waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
Dam Palmer's slimed down........
Should make him hard to tackle
Dam Palmer's slimed down........
I think so, I wouldn't have change the rules to get him in (I don't believe the ARU did it for that reason either), but now that he's available I think you take a look at him during the Rugby Championship. He was named the best player in Europe so he should serve as a good test case to see weather NH form should be worth anything going forward. I don't think he starts initially, get him back to learn the systems and have a look at training, maybe playing off the bench then if it goes well give him a crack against the argies.
He should probably be called over for no other reason than to piss off Boudjellal and show him we're going to use reg 9 and maybe he should think twice before poaching aussies.
Nutta, are the NH sides higher up the tree because the wallabies have been pretty poor for a long while our because they are so good? I would suggest a bit of both but mainly the former. Only the Irish have really improved, the Welsh are exactly what they were when Gatland took over and getting exactly the same results, the French are pushing hard to be a2nd tier side. The scotts remain under manned and the English still don't know if they want to play their traditional game or a more open one.
So Cheika has had so much time with the team.. to be honest he lost alot more then he won..
I don't expect Smith to be picked.. it just doesn't fit but you would have to be dumb to not drag him out during the rugby championship and see what his got. no offense to Hooper or Poey.. they are both trying to be Smith..
Now if your a coach and you don't take 10 minutes (before the world cup) to see if Gits, Michell and Smith are any good.. your a clown..
I think that's on the money BDA except I would drop Genia for Adam Coleman and Jones for Higgers
You highlighted the point why it would be ridiculous to not look at Gits during rugby championship..he was named best player in Europe.and in case people's memories are foggy to call NH rugby crap etc..you mind want to remind yourself their are NH teams higher than us on IRB rankings..and indeed a number of them kicked our arse at last EOYT..
The Wallabies' scrum was severely undersized and underweight last year and if we can't put together a better pack for RWC then it won't matter who plays at 10 or 12.
Samu Kerevi, based on form he would be the starting 13, reality is he probably won't be included in the Wallaby squad due to his inexperience and lack of versatility. It's nice to see a powerful ball running alternative to Kuridrani though.