Week three of the Northern tour coming up. With both of my teams getting beaten on the weekend.
Are the Wallabies Running on Empty Question Answered
I posed this question last week and refer anyone who watched the game to not concede the Wallabies looked fatigued. The boys from the Dropped Kick Off made the point that Nick Frost on one occasion was slow to get up and chase on one occasion. He is not an unathletic lock. I noted in KARLS excellent piece yesterday he suggested that it was not the case. I think it is the reverse. Australia has played 13 tests to date this year 9 of which were against teams that would be ranked higher than them so effectively to compete they have has to operate at close to 100% for most if not all of those games to remain competitive. When Pete Samu took the field this week he was the 45th Wallaby used this year compared to 54 last year.
I know that elite coaches measure how long a player stays on the floor after a ruck or tackle and I am sure over the last five games it has ballooned.
My biggest gripe on the weekend was we scored a rolling maul try and clearly had an advantage in that area and did not just in the words of Jim Hamilton “Maul them to the cow sheds”. We seem to get tired of playing effective rugby that works for that game. One of the things I admire about NZ is that when the game is not going their way they can just go boring default play for five or ten minutes to arrest momentum.
Will Skelton ruled out
The Wallabies began preparations for the fourth Test of their spring tour in Dublin on Monday, revealing that Skelton’s contributions for 2025 were at an end after he suffered an ankle injury in La Rochelle’s rescheduled Top 14 clash with Toulon.
The Wallabies began preparations for the fourth Test of their spring tour in Dublin on Monday, revealing that Skelton’s contributions for 2025 were at an end after he suffered an ankle injury in La Rochelle’s rescheduled Top 14 clash with Toulon.
Wales v Japan – all you need to know
Probably the most important game on the weekend with respect to the rugby world cup is this game is Japan V Wales.
It shows how low Wales’ stock has fallen that the game against Japan is the must-win match of the autumn campaign.
It is not just so Tandy can try and gain his first win as head coach. The result will prove vital to the 2027 World Cup draw taking place on 3 December.
Next month teams will be drawn into six pools of four for the group stage of the tournament in Australia in two years.
The top six sides in the world rankings will be placed in band one for the draw and would therefore avoid playing each other in the pool stage.
The next six sides from seventh to 12th will be drawn in the second band of teams.
It is, therefore, imperative for Wales to stay in the top 12 if they want a more favourable draw.
Wales are currently ranked 12th in the world with Japan just one place below them in 13th, so victory is crucial this weekend for the hosts at the Principality Stadium.
A draw for Japan would see them overtake Tandy’s side in the pecking order. The Cherry Blossoms will also have a further chance to cement a spot in the top dozen when they face 11th-placed Georgia on 22 November.
Wales will be playing the best two sides in the world in the final two weekends when the All Blacks and the Springboks arrive in Cardiff.
“It’s something we are aware of,” said Wales wing Josh Adams
“It adds to the importance of the Japan game with the World Cup draw in December. That adds a little more jeopardy to that match.”
Old Man Shouting at Clouds
My rant this week is about the naming of the Wallaby teams on the northern tour. The teams are named at about 11pm Thursday evening making it dead time from the perspective of getting information out. Super Rugby had a great system naming teams to suit publication times. RA and the Wallabies have done many great things this year please tidy this up.
Hoss Back tomorrow
