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Thread: Former coaches united in support of veteran Giteau

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    Thumbs up Former coaches united in support of veteran Giteau

    Eddie Jones and John Connolly are appalled that Matt Giteau will be left out of the Wallabies side against South Africa.

    THE past two coaches to take Australia to a World Cup have criticised Robbie Deans's decision to axe Matt Giteau and are adamant he should be the starting inside centre at this year's tournament.

    Eddie Jones and John Connolly jumped to Giteau's defence after the departing Brumby was left out of the 22-man Test squad to play South Africa on Saturday night.

    Jones said Deans had ''pulled the wrong rope'' by dropping Giteau, while Connolly rated the 28-year-old as one of the mentally toughest players he had seen.

    Advertisement: Story continues below Being omitted from the clash with the Springboks has cast doubt over Giteau's involvement in the Wallabies' World Cup campaign.

    And Jones - who led Australia to the 2003 World Cup final - was baffled by Deans's decision and said opposition teams would be happy to see Giteau left out.

    ''I think the whole thing is quite sad to be honest,'' Jones said.

    ''If I was a supporter, the one player I'd be happy to pay money to see would be [Giteau] - he gives his heart every week.

    ''Right now, for some reason, Robbie doesn't see him as the answer at No 12.

    ''I just think he's [Deans] pulled the wrong rope there entirely. Gits is a world-class player at his best and it's not going to take him much to get back to that.

    ''I know the All Blacks will be happy he's not playing.''

    Giteau was the biggest casualty after the Wallabies woeful loss to Samoa last weekend.

    With Quade Cooper being rested, Giteau played at five-eighth but failed to get his team on the front foot.

    Connolly insisted the 92-Test veteran needed to be given a major role if the Wallabies wanted to be successful at the World Cup.

    Connolly was in charge of Australia for the 2007 tournament and revealed he almost made Giteau captain instead of Stirling Mortlock.

    And Connolly still says Giteau is one of ''the toughest characters I've ever coached''.

    ''I've coached first-class rugby for 20 years and two people spring to mind for what they bring to team [in toughness] - Matt Giteau and Tim Horan,'' Connolly said.

    ''They are mentally tough, they'd die for the team and Giteau was very unlucky not to be captain of the 2007 World Cup team. Stirling got the nod because we wanted some continuity because we didn't know where Gits was going to play.

    ''He would have to be one of the first selected [for the World Cup], but I stress he's a No 12, not a fly-half. I would have him in the XV.''

    ''Matt Giteau gives a team so much steel, he's a champion.''

    With Cooper taking the five-eighth reins and Kurtley Beale and James O'Connor capable of being back-up playmakers, Giteau doesn't have a place in the team.

    But Jones said a Cooper-Giteau five-eighth-inside centre combination could still work and would be a weapon at the World Cup.

    ''The grounds are going to be heavy in New Zealand, to have a left-footer [Giteau] at inside centre is a massive advantage with Cooper as a right-footer at No 10,'' Jones said.

    ''I'd use Giteau more on second and third phase when Cooper's out of the game.

    ''There's definitely a way to use them both in the same team.''


    http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...720-1hozc.html

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    Wallaby great Tim Horan says Matt Giteau must go to the Rugby World Cup

    SOME Wallabies may have played themselves out of a World Cup spot last weekend against Samoa, but Matt Giteau certainly wasn't one of them.
    There's been plenty of speculation about Giteau's World Cup future after being left out of the Wallabies' 22-man squad to play South Africa this week.

    For a number of reasons I would not only have selected him in this weekend's 22, but I would have him on the plane to New Zealand as well.

    Giteau is a talented player who can cover three spots in the Wallabies: five-eighth, centre and halfback.

    Robbie Deans has gone with a five forwards-two backs bench to play the Springboks and if you are carrying only two back reserves, they need to be as versatile as possible.

    If you have a specialist halfback, that leaves one player - Anthony Faingaa in this case - to cover all the rest. One injury could see up to three positional changes.

    I would have had Giteau on the bench covering the inside backs from 9-10-12, and then an outside back reserve as well.

    Nick Phipps is a promising talent but he's not quite at Test standard yet.

