Wallaby Watch 2014

[Ignoto]

McKenzie is gonna need to pull his head in if he wants to be around for rwc2015.. he has a worse WL ration than Deans at international level

Yeah but Link has a 100% win rate against the Scots.....

 

[BarneySF]

... but he's both slower, is principally a straight line attacker, and IMO has less tactical vision than is needed for top Test winger.

You may be right, but I just cannot see Horne ever doing this:

 

[qwerty51]

Don't even try comparing Horne vs Cummins in defence. Horne doesn't miss tackles - Cummins does.

 

[Aussie D]

stop feeding the troll. At the very least make him have to work for a bite but something so obvious as "McKenzie has a worse record than Deans so should be sacked now" is laughable at best.

 

[Benaud]

That's a good side. The only surprise in the starting XV is Carter over Jones. I think the rest everyone anticipated.

The bench has a few smokies. Cowan over Sio, Phipps over Genia and Horwill over Jones/Skelton. I imagine those are mostly rotational and we'll see them swapped in later tests.

 

[en_force_er]

I think what would have got Carter the spot is he plays the role.

A good second row is about balance as well as talent and Jones/Simmons doesn't balance as well as Carter/Simmons.

Also, Simmons is an auto-selection because he calls lineouts. If he is injured or lacks form you can expect to see a line-out calling loosey like Higgers get called into the XV.

 

[cyclopath]

Don't even try comparing Horne vs Cummins in defence. Horne doesn't miss tackles - Cummins does.

I reckon Cummins, if he was plonked on the wing for the Tahs, would have had a belter of a season.
I was highly sceptical about Horne being put on the wing at first, mainly because he played so well at 12 with Foley at 10 and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) at 13 last year, but the dynamic has changed with Foley / Beale, and to Horne's credit, he has made the switch a winner.
I agree with @qwerty51, Horne might be questioned on some things, but his ability to tackle really ought not be one of them. Positionally at 13 at times he was in two minds, but he makes the tackles stick.
Cummins too is good, so no quibbles there. And he has the crazy-ass mongrel!

 

[Bowside]

I understand form is important when selecting players, as is balance; but I simply don't understand what Link sees in guys like Alexander, Kepu and Simmons. These blokes have failed time and time again at international level, they are not going to achieve world cup success because it is beyond them.

Aus Rugby is losing players like Palmer and Pyle because we stick with lame ducks in a failing pack and expect them to magically come good.

 

[Bowside]

Hopefully Phipps over Genia is just a message to Genia to pick up his game rather than a long term play. Because Phipps is going to get found out badly at test level like he has been in the past.

 

[Gnostic]

I understand form is important when selecting players, as is balance; but I simply don't understand what Link sees in guys like Alexander, Kepu and Simmons. These blokes have failed time and time again at international level, they are not going to achieve world cup success because it is beyond them.

Aus Rugby is losing players like Palmer and Pyle because we stick with lame ducks in a failing pack and expect them to magically come good.

Pyle has been poor all year. Palmer while great at scrum time was injured and never recovered and hence was hampered everywhere else in the game.

The biggest loss to Australian Rugby this year was the in form lock Douglas.

Alexander and to a lesser degree Kepu bring certain skills to the team. They team effective coaching on technical aspects of the game but your statement just isn't correct IMO, and I have been a long time critic of Alexander in particular. This year and last with a proper focus on the set piece he has shown he can at least hold his own and at times dominate.

 

[Bowside]

Pyle has been poor all year. Palmer while great at scrum time was injured and never recovered and hence was hampered everywhere else in the game.

The biggest loss to Australian Rugby this year was the in form lock Douglas.

Alexander and to a lesser degree Kepu bring certain skills to the team. They team effective coaching on technical aspects of the game but your statement just isn't correct IMO, and I have been a long time critic of Alexander in particular. This year and last with a proper focus on the set piece he has shown he can at least hold his own and at times dominate.

This is all valid until our pack gets taken apart again in a couple of months by the All Blacks and Springboks.

We've needed change in this area for at least the last 3 seasons. We papered over the cracks with Sharpe's renaissance in 2012, but ultimately once he left we didn't have any quality locks and IMO it played a huge role in us losing the Lions series.

The 3 I mentioned above either need to start putting in MOM performances or be dropped completely. These blokes aren't going to win a world cup. Their replacements might.

 

[TOCC]

Bowside the last 4 or 5 games Simmons played at international level were actually very good...

 

[BDA]

I understand form is important when selecting players, as is balance; but I simply don't understand what Link sees in guys like Alexander, Kepu and Simmons. These blokes have failed time and time again at international level, they are not going to achieve world cup success because it is beyond them.

In Kepu, Link sees a TH that can actually scrummage
In Simmons, Link sees Australia's best line-out caller and one of Australia's best forwards from the EOYT.
In Alexander link sees.............fucks me.

 

[Slim 293]

I understand form is important when selecting players, as is balance; but I simply don't understand what Link sees in guys like Alexander, Kepu and Simmons. These blokes have failed time and time again at international level, they are not going to achieve world cup success because it is beyond them.

Aus Rugby is losing players like Palmer and Pyle because we stick with lame ducks in a failing pack and expect them to magically come good.

 

[Slim 293]

In Kepu, Link sees a TH that can actually scrummage
In Simmons, Link sees Australia's best line-out caller and one of Australia's best forwards from the EOYT.
In Alexander link sees.....fucks me.

To be fair, Alexander was the form Aussie TH for much of the Super season...........

Whether or not that would've translated to the test arena? Possibly not...........

 

[Slim 293]

The 3 I mentioned above either need to start putting in MOM performances or be dropped completely. These blokes aren't going to win a world cup. Their replacements might.

Who are these other TH props that will replace Alexander and Kepu in the short term future?

 

[Highlander35]

Who are these other TH props that will replace Alexander and Kepu in the short term future?

If Longbottom was staying he could be fast tracked through in time for the world cup.

As that isn't happening, I would've liked Weeks (who's had a fabulous season) to replace Ryan for the rest of the test series.

While he's probably not going to be ready for RWC, PAE looks likely. Slow Burn, but on course to rip it up in '19 and '23 IMO.

Really long term, it's Allan Ala'alatoa, looks immense so far.

 

[BDA]

selecting alexander is like going back to an old girlfriend. its only a matter time before he breaks your heart...

but to be fair, who'd wanna be a THP for the wallabies.

too be honest its too late to blood any more THPs for the world cup so he's the best we've got behind Kepu. It is inevitable that we will lose either Kepu or Alexander to injury at some stage in the world cup. we need at least one more THP and that worries me. Right now we have Patty Ryan - a bloke with no experience who gets dominated at Super Rugby level....sigh

 

[Richo]

McKenzie is gonna need to pull his head in if he wants to be around for rwc2015.. he has a worse WL ration than Deans at international level

Post of the year, right here.

 

[Pete King]

Good side picked and optimistic for this series. Think long term RC and RWC a bench with Skelton and Higgers coming on together for the last 25 minutes will be critical.