Wallabies Backline for the world cup.

[Scotty]

Overall completion rate according to rugbystats:

McCabe 95%
Fainga'a 83%
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) 64%

Thats the stat then. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)'s is way too low.

Bring on the Mc & Fa centre combo!

 

[TOCC]

stats dont paint the full picture....

 

[Richo]

...But that doesn't mean moving AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) back to 13 is a good idea.

 

[Slim 293]

I dont mean to pick on McCabe, but one thing which did concern me defensively the other night was the easy meters that Nonu made through the midfield, McCabe may have hung on for dear life, but between McCabe and Ioane, Nonu was getting across the advantage line at will.

I think you'll find that when Nonu made those breaks is when McCabe was on the other side of the field after being involved in a tackle/ruck.

McCabe is seriously being underdone for all of his good work.

McCabe handled Nonu better than Giteau, Barnes and Fainga'a have done in previous tests.

Let's persist with the current working centre combination and make changes only when it doesnt work.

 

[waratahjesus]

M-man
c- capable
C- causing
A- all
B- blacks
E- embarrassment

 

[jimmymac]

how is completion the only way to compare centres / outside backs? im not sure about nonu and smiths stats but even if they only had 50% completions they 100% outplayed our centres in every game. what about line breaks? offloads? trys scored? which one of our centres is most likely to make the line break / score the try when the game is on the line? if all were at peak form for mine out best attacking centre pairing would be barnes / AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).

 

[Garryowen]

It's been said before, but I don't think there is enough midfield penetration / creativity with a combo of Ant and McCabe. One or the other, please. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) back to 13 (he played very well there last year) unless Horne stays fit and lives up to the hype.

Mitchell to wing, JOC (James O'Connor) to bench. Goal kicking is a concern, with or without JOC (James O'Connor) frankly.

 

[Garryowen]

Double post

 

[jimmymac]

It's been said before, but I don't think there is enough midfield penetration / creativity with a combo of Ant and McCabe. One or the other, please. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) back to 13 (he played very well there last year) unless Horne stays fit and lives up to the hype.

Mitchell to wing, JOC (James O'Connor) to bench. Goal kicking is a concern, with or without JOC (James O'Connor) frankly.

agree 100%, the spark that JOC (James O'Connor) could provide off the bench could be the X-factor in the second half. a fully fit Mitchell is one of the top 2 wingers in the world. teh reds did win teh super15 with quade kicking....

 

[Bowside]

I think quade is alright if he doesn't over think it with his kicking. I hope we can score enough points for it to not be an issue.

Successful backlines are as much about balance as skill. We have the havles combo, a skillful fullback with an ever improving kicking game, and all we need to cap it off are some big men who can knock the shit out the opposition in defence and bend the line in attack.

I would pick:

9. Genia
10. Cooper
11. Mitchell
12. Fainga'a
13. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
14. Ioane
15. Beale

With burgess and JOC (James O'Connor) on the bench. McCabe did nothing wrong, but I don't think he is quick enough for test rugby. And Ant Fainga'a is very strong at the breakdown which is where the game is won and lost.

 

[Slim 293]

McCabe is probably quicker than Fainga'a, and has been heavily involved in support at the breakdown...

 

[Bowside]

McCabe is probably quicker than Fainga'a, and has been heavily involved in support at the breakdown...

At the end of the day there is so little that separates them, that without being in wallaby camp I dont think we can definitively say who is better.

 

[Hardtackle]

My crack for the record
9 Genia obviously
10 Cooper obviously
11 Ioane (as long as he loses that insulting hair colour)
12 McCabe - been going well and low mistake rate
13 Finger – in form aggro defensive machine that can run and pass too
14 JOC (James O'Connor) –kicking did help his cause but hasn’t kicked well in tests and the debacle may have just proven that he really is flaky. Hopefully he’ll be trying to prove a point.
15 Beale - obviously
21 Burgess - ok as a sub
22 AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) – Beale as cover for Cooper, two dads covering 13, 14 or 15. Ant covering 12.

I’d have Mitchell in there if he hadn’t been injured, ditto Barnes. I haven’t seen enough of Horne to comment. It’s almost too late to bring back the injured guys. If we are forced by injury – so be it. We won in 91 with Roebuck and Edgerton. They weren’t necessarily the best we had back then but they did their job and the stars carried the day. We’ve enough stars in Genia, Cooper, JOC (James O'Connor), Beale, Pocock and big Radike. Play match fit blokes that have the mindset and combinations going now.

 

[Slim 293]

My crack for the record
I’d have Mitchell in there if he hadn’t been injured, ditto Barnes. I haven’t seen enough of Horne to comment. It’s almost too late to bring back the injured guys. If we are forced by injury – so be it. We won in 91 with Roebuck and Edgerton. They weren’t necessarily the best we had back then but they did their job and the stars carried the day. We’ve enough stars in Genia, Cooper, JOC (James O'Connor), Beale, Pocock and big Radike. Play match fit blokes that have the mindset and combinations going now.

Yeah, I don't know why people feel like we need to mess with working combinations.

Barnes did not have a good year. And let's be fair, if we were picking on recent form Giteau would be in ahead of him.

In saying that, I think he's without a doubt the best backup for Cooper at 10, and he'll get his game time against the minnows, and can come off the bench if needed.

