Wallaby 31 players for 2015 RWC

[qwerty51]

Schatz only made it because Palu, Fardy and Higginbotham were all injured. There was no Vaea or Pocock either. Fair enough he got the call up. Don't know why you think he'll be there this time.

 

[TOCC]

There is a reason Australia seems to fall on the foul side of 50/50 calls at scrum time..

Speak of getting the ball in play more, it doesn’t take long before scrums are mentioned. Australia is the worst scrummaging nation on Earth, at least among the top 10 powers. When stats of the Rugby Championship and the Six Nations are tallied together, Australia compares worst in scrum figures and by a significant margin.
Where Italy, the top nation, gives away 46 scrum collapses per 100 scrums and 18 resets per 100, Australia concedes 100 collapses and 51 resets. That’s not saying that every Wallabies scrum goes down but it does reveal that they regularly are collapsing some scrums more than once. Those figures are a national disgrace, if for no other reason than Australia likes to portray itself as a paragon of attacking virtue.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...omplete-overhaul/story-e6frg7v6-1227406697224

 

[qwerty51]

What's the reason because that doesn't explain it?

 

[Joe Blow]

Skeltons scrummaging was dodgy last year. It appears as though he has rectified that but we will not know until the RC.
Over the past 2 years he has really come on at a very impressive rate in all aspects of his play.
Look at some of the good Australian Super R. scrums and they have makeshift second rowers, the Rebs and Tahs specifically. Not sure we will get away with that at test level. I think Cheika will be looking at two genuine locks to start with maybe a hybrid like Dennis or Jones on the bench. Coleman is a smokey for a back up role with the likes of Horwill.

We need to go to the RWC with a very solid scrum and lay down a marker in the first few games.

 

[Bairdy]

Going in Coleman's favour as the potential, backup tighthead lock - if Skelton were to go down - is the fact he can adequately call/run a lineout.

Though, like Skelton in his first full season of Super and International rugby, his scrummaging is a concern. I caught some of the Force games in the back-end of the season, and the scrum did not appear to be as big of an Achilles heel as it was in the first few rounds.

So maybe the Force forwards (including Coleman) worked on their deficiencies. I'm not sure that I see Cheiks gambling on him over Horwill though.

 

[Train Without a Station]

Bairdy there will be an article about this up in the next few days. Shows Coleman has some strengths but still plays not enough minutes and has some shortcomings also

 

[fatprop]

What's the reason because that doesn't explain it?

We have been/are shit scrummagers, with the cynical philosophy (that goes all the way back to the Eddie Jones era) that if the hit doesn't go right, collapse and try agin

 

[Strewthcobber]

We have been/are shit scrummagers, with the cynical philosophy (that goes all the way back to the Eddie Jones era) that if the hit doesn't go right, collapse and try agin

Putting my gold shaded glasses on.

Our opposition realise that due to our reputation we are more likely to be penalised for scrum collapses so cynically engineer more scrums to go down when they play us.

 

[fatprop]

Putting my gold shaded glasses on.

Our opposition realise that due to our reputation we are more likely to be penalised for scrum collapses so cynically engineer more scrums to go down when they play us.

Yep, and like sunburn, it is\was a self-inflicted wound

 

[Scoey]

There's been plenty of chat on this (and other) threads using statistics as evidence to prove a point. Basically anywhere where there's debate about selections you'll see statistics.
This image really highlights how stats can really be misleading at times.

 

[Brumbieman]

Regardless of how much promise Godwin is (or was) considered to have, he's shown absolutely nothing this year to warant consideration for higher selection. The ball's in his court, not his coach's. Foley hasn't coached him not to try to beat a man occasionally. Godwin shows about as much penetration as I would at a supermodels' party.

Tbf, in my experience that depends on what you've taken to the party

 

[qwerty51]

We have been/are shit scrummagers, with the cynical philosophy (that goes all the way back to the Eddie Jones era) that if the hit doesn't go right, collapse and try agin

I don't know how you can draw that conclusion in the current Australian set-up. We have 4 franchises with pretty strong scrums that do well at Super level.

 

[Brumbieman]

Though liking your post I'd probably take Latu over Fainga'a. He has been a regular starter all year and played nearly all the minutes in those games when TPN has been out.

What's his point of difference though?


Fainga'a copped a lot fo grief on here in years gone by, but to me it would seem silly to not take him now that he's finally shown he's a capable international hooker.

Latu is a total rookie, albiet with a lot of potential. In this year, it wouldn't seem wise to go through the process of blooding a newby and having him exposed, just because he's had a slightly better year than the other option, in Super rugby.

 

[Brumbieman]

Bairdy there will be an article about this up in the next few days. Shows Coleman has some strengths but still plays not enough minutes and has some shortcomings also

TWAS, is there going to be a "Number 8: by the numbers" article done?

The 6/7 articles were very illuminating, I'd love to see one about our 8's?

 

[Brumbieman]

I don't know how you can draw that conclusion in the current Australian set-up. We have 4 franchises with pretty strong scrums that do well at Super level.

We have 1 decent scrummager in each squad.

It's more mindset than anything, we approach each scrum thinking " lets juut get this over with", rather than "lets fuck these guys up and PROVE we're not shit".

Has there been any word on Cheika's attempts to get Gandalf in for the WC as a forwards coach?

 

[qwerty51]

Has there been any word on Cheika's attempts to get Gandalf in for the WC as a forwards coach?

Yes Laurie couldn't get away from Gloucester. Ledesma will be the scrum coach anyway

 

[Brumbieman]

Yes Laurie couldn't get away from Gloucester. Ledesma will be the scrum coach anyway

 

[Intruder]

IMO 31 Man Squad: (Match Day 23)

LH Prop
1. Slipper (1)
2. Robinson (17)

Hooker
3. Moore (2)
4. Polota-Nau (16)
5. Hanson

TH Prop
6. Kepu (3)
7. Holmes (18)
8. PAE

S Row
9. Simmons (4)
10. Skelton (5)
11. Carter
12. Dennis (19)

B Flanker
13. Fardy (6)
14. McMahon

O Flanker
15. Pocock (7)
16. Hooper (20)

No 8
17. Palu (8)
18. Higginbotham

S Half
19. Phipps (9)
20. Genia (21)
21. Giteau

F Half
22. Foley (10)
23. Cooper (22)

I Center
24. To'omua (12)
25. Beale (23)

O Center
26. Kuridrani (13)
27. Ashley-Cooper (14)

Wing
28. Horne
29. Speight (11)
30. Mitchell

FB
31. Folau (15)

 

[qwerty51]

You've got Robinson over Sio?

 

[Intruder]

You've got Robinson over Sio?

Yep, based on scrummaging.
Now I know Sio has been good, very good in fact but Ben Robinson just knows how to combat the big THP's from the other big scrummaging nations. We will not get through our pool without our best scrummagers and I would sacrifice Sio's work around the field for Robinson to hold up at scrum time.