Wallabies v France - June 14 Etihad Stadium

[lpd]

 

[Richo]

People are thinking about 2015. You can't have passengers in a WC squad, and so if we are taking Skelton, he needs to be tested and developed into a test lock in the next 18 months.

Bloke has the potential to be a dominate lock. Something Australia hasn't had consistently (only in patches have Sharpe, Vickerman and Horwill been dominant) for the last 10 years.

Well, yeah. That's why I don't think it matters whether he can "play 80 minutes" right now. He's there to get used to the program, gain some experience and, if circumstances permit, get 20 or 30 minutes in one of the games. Last season, people were worried if he could play 60 minutes and he's done that consistently well at the Waratahs. Another 12 months of conditioning and he might well be read for test duties too.

 

[Bairdy]

How much game time has Nyanga and Dusatoir had in the last few months? I hope they're underdone for our sake. The pack will need to roll up their sleeves and throw themselves into the breakdowns all night, especially Hooper and Fardy. Picamoles as the impact sub is frightening indeed.

Scary proposition with the French front row being rested and their bench front row from last week being just as proficient at scrum time. Slipper will have his work cut out for him against Slimani.

Wallabies by 6.

 

[Gnostic]

I hate to say it, but the Wallabies may well struggle this week. The motivation for the French, the lingering elation of the Wallabies.

But the key is the depth on the bench, particularly in the forwards and more particularly in the front row. The only saving grace I think is the game time the Wallabies have had and the high intensity of the Super Rugby over the last few weeks.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

That's a considerably better looking French team. That and our outs this week make me nervous. We're going to need to really front up early in the game so these boys don't get a head of steam up.

 

[Joe Blow]

When Skelton is ready he should start or not be in the 23 at all. I imagine the goal would be 40-50 minutes before replacing him with a faster player a la Jones.
With Fardy at 6 and Big Mac or Higgers at 8 and Simmons you have your 3 main line out jumpers.
In attacking line outs he will be in the back line to crash it up anyway and in defending line outs he will not contest but be there to help stop a rolling maul before it gets going.
How effective is he in the scrum? In the last Tahs game his side went backwards when he came on. He seemed a lot less effective in this phase of the game than Potgieter, who he replaced. Kepu also replaced Ryan at the same time so he had a decent TH in front of him.
His main strength appears to be ball carrying and offloading as well as having the size and strength to monster his opposition in contact.

 

[BDA]

i think the forward battle will be very close this week, but i still think the french will struggle to contain our back-line. We wont get nearly as many opportunities to attack, but the way our backs shredded them last week I couldn't see us scoring less than 3 or 4 tries. Final score line could be close but Wallabies to edge it.

 

[jason]

On paper, that is a MUCH better Frog team. Not sure why the Aus papers are crowing on so much about Big Basta - on 6N he was pretty lukewarm and the northern hemisphere consensus was that Fickou was a much sharper proposition.

The pack on the other hand looks pretty deadly. Everyone knows Dusautoir is class and Nyanga was immense in the 6N. I'm not up to speed on their injuries/Top 14 seasons, but they could be very tricky to contain. Agree with Bairdy that Picamoles coming on with 20 to go is scary.

That said, provided we don't get complacent after last week (and I'm afraid after the Deans era I've still got little confidence in our consistency), we should be able to do them.

Aus by 8.

 

[Tomikin]

Fire up, Im sad Carter got injured but it's Big Kev's 50th Test and I hope he rips in screw the french Kev and the rest of the forwards will rip in !!!

 

[ACT Crusader]

Tales will stand a lot flatter than Freddie and with an improved (on paper) looking forward pack, the French may offer a bit more potency on attack. Fofana and Bast might get some decent ball to play with.

I am a little surprised that Chouly is starting ahead of Picamoles though.

 

[Hawko]

I am a little surprised that Chouly is starting ahead of Picamoles though.

I thought he was the best French player on the ground last Saturday.

 

[fatprop]

Tales will stand a lot flatter than Freddie and with an improved (on paper) looking forward pack, the French may offer a bit more potency on attack. Fofana and Bast might get some decent ball to play with.

I am a little surprised that Chouly is starting ahead of Picamoles though.

freddie was standing near the fullback, he had a 20m run to the advantage line

 

[BPC]

I suspect Skelton is never going to have the quickness into the air to be a primary lineout option. Perhaps Skelton's best use in a lineout is to stay on the ground then, if the opposition forms a maul, barrel his way through it. This would give a lot of teams pause close to the try line.


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[Train Without a Station]

Skelton is great physically, and in maul defence. But he is not great in the air. There's no such thing as a free lunch. We need to remember that generally you do not get something exceptionally better than the rest, without it being at the expense of something else.

 

[Scrubber2050]

TWAS - Agree
Lest We Forget

 

[emuarse]

I hate to say it, but the Wallabies may well struggle this week. The motivation for the French, the lingering elation of the Wallabies.

But the key is the depth on the bench, particularly in the forwards and more particularly in the front row. The only saving grace I think is the game time the Wallabies have had and the high intensity of the Super Rugby over the last few weeks.

Our backs are enjoying good combinations from last week and Super 15. It is there where we will beat the French this weekend.

 

[BDA]

Just read a pleasing statistic - Wallabies averaged 4.5 tries over their last 8 matches. The French are really going to have to make a mess of our ball if they are going to stop us from scoring tries. And they'll need to score a few of their own. They might edge the forward battle but I just cant see them getting up.

 

[A mutterer]

I'm hoping to see a real intent to finish off what they started in the first 70 minutes last week. I've said I'd before but under link we have great passages of play but STILL lack that clinical edge and killer instinct. This is a good opportunity to make a statement in this area.

 

[Pete King]

I honestly think alot rests on TPN Shoulders, If he can maintain his straight throw from the first match we win and win well. If there is constant stop start and a abundance of scrums from crooked line outs we are in trouble.

 

[rugbysmartarse]

It's not that simple.

The modern lift is based a lot on the jumper "springing" off the ground, and then instantly going stiff as a board. Some are better at this than others, and I suspect that it's not something that can really be trained to a great level, like fast twitch muscle fibres.

The front lifter is the main lifter, holding onto the jumper's thighs. Hence the thigh strapping on lineout jumpers. These guys do the harder part of the lift.

The back lifter primarily provides stability, with their hands either under the backside, or on the upper thighs (although this is not a stable lift at all).

Smaller jumpers who can spring quickly off the ground are significantly easier to lift, and may even get higher as their spring is better, allowing the lifting players to fully extend. If the spring isn't great, the lifters will struggle to extend. Trust me, lifting behemoths who don't spring well will really take it ouf of you, profressional player or no.

So you can see why large guys with lower centres of gravity are just an absolute bitch to lift, of which Skelton is one. He'd be a part time guy at best, maybe gone to less than once a game. If any decent opposition jumper marked up on Skelton with a good lifter or two, then they would get in front, hence why Skelton would never be a key target.

Like I said, the limiting factor isn't the lifter's ability to hold extra weight up, it's in the execution of the jump. I disagree with your view on the main lifter, though - the back lifter is doing the bulk of the work. See Beast when he is used as a solo lifter - he is always behind the jumper.