Australia vs Wales 2nd test - Teams and Live match thread

[Pete C (Kiwireddevil)]

Australian playing 22:
Aussie team is:
15. Adam Ashley-Cooper (NSW Waratahs)
14. Cooper Vuna (Melbourne Rebels)
13. Rob Horne (NSW Waratahs)
12. Pat McCabe (Brumbies)
11. Digby Ioane (Queensland Reds)
10. Berrick Barnes (NSW Waratahs)
9. Will Genia (Queensland Reds)
8. Wycliff Palu (NSW Waratahs)
7. David Pocock (captain, Western Force)
6. Scott Higginbotham (Queensland Reds)
5. Nathan Sharpe (Western Force)
4. Rob Simmons (Queensland Reds)
3. Sekope Kepu* (NSW Waratahs)
2. Tatafu Polota Nau (NSW Waratahs)
1. Benn Robinson (NSW Waratahs)

Run on Reserves: 16. Stephen Moore (Brumbies), 17. Ben Alexander (Brumbies), 18. Dave Dennis (NSW Waratahs), 19. Michael Hooper (Brumbies), 20. Nic White (Brumbies), 21. Anthony Fainga’a (Queensland Reds), 22. Mike Harris (Queensland Reds)

Wales : Leigh Halfpenny (Blues); Alex Cuthbert (Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Ashley Beck (Ospreys), George North (Scarlets); Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Mike Phillips (Bayonne); Gethin Jenkins (Toulon), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Blues), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Dragons), Sam Warburton (Blues, capt), Ryan Jones (Ospreys).

Replacements : Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Paul James (Bath), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Lloyd Williams (Blues), James Hook (Perpignan), Ashley Beck (Ospreys). Richard Hibbard, Paul James, Luke Charteris, Justin Tipuric, Rhys Webb, James Hook, Scott Williams. (BBC has the bench wrong)


Venue: Etihad Stadium, Melbourne. Capacity ~56,000
Weather: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2158177 - ~12 deg C, showery. But there is a roof.

Tour Previews:
http://www.v2journal.com/wales-summer-tour-preview.html
http://www.v2journal.com/australias-june-tests-preview.html

[wales606]

Seems very early for Aus to announce their team.

[Pete C (Kiwireddevil)]

Seems very early for Aus to announce their team.

Once they realised Beale wasn't fit to play the team selects itself. Anyone else who's any good is injured.


I read yesterday that Will Genia's younger brother Nigel has signed for the Western Force at half-back. There's two of them!

[wales606]

Seems very early for Aus to announce their team.

Once they realised Beale wasn't fit to play the team selects itself. Anyone else who's any good is injured.


I read yesterday that Will Genia's younger brother Nigel has signed for the Western Force at half-back. There's two of them!

Does he fancy joining the Cardiff Blues instead - 3 year contract and then we can give him some international rugby

[bedfordwelsh]

Were the Aussie fans/posters expecting any changes or is this their 1st choice atm injuries aside etc.

[OzT]

From the bbc http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18406583

Not surprising really as the ones missing from 1st test prob won't be back till the rugby championship anyway, so the rest are the best reserves we have.

But I had to laugh at this quote from Deans re tight-head prop Sekope Kepu, who was injured in the 1st test..

"We are hopeful Keps will be good to go, but we do have a contingency plan in place if we need it," Deans said.
"There are five props in the group we have with us in Melbourne, so we saw no need in bringing anyone extra in."

Five props?? Wallabies have just 2 and a half props, Robinson and Kepu, with Benn Alexander as a back up, if he gets to as good as he was 3 years ago then we have 3 props. but good on Deans to think we have 5!!

When is Wales' squad announced?

[Cymroglan]

When is Wales' squad announced?

More than likely Thurs they will hold on as long as possible to see if North and Williams are available,

[OzT]

and prob to see what the Welsh half back pairings going to be, that'll be interesting, I think more important than North's recovery

[boomeranga]

Were the Aussie fans/posters expecting any changes or is this their 1st choice atm injuries aside etc.

I thought they would drop Vuna for Shipperley / Morahan, maybe bring in a lock to the bench, and change a prop.

Dave Dennis is only 192cm, so fine to lock for 10 or 15 minutes at the end, but a risk if required for 60 minutes. Alexander seems to weaken our scrum too much and we wouldnt loose anything other than experience with Slipper on the bench instead, or start Palmer and use Kepu to back up both sides.

