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Maybe we just might be looking at a Force filled Wallabies at Subiaco after all!
from Greg Growden, SMH.
Even if the Wallabies enjoy a second lopsided victory over England in Melbourne tomorrow night, the Australian Test pack will undergo another major overhaul - including an entirely new front row - for next weekend's international against Ireland in Perth.
The Wallabies selectors are seriously considering playing Guy Shepherdson as the tight-head prop and Al Baxter on the loose-head side, with Tai McIsaac, overlooked for the Melbourne Test, expected to return to the hooking position. A back row-revamp is also anticipated.
Wallabies coach John Connolly has stressed that before the Tri Nations series begins next month, he wants to intensify the competition among the front-rowers in a bid to improve the squad by giving at least four of his props an opportunity to start, as well as providing the three hookers - McIsaac, Adam Freier and Jeremy Paul - with enough game time so he can work out his pecking order.
Connolly is concerned about the balance of the Test back row, which has increased its stocks of lineout jumpers to four but is lacking an additional "running No.8". That is why Western Force No.8 Scott Fava may find himself in the mix for the Perth international.
Baxter was extremely close to taking over the Test loose-head prop spot tomorrow night, but after Connolly watched a video replay of the first-Test victory, Greg Holmes earned a reprieve. Instead, Baxter will remain on the bench in Melbourne.
"We were tempted to be more experimental this week but several players put their hands up in last week's Test and deserved another game," Connolly said yesterday.
Rocky Elsom, who remains at No.8 this weekend, was also in line to be rested but injury to breakaway Daniel Heenan has kept the Sydney Test man-of-the-match in the line-up.
The demotion of Test captain George Gregan to the reserves bench for the first time since 1996 is confirmation that Connolly is using the early Tests as a way of keeping the squad members on edge and ensuring as many players under his helm are familiar with the rigours of international football. It also emphasises Connolly is still some way off from determining what exactly is his preferred Test line-up. He argues he does not want to be left guessing, and wants be able to use form as guide.
What Connolly is seeking is a vast improvement from the team's lacklustre first-Test performance against an opposition that was well off the pace.
"I would hope the Wallabies improve considerably this week," Connolly said. "I was talking to John Eales the other day, and he was saying that during his 10 years with the Wallabies only once can he remember the team starting off well in the first Test of the season. So you have to expect improvements.
"In Sydney we were quite happy with our lineouts and our counter rucking at the breakdown. But we didn't control the ball terribly well in the backs, where we were instead pushing the pass. The scrum is also an ongoing process."
Working on the right attacking style that suits the Australian back line is also an continuing process. Wallabies backs coach Scott Johnson yesterday admitted that devising the right formula to bring the best out of a talented bunch would take time.
"We have to find a style that suits us," Johnson said. "We have to be comfortable with our philosophy and the way we want to play. With that, you look at the personnel and the personalities. You have to find something that suits both the team and what we represent. That's what we are in the midst of trying to find out.
"We have some talented athletes, and we're just tinkering with different things. Out of that you get entertainment. You can't play something which is alien to people. We're not attempting to do it. We're trying to work with innate skills and personalities. In my favour is that we have players with a lot of experience and it includes World Cup winners and World Cup finalists. I'm also not averse from learning off them either."
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Originally Posted by Flat-top
