Bledisloe Cup

[lockyno1]

I reckon put Tune at 13 he was awesome there with the reds. Rathbone maybe 12

A bit risky. You need someone with ball-skills at 12!

 

[aussies1st]

Good point but does Turini has ball skills? I just wanted to find a place for Rathbone, and Tune.

 

[lockyno1]

Good point but does Turini has ball skills? I just wanted to find a place for Rathbone, and Tune.

I am not convinced on Turnui either but I think he is the best option at 12. rathbone is not a 12, he is a 13!

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Carter has a broken leg and is out for 3 months.

McAlister better bring his game and I hope Kelleher is fit as we're looking very inexperienced in the halves right now.

 

[ThrashViking]

Promote Nick Evans!
McAlister was very poor in the last Lions test and is more suited to second five.
Australia's front row is pathetic & Bill Young was lucky not to get penalised more.

 

[aussies1st]

Those lucky kiwis they have so many 5/8s of good quality.

 

[blackfriday]

australia needs more line-out jumpers, even if that means smith and waugh have to be left out. you may say our front row is pathetic, which it is, but is there anyone else that much better?

 

[aussies1st]

That is the problem with Aus. They give no incentive for young props to make it in the big time. If you look in NZ and SA props are treated equally with backs. In Aus its all backs.

 

[Mal Meninga]

The two places where the game was won and lost:

Battle of the front rows: New Zealand walked off the field with clean jerseys while the Wallabies softness shone through. Baxter has no idea, Dunning is too slow, Cannon hasn't played solid footy all season and EJ expects him to fill the shoes of Paul... SOFT.

Halves: Another decision by EJ to play someone who hasn't played a great deal, in Flately and it showed with his ineffective running and inept distribution which was predictable and wasted by Mortlock. Gregan's play has been shocking, doesn't help when he never gets clean ball but time to bring in Henjak, or hell Josh Holmes. Carter's performances of the Lions series haven't been showing in the Tri nations which is a shame, while Weepu has quick distribution and can pick a gap but i'm still skeptikal as to whether he's up to it, many phases he doesn't appear to keep up.

Random thoughts:
*Mitchell's best defense is to attack. Explosive to say the least, speedbump for the NZ wingers though.
*Gavin Henson was the most over-rated player in the world, but make that Aaron Mauger now. Let Conrad Smith take his place, the likes of De Villiers and Smith have the brains to set play up.
*The Australian backrow apart from Smith has been invisible in the Tri nations. Roe had little effect while i'm not totally sure if Lions played. Mccaw and Collins... wat warriors.

It's time to look to the future for Australia, but it's looking bleak at this stage.

 

[aussies1st]

You no longer need to worry about Roe. He has been dropped to the bench for Elsom. That is the call i am happy with. Elsom was awesome before he got injuried.
Our team
Australia: Drew Mitchell; Rathbone/Rogers (If Rogers plays Mitchell on wing Rogers 15), Morgan Turinui, Matt Giteau, Lote Tuqiri; Elton Flatley, George Gregan (captain); David Lyons, Phil Waugh, Rocky Elsom; Nathan Sharpe, Daniel Vickerman; Al Baxter, Brendan Cannon, Bill Young.

 

[douglasallen91]

smith on the bench hmmmmmmmmm

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

One thing I took out of the game is that Rico Gear is not even in the same ballpark as Rokocoko.
Initially I rated Gear as the best winger in NZ based on his super 12 form but it looks like the bloke won't score a try unless its put on a platter. Good solid winger but should make way for the other Fijian Flyer Sivivatu. Can you imagine smoking joe and sivi on opposite flanks?

LOL exactly! The non-selection of Rokocoko and selection of Gear this season is possibly the most ridiculous selection I've ever seen. It's akin to the Dragons buying Clinton Toopi so he can replace Mark Gasnier in the centres.

Rokocoko and Sivivatu are freaks, Gear is a sturdy provincial winger at the back-end of a solid but unspectacular career. The fact that the All Black selectors, who have generally been pretty good, could not see such an obvious gulf in class is a real concern to me.

 

[aussies1st]

Gear mainly has good place and can finish. Rokocoko and Sivivatu have the magic to beat defenders and make try themselves.

 

[Scott]

Gear has shown in the last 2 tests that he still has a bit of work to do to be a true international winger and finisher. Rokocoko and Sivivatu are the best 2 wingers in the world, in either code! Simple as that!

 

[ThrashViking]

Rokocoko was picked on reputation alone.
He's had a crap 12 months but I certainly couldnt fault him for last weeks effort.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Reputation alone? 27 tries in 21 tests=picked on performance.

 

[bayrep]

Yeah but S12 season was one to forget Roko only scored a few tries from mem and positional play got worse as the season went on. Though if it was my choice Roko would have been my first choice for an AB spot.

 

[ThrashViking]

Reputation alone? 27 tries in 21 tests=picked on performance.

Few Tries in 12 months + mediocre form = picked on reputation.
To be fair Rico Gear didnt do nothing wrong against the Lions and was one of the few All Blacks who looked dangerous against the Boks.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Reputation alone? 27 tries in 21 tests=picked on performance.

They were all over 12 months ago, so they were reputation, not form. He'd had a crap S12, and the decision to let him find form in the under 21s tour proved to be correct.

 

[aussies1st]

It was a brillant move by the ABs to leave Joe out of the Lions test series. He wasn't in good form. Now he is back to his best and he seems to have improved.