Difference being, Bell actually played prior to getting injured. Robertson has been eating lunch at the local Cafe and running the dog on weekends. That means ZERO rugby, how is that a smart move.
Wallabies 2024
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Derpus
Nathan Sharpe (72)
2-3 in my viewing experience. I thought he was a real handbrake on the Rebels attack at times. Doesn't bring any of the things we are missing like size or playmaking ability in the centres.
Tomthumb
Dick Tooth (41)
No, to be fair to Tizzano he has been putting himself about in a well beaten pack
Tazzmania
Syd Malcolm (24)
Not entirely true, played in the Oxford v Cambridge match, and a club appearance for Kalamunda in the Fortesque Premier grade. Not sure if there were others along the way or not.
Strewthcobber
Steve Williams (59)
Robertson did his ACL last year. The sabbatical at Oxford lined up with his injury recovery. He didn't really miss much rugby
He was also brought into camp in Perth for the week so presumably Schmidt liked what he saw and thinks he is ready to go.
Strewthcobber
Steve Williams (59)
I'm playing devils advocate here, because you can't fault his efforts but how much of that well beaten pack is because the leading tackler can't stop the big SA bodies before the ad-line?
It's the same issue for McReight. We actually want our 7 making fewer tackles and having a bigger ruck impact. Neither McReight or Tizzano have the dominant tackles at test level in their aresenal to discourage the tactic
Derpus
Nathan Sharpe (72)
I thought we were less obviously beaten last match in the post contact metres department. We did a much better job of containing their metres in tight.
We lost that game primarily in the kicking/territory battle.
What's most impressive here is that a 52 year old is topping the tackle stats in the Rugby Championship
I think it is somewhere in between. We'd expect a backrower to be right up there among our top tacklers. For South Africa it definitely makes sense to run at the smallest forward both for the size advantage but also for the fact that they're taking the 7 out of the breakdown contest.
Realistically we probably want Wilson and Valetini making a few more tackles and Tizzano making a few less.
Tizzano hasn't missed a tackle which is probably the best aspect relating to the stat.
Strewthcobber
Steve Williams (59)
I always think tackle stats tell you more about what the opposition tactics were rather than any indicator of effort. At this level no-one is hiding in D, so it more tells a story about where the oppo are attacking
No, not drinking the koolaide with this one. It is obvious Schmidt is panicking and believes the front row is a problem. Our problem is with our locks, midfid backs and poor decion making at 10. Oh and our shit gameplan which is down to our coaches that got exposed by the Boks. Our coaches need to be accountable for the losses
Argies are weaker opposition to the Boks so I am expecting a win against them.
We'll start as fairly solid underdogs.
Line is currently 6.5 points and we are paying $2.80 for the win.
Tomthumb
Dick Tooth (41)
Not much is the answer. The tight 5 is key in this area and South Africa played a career hooker at loosehead prop and he still had AAA under pressure, that's probably a good indicator of how piss weak we are up front. George Smith would struggle to make an impact behind that
The main reason Tizzano is forced into making a lot of tackles is the average work rate on defense by a number of the other forwards. They aren't targeting him as much as he's the only one bouncing off his feet and filling gaps quickly
TSR
Andrew Slack (58)
Well - our front row is kinda a problem at the moment.
I’m a bit surprised Capalaba though that you think having some faith that pro coach with 20 off yrs of experience has done some due diligence around a players level of preparedness to play test footy amounts to ‘drinking the cool aid’. Schmidt had options like Nonggorr & Hodgeman to bring in if he needed to so I assume Robertson is actually in pretty good Nick.
Also, Argie was a recent World Cup semi finalist, they’re at home and they are both more settled and in better current form than us. You may want to temper your expectations.
I’m a bit surprised Capalaba though that you think having some faith that pro coach with 20 off yrs of experience has done some due diligence around a players level of preparedness to play test footy amounts to ‘drinking the cool aid’. Schmidt had options like Nonggorr & Hodgeman to bring in if he needed to so I assume Robertson is actually in pretty good Nick.
Also, Argie was a recent World Cup semi finalist, they’re at home and they are both more settled and in better current form than us. You may want to temper your expectations.
Tomthumb
Dick Tooth (41)
This seems like some Squidge rugby level overthinking
He was parting of the training squad in Perth and is technically one of our better props