Right now, the only toss up is that 13/14 channel and who to put on the bench.

If Mitchell was fit and raring to go it would be tough to leave him out. But he needs to prove that he is back up to that level.

JOC (James O'Connor) was the incumbent, but aside from being below par he's also been a dick off the field and shouldn't be guaranteed a starting position yet.

AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) deserves another shot after his performance on the weekend, but you would think that his time in the starting XV is numbered. However, unlike JOC (James O'Connor), he provided some solid returns off the kick off and was a more suitable option to bash it up. I honestly can't stand it when they try to use JOC (James O'Connor) for this purpose.

Fainga'a has also done well the past couple of matches and deserves to remain at outside centre. Although he probably provides less in attack than all of the other options (McCabe, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), Horne etc).

 

[OLDDOG]

Ummm, I may be wrong, havent read the entire thread, but I don't believe RD is gonna pick his preferred full strength lineup straight away.
There's a few games to be played before we get to some tough ones, and I believe he may well rotate a few players, and give a few of the certs a bit of a rest, whilst giving the returning wounded a chance to show their stuff - ergo - are they up to bledisloe intensity yet. I reckon 9 or 10 of the core regulars for the 1st game, and have a look at the returnees before we get to the business end of the RWC. Barring injury, I cant see too many tweaks if we make the quarters onwards, perhaps TPN and slipper back, with moore n ben A comin on at 60. as for the backs, wingers to alternate between AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), JOC (James O'Connor), and drew, rest diggers for the big ones......

 

[Braveheart81]

I think Deans will definitely pick his best team for our opening match against Italy. He explicitly said so on The Rugby Club a couple of weeks ago.

The USA and Russia games are the only time we will see significant changes to the preferred team. What will be interesting is how the returning players are brought back in.

From the injured players, I expect we'll see Slipper and TPN on the bench from game 1 at the very least.

 

[wobbly]

For the past 12 months or more my ideal Wallabies backline would have been:

9. Genia
10. Cooper
11. JOC (James O'Connor)
12. Barnes
13. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
14. Ioane
15. Beale

And would have liked to have seen JOC (James O'Connor) given a go at 12 and thus:

9. Genia
10. Cooper
11. Mitchell
12. JOC (James O'Connor)
13. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
14. Ioane
15. Beale

But I'm now a total convert to the McCabe / Fainga'a pairing and they're showing the form and its a winning formula against our biggest rivals, therefore its got to be:

9. Genia
10. Cooper
11. JOC (James O'Connor) / AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) / Mitchell
12. McCabe
13. Fainga'a
14. Ioane
15. Beale

One wing position is definately in contention. JOC (James O'Connor), for all his recent faults, is first preference goal kicker and impossible to leave off the field. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was back to form on the weekend, the best under the high ball which is invaluable, a great finisher and defender. Mitchell is also inresistable if he returns striongly to the form of earlier this season and the end of last.

Wow so many options.

I can't see Barnes being selected to start the big games unless we have injuries, but he's got to be on the bench, so at least one of those three wing options will miss out on the 22, possibly two if we go for a 5-2 bench split which I would like to see now Samo and Vickerman are in the first XV.

 

[Scotty]

I think you'll find that when Nonu made those breaks is when McCabe was on the other side of the field after being involved in a tackle/ruck.

McCabe is seriously being underdone for all of his good work.

McCabe handled Nonu better than Giteau, Barnes and Fainga'a have done in previous tests.

Let's persist with the current working centre combination and make changes only when it doesnt work.

Remind me when Fa'ainga has opposed Nonu before?

 

[wobbly]

Didn't mention Horne. I'm a fan, but its too late to consider him for starting 13. He's got to be well behing Fainga'a and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and I don't think he'd be the best balance for bench. Looking forward to seeing him in the dirt-tracker side though.

 

[Scotty]

Ummm, I may be wrong, havent read the entire thread, but I don't believe RD is gonna pick his preferred full strength lineup straight away.
There's a few games to be played before we get to some tough ones, and I believe he may well rotate a few players, and give a few of the certs a bit of a rest, whilst giving the returning wounded a chance to show their stuff - ergo - are they up to bledisloe intensity yet. I reckon 9 or 10 of the core regulars for the 1st game, and have a look at the returnees before we get to the business end of the RWC. Barring injury, I cant see too many tweaks if we make the quarters onwards, perhaps TPN and slipper back, with moore n ben A comin on at 60. as for the backs, wingers to alternate between AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), JOC (James O'Connor), and drew, rest diggers for the big ones......

Italy is the first game, Ireland is the second. He will have his full strength team vs Italy, and hope we are smashing them so he can give some of the bench guys a good run. These bench guys will likely include TPN, Slipper and Barnes, possibly Palu, but I wouldn't be surprise if he wasn't there.

Obviously Ireland would also be the full strength team, and only change from the Italy game due to injury or one of the bench players forcing their way into the team. Very unlikely that anyone outside the 22 will make the XV for Ireland.

Then there is the USA, which will be the 'B' team, but I hardly think that it would carry much weight as far as anyone forcing themselves into the team for the knockout stages.

Russia will then likely be the A team again, in readiness for the knockout stages, and I see this is the only chance to try one or two different combinations within the A team lineup.