Wales vs Australia, 5 November 2016, (1:30am 6 November AEDT) @ Millenium Stadium

[tragic]

Here first.

10-Cooper 12-Foley 13-TK

Has to be with Kerevi out and Quade is good against Wales. Its a shame that Kurtley is not back on deck.

Neither foley nor cooper are 12s. Time to stop shuffling players out of position.
One plays 10, the other sits on the pines.
I'd prefer cooper but Chieiks obviously prefers foley.
Give hodge another crack at 12 against a non all black lineup before chucking him on the scrap heap and going back to Quade/foley.
But I still think kerevi is the long term solution.

 

[Scoey]

I tend to agree on Hodge. To judge his ability at 12 based on one start against the AB's at Eden Park is a bit rough.

 

[Joe Blow]

Neither foley nor cooper are 12s. Time to stop shuffling players out of position.
One plays 10, the other sits on the pines.
I'd prefer cooper but Chieiks obviously prefers foley.
Give hodge another crack at 12 against a non all black lineup before chuckin him on the scrap heap and going back to Quade/foley.
But I still think kerevi is the long term solution.

Hodge and Kurindrani offer little in attack. Maybe keep Hodge at 12 if Folau moves into 13?
We need one of our centres as at least something of a playmaker otherwise we will be very easy to contain.
Personally I would not go with Quade and Foley but I reckon Cheika will.

 

[Dalai Ninja]

Hodge and Kurindrani offer little in attack.

That's pretty tough. Kuridrani in form is one of the most damaging 13s in the game. Hodge is an incisive runner, although he hasn't demonstrated it yet in his (very) short international career.

 

[Joe Blow]

That's pretty tough. Kuridrani in form is one of the most damaging 13s in the game. Hodge is an incisive runner, although he hasn't demonstrated it yet in his (very) short international career.

It's tough but true....... this year at least. Kurindrani is an excellent blockbusting 13 "when in form" which he is a long way away from right now.
If he is working off Matt Giteau or KB (Kurtley Beale) he looks a lot better. I don't think Hodge is ready to be a playmaker at test level just yet. Outside of Quade and Foley he may be effective. TK that is.

The other option is Godwin but unlikely that Cheika will throw him in at 12 at the beginning of the tour.

 

[Purce]

On the 12 topic I would have loved to see the forgotten man of Aus rugby, Tapuai, given a shot. He has everything we have been asking for in a 12. Running game, decent defense, good distribution skills and a left boot. Injuries hit him at the wrong time and the Reds didn't utilise him well. He has suffered as a result.... think he is building to a big year next year.

I would have liked to see he or Lance selected over Godwin, they are both far more complete players. Still unsure if Godwin's first super season was a fluke or not. We have not seen his form anything like it since.

With our current options (lack there of at 12) I think this backline would be nicely balanced. Not my first choice however one I could actually see them selecting.

9. Phipps (Genia when Avail)
10. QC (Quade Cooper)
11. DHP
12. Foley
13. TK
14. Niavalu
15. Izzy

Res. Pickle
Res. Hodge
Res. Speight (I'd like to see Perese)

 

[TSR]

Tapaui is also very effective at the breakdown.

I don't know why he has played so much 13 over the years. To me he always looked very good at 12. I remember reading on numerous occasions that he preferred 13, but I think he was wasted there.

I'll be very interested to see how he goes back at 12 with Meakes outside him, who seems to be a pretty astute buy by the Force based on my limited viewing of him.

 

[tragic]

Hodge and Kurindrani offer little in attack. Maybe keep Hodge at 12 if Folau moves into 13?
We need one of our centres as at least something of a playmaker otherwise we will be very easy to contain.
Personally I would not go with Quade and Foley but I reckon Cheika will.

I agree.
I think Quade - Hodge - Folau has lots of attacking threat and gives hodge another chance with a playmaker inside him.
That would be my choice
But I doubt Cheika will go that way.

 

[Twoilms]

I agree.
I think Quade - Hodge - Folau has lots of attacking threat and gives hodge another chance with a playmaker inside him.
That would be my choice
But I doubt Cheika will go that way.