    Granted he was doing it tough behind a backpedalling pack but having played just one Super season, Phipps' inexperience showed. He'll learn from it but there is a big step between Super level and Test level, and that's where Giteau is so valuable.

    His experience and quality are unquestionable, and Giteau's leadership down at the Brumbies during a battling 2011 season was impressive.

    Those are the qualities you need in a World Cup squad.

    Former Wallabies coach John Connolly thought so much of Giteau's leadership that he said to me he should have made him captain at the last World Cup. He may be behind Quade Cooper but with question marks over Berrick Barnes, the next playmaker in line has to be Giteau.Last weekend's loss was a concerning insight into the depth of Australian rugby. In 1991 the World Cup squad was picked from two sides. In 1999 it was three.

    There are now five teams and you might have imagined the depth in 2011 would be a lot stronger than what we saw.

    Deans' selection of Pat McCabe at inside centre for Saturday is an interesting one. He is a hard running and tackling style centre, but hasn't played a lot in that spot.

    Scott Higginbotham must have gone awfully close to winning a starting spot, but again it was a hard-working incumbent Ben McCalman preferred at No.8.

    If there were outstanding players for Australia last weekend, McCalman was one.

    Deans will ask them to both do a basic job against South Africa, and after last week, the Wallabies must claw out a win by whatever means.

    The train was derailed by Samoa and they must get back on track against the Boks.

    The team were embarrassed last week, the Wallabies brand was embarrassed. I can see it really stung Robbie Deans.


    http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1226098698527

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    Champion zed's Avatar
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    They need Gits for the WC. If Cooper gets injured, the Wallabies are f*cked and if Gits is not in the squad they'll be doubly f*cked.

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    Immortal Contributor jono's Avatar
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    His versatility lends him to being a bench player. Tim has a point
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    Are O'Connor and Beale realistic options at 10? I don't think so.

    You can't heap all the blame on Giteau for Samoa. He deserves a chance where the forwards actually show up. If I were Deans, I would have Giteau on the bench in place of Phipps to cover Genia.

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    Legend Contributor brokendown gunfighter's Avatar
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    Deans is using this series to test out combinations etc,before the world cup
    Giteau will get another chance.

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    Immortal GIGS20's Avatar
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    James, I agree that you can't blame Gits for the Samoa debacle, I thought he had played his best ever game at flyhalf that night. Tried hard to keep his shoulders square and ask questions of the defense. Worked to include his backs and kicked reasonably smart.

    He was behind a pack getting smashed at the breakdown by some good hard New Zealand rugby. I think Cooper would have provided the x factor in attack which was the only thing that giteau was lacking. IMHO Beale is the back up for Cooper. Don't rush to howl me down, I'm not saying Beale is a valuable option at 10, if Cooper doesn't play 80 against the good teams we're buggered, but Beale is similar to Cooper in style and will therefore fit into the squad better. I'd throw Kurtley to 15 and Gits to the bench, because Gits DOES have the versatility that Tim Horan mentioned.

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    I have been surprised at the massive reaction following Gits getting dropped. I think the team will still change around a bit between now and the world cup and he will end up back in the 22.

    I guess the thinking with this weeks team is that if a winger or FB got injured then Mccabe could cover this with Faingaa to centre or if Cooper got injured then Beale or O'Connor would go to ten so they have all bases covered. If there were two injuries then that would be a problem.

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    Put Higginbotham on the wing. Hodgson could probably play at inside centre too. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

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    He'll be on the plane to NZ, but really his role was defined on the end of season tour last year wasn't it?

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    Quote Originally Posted by jt12 View Post
    He'll be on the plane to NZ, but really his role was defined on the end of season tour last year wasn't it?
    no not at all Barnes has a ambulance following him around... Giteau had good form this season. he smashed the Reds at Suncorp... remember...

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    Champion welshrugbyfan's Avatar
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    The longer he stays as your coach the more I think it's he's on the NZ rugby payroll.

    At least Gits can tackle.

    He's been hard done by.

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    Champion Contributor sandgroperrugby's Avatar
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    Bull shit media hype and ignorant speculation. I am sure that any half wit rugby supporter like my self knows that Giteau will be playing in the world cup. And yes probably from the bench in some instances where at the moment he offers so much in versatility and experience.

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