thank fuck he's gone back to Argentina

Yeah, thank fuck. Funny, the scrum has solidified through the Test season. Maybe it was magic? Maybe it was the influence of the guy who just left? Maybe only you know the answer, Scrubber?

 

[Scrubber2050]

^^^^^^
haha
scrum seemed to go alright this morning WITHOUT your mate.

 

[cyclopath]

^^^^^^
haha
scrum seemed to go alright this morning WITHOUT your mate.

You can't have it both ways - if something's fucked you're the first to pin it on the coaches, if something goes well you should have the grace to admit it might be related to coaching learned over time.

 

[Scrubber2050]

"might" is the operative word.

I think it is a bit of a stretch to use the word "grace" and "coaching" in the same sentence.
particularly with Chek's huge pressers lately (Folau hair pulling comment and the cheat one).

Anyway I'm glad he's gone. (as are plenty of others).

Time to get an Australian scrum coach in place.

 

[cyclopath]

"might" is the operative word.

I think it is a bit of a stretch to use the word "grace" and "coaching" in the same sentence.
particularly with Chek's huge pressers lately (Folau hair pulling comment and the cheat one).

Anyway I'm glad he's gone. (as are plenty of others).

Time to get an Australian scrum coach in place.

Pretty tough to give a straight answer , eh?