None of those players have any kind of playing relationship. In fact, Quade generally doesn't get much out of Folau. I can't see Hodge doing it either.

 

[tragic]

None of those players have any kind of playing relationship. In fact, Quade generally doesn't get much out of Folau. I can't see Hodge doing it either.

Pick the best players in their own positions and the playing relationships will develop.
Constantly picking players out of position to plug gaps is what hinders development of combinations.
And it serves no utility when it clearly is never going to be a long term option (e.g. QC (Quade Cooper)/ foley at 10/12)

 

[RugbyReg]

I think we can be pretty sure that the combinations will be in the halves. So when Genia plays then QC (Quade Cooper) is more likely to be 10 and when Genia isn't available, then Phipps will be there and Foley will likely be there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Train Without a Station]

"Quade generally doesn't get much out of Folau".

Quade has played around 14 games at 10 with Folau. 5 this year, 1 last year and around 9 in 2013.

In 2013 Quade compiled with Folau very well. So it's not like they just don't work together.

What has seemingly not happened in Folau's career is he hasn't seemed to work with a strong, defender beating, high meter running centre like Kerevi in the outside backs.

This hasn't seemingly limited Folau's effectiveness.

It hasn't really though. He's just no longer the focal point of the attack. I just don't see both of the, being game breakers at the same time. It will either be one or the other, or a little bit of both, but not to the same extent.

The point is two things:

if the opposition focus on one, the other will have more space and that a team cannot focus their defence on multiple options at once.

In addition, by splitting the attack focus, rather than just aiming to get it to Folau, then of course Folau will seem to have less impact. But if Kerevi is having some of the good runs that Folau previously did, is that an issue if the team is getting the same result and ultimately will lead to them being harder to defend?

But the bug thing is Folau needs to accept that and improve his effectvess and error rate at these times and see the big picture sad the ultimate benefit it will lead to.

 

[wamberal]

If our offense is based totally on "get it to Folau" we will lose and will deserve to lose, against any decent side.

 

[disco]

On the 12 topic I would have loved to see the forgotten man of Aus rugby, Tapuai, given a shot. He has everything we have been asking for in a 12. Running game, decent defense, good distribution skills and a left boot. Injuries hit him at the wrong time and the Reds didn't utilise him well. He has suffered as a result.. think he is building to a big year next year.

I would have liked to see he or Lance selected over Godwin, they are both far more complete players. Still unsure if Godwin's first super season was a fluke or not. We have not seen his form anything like it since.

With our current options (lack there of at 12) I think this backline would be nicely balanced. Not my first choice however one I could actually see them selecting.

9. Phipps (Genia when Avail)
10. QC (Quade Cooper)
11. DHP
12. Foley
13. TK
14. Niavalu
15. Izzy

Res. Pickle
Res. Hodge
Res. Speight (I'd like to see Perese)

I agree about Tapuai best centre on the park in the 2011 super rugby final and that's saying something considering SBW and Robbie Fruen were on the same park. Also brilliant for the Wobs in 2012 against NZ in Brisbane and carved up Tuilagi at Twickenham 3 weeks later. Don't know what happened from there.
I like Godwin I don't think his 1st season was a fluke as he had carved up playing for Australia at Junior level so the talent was always there. I think playing for the force and being shifted to 13 hasn't helped.

Don't want to see a Foley/Quade 10/12 ever again same as the Pooper I think that's probably done also as I think a ball running 8 like Timani and Mcmahon has worked better.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Hodge will get another go at 12......Yes he did not play a great game at 12 against NZ which he admitted himself but was super rugby rookie of the year playing at 12 for Rebels so deserves a couple of games at 12....

Who at 13....TK could get a gig but I feel Cheika will try Folau at 13 and DHP at 15.....I won't deny this is me more hoping more than ever as would like to see this combo and moreso DHP at 15 where I feel he would be best long term with Izzy either in the centres or on the wing. I would even be happy with TK at 13, Izzy on the wing and DHP at 15.

Foley will be 10. Who for the wings for this game as Speight's game against NZ showed why I have not been a Speight fan but with lack of wing choices in squad I do see him in the mix. Be interesting to see who is selected as our wingers for Wales game.

