Bledisloe 1 - 28 July 2023

[Burgs]

To the lineouts, I guess if you can get one of the Props helping Skelton throw a midsize Backrow in the air then on average you are at about the same height with arguably better motor skills receiving &/or quick delivery to the ground player.
Keep in mind Pocock was a jumping option at Wallaby level at times, around position 5-6 as I recall.
It's not just the height and vertical leap of the jumping player, it his skill in the air and the pillars working off... and the thrower probably more crucial in this selection...

[Burgs]

I'm not sure that's accurate, the Aus A program has some handy players in it, there is also an extended squad with a number of very capable players (excluding Vunivalu of course)

Fire away Gigs, interested in your swap outs?

16. Jordan Uelese (17 Tests)

17. James Slipper (129 Tests)

18. Taniela Tupou (47 Tests)

19. Richie Arnold (2 Tests)

20. Rob Leota (14 Tests)

21. Nic White (61 Tests)

22. Quade Cooper (78 Tests)

23. Izaia Perese (3 Tests)

[Garry Owen]

I recall seeing both Skelton and Valentini win a lineout against Argentina so it is not as if they are not options at all. With Frost and Holloway being the main jumpers you should have enough options with whoever plays 7. Tom Hooper is a bonus but I would prefer to see what Gleeson offers.

Also disagree with your assessment on Skelton. He is pretty much one of the first players picked now and will only get better.

[GIGS20]

Fire away Gigs, interested in your swap outs?

16. Jordan Uelese (17 Tests)

17. James Slipper (129 Tests)

18. Taniela Tupou (47 Tests)

19. Richie Arnold (2 Tests)

20. Rob Leota (14 Tests)

21. Nic White (61 Tests)

22. Quade Cooper (78 Tests)

23. Izaia Perese (3 Tests)

OK, I'll have a crack

On the premise that no one dropped without a replacement named.

16. Jordan Uelese (17 Tests) - This is easy, since I don't rate him as a hooker of Super Rugby standard I'd put literally anybody in the world in this spot. Folau Fainga'a Is currently in Aus A, so he'd deserve first Dibs. I'd take Lonergan over Uelese and I don't rate Lonergan either.

17. James Slipper (129 Tests) - No argument from me, he's a legend and only on the bench as backup in case Bell fails.

18. Taniela Tupou (47 Tests) - Similarly, I think this one is a clever call, Manage his return from injury and give him some minutes.

19. Richie Arnold (2 Tests) - Look, nothing specific here. At least he provides a lineout jump option, but he hasn't really set the world on fire for the Wobblies has he? I'd give Caderyn Neville a crack as Frost and Neville have looked good at all levels this year. That being said, I'd have gone with Frost and Neville to start with Skelton off the bench.

20. Rob Leota (14 Tests) If you;re naming one loosie in a side that includes Skelton he has to be a fetcher doesn't he? We have literally no cover if the game plan needs to pivot to a pilfer game. I'd use McReight or find a 7 from Aus A (Had to look at the squad to find Wilkin is the only openside there as well) Wilkin isn't actually a bad shout!

21. Nic White (61 Tests) - Who am I to argue, I didn't say it was all bad.

22. Quade Cooper (78 Tests) - Good option for Mr Fix-it for unforeseen disasters (Carter failing to live up to expectation or an early injury)

23. Izaia Perese (3 Tests) - OK this one only kinda fits, He should have been picked in the 13 Jersey. I wouldn't be too distraught with Petaia on the bench.

I did consider ways that Skelton could provide an option in the lineout and I like the idea of lining him up at 1. OK, I get that he'd be a bastard of a front lifter, however he would be capable of doing it and certainly not compromise the throw by doing it, He would also add a pretty slick option for the quick throw direct to him. With his size he's used to trucking it into heavy contact and has the ability to make metres in that situation, he also offers a pretty decent offload/pop game which would mean that, unlike the majority of those trick plays, he wouldn't need to shovel it directly back to the hooker. You could loop two of the other forwards either side of him on option runs to either receive passes, Clean out or Form a Maul meaning that a trick play like that might have as many offshoot plays as a backline move.

