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Thread: Berrick Barnes to replace Matt Giteau as Wallabies' No.12, Fox Sports rugby commentat

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    Berrick Barnes to replace Matt Giteau as Wallabies' No.12, Fox Sports rugby commentat

    Berrick Barnes should replace Matt Giteau at inside centre in a bid to fix the Wallabies' defensive woes, Fox Sports rugby commentator Greg Martin says.

    While the Wallabies' attack was brilliant in the 26-24 Bledisloe Cup victory over New Zealand in Hong Kong, All Blacks centre Ma'a Nonu exposed Australia's defensive problems in midfield.

    And with Matt Giteau handing over the goalkicking duties to young gun James O’Connor, Martin, a former Wallabies fullback, sees no reason why Barnes shouldn't come in to partner Quade Cooper.

    "Cooper has to stay because of what he offers in attack, and he tries hard and gets in the way, but he's more of a speed bump (in defence)," Martin told foxsports.com.au of the five-eighth.

    "Therefore we need to fix the 12 position, and Berrick Barnes offers the answer. From his days in rugby league, his tackling technique is superb."

    Wallabies coach Robbie Deans may be reluctant to alter a winning combination, however, particularly since his side has scored some of the finest tries seen in recent memory.

    Drew Mitchell's five-pointer, which came as a result of a break by Kurtley Beale, and Adam Ashley-Cooper's solo effort cut the All Blacks to pieces - a rare sight in previous encounters.

    But Martin says the Wallabies' attack would not be compromised by the inclusion of Barnes, with the New South Wales Waratahs star providing a more-direct running line.

    "Barnes offers straightness in attack, as shown by that show-and-go and dummy he threw that almost put O'Connor away as soon as he came on," he told foxsports.com.au.

    "So his straightness in attack is a perfect foil for Cooper, and in defence he’s magnificent; so there's two strings that he has.

    "When is the last time anyone can remember Matt Giteau running across field, dummying, then making a gap on the outside? That used to be his main go."

    With the drought-breaking victory over the All Blacks behind them, the Wallabies have arrived in Europe with renewed confidence.

    They face Wales in Cardiff early on Sunday morning (EDT), with Tests against England, Italy and France, along with two midweek matches, to follow.

    Martin believes the Wallabies can complete an undefeated spring tour, especially if they continue to attack with the precision they showed in Hong Kong.

    "They're playing a brand of rugby that will completely bamboozle the Northern Hemisphere teams," he said of the Wallabies.

    While all seemed lost earlier in the season, particularly when Australia lost 21-20 to England at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, the Wallabies have shown enough to suggest they are developing into a side that can seriously challenge at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

    Australia's two World Cup triumphs (1991 and 1999) came on the back of victories over New Zealand in the previous season, a fact not lost on Martin.

    The Wallabies defeated the All Blacks 21-9 in Wellington in 1990, while they completed a clean sweep of the 1998 Bledisloe Cup 3-0.

    "Go back to 1990, the victory against the All Blacks, that paved the way for the Wallabies to have belief and also put doubt in the All Blacks' minds," Martin said.

    "Similarly, the Test series in 1998, when Australia completely outplayed the All Blacks for the first time in years, that also ruined the All Backs for 1999 World Cup and set us on the road to winning the World Cup."

    The inclusion of Barnes may yet prove to be the final piece in a backline puzzle that is very nearly complete.

    http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/wa...-1225947251070

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    Champion Tazzmania's Avatar
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    What planet is he on, yes Berrick should come back in if defence is the problem but it is Cooper has to go not Gits. He even says that Cooper cannot tackle but wants to keep him, ???? Reds biaise.

    Cooper will make a great bench impact player move Gits back to 10 and Barnes to 12

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    yes, i would love to see berrick come back in, he lost some form after the world cup (where he did pretty bloody well considering his experience at the time), but he seems to have gotten a lot of confidence back.

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    Bench warming can do that to a person... if the move was purley to motivate Gits then i say do it. When in form, he is better all-round than Barnes. At the moment he is certainly taking a more subdued role in the back line - a lot like AAC actually.

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    I think that Martin is right (God help me). Cooper has got the makings of a fantastic rugby player - all he needs is the experience at test level to stop those flipping brain explosions and old lady tackling style. Whereas Giteau, he's on the downward slope. He's been poo quite consistently for some time. I'm fine with replacing Giteau ahead of Cooper.

    Cooper will continue with his shakey defense and brain snaps until he's given more experience at test level - and he needs as much of it as he can get before September next year. Unless we drop him as flyhalf option for the RWC, and play Barnes, which is a viable option I suppose. I dunno.

