Wallabies v Poms, EOYT 2010, Twickenham

[Joe Blow]

I think Saia needs a little more experience under his belt and promoting Edmonds to the bench is a good call.

No matter what the result is on Saturday we will most likely see a few of the big guns rested for Italy next week.

Nice to see Squeeky back on deck!!!

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Happy with the 22. Don't need to say anything about the selection at 12. I just give up.

 

[Groucho]

Oops: someone already posted the team!

 

[Hodgy]

well as a Pom that side has me more concerned than I hoped. I'm always slightly concerned when we go into a game expected to muller an opposition scrum, I'm a bit gutted that Moore is fit.

I think we showed some promise last week, but I also think the Aussie back line will tear our wide channels a new arse hole, it literally brings me out in cold sweats thinking of anyone running on either one of Tindall's shoulders (i.e. not straight at him) let alone the current marvel that is Curtly Beale. I fear we may go in expecting to be better than we are and therefore forget that we actually have to bash the crap out of the aussies at the breakdown and in the set piece in an attempt to slow the ball to the outsides. Also, if we play with the pathetic line speed in defence we showed last week we'll get done everytime the Aussies get the ball.

I was at the England game last weekend and enjoyed much of what I saw, I just hope that Youngs can provide quick ball and keep the big fellas running into Quade Cooper all day, whilst Moody is busy trying to get Pocock to headbutt him. I'm going again this week and frankly, I'm sick of watching England lose (I think this would be my 7th test in a row when I've been to Twickenham and watched us lose) so please please can we do well inspite of the midfield.

 

[Hawko]

Can I suggest you schedule some Twickenham games against more appropriate opposition - Romania, Uruguay, Russia perhaps.

 

[Langthorne]

I'm going to say Australia by 12...as long as the basic ball skills are of the highest order. No forward passes, dropped balls, crooked throws. In those circumstances defensive scrums will be minimised and the scrum problems will be similarly minimised (actually turning up and scrummaging at the same level as the Poms seems a bit of a vain hope).

The England 10, 12 and 13 are pretty uninspiring, whereas Youngs is pretty good, and their back 3 are much more lively than the England teams of late. Aside from Cooper being a poor defender (and in a very exposed position), I think the Aussie backs should have it over them.

The England pack are big and aggressive - the Wallabies need to come out firing, and then run them around the park. If the scrum becomes a major feature of the match it will be very ugly.

 

[dobduff11]

England by 4 - have a feeling Toblerone will play well on Saturday.

Tbh i hope the match is good and England don't play 10 man rugby, man i get bored by that. JOC (James O'Connor) and Kurtley to tear up but Chris Ashton and Foden to reply back. Ben youngs to score the decisive try 12 minutes from time. 26-22

The one match a year i don't support you guys, Come on England

 

[Ruggo]

Wallabis by eight. Wallabies will at least gain parity in the scrum. Lessons will be learnt from last week.

 

[Jnor]

www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/se/london_forecast_weather.html

At this stage saturday looks dry(ish) and it'll be a slow track but I have a lot more faith in the Wobs to get up if the rain stays away and we can actually use the potential of our backline.

The forwards need to take a serious step up to gain parity here and I really hope they haven't spent the whole week working on the scrum as that probably means absolutely everything else will turn to shit. Having said that, as long as the Wobs play somewhere near their abilities and can stop the Poms busting through the middle, we should have it. In short, lets play OUR game, not theirs.

Can't remember my superbru tip but I think it was Gold by 9. CARN THE WALLABIES!

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Yeah I think if we can get quickly into our patterns and look after the ball, we will score enough points. The key, other than the scrum, will be securing the ball at the breakdown and keeping the tempo high. A slower attritional battle suits England and not us. While they will try and bash us, we will try and outpace and outflank them. It will be a fascinating tactical battle.

 

[RedsHappy]

Yeah I think if we can get quickly into our patterns and look after the ball, we will score enough points. The key, other than the scrum, will be securing the ball at the breakdown and keeping the tempo high. A slower attritional battle suits England and not us. While they will try and bash us, we will try and outpace and outflank them. It will be a fascinating tactical battle.

Good summary TBH. I am really looking forward to this particular battle. England are gradually improving in attack and the proper mobilisation of their backs, which is complementing their classic strengths, so this will indeed be a kind of 'moment to truth' for our Wallabies in terms of the battles of talents and histories.

My core concern remains: this team today is something of a lop-sided automobile where a Ferrari V12 (QC (Quade Cooper), DP, JO'C, KB (Kurtley Beale), WG) has been inserted into what is, overall, a Holden (or maybe BMW) chassis (the other 10). There are still risky imbalances in skill and execution excellence. If we take all of kicking, scrum/lineout, attack, defence, breakdown, game close-out over 80, we seem typically able to demonstrate excellence in any one game not in all, but in, say, 4 of them all, or, just maybe 5, and the missing 1 (or 2) is/are the killer loser. I'd assume we can afford a relatively poor outcome for scrum, and if (a biggish if) we can maintain recent Wallaby quality in the other 5, we will win by 4-10 points. If we end up back in the place where the best of what we can do in the other critical areas falls away, we will lose, possibly quite badly. I think JO'C's kick %s will be crucial btw, as there will be decisive penalties, and probably plenty of kickable ones.