Also expected Moore to resume as starting Hooker.

[mrzimmerman]

Team was announced 3 hours ago and no related chat yet? Wake up people!

[George Carlin]

Here we are, then, courtesy of the Beeb:

Wales : Leigh Halfpenny (Blues); Alex Cuthbert (Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Ashley Beck (Ospreys), George North (Scarlets); Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Mike Phillips (Bayonne); Gethin Jenkins (Toulon), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Blues), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Dragons), Sam Warburton (Blues, capt), Ryan Jones (Ospreys).

Replacements : Richard Hibbard, Paul James, Luke Charteris, Justin Tipuric, Rhys Webb, James Hook, Scott Williams.

Rees, Wyn Jones and Ryan Jones all in, which I think was expected.

Nice to see Beck in there.

Good luck lads.

[mckay1402]

Ryan Jones and Ashley Beck are so good They're starting and on the bench...awesome. I believe tTipuric has come on to the bench.

[mrzimmerman]

The actual bench is;

REPLACEMENTS: Richard Hibbard, Paul James, Luke Charteris, Justin Tipuric, Rhys Webb, James Hook, Scott Williams

[Pete C (Kiwireddevil)]

OP updated

[jimmyinthewell68]

hope priestland has a good game

[RuggerRadge2611]

I think Wales will get beaten again with that team. They failed to impose themselves at the breakdown against Australia in the last test and got bullied off the park by the Australian forwards. I can't see how Ryan Jones coming in adresses that balance.

[rhonddasmackhead]

I think Priestland must have some overwhelming financial influence over the WRU.

[mckay1402]

I think Wales will get beaten again with that team. They failed to impose themselves at the breakdown against Australia in the last test and got bullied off the park by the Australian forwards. I can't see how Ryan Jones coming in adresses that balance.

I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. I would have liked to see Ian Evans starting instead of Bradley but I reckon they will have had a rocket up em this week and don't expect them to be so lethargic. Ryan Jones has been back to his (maybe better than) 2008 form. He is making turnovers and getting go forward ball.

I think We'll see a much more positive start from Wales.

[glamorganalun]

Good to get some players with form into the team and more power in the pack with R Jones, A W Jones and M Rees but prefer Hibbard, at least he is on the bench. How Preistland is there god only knows and why no I Evans, I can only assume he is injured as he is not even on the bench.

I feel sorry for Owens as he did well with the line out but he does seem a little lightweight compared with Hibbard, that missed tackle cost him his place.

Better team but could be better with Hook at 10 but this may happen at half time if it is not too late.

[doctornickolas]

In the second half it would be good to see the 2 Ospreys front rowers come on and munch the Aussie scrum. The Ospreys pack is going superbly at the moment and I would be tempted to get as many of them on the field as I could.

Ian Evans to start next week as well along with Tipuric.

[glamorganalun]

This is closer to the team they should have put out last week rather than playing guys that have not played any game time for 6 weeks.

[wales606]

Disappointed there is no Ian Evans and Hook isn't starting

I feel sorry for Ken Owens, but i'm glad to see Hibbard there to make an impact off the bench.

Webb, Beck, AWJ, Rees and Ryan are all good changes.

[TycroesOsprey]

very worried abuot priestland starting with his current form.

[RubyGuby]

There's enough there to beat Aus. A sluggish performance and we were still within a point before allowing them through. We need to be up front in defense and Warbs and Ryan are more likely to win us turnover ball - Ryan was immense v Lenisters back row and with AWJ in the fold and Bradley with a point to prove I'm expecting a brutal first 20 minutes from Wales to get Aus on the back foot - It should be a tight game but these lads are good enough .

[jimmyinthewell68]

it shows how much Wales have come on this past year . we took Australia to a single point until their last try in a stadium where only the all blacks beaten them . think its 17 games out of twenty they won there . if i read it right . Wales didnt play well and the first half was awful . so we due a win against them . lets hope its twice

[George Carlin]

Ian Evans is off on his honeymoon so presumably will still be engaging in exercise of some kind.

Wales will definitely do better this week. I actually prefer Ryan as a lock than as an 8 but either way Wales need his carrying desperately. Forget everything else, they just need to be smarter.