    Maybe I'm just bias against Giteau. *sigh*

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    Last edited by robyn <3; 04-11-10 at 11:44.

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    I would at least mix it up a bit over the next few tests. Barnes needs plenty of game time as he's back up to both Giteau and Cooper.

    You can't really see Giteau staying in Australia after next year so if Barnes is in the same kind of form- get him to stay as a carrot for staying in Australia.

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    Sorry but the Journalist is an idiot. Giteau has been our best and most consistent tackler in the backline for the last few games. I hate it when they don't even bother to look at statistics.

    If we are looking to fix defense, move Cooper around. Taking Giteau out will only make our defense worse and the stats back this up.

    Barnes has played NRL though..........oh wait, so did Lote

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    Quote Originally Posted by jazza93 View Post
    Sorry but the Journalist is an idiot. Giteau has been our best and most consistent tackler in the backline for the last few games. I hate it when they don't even bother to look at statistics.

    If we are looking to fix defense, move Cooper around. Taking Giteau out will only make our defense worse and the stats back this up.

    Barnes has played NRL though..........oh wait, so did Lote
    Jazza, in a bit of mood today?

    on topic though i rate barnes's defence above gits, and i rate my neices defence WAY above coopers. I would love to see barnes in instead of giteau, I love the way he always looks like he is in pain...

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    I don't think defence is the issue here. Greg Martin might, but who takes anything he says seriously?

    Gits has been playing like crap for two seasons now, but still seems to have everybody at the ARU enraptured about him. I reckon he should be famously, and publicly benched, along with a stron implication from the staff that his performances aren't up to the standard expected of him........the reason I think that is because I'm sure he can play light years ahead of his current.

    Look what dropping Sharpie did, he took the message, changed his mindset and has turned into the second most sure selection in the Aussie pack. Look at Drew, loudly dropped (when I didn't think his performances were all that bad) and he came back with renewed passion, knowing his name isn't stencilled on the jersey. I think Gits needs to be shown the same level of respect as these two. He's just not switched on at the moment, and I think he's got much more in him at the moment.

    Barnes is probably not a better option than Gits when both are firing, but right now....in the washup of the Hong Kong test, Berrick outplayed Gits by about 150% and that should mean something.

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    C'mon the

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    Jazz is right on the money , Cooper is why we leak so many points and his inability to tackle ruins the whole defensive line. While his attack is unpredictable imaginative and aggressive, it has to be to make up for the oppositions ability to score at will through him. Greg Martin is showing his loyalty to Reds players which has always been blatently obvious and I believe wrong here. Keep him run on for the softer teams but bench him when defence will count and run on Barnes.

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    Immortal Contributor shasta's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by qld supporter View Post
    Jazz is right on the money , Cooper is why we leak so many points and his inability to tackle ruins the whole defensive line.
    That's the key point. It is a defensive line. The opposition runs at Cooper for two reasons. 1) He's likely to get run over. 2) They might be able to attract his outside defender - Giteau. Either way a line break is on the cards. Leaving aside his overall game, Giteau's tackle stats are OK .

    The problem for Phil Blake is to cover with inside defenders to that channel when Cooper misses or the opposition turns the ball back - no matter who's in the 12 shirt.

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    Giteau has played just about every test for the last 5 years. A rest might do him good.

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    Anyone from Parramatta Eels watch Cooper's defence last weekend?

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    Quote Originally Posted by palitu View Post
    Jazza, in a bit of mood today?
    Good start. Irrelevant...

    on topic though i rate barnes's defence above gits
    If you replaced Giteau with Barnes, is he going to do much better than Giteau's 88% tackle success rate? If so how much, 1 or 2%? Why would you drop someone on defensive grounds when their replacement isn't going to make any significant difference in defense.

    and i rate my neices defence WAY above coopers.
    Sure, but Coopers defense doesn't make a case for the 12 to be dropped.

    I would love to see barnes in instead of giteau, I love the way he always looks like he is in pain...
    Thats fine to think, but why quote me and say that . My view is based on the stats. This Journo suggested Giteau's defense is not up to scratch when any 4 yr old can open up a statistics paper and come to a more informed conclusion within about 5 seconds.

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    fair enough.

    I think that stats can be rubbish at saying what is happening in a game. They may have similar stats defensively, but i think that barnes has more mongrel in the tackle than gits.

    it is time to see gits have some pressure on his selection, he really has lost a lot of form (though he was better than a year ago) and i think that barnes will fill the gap easily, maybe better as he isn't as scrutinised as gits.

    I wonder how they can fix coopers tackling, you would think that a mungo needs to tackle,he should be better than that, especially at this level of the game.

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