Wallaby 31 players for 2015 RWC

[BlueBagger]

Hi guys, what do you think of my starting XV?

1. Slipper
2. Moore (C)
3. Kepu
4. Skelton
5. Simmons
6. Fardy
7. Pocock (VC)
8. Higginbotham
9. Genia
10. Foley
11. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
12. Giteau
13. Kuridrani
14. Speight
15. Folau

Please note Jones would have been a straight swap for Simmons if in the squad, and O'Connor would have come in for speight.

I think you're spot on with most of those. All forwards i would agree with, could perhaps see McCalman instead of higgers (as much as i rate him), but knowing Chek we'll end up with Wycliff Pillow. I think they will go with Phipps at 9 to keep the combination . I would go with To'omua at 12 currently depending on Gits form in TRC. Would like to see Mitchell on 1 wing and possibly Rob Horne going off form, would love to see sleight if he regains his 2013-2014 form. I think form in TRC will decide the 2 wingers out of the 4 possibles.

 

[Joe Brian]

That's a good point on Rob Horne, always been a big fan but I feel he lacks a bit of magic. However, his defence could be very useful come the world cup, and if we were to play to play Giteau at 12, then Horne should probably start as he defends well there. If To'omua were to start at 12, then you could choose any wingers due to his excellent defence. I like Phipps and his speed of service, however, he has no kicking game and Genia's experience could be useful.

 

[Benaud]

Hi guys, what do you think of my starting XV?

1. Slipper
2. Moore (C)
3. Kepu
4. Skelton
5. Simmons
6. Fardy
7. Pocock (VC)
8. Higginbotham
9. Genia
10. Foley
11. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
12. Giteau
13. Kuridrani
14. Speight
15. Folau

Please note Jones would have been a straight swap for Simmons if in the squad, and O'Connor would have come in for speight.

Forwards + Folau look about right (7 and 8 the main contentious spots). Kuridrani good chance and Speight when he's eligible again. 9-12 I suspect will go different ways.

 

[Joe Brian]

I think that you're right Benaud, and that they will go with Phibbs and To'omua. However I think that Giteau should be given an early crack, as he is used to European rugby, and his goalkicking is a major asset. Whilst To'omua has always performed well for the Wallabies, he has not played a lot of rugby this year.

 

[BlueBagger]

That's a good point on Rob Horne, always been a big fan but I feel he lacks a bit of magic. However, his defence could be very useful come the world cup, and if we were to play to play Giteau at 12, then Horne should probably start as he defends well there. If To'omua were to start at 12, then you could choose any wingers due to his excellent defence. I like Phipps and his speed of service, however, he has no kicking game and Genia's experience could be useful.

Completely agree. Its nice to have some tough decisions. The bench will be very interesting. Going off my starting 15 you have Cooper, Beale, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), Kerevi, Naiyaravoro, Gits and Speight/Mitchell/Horne all vying for 2 spots. Lealiifano and Tomane will be unfortunate omissions.
I'm envious of NZ's spoils. Choosing 2 centres from Nonu, Smith, Fekitoa and Sonny bill would be a nice headache.

 

[Joe Brian]

They are 4 of the best centres in the world, however it is still an easy choice in my opinion. Nonu has been outstanding this season for the Hurricanes (which is a surprise), and Conrad Smith is as safe as they come. Fekitoa and SBW's time will come (if SBW stays around).

 

[Slim 293]

BlueBagger - Tomane is one of the form wingers............

 

[BlueBagger]

BlueBagger - Tomane is one of the form wingers....

Yeah i partly agree. He's a great player and has really worked on his still under the high ball, however realistically he had one really good game in the semis and hasn't really shone at an international level given his chances. I think Horne is the form winger but you need someone with raw pace on the other sting which in a perfect world would be an inform Speight.

 

[Slim 293]

Not just the semi........ Tomane's been in top form over the past couple of months..........

He's probably pushed Speight out of a starting spot.

 

[TOCC]

And just out of interest, here is the 32 man Wallaby squad from 2014

​

2014 Rugby Championship Squad​

​

PROP​

Ben Alexander​

Pek Cowan​

Sekope Kepu​

Scott Sio​

James Slipper​

​

HOOKER​

Nathan Charles​

James Hanson​

Tatafu Polota-Nau​

​

LOCK​

Sam Carter​

James Horwill​

Rob Simmons​

Will Skelton​

​

BACKROW​

Scott Fardy​

Scott Higginbotham​

Matt Hodgson​

Michael Hooper (c)​

Ben McCalman​

Wycliff Palu​

​

SCRUMHALF​

Luke Burgess​

Nick Phipps​

Nic White​

​

FLYHALF​

Kurtley Beale​

Bernard Foley​

​

CENTRE​

Tevita Kuridrani​

Christian Leali’ifano​

Matt To'omua​

​

BACK-THREE​

Adam Ashley-Cooper​

Henry Speight​

Israel Folau​

Rob Horne​

Pat McCabe​

Joe Tomane​

​

​

 

[qwerty51]

They are 4 of the best centres in the world, however it is still an easy choice in my opinion. Nonu has been outstanding this season for the Hurricanes (which is a surprise), and Conrad Smith is as safe as they come. Fekitoa and SBW's time will come (if SBW stays around).

