Australia v Ireland

[Rex Messup]

A look through the squad makes me think wholesale changes are unlikely. The replacement options are scanty..."on the outer Barcoo, where the ladies are few, and men of religion are scanty...on a road never crossed 'cept by props that are lost, one Michael Cheika had a shanty...
McMahon still has a bit to learn. I wouldn't start him against the six nations champs. I don't know who plays 6. We don't have one do we? Carter is quite mobile. Could he be a 6? Hodgo might get a start. It will be wet and it will be physical. Some big units are what the doctor ordered.
Our 5th and 6th option for hooker will play...sigh
The starting props go ok. The replacements have had their day.
The locks lack mongrel
The backs have talent but they need front foot ball. It is hard to belivea test team can lose a test with 60 odd % of the ball but that's what the wobblies did last start.
Our pack has nothing.
Dead set.

[valzc]

Whatever the hell happens - don't put bloody Skelton on!

[GIGS20]

All I can say is this game will make our performance against France look world beating.

[Timbo]

Ireland pantsed Romania 47-5 - perhaps they will be complacent????? Where are those straws?

[hertryk]

Pigs are flying and Beale is on his way! Nuff said!

[Buddha Handy]

I have seen a few quotes from Cheika saying that every player will get a game on tour so maybe we will see Godwin on the bench? Also Jones and English I guess at some stage as well. Speight and Quade should start this game.

[GIGS20]

I have seen a few quotes from Cheika saying that every player will get a game on tour so maybe we will see Godwin on the bench? Also Jones and English I guess at some stage as well. Speight and Quade should start this game.

If this is a development tour, how come he hasn't pulled out the fringe players and the questionable starters in the first three games, given that our toughest opponents are ahead of us?

[The InnFORCEr]

Perhaps the one's that have missed out so far is what he thinks is his best

[The InnFORCEr]

AFP
November 17, 2014, 2:10 pm


Six Nations champions Ireland's hopes of completing a cleansweep of the November tests faces a very tough challenge in the shape of Australia, conceded their coach Joe Schmidt.

The 49-year-old New Zealander -- who has turned Ireland's fortunes round since he replaced Declan Kidney after the 2013 Six Nations -- was speaking after a massively revamped Irish side had eventually coasted to a 49-7 victory over Georgia at Lansdowne Road.

Aussies will be very tough, says Ireland rugby coach Schmidt

The win -- the sixth in succession for the hosts -- saw Ireland rise to third in the IRB rankings for the first time since November 2006, also coincidentally the last time they beat both South Africa and Australia in the same year.

However, Schmidt, whose side beat South Africa last Saturday, said the Wallabies would pose them all sorts of problems despite having been beaten by France this weekend.

"If you don't shut the Aussies down they are very very dangerous," said Schmidt.

"They've also got a workaholic defence and Nick Phipps behind the scrum works very hard.

"The French scored very early and got a freak try but other than that the Aussies could have won by 10 points.

"They will be a very tough challenge."

Schmidt, whose side were a man up over the tiring Georgians for the last 20 minutes after confusion over whether their opponents who had used up all their replacements could replace an injured player Lasha Malaguradze with fly-half Lasha Khmaladze, said they would be difficult opponents to gauge.

"It is hard to prepare for a team who has recently changed their coach," said Schmidt, referring to Michael Cheika taking up the role after Ewen McKenzie resigned before the tour.

"We have already noticed they have changed some things and are doing different things.

"They have an abundance of talent but it will be interesting in terms of their selection as several guys have played in all their three matches so far and they have flown in Kurtley Beale.

"It is tough to back up from a match at the Stade de France and 'Cheiks' might be looking now to freshen up the team," added Schmidt, who succeeded Cheika as Leinster coach in 2010.

Schmidt, who guided Leinster to two European Cup titles and a European Challenge trophy, said the IRB ranking was satisfying but nothing more than that.

"I think it is a distraction," said Schmidt.

"You don't win anything for third place in the rankings. We have to be realistic and look at matters on the pitch and know we have to tighten up our scrum and get the set pieces right.

"I think that the ranking is fantastic and a feather in the cap for the fellows who have rolled up their sleeves and worked really hard over the past few months."

Schmidt professed himself happy with the performance by his side -- which showed 13 changes to the starting line-up from the one that beat the Springboks last Saturday -- despite a nervy first-half where they failed to finish off some promising moves.

"I thought there was leadership right across the board and great endeavour in the first-half," he said.

"Obviously it would have been great to have finished off some of those opportunities but we set the stage for the rewards of the second-half."

His compatriot and Georgia coach Milton Haig, who has set his side the goal of qualifying automatically for the 2019 World Cup by winning two of their pool matches in the 2015 edition, admitted they had imploded on occasions.

