Wallabies v Ireland, Saturday 16th June, 8.00pm, AAMI Park, Melbourne

[BDA]

I reckon Cheika will be very tempted to trot out the same team. Pretty much everyone played well.

picked it...the right call i think...hoping to see Timu make more of an impact this week

 

[BDA]

the only change i would have been keen on would have been an extra back...2 backs on the bench is a bit risky for my liking..Hodge is a really good option to cover the whole backline, but im not sure we need all of Simmons/Tui/Samu...Tui and Samu are a bit similar imo, but i do like the idea of giving Tui and Samu more test experience.

 

[KevinO]

15. Rob Kearney
14. Andrew Conway
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Robbie Henshaw
11. Keith Earls
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Conor Murray
1. Cian Healy
2. Niall Scannell
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Devin Toner
5. James Ryan
6. Peter O’Mahony (captain)
7. Dan Leavy
8. CJ Stander
Replacements:
16. Rob Herring
17. Jack McGrath
18. Andrew Porter
19. Tadhg Beirne
20. Jordi Murphy
21. John Cooney
22. Joey Carbery
23. Jordan Larmour

Much better side than last week, Ireland by 15

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Joe Blow]

Yes, a bit worried about the backs if they go into contact as hard this week. Limited back up on the bench.
Hopefully we can smash them into submission a little faster this time?

 

[Snotterbox]

Ireland is a quality side, and this is a better team, but they have the leaden fatigue of a long season and a brutal first game defeat in a foreign country to overcome. That’s very hard for any team. The Wallabies have been known to fall apart under similar circumstances - witness last year. Big ask. Hard to see Ireland getting up in Melbourne against a fresh Wallabies side that can only get better.

 

[Brumbieman]

Probably would have gone for the extra back this week tbh, it only takes one injury early and we're in shit.

 

[barbarian]

The weather forecast isn't great, which probably plays into the Irish hands a bit more.

While it's a much stronger Irish side, I expect us to be stronger as well. I'll tip Ireland by 3 but with very little confidence.
.

 

[Derpus]

picked it.the right call i think.hoping to see Timu make more of an impact this week

You have the best DP.

 

[Derpus]

The weather forecast isn't great, which probably plays into the Irish hands a bit more.

While it's a much stronger Irish side, I expect us to be stronger as well. I'll tip Ireland by 3 but with very little confidence.
.

Our best two games in the last few years were both tight, low scoring games. I don't think the rain harms us as much as it would if we play the same game. If we revert to a looser one, maybe.

 

[wamberal]

If it's wet, expect a lot of box kicks, grubber kicks, you name it, and a very tight game plan from the Oirish. We will need our loosies to do an awful lot of scrambling, and our defensive options have to be absolutely spot on all the time.

 

[Brumby Runner]

I think it mostly comes back to winning the contact zone. If you're doing that with ball in hand it's far easier to protect your own ruck ball and conversely a fetcher has far less opportunity. Even if you have a monster pack it's hard to be aggressive with your counter rucking if the opposition is winning that contact zone and getting over the advantage line.

The foundation for everything the Wallabies did against Ireland was largely down to our physicality in my view. We stifled their attack by making big tackles and a lot of our ball carriers regularly got over the advantage line in attack.

Which is precisely why we should avoid playing Ned Hanigan in the back row (hasn't put in a physically dominant showing in defense or with ball in hand at either test or Super Rugby level) and why Rodda and Arnold should be first choice partners to Coleman in the second row.

 

[barbarian]

Our best two games in the last few years were both tight, low scoring games. I don't think the rain harms us as much as it would if we play the same game. If we revert to a looser one, maybe.

Maybe. But it makes it harder to exploit the wider channels like we did on Saturday.

It probably means we revert even more to contestable kicking, and hope the Irish spill a few under pressure.
.

 

[Snotterbox]

The official forecast is only for a shower or two.

 

[Forcefield]

Which is precisely why we should avoid playing Ned Hanigan in the back row (hasn't put in a physically dominant showing in defense or with ball in hand at either test or Super Rugby level) and why Rodda and Arnold should be first choice partners to Coleman in the second row.

Agree. Never understood why anyone really rates him, but the I would have said the same about Robertson and he had a corker off the bench last week.

 

[Derpus]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-...ock-a-cancer-on-the-game-20180614-p4zlia.html

Couldn't think of a better compliment.

 

[Dan54]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-...ock-a-cancer-on-the-game-20180614-p4zlia.html

Couldn't think of a better compliment.

Couldn't agree more Derpus, not sure why Chuckles even mentions it. Hell we all saw the comments about McCaw for years, just better to smile and say 'he getting to you' isn't he boys? Poey really has proved and is proving like mcCaw before him, when the rules are tweeked that supposedly take them out of the game the real good ones just adjust!

 

[Braveheart81]

Like everything, it was brought to the attention of Cheika by a journalist and he was asked for comment on it.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Agree. Never understood why anyone really rates him, but the I would have said the same about Robertson and he had a corker off the bench last week.

But Robertson had been putting in very good shifts for the Tahs over the weeks leading to the test break. His form last weekend shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone watching him closely lately.

OTH, contrary to many others here, I don't think Hanigan has shown any improvement at all over 2017.

 

[Braveheart81]

Tolu and Nella have some pretty good competing cauliflowers.

 

[fatprop]

From the Irish point of view