Rugby - The Game They Play In Heaven II

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Wallaby line up:

Jesse Mogg, Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Christian Leali'ifano, James O'Connor, Matt Toomua, Will Genia, Ben Mowen, Michael Hooper, Hugh McMeniman, James Horwill, Rob Simmons, Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore, James Slipper.

Reserves: Saia Fainga'a, Scott Sio, Sekope Kepu, Scott Fardy, Liam Gill, Nic White, Quade Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani.

Blow me down. Link picked the backline I wanted. Great to see Toomua get a chance, particularly inside Lealiifano. They know each other inside out from the Brumbies. Toomua isn't spectacular, gets the job done with good all-round skills. Plus he tackles like a flanker. Link has opted to give LH Scott Sio his debut from the bench. Fair enough. The front row bothers me, as always, and Simmons doesn't work hard enough at lock. Nice to see Hugh McMeniman back at 6. Injuries and a sojourn in Japan halted a very promising career. He's big, strong, and ferocious. Ben Mowen has to fill in at 8. Out of position, very much a case of Tom Wood at 8 for England. Odd backs coverage on the bench, though. White is a 9, fair enough, Quade can probably cover FB, but Tevita Kuridrani - a young monster of a 13 on debut - is strictly a 13.

[Havak]

It looks to be a very promising selection Finbar.

But given it is new and green I am still picking the ABs for the victory. Which is probably the death knell for their actual chances of winning.

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Well, Dingo had a stubborn streak a mile wide and had favourites - the limited McCabe at 12; O'Beiber at 10 against the Lions, despite hardly ever having played there and returning from an injury lay-off. Link's more flexible, more pragmatic, and, most importantly, a much much better man manager. The weaknesses in the pack remain - I'd've started Kepu who is a much better TH than Alexander - and Ben Mowen, an excellent 6, will struggle for power at 8. Still, it's a pretty decent backline. There will likely also be some new coach bounce. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if they won.

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Shame about yesterday. Played pretty well for a lot of the game. Errors, poor defence and AB brilliance in the second half were the problem, with soft tries distorting the scoreline. Will Genia was poor. Dithering, indecisive, most unusual for him, with the result that the backline never really saw any opportunities. And, yet again, the forwards were AWOL at the breakdown too often. The new scrum laws are interesting but will take the players a while to get used to. And crooked feeds are now being pinged mercilessly, even if some of the feeds Joubert let go were as crooked as those he pinged.

Only saw the first half of the Boks -v- Pumas. Pumas weren't helped by a couple of first-half injuries and several yellow cards overall, but they really were poor.

[Havak]

I thought Australia gave it a really good go Finbar. But there is a difference in quality and even more crucially in experience. Plus no team seizes opportunities as well as the ABs. Is it right that Australia have now lost 21 of the last 26 fixtures with them? That isn't quite Wales level failure v the ABs (which runs at 100%) but it is about the level of England over the last decade (oo-err!).

The other game was incredible. Okay there was travel and of course the altitude it was played at but the Pumas had all the players back that the Top 14 insisted should not face England in June so it was, frankly, disastrous for them. There were fantastic odds on a 60 point margin because of how rare they are. I thought my -21 on the Boks was risky!

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That stat is probably right. Distorted, obviously, by the number of times they play. If England played them as often, it would be 26 losses from 26 matches.

[Havak]

You meant Wales? England would only be 25 losses?

[Havak]

I see the new Wallaby coach is accusing McCaw of deliberate cheating at the breakdown?

Richie did give a lot of penalties away there last weekend - and perhaps Joubert should have carded him for the repeated offences, but I do have to ask if McKenzie understand what the job of a good seven - and there is currently none better - is? You concede three rather than seven - every time. And if a weak referee lets you repeatedly infringe then you keep doing so.

I mean does he think his own loose forward are angels?

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Every oppo coach since time immemorial has complained about Sir Ruchie cheating. Part of the rugby landscape. Link had to get it out of the way.

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Fardy for the injured McMenamin at 6 the only Wallaby change. MMM has had a recurrence of the shoulder injury that kept him out for a lot of the S15 season. He was invisible last week - unlike him - and the recurrence probably explains it. With his lack of rugby, he was a dodgy selection anyway. Fardy should have started. Fardy is large, very hard working, very strong. Prone to giving away penalties through his enthusiasm, though. Hopefully he doesn't.

Link has stuck with Mogg at FB. He looked underpowered and a bit out of his depth last week. His massive left boot also failed him. Fair enough for Link to give him another chance.

The ABs are scratching for halves. Not sure that it will hamper them. We'll see.

[Havak]

Fardy sounds a good choice Finbar, they were definitely lacking somebody clearing ABs at the breakdown last time out.

But their record in NZ speaks for itself - an average loss of two converted scores for the last half decade.

I expect a comfortable AB victory as I think NZ can improve from last week, certainly defensively.

In the other game I hope home advantage and pride gets the Pumas much closer - but two converted scores still seems a reasonable Bok margin

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Cripes, one of the worst reffing efforts seen for eons. He's rubbish at S15 level, what he's doing reffing a Test is beyond me. Didn't cost the Wallabies the game - the ABs are too good - but made life very difficult. Missed a blatant shoulder charge by Nonu that should have been carded. Didn't refer a Wallaby try to the TMO despite his touchie's recommendation. Let the ABs get away with murder in their 22 every time the Wallabies were on the charge. Let Woodcock bore in sideways at every scrum with impunity, pinged the Wallabies for it. Link was justified in his post-match comments. Doesn't take away from the fact that the ABs, though not at their best, are just too good.

Didn't see the other game. Argies, at home, are a different proposition. We knew that.

[Havak]

And after a small script kiddie interlude (his parents must be so proud) we are back.

I understand the frustration of railing on a ref post game - but it never achieves anything.

Busy weekend coming up as the Championship resumes and the English Premiership returns. Worcester first up at Welford Road on Sunday and they have had big squad changes since last season (not least pieman Goode going to Wasps so Warriors might even keep XV men on the pitch for once).

[kittenOFchaos]

Aye, a massive weekend packed full of rugby...my wife won't be impressed...

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James Horwill out of the next couple of Tests. A loss, for sure, but he hasn't been in his best form. Quade to 10, Folau to FB where he has played the whole season for the Waratahs. Superb under the high ball - his time in AFL paying off - and, if the Boks kick like they usually do, he will certainly see more ball than he has recently.