 

[disco]

Well if it's true that Deans loaded them up with heavy training sessions before the welsh test than I'm far more confident now than I was on Sunday.

So if that is true & after a very physical encounter at HK then we should expect a far more polished performance this week.

 

[rugbyisfun]

F.....ing Giteau?!?!!??!!? I look forward to spending the next 30 mins cleaning up all of the spilt/spat tea off my keyboard and screen.....

 

[I like to watch]

I think the Ref will decide the winner.
If he allows England to fudge at the breakdown & disrupt our phases, they will win easy.
If he doesn't allow them to fudge then we will kick more goals than them to win.
I can't see England letting us play fast open football, unless 2 or 3 of them are sin binned.
Thank God Kaplan is not the referee.

 

[DPK]

Hard to believe Moore is 27, isn't it? I still see him as one of the young guns.

 

[Lee Grant]

I'm sick of watching England lose (I think this would be my 7th test in a row when I've been to Twickenham and watched us lose) so please please can we do well inspite of the midfield.

It is a pretty ordinary midfield isn't it? I made excuses last week about Tindall before the NZ test - that he is the best scoper on defence and earns his spot by being the defensive quarterback. But he was no match for SBW and Nonu when they were around him. Hape did some good things and played well in Sydney, but you get the feeling that he is learning test rugby on the job.


I don't think you have many form, fit England centres in the Premiership or elsewhere to walk into the side and replace them for the Boks test. There are names, yes, but there's a negative about most of them, Barkley included. It's a pity that D.Armitage is not playing 13 for the Exiles because he is in form at 15. Being cursed with doubt Johnno won't switch him to the midfield for the following test match. I see that Hipkiss is back so he might be a possibility.


If you had all our pro players and we had yours since they were boys I think we would come up with a better team than you have. And anyway, Jonno wouldn't have picked O'Connor and he wouldn't have had a bar of Quade Cooper.


We would have Armitage as our outside centre and Ashton and Foden would have been our regular starters a lot sooner than they were for your lot. All your backs would be better having been in our system. Let's not talk about the front row though because in that parallel universe they wouldn't be as good. We wouldn't have Cueto in the team. He's a good footie player but I didn't realise how slow he is now until last weekend. We'd probably have Jonathan Joseph in, young as he is.


I thought England were a bit more adventurous last week, but they should have scored that try that was not allowed to Hape. Forget the shoulder charge and all of that, they stuffed it up themselves. Foden, Ashton and Hape weren't running onto the ball, nor did the first two mentioned draw the man. When Foden got the ball from Flood he was static, instead of running straight to fix Read who was drifting right, he just dished the ball to Ashton, who just passed it onto Hape. Therefore Toeava, who was allowed to get wider than he could have done had the Poms ran straight and drawn the man, had time to shoulder charge Hape.


When Flood got the ball he had Read opposite him and Toeava was the other defender on their right. England helped the All Blacks by turning a 4 on 2 into a 2 on 2. Oz and the Kiwis would have scored that try and so would the Boks have if JdV was Foden.


Your fellows will try to dominate in the scrums leaving the ball in as Wales did sometimes against us and getting penalties, working for a yellow card. With 15 men against 14 they will play a bit of rugby.


If England play as well as they did in Sydney, which was just decent except for a couple of brilliant moves, and we play the same as we did, England should win again.


PS:I'm not sick of England losing.

 

[#1 Tah]

Hard to believe Moore is 27, isn't it? I still see him as one of the young guns.

He is younger then shiteau.

 

[dobduff11]

We'd probably have Jonathan Joseph in, young as he is.

The next time I see him Ill mention that Lee.

Ive played against him a few times and I wsa in the academy with him for a bit. He got my best mates brothers spot and I see now that it was definetly deserved.

He will play 13 for Irish in the next few years and will hopefully be Lirish's answer to Jerry Guscott

I would love to see him play for England now though

 

[Lee Grant]

He will play 13 for Irish in the next few years and will hopefully be Lirish's answer to Jerry Guscott

That's strong talk dobber. He could play, Guscott. Not the best tackler I ever saw tough that never stopped Campese from being a Wallaby great. But like a few admirable Pom backs over the years, including Cipriani - and even commentator Stuart Barnes - Guscott had the misfortune to be born in the wrong country from a rugby point of view. Those players would have thrived on our game.

Please ask Jonathan if he has an Australian grandmother or grandfather. If he doesn't, tell him not to worry - we have plenty here who we can assign to him. Nudge, nudge; wink, wink; say no more.

Is your one of your girlfriends available Bruce? The youngest one perhaps?

 

[Bruce Ross]

That's strong talk dobber. He could play, Guscott. Not the best tackler I ever saw tough that never stopped Campese from being a Wallaby great. But like a few admirable Pom backs over the years, including Cipriani - and even commentator Stuart Barnes - Guscott had the misfortune to be born in the wrong country from a rugby point of view. Those players would have thrived on our game.

Please ask Jonathan if he has an Australian grandmother or grandfather. If he doesn't, tell him not to worry - we have plenty here who we can assign to him. Nudge, nudge; wink, wink; say no more.

Is one of your girlfriends available Bruce? The youngest one perhaps?

I'm not sure he'd be all that enthused about living in a nursing home, LG.