[Burgs]

16. Without being seen as too parochial, given the heavy pack I think you could do worse than the mobility of Tom Horton. Otherwise a look through the respective Squads doesn't show much improvement on Uelese or Lonergan.
The cleverest thing Lonergan has done for his cause is getting Sean Maloney to pick up on the "Nos" nickname...

[GIGS20]

16. Without being seen as too parochial, given the heavy pack I think you could do worse than the mobility of Tom Horton. Otherwise a look through the respective Squads doesn't show much improvement on Uelese or Lonergan.
The cleverest thing Lonergan has done for his cause is getting Sean Maloney to pick up on the "Nos" nickname...

Honestly I think Lonergan is too small. His scrummaging suffers because (I assume) he's focusing on mobility and speed) Uelese on the other hand, has the size, which hampers him around the ground, but still doesn't seem to scrummage with a whole lot of power.

Fainga'a (despite being a bit of a grub and having throwing issues) is probably the number 2 hooker in Aus at the moment.

[WFDom]

At work. Was it as much of a bloodbath as the score suggests?

[Burgs]

At work. Was it as much of a bloodbath as the score suggests?

Not in my opinion, no.
There was a lot of positives in the first 50 to work with.
They had 20 minutes of 14 men, one of which (Marika) was an instinctive play the ball that 99% of players would have been guilty of. The second (Tupou) was a bit of a brain snap by an injured player trying his best to avoid going to 14 man uncontested scrums while nursing what appeared to be a broken rib.
I stopped reading the drivel on Fbk as I think the "experts" there may have watched a different match...
Basically, yes we were outclassed for the final 30 odd and especially 14 points in 2 minutes, but there is plenty to be optimistic about tomorrow morning.

[SNOB]

Not in my opinion, no.
There was a lot of positives in the first 50 to work with.
They had 20 minutes of 14 men, one of which (Marika) was an instinctive play the ball that 99% of players would have been guilty of. The second (Tupou) was a bit of a brain snap by an injured player trying his best to avoid going to 14 man uncontested scrums while nursing what appeared to be a broken rib.
I stopped reading the drivel on Fbk as I think the "experts" there may have watched a different match...
Basically, yes we were outclassed for the final 30 odd and especially 14 points in 2 minutes, but there is plenty to be optimistic about tomorrow morning.

I half agree with you Burgs but half isn’t enough with the time in front of them and throw in the couple of injuries we’ve picked up are really going to hurt and ask about our depth. We certainly showed glimpses of possibilities but 35 minutes isn’t enough with just 6 weeks to go. IMO.
Also our scrum has been below par for the last couple of years and we have now pretty much lost our whole front row I’m worried of the thought of facing Georgia who are a good scrummaging team and of course we have a game against France who aren’t to shabby in that area.

[GIGS20]

Imho, our biggest, possibly only, problem is that were picking big blokes and not getting pay out of that decision.

Skelton, regardless of what his critics will say about him, didn't play badly. Very involved and powerful in ruck and maul with some telling carries and tackles, and the same could be said about everyone however the plan isn't working.

You pick a big team and you expect to see a slow, rolling dominance of the collision game, putting your backs on the front foot and theirs on the back foot.

We saw that for probably the first 20 to 30 minutes and we were playing good rugby certainly bringing the game to them, arguably matching the best team in the world.

Sure there were understandable failures to capitalise on chances, we had a young and disjointed backline with a 10 on debut, the cohesion will take time.

After the first half hour we either ran out of gas or the all blacks figured out how to pick us apart.

With the injuries to critical players and a pretty one dimensional game plan (made so by selections) the team were never able to pivot.

The breakdown was surprisingly good for me in the first half, I expected us to get savaged there and I think they were better than good.

Skelton played well, filling his role, but unfortunately the nails suffered anyway. Has the experiment ended or is it the surrounding players who need to look at themselves?

Uelese, who I'm normally pretty down on wasn't noticeable for being a problem, but having no tighthead might have been the reason.

Carter Gordon will get a lot of shit for his kicking, but imho did well for a rookie. Was on for the good go forward portion of the game.

For me the issue is either attitude or fitness. If they are fit enough to play at the top level for 80 minutes, then we just need blokes who are tougher up top.

[jargan83]