 

[Dalai Ninja]

Be interesting to see who is selected as our wingers for Wales game.

My money's on Speight and DHP to provide the fashionable combination of strike runner and 2nd fullback, especially since Cheika is obviously searching for a gas man. Hodge at 12 or on the bench.

 

[Joe Blow]

Sleight was pretty average on defense in the last test. He was directly responsible for at least a couple tries. I'm not sure he is the bloke. I think Niavalu might be more solid.
It didn't help that Speight had to move to 13 so early, but still.

 

[upthereds#!]

1. Sio 2. Moore 3. Kepu
4. Simmons 5. Coleman
6. Timani 8. Pocock 7. Hooper
9. Genia/Phipps 10. Quade 12. Foley 13. Folau
11. Hodge 15. DHP 14. Speight
16. Hanson 17. Slipper 18. Ala'alatoa 19. Douglas 20. Fardy/Mumm 21. Mcmahon 22. Phipps/Frisby 23. Naivalu

Bit of a mix around which probably suits the forward heavy england match rather then wales, but I can't see myself dropping hoops or poey to bench, which means a 6/2 split is the best to cover lineout throughout the game, which means a back misses a bench spot, and i cant see myself dropping foley or quade out of the 22.....

so maybe hodge drops out and naivalu starts and quade doings to 23..

 

[Pfitzy]

It'll be the same starting side, bar injuries, which in all likelihood means TK to 13.

Going from the back:

At this point, I see guys like Naivalu and Koroibete as risks at International level BUT Speight's defensive positioning on wing has been questionable, historically.

So it would be nice to see Henry get another go at wing with a suitably qualified 13 on his inside. For the same reasons I just stated, Folau is therefore NOT going to play centre, but stay at fullback to defuse the kickfest we know is coming from the NH teams.

Hodge keeps his role at 12 to help grow into it. He had a poor night in Auckland, but that massive fucking boot is so handy for keeping other teams honest, and I don't think the NH unions are going to handle his subtlety quite as well as the ABs.

15 Folau
14 DHP
13 Kuridrani
12 Hodge
11 Speight

Despite a few errors, the Phipps/Foley combination was the closest we've come to unlocking the ABs all year. So many breaks, so many half-breaks just caught by a defensively aware, ultra-fit side. That last statement does NOT describe any of the teams we're going to face.

That said, Genia was pretty special once he hit his straps and got a forward pack that stood up for itself. He should be raring to go once he meets up with the boys at the airport. Given how poorly we started against the ABs in the first two games, he doesn't necessarily lose marks for that.

For now, I'm going to opt with keeping the playmakers that did a good job last time out. On the assumption our forwards keep doing it, too.

10 Foley
9 Phipps

The back row is going to be extremely interesting with a fit Pocock on board, and Mumm suspended. The Home Unions are going to have good lineout organisation so can we risk having many midgets? The lineout work from us has improved (mostly Moore's throwing) so we need to ensure we have enough of a contribution from the loosies as possible. At the same time, you want to move the least number of pieces you can.

The real question is: with Wales wanting to play a fair bit of ball-in-hand against us, and knowing how much Pocock scares the shit out of NH-style teams, can you afford to leave him out of the starting XV? I have no idea what Cheik is thinking on this front, but I'll cast a prediction aimed at ***ting it up for 60 minutes before giving Pocock the rights to shut the game down.

8 Timani
7 Hooper
6 Fardy

Locks pick themselves. If you don't agree with this, you're not paying attention.

5 Coleman
4 Arnold

Similarly, the front row did the job against the ABs, and while it will be a different challenge, this is the way its probably going if they're fit:

3 Kepu
2 Moore (skipper)
1 Sio

Bench is what comes next, and for me, that looks like:

16 Hansen
17 Slipper
18 AAA / Robertson
19 Simmons / Douglas
20 Pocock
21 Genia
22 Cooper
23 Naivalu

Bring Genia and Cooper on around the 60 minute mark and let them carve up against the tiring defence. They do a good enough job, they get the start against Scotland.

 

[Highlander35]

Has Genia been released?