The really interesting question is whether Howley has the stones to pull his captain off the pitch and replace him with Tipuric if Sam still isn't getting it done against Pocock and Higgenbotham.

Did I just say 'Macbeth'?

[RubyGuby]

I thought Higgenbotham was the MOM, he did the damage in the loose and around the breakdown and carried well .

[munkian]

Was he the big fecker with the beard ? He was immense.

I did like the look on Sharpe's face though after Lydiate and had sliced his legs off twice

[slartibartfast]

Lydiate single handedly kept the score down - hope the others up their defence this week! (and genia get's the yips )

[Lord Sprey]

lydiate is quality, theirs no disputing that, but i wonder does he give wales enough go forward, he never seems to make an affective run,

sorry if im wrong but i cant remember him making ground much

sorry lydiate fans

[jimmyinthewell68]

i ve seen lydiate make the odd run but he seems like he doesnt want to get to far from the pack and get turn over like a few of our players Saturday . i love his tackling and he def lions starter even tho the Irish and English fans say different

[Pal Joey]

Was he the big fecker with the beard ? He was immense.

I did like the look on Sharpe's face though after Lydiate and had sliced his legs off twice

The look on Priestland's face when he coughed the ball up after Ioane nearly chopped him in half was better.

[pontylad]

Priestland's face didn't look that good from the start to be honest looked like he had had a touch to much sun to me not suprising considering the West Wales monsoon season going on at the moment

Lydiate did his destructive work as usual , hard for him to be up carrying the ball when he's on the floor following a tackle .That's where the balance should come in with ball snaffling Warburton and Falateu taking it on .Pocock won that particular battle though Warburton showed flashes Falateu was pretty anonymous with Ryan Jones showing up more .

That Aussie number 8 did look a bit of a mountain man looks like a good find.

[munkian]

The Welsh backrow didn't work as the well oiled team that has won us matches.

Sam hadn't had a match in months and Toby looked off his game and then got injured. He missed more tackles in that match than in the entire world cup

[maestegmafia]

The Welsh backrow didn't work as the well oiled team that has won us matches.

Sam hadn't had a match in months and Toby looked off his game and then got injured. He missed more tackles in that match than in the entire world cup

He missed three tackles whilst carrying a broken hand.

I think people should lay off Faletau a bit, he has been superb for Wales so far.

Match fitness and game time were a likely factor for a large part of the team who were either recovering from injury or not playing in the rabbo play offs.

Gut I like the team selected for this game. Beck and JD2 could be very exciting.

[munkian]

I wasn't slagging him, just saying he wasn't up to his normal standard of defense which is superb. Lydiate was atacklign machine and kept the score down

[maestegmafia]

I wasn't slagging him, just saying he wasn't up to his normal standard of defense which is superb. Lydiate was atacklign machine and kept the score down

I see...!

I think there is far too much criticism in general being bandied about by many Welsh fans on hear and it all just seems a bit naive and a bit frustrating to read.

Wales didn't play badly, Australia even without Beale and O'Connor had a very very talented team out. Many of the Welsh players did look rusty, more like their first international of the season rather than one of their last.

The whole squad have played a lot of rugby over the last twelve months, they need to get very focused if they want to turn this around.

[maestegmafia]

Edwards demands Wales shut up shop

From ESPN

June 15, 2012

Wales assistant coach Shaun Edwards insists his side must raise their defensive game if they are to beat the Wallabies on Saturday © Getty Images
Enlarge
Related Links
News: Wales opt to inject experience
Preview: Wales seek parity with the Wallabies
Tournaments/Tours: Wales tour of Australia
Teams: Wales
Shaun Edwards believes Wales have to remedy their defensive shortcomings if they want to beat Australia in Saturday's crucial second Test in Melbourne.

An uncharacteristically sloppy display from the Six Nations champions saw them slump to a 27-19 defeat in the first Test in Brisbane last weekend during which they leaked three tries - as many as they conceded in the whole of their recent Grand Slam campaign.

Wales began their tour confident of not only first victory over the Wallabies on Australian soil since 1969 but also an historic series victory. Those hopes will fade if they fail to raise their game at the Docklands Stadium and Edwards has set his sights on water-tight defensive display. "It is difficult to keep a Tri-Nations team to less than 20 points, but if we can keep them between 15-18 we will be in with a chance of winning the game," he said.

