Wallabies V Samoa - Test 2011

[tragic]

I'm glad Davies got a go, better now than in an important game.

Yeah I guess he looked pretty average against the Blues. Wouldn't cut it against real opposition......

 

[qwerty51]

Yeah I guess he looked pretty average against the Blues. Wouldn't cut it against real opposition......

Oh you're not another Reds fan unable to see the disparity between Super rugby and Test rugby are you?

 

[Slim 293]

Maybe another upside is that if Davies plays well for a couple of weeks, Robbie may want to keep him and there throw JOC (James O'Connor) at 12 allowing Giteau to become the squads third halfback where he is most comfortable.

Wait, who's more comfortable at halfback?

 

[matty_k]

Yeah I guess he looked pretty average against the Blues. Wouldn't cut it against real opposition......

Oh you're not another Reds fan unable to see the disparity between Super rugby and Test rugby are you?

It was Davies' Super Rugby form that got him this call up. He deserves it. It is better that it is this week rather than next.

 

[qwerty51]

It was Davies' Super Rugby form that got him this call up. He deserves it. It is better that it is this week rather than next.

Yeah it's all good, I'm happy for him to get selected, he deserves it, just some fans getting ahead of themselves and Davies with his selection.

 

[light]

Yeah it's all good, I'm happy for him to get selected, he deserves it, just some fans getting ahead of themselves and Davies with his selection.

Guess it's your job to put them in their place Qwerty.

 

[qwerty51]

Guess it's your job to put them in their place Qwerty.

Call it how I see it.

A comment like Davies > Turner really boggles the mind. Someone who has never played a Test is all of a sudden better than someone who has been around the Wallaby set-up for a while and last game against the ABs was an above average performance. Especially considering Turner has a great deal of more Test match rugby skills.

 

[light]

Indeed, I think most would agree that Turner is higher on the pecking order than Davies, regardless of team performances. It is good to see Davies get a chance as we do need specialist wingers come world cup time. FWIW neither would be in an ideal wallabies starting XV. Ioane, Mitchell and JOC (James O'Connor) are all ahead in Deans' book

 

[Sully]

I saw that as a question like "Davies over Turner?" Funny how you saw it completely differently.

 

[Ignoto]

Someone who has never played a Test is all of a sudden better than someone who has been around the Wallaby set-up for a while and last game against the ABs was an above average performance. Especially considering Turner has a great deal of more Test match rugby skills.

So because of Turners experience theres no excuse for his lack of form in the Super competition then?

 

[barbarian]

JOC (James O'Connor) has tweeted his injury isn't too bad and he should be back next week if all goes to plan.

 

[Godfrey]

Turner is an average potato when we need a spicy lemon. Go Davies!

 

[barbarian]

Turner is an average potato when we need a spicy lemon.

Worst. Analogy. Ever.

 

[DPK]

Lemons aren't even spicy FFS...

 

[TOCC]

Davies is one of the in form wingers in australia.. Definetly deserves his selection..
It would be like saying Dunning deserves selection ahead of Kepu because he had one or two good test matches over the past 4 years

 

[jay-c]

could anyone who seriously belives turner is a better option than davies please explain your reasoning? cause it sure as hell cant be form in the last year?
ill give him that test v the all blacks last year but
experience with the squad? davies had that last year too
defense? davies has vastly improved this year
his improvement in the last few games was good but only compared to the impossibly low standards he set himself from the first half of the year
turners superior kicking is hardly a point to consider as he kicks at the wrong times (as soon as he gets the ball) and often out on the full

 

[waratahjesus]

Davies is one of the in form wingers in australia.. Definetly deserves his selection..
It would be like saying Dunning deserves selection ahead of Kepu because he had one or two good test matches over the past 4 years

Dunning doesn't deserve selection ahead of kepu but ahead of pek certainly on current form and past glories.

 

[waratahjesus]

could anyone who seriously belives turner is a better option than davies please explain your reasoning? cause it sure as hell cant be form in the last year?
ill give him that test v the all blacks last year but
experience with the squad? davies had that last year too
defense? davies has vastly improved this year
his improvement in the last few games was good but only compared to the impossibly low standards he set himself from the first half of
the year
turners superior kicking is hardly a point to consider as he kicks at the wrong times (as soon as he gets the ball) and often out on the full

Turner has performed for the wallabies for a few year now and a consistent and high level, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) is in there for the same reason, deans has got reward for selecting them in the past. Turner also has the flexability of playing fullback which allows backlit reshuffles.

During the season turner played in three different positions and was often shuffled during games, he also carried a couple of leg injuries for the back third of the season that affected his kicking (from his mouth).

No doubt Davies had a good year and deserves his chance but you don't throw someone out unless there is no reason to keep them, and in turners case he deserves to be there.

 

[minorbird]

Turner
Defense: 99 made, 25 missed = 80% at 5.5 a game
Attack: 122 runs at 6.8 a game, 36 tackle busts at 2 a game, 9 offloads, 11 line breaks, 3 line break creates

Davies
Defense: 39 made, 12 missed = 76% (sample size is not great) at 3.25 a game
Attack: 50 runs at 4.2 a game, 24 tackle busts at 2 a game, 9 offloads, 11 line breaks, 1 line break create

What does this tell us? Turner is a better defender and has a higher work rate in both attack and defense than Davies. Turner broke the same amount of tackles a game and made the same amount of offloads and linebreaks during the season despite playing 6 more games than Davies.

I think part of the problem this year for Turner was that there was really no one at the Tahs who was throwing long flat passes at pace in the backline like Quade was for Davies. Flyers like Turner and Davies thrive in these situations. After Mitchell went down with his injury, Turner tried to replace Mitchell as the workhorse roving winger for the Tahs (the same role that Digby occupied for the Reds), but I don't think that necessarily plays to Turner's strength.

Looking at kicking stats is useless because it doesn't tell you anything about the type of kicks that are being made. In my opinion, Turner is a solid (and frequent) kicker of the ball, kicking it 45 times during the season. Davies might be a good kicker, but as he kicked it only 8 times during the season you can't draw much from it.

 

[Swarley]

could anyone who seriously belives turner is a better option than davies please explain your reasoning? cause it sure as hell cant be form in the last year?
ill give him that test v the all blacks last year but
That test against the All Blacks shows that he can match it against the best in the world, and he's never let the team down before. Consistently turning up and never letting the team down with defensive brain-farts (a la Mitchell) or ignoring blatant overlaps etc.

experience with the squad? davies had that last year too
By that logic you could say Luke Morahan and Matt To'omua are as experienced as Turner. Turner's played a few Tests, against high-class opposition and has played plenty of finals down in NSW. Much more experienced than the uncapped Davies

defense? davies has vastly improved this year
Just because a player has improved that doesn't make him better than somebody who hasn't. All it means is that Davies is better defensively than he was in 2010. Turner hasn't made a massive defensive error IIRC and I think he's one of the better tacklers in the squad.

his improvement in the last few games was good but only compared to the impossibly low standards he set himself from the first half of the year
It's pretty hard to build up any sort of momentum when your captain favours attrition-based tactics including scrum resets for 30 consecutive minutes and the limited opportunity presented to the backs is kicked away by Berrick Barnes or given to Drew Mitchell.

turners superior kicking is hardly a point to consider as he kicks at the wrong times (as soon as he gets the ball) and often out on the full
I think it's very important to consider. Turner has more-than-competent ability with his boot, whereas Davies has virtually none. He has been prone to some questionable decision-making but he's never screwed up completely and I think playing in the unstructured, free-flowing environment encouraged by Deans he could eliminate his kicking shortfalls.