Wait you honestly rate SBW and Fekitoa in the top 4 centres in the world? What did SBW even do this year..

 

[Joe Brian]

Wait you honestly rate SBW and Fekitoa in the top 4 centres in the world? What did SBW even do this year..

Not the 4 best, but 4 of the best. Fekitoa and SBW would rank in the top 10 centres in the world, and would walk into any international team bar NZ. I agree that SBW wasn't at his best this year, as he missed a lot of footy, but there were still glimpses to suggest how good he can be when he is consistently on the paddock.

 

[Dumbledore]

SBW did absolutely nothing without Cruden. There's plenty of teams who he wouldn't walk into. Fekitoa is the real deal though. He's going to be a terror for the next decade.

 

[Joe Brian]

SBW did absolutely nothing without Cruden. There's plenty of teams who he wouldn't walk into. Fekitoa is the real deal though. He's going to be a terror for the next decade.

Everyone loves to hate on SBW, but he's a class player. He led the competition for offloads despite missing plenty of games. Which teams would you not have him in expect the All Blacks?

 

[Dumbledore]

Everyone loves to hate on SBW, but he's a class player. He led the competition for offloads despite missing plenty of games. Which teams would you not have him in expect the All Blacks?

Australia, France, Wales, Ireland? He just wasn't very good this year.

 

[Joe Brian]

He would walk straight in to all those teams. For his own standards, I can agree with your statement that he wasn't very good, but class is permanent and he is a world class rugby player. But that is just my opinion, and you are entitled to your own.

 

[KOB1987]

Can someone do that compare stats thingy from the sanzar site on Dennis v jones for the super rugby season? It's academic now but irrespective of the inclusion of mumm and Arnold I reckon they were competing for the same spot. The 4th lock / loosie spot.

I've looked extensively on the site but can't find out how do it anywhere!!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[BDA]

I'm coming into this late, so sorry if I'm repeating earlier comments but there are a few selections I disagree with.

I hate to play the favouritism card but its probably no coincidence that the most contentious selections in my mind are all waratahs - Mr T, Dennis and Mumm. Not that I don't think all are decent players which are each in their own way worthy of selection, they are. It's more that I can't work out why they were chosen ahead of other players.

Jones has undoubtedly had a better season than Dennis, and Mumm really didn't feature at all. I will say that I'm a big believer in avoiding rookie players in a world cup year, and experience definitely works in both players' favour. but here's the thing - neither player has ever stepped up and made an impact at test level. They have a history of being average test players. Perhaps things have changed since their last stints, perhaps not.

If Cheika is selecting those guys for their experience, over an inexperienced player that has had a better season then I'm fine with that...But then why the fuck did Cheika choose Mr T over JOC (James O'Connor)?!?! If you apply the same logic you'd choose JOC (James O'Connor) over Mr T. Only there's one big difference - JOC (James O'Connor) ACTUALLY HAS PROVEN HIMSELF TO STAND OUT AT TEST LEVEL! If that wasn't enough you could further point out that compared to Mr T, Jones is much more experienced.

So that's my only real beef. Opting for a raw inexperienced talent (Mr T) over a proven test player (JOC (James O'Connor)), yet passing on a standout second year test player (Jones) for a bunch of proven test flops (Dennis/Mumm).

But whatever. Go the Wobs!

 

[BDA]

I will add that I'm happy to see Beale listed as a Fullback, and not a 10/12. That's his best position.

 

[Joe Brian]

I'm coming into this late, so sorry if I'm repeating earlier comments but there are a few selections I disagree with.

I hate to play the favouritism card but its probably no coincidence that the most contentious selections in my mind are all waratahs - Mr T, Dennis and Mumm. Not that I don't think all are decent players which are each in their own way worthy of selection, they are. It's more that I can't work out why they were chosen ahead of other players.

Jones has undoubtedly had a better season than Dennis, and Mumm really didn't feature at all. I will say that I'm a big believer in avoiding rookie players in a world cup year, and experience definitely works in both players' favour. but here's the thing - neither player has ever stepped up and made an impact at test level. They have a history of being average test players. Perhaps things have changed since their last stints, perhaps not.

If Cheika is selecting those guys for their experience, over an inexperienced player that has had a better season then I'm fine with that.But then why the fuck did Cheika choose Mr T over JOC (James O'Connor)?!?! If you apply the same logic you'd choose JOC (James O'Connor) over Mr T. Only there's one big difference - JOC (James O'Connor) ACTUALLY HAS PROVEN HIMSELF TO STAND OUT AT TEST LEVEL! If that wasn't enough you could further and point out that compared to Mr T, Jones is much more experienced.

So that's my only real beef. Opting for a raw inexperienced talent (Mr T) over a proven test player (JOC (James O'Connor)), yet passing on a standout second year test player (Jones) for a bunch of proven test flops (Dennis/Mumm).

But whatever. Go the Wobs!

I think that Jones can feel extremely hard done by to not be picked over Mumm, Dennis, Simmons, Arnold and especially Horwill! He would be my starting lock with Skelton. JOC (James O'Connor) has not played well this year, but form is only temporary, and he is a world class 12, 14 and 15. I feel like footballing abilities mightn't be what's keeping JOC (James O'Connor) out of the team.