Didn't Tom Lynagh's father play at inside centre on a Grand Slam tour, even though he was (and is) regarded as a true five-eighth?
Wallabies 2024
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drewprint
Dick Tooth (41)
Oh man that bolded quote haha. Such a knob.Campo is feeling neglected again…
David Campese criticises Joe Schmidt and labels All Blacks ‘very ordinary’
Legendary winger David Campese has criticised the appointment of Joe Schmidt as head coach following the Wallabies’ last-place finish.www.rugbypass.com
The_Brown_Hornet
John Eales (66)
Strewthcobber
Simon Poidevin (60)
Andrew Slack was a 5/8 for almost all the rugby he played before switching to either centres at Reds and Wallaby level as well
rugbyAU
Bob Davidson (42)
He's won 3 6 nations (including one GS) from 7 years, world rugby coach of the year in 2018 and over 70% of his tests thereCampo is feeling neglected again…
David Campese criticises Joe Schmidt and labels All Blacks ‘very ordinary’
Legendary winger David Campese has criticised the appointment of Joe Schmidt as head coach following the Wallabies’ last-place finish.
Sir Arthur Higgins
Dick Tooth (41)
Almost no opinion is less relevant to me than that of a player from that era who has subsequently done nothing in the game.Campo is feeling neglected again…
David Campese criticises Joe Schmidt and labels All Blacks ‘very ordinary’
Legendary winger David Campese has criticised the appointment of Joe Schmidt as head coach following the Wallabies’ last-place finish.
The game is so completely different - at his peak he would be completely lost and at sea if he played today.
Let me know Nick farr jones thoughts….
Campo is a predictable and relentless voice of doom, and has stagnated in about 1994, but it's crazy to assert he would have been incapable of being a very good player in this era.
He was way ahead of others in terms of seeking physical development, getting bigger and stronger and so on. His skills and vision for space would be a big asset in any era. Not to mention his right boot. He punted the ball a mile.
Now, if he would just shut up a bit...
Tomthumb
Peter Fenwicke (45)
That's great and all, but Eddie Jones also won 3 Six Nations, a Grand Slam, World Rugby coach of the year and over 70% of his tests over there too, so it may not be the best gauge of performance as Wallaby coach
Sword of Justice
Arch Winning (36)
Eddie lost his mind coaching us. There was near total praise of his appointment at first on these pages. I genuinely think it was unforseeable how badly he went off the rails.
If Joe can at least maintain some level of thought process rather than going off vibes, dreams and slogans then we will at least have a shred of dignity to treasure.
The_Brown_Hornet
John Eales (66)
There was no praise of EJ (Eddie Jones)'s appointment from me. Quite the opposite in fact.
Your point is well made though.
Your point is well made though.
Strewthcobber
Simon Poidevin (60)
The players of interest for the tour already know and are training at their "home" cities.
The squad will be announced in advance of two camps where they all get together in late October before they depart, so probably in a week or so.
rugbyAU
Bob Davidson (42)
And Rennie won back to back super titles from memory too - we seem to have coaches coming in with previous success that leave us with their stocks lowered
rugbyAU
Bob Davidson (42)
The ABs first game is 2 weeks before ours
Tomthumb
Peter Fenwicke (45)
It feels like an adaptability problem. Rennie was a smart coach but seemed to have no plan B when things didn't go right. Eddie tried changing things way too fast and then bailed as soon as it didn't work
And my concern with Schmidt is whether he is capable of adapting his style to suit the players he has. He seems to be trying to play like Ireland 2.0 but we don't have he players for that. Hopefully he will evolve but at the moment it feels like a sqaure peg in a round hole
Tomthumb
Peter Fenwicke (45)
A wider game, play more in space. We have a smaller forward pack what Schmidt seem determined to use in one off the ruck runs directly into traffic as soon as we enter the attacking half. We have 2 of the best ball carrying props in the world and yet we don't find ways to put them in space, one of the faster locks in World rugby in Frost that they don't put in space, athletic loose forwards that get used as battering rams. Instead, the master plan seems to run into brick walls, directly into teams with much bigger forward packs. We looked dangerous every time we used the ball vs NZ, and then as soon as we reverted to this rugby league hit up nonsense went absolutely nowhere
We have elite speed in guys like Toole, Jorgenson, Lancaster etc. Yet we instead pick an over the hill Koroibete and out of form stock standard Kellaway. We pick a 9 in Gordon known for his running game and try to turn him into Connor Murray with constant box kicks. We run a defensive scheme that relies on dominant tackles despite the fact we have one of the smallest tier 1 teams in the World
Wilson
Phil Kearns (64)
I don't think any of these things are quite true, or at least they're much more nuanced than that.
Rennie wasn't too complicated on the face of it but he struggled with the step up to representative rugby (as opposed to club) and the way selection and development changes. His biggest issue towards the end is one a lot of first time international coaches are guilty of making after a few years - gambling too much on selection, hoping either the aging star or the hot new thing was going to be the answer to problems he had let fester in key positions. It's not club rugby though and you can't sign your way out of problems - Cheika had this exact same issue later in his tenure. He also probably struggled to maintain an effective coaching unit, but that came after the other issues and might have been a consequence of them. Certainly doesn't help coming in without support staff you've already worked with though.
Eddie wasn't too much change, though it was a lot in a short period and probably could've been more successful if it was staged. His biggest issue was a terrible coaching team, made up of coaches who either weren't up to it or were being made to coach a discipline entirely different from their skill set. They had no hope of ever being able to effectively communicate his plan in such a short time frame, or respond on the fly as the situation evolved.
Jury is well and truly still out on Schmidt and I think it will take time to bring the players up to speed with his style, as it did with Ireland. He's definitely not helped by the fact that 3 coaches in 3 years and a team going bust has impacted development and planning, and has accelerated the departure of players at all level of the game, but thankfully that seems to have settled now. There are clear signs the team is building and he seems to have a good coaching unit with some he has worked with before, though it may still need some changes. I think there's a fair bit still to play out on exactly what Schmidt 2.0 looks like, and I very much doubt he is aiming for a carbon copy of his Irish style, but the foundations will be similar and that's what he's been trying to build so far.
I expect we won't really see the shape of it until the Lions tour next year, where he may well have a few things he's kept up his sleeve to spring on them, but that requires he gets those foundations as solid as possible. The biggest plus he has with the Wallabies going into that series is the unknown they represent with such a short lead in and so much change in the past. That's also a huge part of the challenge facing him, but the only option to seems to be to use that to his advantage as much as possible.
Ignoto
Peter Sullivan (51)
I remember back when we had Deans as coach, Gagger gave him grief for trying to implement a "play what's in front of you" game plan and our players were still suffering from Jones needing strict game plans.
Eddie 2.0 threw that all out the window and had no game plan, no structure and the ultimate wing it attitude.