International Club Rugby Wallabies vs Springboks - Subiaco Oval

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S120

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Jun 19, 2011
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Wallabies
15. Kurtley Beale
14. Dominic Shipperley
13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
12. Berrick Barnes
11. Digby Ioane
10. Quade Cooper
9. Will Genia
8. Radike Samo
7. Michael Hooper
6. Dave Dennis
5. Nathan Sharpe
4. Sitaleki Timani
3. Ben Alexander
2. Stephen Moore
1. Benn Robinson

Reserves:

16. Tatafu Polota Nau
17. James Slipper
18. Scott Higginbotham
19. Liam Gill
20. Nick Phipps
21. Mike Harris
22. Anthony Fainga’a

Happy to see Shipperley given a shot. Very deserving IMO. Also glad to see KB back in the side and AAC moved to 13.

On the other hand, Samo has been promoted to the starting side and I still can't fathom how he continues to be in the good books at the Wallabies. Higginbotham didn't deserve to hold his starting spot so that's fair enough, but Samo in his place? I'd rather see Hooper play 8 and Gill go to 7 and that is not something I want to see happen.
 
Our strongest backline this year by quite some margin. Horne probably unlucky not to retain a spot in the 22 in front of Faingaa, but his performances have been well below par, this really should have happened after the second Welsh test. Horne really needs to go back to club rugby and really sort out his game for a good year or two, because he's an absolute mess atm. He's shadow of the player he was in his first year and it isn't too often you see a player drastically go backwards at his age.

Radike fully deserves the spot IMO. He's been really good in his 20 minute cameos and you could argue that he's done more in 20 minutes than Higgers/Dennis has in 5 test matches. The difference between Samo and Higgers/Dennis is actually quite embarrassing. Higgers/Dennis is a margin call, Dennis has been less bad than Higginbotham. I don't think they'll both be in the test squad by the end of the year. As much as I hate to say this, I don't think Gill should be playing test rugby until he can develop his body and develop other skills. ATM he's the best pilferer in the world, but apart from that he doesn't have a lot of strings to his bow. With that being said, a test career is looking more and more unlikely for Gill, the pure fetcher is a dying breed. Hooper is the prototype international 7.

No back-up lock? Extremely risky considering you've got Samo and Timani in the 22. Both can't play 80 minutes and Samo is effectively the back-up lock. I think it's time to bring back Hugh McMenimam or blood Luke Jones.

I think Deans has selected marginally better. It's a much more balanced team and the backline is a proven winning combination.

Wallabies by 35 (a bit optimistic).
 
Yeah I like the backline but have my doubts about the pack. Not enough tight playing forwards like always. It might not be too bad against South Africa though as they're not as good at the breakdown as NZ and we'll need guys that can match them physically.

This match is a must win for Robbie Deans and I think we'll pull it off. Not by 35 though!!
 

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Springboks:

15. Kirchner
14. Habana
13. JDv
12. Frans Steyn
11. Hougaard
10. Morne Steyn
9. Pienaar
8. Vermuleun
7. Alberts
6. Coetzee
5. Kruger
4. Etsebeth
3. Du Plessis
2. Strauss
1. Beast

Jesus, they've gone with a giant pack. I'm guessing they're trying to outmuscled the Wallabies pack similar to the AB approach but I could seriously see us running rings around them. Kirchner is the man we need to target. If Shipperley can get into space and have a 1 on 1 with Kirchner, it's game over. The Boks won't have the same covering defence strategy as the AB's so if we get into space and get linebreaks we should be able to convert. I have a feeling that this game is going to be similar to France 2010. First time this backline has been put together (minus Drew) since that game.
 
Good 2nd half to get us that win. Much better physicality. We were pretty bad in the first half, kicking away the ball so often with stupid little chips and grubbers in attack but thankfully South Africa picked such a conservative team and couldn't really threaten much with ball in hand. We've had a great record against them in recent times! Better than NZ's.

The injury to Genia is going to challenge us though. I hope it's not too bad, but when it's the knee I doubt it'll just be a 1 or 2 week problem. We are no certainties of beating Argentina next week given their performance for 60 minutes or so tonight against the All Blacks (before their yellow card).
 
Can't believe Genia is gone, absolutely shattering.

One has to wonder why Vuna was chosen over Shipperley Vs. Wales. We've got a really good one, will be a world class winger and compliments Ioane perfectly.

I'm going to call it now, Slipper has well and truly overtaken Robinson. Slipper is going to be our long-term starting loose-head prop for the next 10 years. Bookmark it.
 
Genia out for at least 6 months.

That's a massive loss for us. Bigger than Pocock. I'd prefer White over Phipps, but still we're really going from a probable world XV player to someone that wouldn't make the starting line up of any other top nation.
 
Just realised White is also out. Means Phipps will be starting which isn't great to begin with...but who on earth will play back up!? Sheehan??

Worst possible injury for the wallabies.
 
At least with Pocock we have a top quality replacement in Hooper (he played very well last night)...and a couple of other decent options after that as well.

Our halfback stocks are paper thin. It's not like we have a 20-22 year old gun that's really stepped up in the last year or so.

Btw, South Africa are kidding themselves if they don't play Lambie at 15 and Goosen at 10 from now on. Their whole backline could be built around those 2 guys for 10 years, and they are quality.
 
Just a note: Nic White wasn't injured, he had surgery that was planned at the end of the Super Rugby season. The surgery was subsequently delayed due to the ever so wise David Nucifora. If David Nucifora hadn't ****ed around with the Brumbies, White would be fit and ready to go in a few weeks. Pretty indicative of the ARU, bad decisions galore.

I think Pocock might find it pretty difficult to unseat Hooper at openside. A move to blindside seems more likely considering our lack of depth in that position.

On another note, I think Barnes is pretty close to getting dropped. Played another horrendous game. If it wasn't for his goalkicking, I would've dropped him long ago. He's really becoming our Morne Steyn and we really shouldn't go down that path. If JOC can improve his goalkicking, I reckon Barnes is goneski. I'd be inclined to try Mike Harris at 12.
 
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