Wednesday’s Rugby News: MMM broken again (no, really, it’s true!), mind games from Steve Hansen on Quade Cooper, the kiwis down to their 4th choice 5/8 and the Wallabies looking to buy time.
[one_half last=”no”]
FARDY TO START AT 6?
Hugh McMeniman may have saved Ewen McKenzie from having to make a decision on whether to keep him in the side, after being ruled out for the remainder of The Rugby Championship after re-injuring the same shoulder he damaged during the S15 season. Scott Fardy is expected to replace him in the run on side, with Kane Douglas coming onto the bench. The 29yo veteran is expected to add some aggression to the pack, although he will need to restrain himself in order to avoid giving away penalties.
McMeniman is scheduled to have a full shoulder reconstruction in Brisbane next week, and will miss the EOYT while recovering. The injury may explain McMeniman’s lack of impact on the weekend, playing his first test since Wales in 2008. There are some questions about why he was brought into the squad if there was any doubt about the recovery from his shoulder injury earlier in the year.
CURSE OF THE KIWI 10 JERSEY
In shades of the 2011 RWC, the All Blacks five-eighth stocks are taking a beating. With Dan Carter being scratched before The Rugby Championship started, 2nd and 3rd choices Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett have been ruled out with a PCL injury and a calf strain respectively following Saturdays game. Barrett may be back in time for the final TRC game however Cruden will be out for the duration of the tournament.
Reports out of NZ indicate that Tom Taylor and Colin Slade are the next in line. Taylors impressive place kicking record (90% according to @ruckingoodstats) may see him debuting against the Wallabies this weekend in Wellington, although Slades experience may be preferred. Or will there be a call to Japan to get the Duck back in black?
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
HANSEN ON BOOING QC
Every Australian rugby fans favourite villain, Shags Hansen, has climbed onto the bandwagon and come out in favour of Kiwi crowds giving away the booing of Quade Cooper every time he touches the ball. Unfortunately it seems kiwis aren’t the only people booing Quade, with reports from last week that plenty of the boos at ANZ on Saturday were coming from people wearing gold (or is that yellow) jerseys.
Hansen joins a growing number of players from both the Wallabies and All Blacks who are urging kiwi crowds to give it a rest. Unfortunately all of this is unlikely to have any effect on crowds although it’s good to see players and coaches speaking out about the issue.
WALLABIES – BUYING TIME
The Wallabies believe that a win this weekend in Wellington, and the delay before playing the 3rd Bledisloe Cup game on 19 October at Dunedin will give them time settle into the new structures introduced by Ewen McKenzie. Michael Hooper, who was voted the players player by his Wallaby teammates on Saturday, said the team took positives from Saturdays game, and that ball retention would be a key focus after a number of soft turnovers lead to All Black tries on the weekend.
McKenzie admitted the focus on attack during the short leadup to the first Bledisloe Cup match had limited the amount of time spent on defence drills, with the Wallabies missing 21% of their tackles, compared to 15% for the All Blacks. The 6% difference doesn’t sound bad, until you consider that the Wallabies attempted 131 tackles, missing 28, and the All Blacks attempted 194, missing 29, which raises the question of how effective the Wallaby attack actually was. Stats from here. Will we see a continuation of the all too familiar pattern of the Wallabies fixing one part of their game, only for another to fall apart?
[/one_half]