Edwards is well aware that history is stacked against his side but remains hopeful ahead of the series-defining clash. "We are playing against a Tri-Nations team and in the professional era we have yet to beat a Tri-Nations team away from home," he said. "So, if you look at the history of it, it is obviously a huge challenge, but we are just looking at the here and now and the things we have to change and improve on from last week.

"We are going to get up to the pace of the game a bit more. Sam Warburton will have a little bit more confidence under his belt having played his first game in 11 weeks and it should be a little bit cooler in Melbourne than it was in Brisbane.

[Guest]

Grand perspective of things Wales are doing well and heading in an upward direction, but of course us fans want it all and we want it now.
I can't see us winning either game left on the tour, but it won't be the end of the world.
If Wales want to start winning the SH teams in the SH they have got to address the fact we don't turn them over in Cardiff,crawl before you can walk etc etc.
And remember Rome wasn't built in a day etc etc

[maestegmafia]

Good point View

Wales have had a great twelve months, to ask of more is harsh but we do want more and we can see it is attainable. Let's see how the weekend goes.

[samuraidragon]

I think it's fair enough to set our sights higher. England and Scotland have both beaten Oz home and away in the last few years. No reason why we can't do the same. If we were to lose the series 3-0, that would make 5 consecutive losses to Oz in 9 months. Surely that would be a disappointing outcome?

[Biltong]

I expect Australia to open up tomorrow, they have now played a few tests and the guys will be ready, can Wales do it?

Well they will have to gain control at ruck time and Phillips will have to be on the ball.

[Merlin in Norfolk]

Hi folks. As you'll see this is my first post - 606 seems a good way to keep up to date with what's going on in the rugby world. Does anyone have a link to a live stream for tomorrow's game? Cheers.

[Pal Joey]

Welcome aboard Merlin. Check your inbox.

Something which quietly grates me but I'll get it out now before kick-off.

I'm not against the spreading of the game to essentially non-rugby states where most people call both union and league "rugby", however great a venue the Docklands Stadium is - it is not a rugby stadium.

It's not like the Millenium or for that matter Suncorp or the Olympic Stadium in rectangular mode. You are miles away from the action due to the oval shape and size of the AFL/cricket ground. AAMI is rectangular but has a much smaller capacity of 27,000 compared to 56,000 at Etihad.

Still should be a ripper of a game though... can't wait.

Scotland and Fiji kick off in about an hour.

[maestegmafia]

That's modern sport for you. They want to sell it to everyone, even people with no interest in anything other than their own sports. At least you have a team and a pitch.

[maestegmafia]

Kiwi coach Gatland joined up with the squad in Melbourne late on Wednesday
Wales skipper Sam Warburton says it's a great lift to have Warren Gatland back on board.

Kiwi coach Gatland joined up with the squad in Melbourne late on Wednesday, having flown in from New Zealand, where he has been recovering from the broken heels he suffered in a fall.

"He's hobbling around on his crutches, but he's getting from A to B," said Warburton.

"He's only been with us a short amount of time, but it's great to see him back on his feet again and with the squad.

"I am sure he has been fed up with being stuck on his couch back home. It's a great lift to have him back in the squad that's for sure.

"To see his face does give us a boost. Warren has had a big influence on a lot of players, particularly the younger ones in terms of giving us a chance.

"It's great that he's back in the squad. That will lift the players and the management I am sure."

As for what Gatland's involvement will be ahead of tomorrow's second Test and for the rest of the tour, Warburton said: "I'm not really sure, to be honest.

"It's probably natural for him to step in, but, whatever happens, we are just very happy that he is back with the squad now.

"Knowing what he has been through the last few months, it will be great to get a win and cheer him up."



Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/rugby-news/2012/06/14/the-boss-is-back-warren-gatland-returns-to-oversee-wales-second-test-match-in-australia-pictures-91466-31183006/#ixzz1xw572XqR

[Merlin in Norfolk]

Linebreaker - thanks v much for the reply. I didn't realise the need for secrecy. Looking forward to a good game today, and am quietly confident.....

[Guest]

Welcome to the forum Merlin

[Ifandorbut]

Would it be possible for some kind soul to pm me a link for a live stream of the wales match please?

Regards.

IAOB

[mckay1402]

Gutted that I'm going to miss this. Going to Essex. Doubt I'll even get it on the radio in my car either. Stupid friends birthday

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