"I was reasonably happy at half-time," said Haig, whose side faces the ominous task of playing world champions New Zealand in their World Cup pool.

"However, obviously playing most of the second-half with 14 men you just can't do that against these types of sides. We got taught a couple of lessons."

Haig admitted the mix-up over whether they could send Khmaladze back on was not very professional.

"It was amateur night."

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sp...coach-schmidt/

[The InnFORCEr]

By Liam FitzGibbon
November 17, 2014, 3:58 pm


Kurtley Beale could be thrust back into Test action off the bench against Ireland if the controversial utility proves himself in his first week back with the Wallabies.

Beale has been reunited with his Australian teammates for the first time since the text message scandal and will commence training with the squad in Dublin on Monday.

Controversial Wallabies utility Kurtley Beale has reunited with the Australian squad in Dublin.

The Waratahs star, who received a call-up to the spring tour on Friday along with young backrower Jake Schatz, feared his career could be over as he faced the music last month over sending a lewd text to former staff member Di Patston.

But Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has signalled Beale's wait to return to the green and gold could end this weekend.

Beale won't jump the queue of players who have been waiting for their chance on the tour - including centre Matt Toomua - with his only chance to start coming down to an injury or a need to rest superstar fullback Israel Folau.

Cheika admits that's unlikely but has challenged Beale to push his claims for a spot in the squad for the penultimate Test of the tour at Landsdowne Road on Saturday.

"If he's to get a run it would only be off the bench at this stage," Cheika said of Beale, who last played for Australia against South Africa on September 27.

"There's no way he'd be coming into the starting team with the other guys that have been here training.

"If Izzy had to have some time off, if he was carrying an injury, maybe (Beale would be considered to start) but I think we'll just see how he travels and at best he would get a run on the bench."

Cheika plans to speak to Folau about his fatigue levels after admitting the cross-code star made some uncharacteristic errors in the 29-26 loss to France in Paris.

Folau, who has not missed a minute for the Wallabies this year, was kept quiet by an aggressive French defence and was unusually vulnerable under the high ball.

"He did make a few uncharacteristic errors but I'm sure he'll bounce back from that," Cheika said.

Despite the loss to France upping the pressure for remaining tour games against Ireland and England, Cheika will not alter his plans to give some fresh faces a chance this week.

Toomua, winger Henry Speight and young Rebels flanker Luke Jones are in the frame for Test recalls while veterans Will Genia and Quade Cooper could be considered for starting roles.

"If I'm going to do it (have a look at other players), now is the time," Cheika said.

"I've got to have a look at it but at the same time focus on getting the results.

"You've got to back your players as well and all the players in the squad have come here to make sure they do a job for me."

Beale's return is set to dominate the build-up to the match against an in-form Ireland but Cheika and his players continue to insist it won't prove a distraction.

"I think we can focus enough on football, especially with such a big game coming up," the coach said.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sp...ainst-ireland/

[Herbasimplex]

i hope beale is sitting by himself on the flight over. a long haul flight and beale's short attention span do not make good bedfellows.

[hertryk]

i hope beale is sitting by himself on the flight over. a long haul flight and beale's short attention span do not make good bedfellows.

He's probably feeling very smug......

[GIGS20]

He's probably feeling very smug......

I assume he'll tweet about it shortly.

I wait with baited breath.

[andrewg]

Well-considered article by Brett MCKay on The Roar toaday:

Everyone gets a game: Time for Cheika to just try stuff

With only a few days between being approached for the job and then leaving Australia as Wallabies coach, it was only natural that Michael Cheika would run with existing personnel and combinations for the first few weeks of the Spring tour.

In his unveiling press conference before the touring party left, Cheika admitted that he had virtually no input into the playing squad, and that he would trust the work done by his coaching and selection predecessors.

Cheika largely stuck with the same side from the third and final Bledisloe Test through the first two Tests in Cardiff and Paris.

Save for a few tweaks here and there – some forced, some not – Ewen McKenzie’s last Test side in Brisbane has now brought Cheika’s unbeaten run to an end.

However, with two up-and-down Test performances on the hop now and the loss to France significantly more ‘down’ than the slightly ‘up’ win over Wales the week before, the time has arrived for Cheika to have a broader look at his squad and well, just try stuff.

I wondered late last week if Cheika sticking with the same side was him giving the players the chance to prove the Cardiff performance was a one-off. I suggested suits and ties might be required in Dublin for repeat offenders, and while I still think that should happen, it now needs to happen as much for the sake of discovery as much as punishing under-performers.

