Australia and England 2nd test 2016

[volvo]

Cheika will narrow down his bench on Friday but says he will keep a five-three split, rather than the six forwards Australia had in Brisbane.

Wallabies: Israel Folau, Dane Haylett-Petty, Tevita Kuridrani, Samu Kerevi, Rob Horne, Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps, Sean McMahon, Michael Hooper, Scott Fardy, Rory Arnold, Sam Carter, Sekope Kepu, Stephen Moore (capt), James Slipper. Res: (three to be omitted on Friday): Tatafu Polota-Nau, Toby Smith, Greg Holmes, Dean Mumm, James Horwill, Ben McCalman, Liam Gill, Wycliff Palu, Nick Frisby, Christian Lealiifano, Luke Morahan.

From: https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sp...-face-england/

[Tonkar]

I see the cut will come from 5 player only (Dean Mumm, James Horwill, Ben McCalman, Liam Gill, Wycliff Palu)
As TPN is only reserve hooker ,, Nick Frisby, Replacement Half ..... Christian Lealiifano, Luke Morahan only replacement backs but hooper could play there if required.. So who will survive will it be I really hope it is Benny mac and Mumm or Horwill

[Buddha Handy]

No surprise on this forum to see Hooper being critisised despite being easily the best wallaby out there on sat.

Mccalman will surely get the bench spot. They already have 2 open sides starting so no need for Gill and big dog has surely proved he is better than Palu over the last couple of years

[MI5_Dog]

I have no problem with Hooper being called a good rugby player
I do have a problem with him being called a good 7
He's not a good 7, he's a shit 7

[Kev]

It's effective to pick up a double, but perhaps there's a fundamental flaw in a game plan that sees both tries scored by seagulling.
In a game that was lost, I'd look at what an openside was doing the rest of the game ...
Pocock was taken out of the game by effective targeting, then dumped by Haskell ... completely unsupported by Hooper.
Gill is off to France isn't he, not the future for Wallabies, what a waste - ball skills, go-forward, huge tackle counts, effective at breakdown & a line out option. I've watched Gill support players & score tries ... but he leaves seagulling to the front row.

Do wallaby supporters look forward to Bledisloe with Hooper playing wide rugby whilst Messrs Read, Kaino & Cane play with Fardy ?!

With Cheek's back row lottery, he might as well play Quade at 7.

[Sheikh]

No surprise on this forum to see Hooper being critisised despite being easily the best wallaby out there on sat.

I'd query Hooper being called the best Wallaby last Saturday. Scoring 2 tries doesn't make you the best player if your job is pilfer ball, or stop the opposition pilfering your ball, at rucks. England were dominating the ruck contest with Haskell, Robshaw and Itoje standing out (for me) and the Wallabies needed support from all the back-row to counter this. The Wallabies needed the forwards to do their job of controlling the ball first before getting any personal glory. Hooper might make tackles and gain yards, but so do centres, which is what he increasingly resembles on the field.

[jargan83]

Hooper is obviously playing a role set by Cheika as a wider ball runner and defender. There is no way any coach would keep picking a bloke who seagulls out wide every game without it being an instruction from the coach.

[jono]

Hooper is obviously playing a role set by Cheika as a wider ball runner and defender. There is no way any coach would keep picking a bloke who seagulls out wide every game without it being an instruction from the coach.

as much as the way and where (on the field, not the position) Hooper plays irritates me, this is spot on.

[GIGS20]

I have no problem with Hooper being called a good rugby player
I do have a problem with him being called a good 7
He's not a good 7, he's a shit 7

I disagree, he IS a good 7, but he's not a traditional 7. You pick him when you want an extra back (7 gets him off the scrum quicker to enter the defensive line) and when you pick him, you need to make sure the work he ignores at the breakdown is covered by somebody else. Picking McMahon IMHO doesn't take care of the last aspect, It needed to be Gill, because he's the only eligible and fit 7 in Oz who does that (unless you think George Smith is still up to wearing Gold)

Hooper is obviously playing a role set by Cheika as a wider ball runner and defender. There is no way any coach would keep picking a bloke who seagulls out wide every game without it being an instruction from the coach.

WHy not let him play that role in Kuridrani's place though, Hooper is playing as a bloody good centre, why not let him do that whilst Kuridrani is out of form?

[jono]

I disagree, he IS a good 7, but he's not a traditional 7. You pick him when you want an extra back (7 gets him off the scrum quicker to enter the defensive line) and when you pick him, you need to make sure the work he ignores at the breakdown is covered by somebody else. Picking McMahon IMHO doesn't take care of the last aspect, It needed to be Gill, because he's the only eligible and fit 7 in Oz who does that (unless you think George Smith is still up to wearing Gold)



WHy not let him play that role in Kuridrani's place though, Hooper is playing as a bloody good centre, why not let him do that whilst Kuridrani is out of form?

If Hooper ever plays in the NRC - it HAS to be as 13 - just to see how it would work properly when there is no reason for him to be near a scrum or hitting breakdowns.

[moolooman]

Let's face it, with over 66 % of the ball you don't have to do too much to the Wallabies. They just need to capitalise on that and need a little bit of luck their way. Wallabies should win game two, but England could well step up and attack in game three.

[MI5_Dog]

Wallabies team to play England
1. James Slipper
2. Stephen Moore (c)
3. Sekope Kepu
4. Rory Arnold
5. Sam Carter
6. Scott Fardy
7. Michael Hooper (vc)
8. Sean McMahon
9. Nick Phipps
10. Bernard Foley
11. Rob Horne (vc)
12. Samu Kerevi
13. Tevita Kuridrani
14. Dane Haylett-Petty
15. Israel Folau
Replacements
16. Tatafu Polota-Nau
17. Toby Smith
18. Greg Holmes
19. Dean Mumm
20. Ben McCalman
21. Nick Frisby
22. Christian Lealiifano
23. Luke Morahan

[G_Beard]

If Hooper ever plays in the NRC - it HAS to be as 13 - just to see how it would work properly when there is no reason for him to be near a scrum or hitting breakdowns.

12

[Herbasimplex]

surprised Mumm got the nod over Horwill. thought Cheika would have preferred his experience.

would like to see more game time for Frisby if phipps is as slow to the breakdown as he was in the 1st match.

Morahan to replicate his try against the lions to win it for the the wobs in the 78th minute.

[Tazzmania]

As the weekend looms after all the drama's of the week, let us sit back and enjoy three of our players being involved in the Wallaby v England match. It is long time since I can remember this much of a representation.

Like proud parents lets get some joy from our boys and get behind them and hopefully have all three on the field when the final whistle blows and the series is leveled.