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Wallabies Watch

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jay-c

jay-c

Ron Walden (29)
true he isnt playing test matches- but neither is anyone else this year
and while i value your opinion very highly qwerty- id tend to lean with genias opinion- despite the bias
he is also the best 9 in the world, arguably the most important position on the field- if he feels cooper outside him allows him to play better than im of the opinion that you give him what he wants
im surprised i have to point out to you that the all blacks inside backs combination is basically unchanged for a long time now so they got a pretty good combination there> and to add weight- nonu and smith spent a bit of time together at the hurricanes too
im not against oconner at 10 and im sure he would perform admirably- i just think with our limited preparation and considering everything deans has built the last 5 years has been designed with genia and cooper as 9/10 it would be foolish to have another new inside back combination
 
T

Train Without a Station

Guest
I'm concerned about Barnes' test match temperament. Under pressure he seems to drop into the pocket and his first instinct is to kick it. When he first came on last weekend he did it again. If he can't handle the pressure in Super Rugby, how will he handle it in test rugby?
 
Brumbieman

Brumbieman

Dick Tooth (41)
qwerty51 said:
How were those Welsh Tests boring? They were tense, tight and physical. Exactly what you want.
Click to expand...



They were spacker fights.

The Welsh were terrible and we were barely any better. Literally one bad bounce in each game and we'd have lost 3-0. What planet are you on?

Go watch them again. Everytime we got the ball to Barnes with possible options outside he took the wrong option, or butchered the right one. His kicking wasn't great (2 good kicks in 10, does not make you a good kicker ffs), shots at goal aside, and the whole backline looked confused and like they'd never played together. Toothless.

The few occasions the Welsh buggered their alignment up and some lucky sod found himself in space with no idea how he got there, we did our best to butcher the try scoring chances. We have never, EVER looked good or threatening as a team with Berrick Barnes at 10.
 
RoffsChoice

RoffsChoice

Jim Lenehan (48)
Train Without a Station said:
I'm concerned about Barnes' test match temperament. Under pressure he seems to drop into the pocket and his first instinct is to kick it. When he first came on last weekend he did it again. If he can't handle the pressure in Super Rugby, how will he handle it in test rugby?
Click to expand...
I gotta disagree with you there - he was a rock for the Wallabies against Wales last year, organising the backline very well. A lot of that aimless kicked happened when Beale was at 10 with Mike Harris at fullback. You saw his worth when he came on in the France game - the backline started firing and the forwards were in the right spot and were told when to pick and drive, when to let it out to the backs. That form continued into the England match and he was instrumental to our not losing to Wales and Italy.
 
RoffsChoice

RoffsChoice

Jim Lenehan (48)
Brumbieman said:
We have never, EVER looked good or threatening as a team with Berrick Barnes at 10.
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I got the files right here, watched them again over the weekend (Brumbies on bye and all) and he had the backline working in a way that appeared VERY planned. The tries you saw were either set up by Barnes or miracle breaks by someone with a number lower than 10.

I agree that he adds to the backline a lot more at 12 or 15, but to say he makes the Wallabies look bad is just wrong.
 
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Sully

Sully

Tim Horan (67)
Staff member
I keep hearing about Cooper not having the temperament for test match rugby but when you look at his stats compared to the wallabies it look the opposite.

since 2008 the wallabies
Bledisloe cup
without Cooper, have played 12 matches for 1 win or 8.3%
With Cooper 5 matches for 2 wins or 40%

The rugby championship
without Cooper 15 matches 4 wins or 26%
with Cooper 13 matches for 8 wins or 61.5%

All tests
The Wallabies without Cooper 33 matches for 16 wins or 48.5%
with Cooper 38 matches 26 wins or 69.7%

It's clear that the Wallabies win a lot more games when Cooper plays so the argument that he's not suited to test match rugby is a crook.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD
 
qwerty51

qwerty51

Stirling Mortlock (74)
Brumbieman said:
Barnes is the best goalkicker in Australia?

Since when?
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I am excluding Harris here because he is not in contention. He is definitely better than JOC (James O'Connor), Beale and Quade. He has the most range as well, see Tahs/Stormers last weekend. He's 80%+ and does this at Test level as well. Lealiifano has kicked pretty well but unproven under the pressure of a Test match plus he might not even be there.

RoffsChoice said:
Added benefit of Lealiifano or Horne at 12 - the tackles will stick and the 10-12 channel won't be open due to players out of position.
Click to expand...

I agree Lealiifano is good defender but like Barnes he is not a dominant tackler unlike McCabe and Horne.
 
RoffsChoice

RoffsChoice

Jim Lenehan (48)
Musts for the Lions Series:
Front row that can stay up
Locks/Backrow that win 95%+ of their own lineouts
7 who wins penalties and the ball
Centres and wingers who make strong tackles
Good goal kicker

Unfortunately with the demise of Palmer and Kepu's inconsistency, I think we won't get that front row.
 
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