Take Bernard Foley for example. His perfect night from the kicking tee meant the Wallabies finished closer on the scoreboard in Paris than perhaps they deserved to, but he was a long way from his best in general play. The defensive pressure from the French midfielders offered Foley no way through the middle, often resulting in him shovelling or running the ball laterally. He played like a guy two weeks from the end of a long season.

And it has been a long season for Foley. He’s played 12 of his 16 Tests in 2014, and that comes on top of an extended Super Rugby season that started in mid-February.

Foley has now played 31 games in 2014 and started 29 of them. He played all but 15 minutes of 19 Super Rugby games, and now he’s played all but 20 minutes of the 10 Tests he’s started this season. He came off the bench for the first two Bledisloe Tests, but has played 80 minutes in the last seven consecutive Tests.

So does Foley deserve to be dropped? Well no, probably not. However, Quade Cooper did have an impact when he came on – for Joe Tomane, strangely. Did Cooper do enough to warrant a start? Again, that’s probably a debate worth having.

And this is entirely my point; Cheika is at the point with a number of players and certain positions that there’s as much to lose in making the change as there is to gain in not. Very little, in either case.

At the end of a long season, I’d be leaning toward making the change in an attempt to freshen up the squad and find a bounce, rather than hope tired players can get their second, third, or fourth wind.

Evidently, Cheika was thinking of changes for Ireland anyway, admitting post-match in Paris that the loss wouldn’t change his thinking and that he will take a look at remaining squad players in Dublin. Even without the loss this makes sense to me, but the loss also makes the desire to change more logical.

If there’s one thing we have discovered over the last three Tests, the Wallabies do have their best available front row on the park. Saia Fainga’a is fine, but can another two Tests be eked out of James Slipper and Sekope Kepu? This might be the one area where I would resist change if it all possible, though I would like to see Tetera Faulkner get more game time and experience off the bench.

At lock, Rob Simmons had his strongest carrying game in a long time, and was also prominent in attacking rucks. But he too has played a lot of rugby this year; he started all 16 Super Rugby games for the Reds and now 11 Tests too. He played at least 70 minutes in 11 Super Rugby games, and while he copped a yellow card in the second Bledisloe, has only been replaced in three Tests in 2014.

To rest or bench Simmons would involve recalling Sam Carter or starting Will Skelton – I’d be a little surprised if Cheika did the former, and pray he doesn’t do the latter. My opinion of Skelton as a set-piece lock diminishes with every game, and a strong set-piece team like Ireland could have a field day if he started.

Therefore, if Simmons doesn’t start, it leaves young Luke Jones as the only other option. Jones should play, but he’s not ready to start a must-win Test. Lock might actually be Cheika’s toughest selection quandary this week.

In the backrow, Ben McCalman got through a mountain of work last week, and picked up the Wallabies’ players’ player award. He’s coming back to match fitness after a stop-start season and should stay in the side for Ireland.

But Matt Hodgson has to play for mine. Sean McMahon has found the step up to Test rugby is a big one, and while Michael Hooper remains very good at his particular specialist skill set, the Wallabies need a hard, over-the-ball player, particularly against Ireland. Hodgson has had immediate impact in nearly every Test he’s played in 2014, and deserves a chance to start. Hodgson starting might also go a way toward finding a better backrow balance, too.

In the halves, I’ve already mentioned Foley, and Nick Phipps is starting to show signs of fatigue as well. I don’t think it would hurt either Phipps or Foley to swap with Will Genia and Cooper for the Test, and there’s no reason why the Wallabies can’t play with the same flat attacking line, front-foot ball requirement notwithstanding.

Out wider, Matt Toomua’s midfield defensive organisation has been dearly missed in the last two Tests, and he deserves a chance to adapt to the new game plan. Tevita Kuridrani and Adam Ashley-Cooper have proven their quality consistently, but Ashley-Cooper is another who perhaps might be a candidate for a rest. I wouldn’t, but I wouldn’t rule anything out, and Henry Speight does need to debut at some point.

Israel Folau might be in the midst of a ‘second-year syndrome’ at Test level, but isn’t in any danger of being dropped. In fact, he needs to play for experience as much as he does to get somewhere back near his best.

This is a chance to look at the fringe players too, and Kyle Godwin or Tom English shouldn’t be automatically overlooked now just because Kurtley Beale is back in the squad. I’m hopeful on the first point, but fearful of the second.

Usually I wouldn’t subscribe to ‘everyone gets a game’ tours, but the Wallabies and Cheika are at the point where new things and players might as well be tried.

Incumbency is fine up to a point, and that point was left behind in Paris.

http://www.theroar.com.au/2014/11/18...me-try-things/

Pleasing that Brett didn't get into the Beale vs Folau change for this week.

[MI5_Dog]

Brett's article makes sense
which is why I suspect we will never see it implemented.