Australia v Wales 3rd Test: Teams and Build-Up

First topic message reminder :

Saturday 23rd June, 2012
15:00 EST, 06:00 BMT
Allianz Stadium (SFS), Moore Park, Capacity: 45,500
Current forecast for Saturday: Fine, 7-15 deg. C
Sydney Radar (The ground is halfway between .Sydney and .Randwick on the diagonal)

Australia:
15 Kurtley Beale
14 Adam Ashley-Cooper
13 Rob Horne
12 Pat McCabe
11 Digby Ioane
10 Berrick Barnes
9 Will Genia
8 Wycliff Palu
7 David Pocock (capt.)
6 Scott Higginbotham
5 Nathan Sharpe
4 Sitaleki Timani
3 Sekope Kepu
2 Tatafu Polota Nau
1 Benn Robinson

Reserves:
16 Stephen Moore, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Michael Hooper, 21 Nic White, 22 Anthony Fainga'a.

Wales:
15 Leigh Halfpenny
14 Alex Cuthbert
13 Jonathan Davies
12 Ashley Beck
11 George North
10 Rhys Priestland
9 Mike Phillips
8 Ryan Jones
7 Sam Warburton (capt.)
6 Dan Lydiate
5 Alun Wyn Jones
4 Bradley Davies
3 Adam Jones
2 Matthew Rees
1 Gethin Jenkins

Reserves:
16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Justin Tipuric, 20 Rhys Webb, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams.

Lets do what we did in the 6 nations and take the game to them; recycle quick ball and then drive it up the middle again, recycling as we go. George, Cuthbert and JD bullocking through the middle - We were frozen and afraid to win last weekend.

Hey... that's OUR gameplan!

2ndtimeround wrote:

glamorganalun wrote:I predicted before the tour a 3 - 0 result to Aust now with this team it is very likely unless M Rees runs into Preistland in the first minute. Where is Ian Evans, has he told Howley he is an idiot or something along those lines???

Hibbard has paid the price of not being one of th blue eyed boys within the team, yes he gave the last two penalties away but if we had not kicked the ball away, we would not have been in a position to give them away.

Still looking forward to the game and I believe it will be close despite rewarding failure within the inner circle of some Welsh players.

And of course as he plays for the O's it cant be his fault that wales lost can it.

The point I was making some players will not be dropped whatever game they play and not just this game, the previous game in fact going back 8 months. I stated the on a previous post that the selection will be interesting, if Preistland was picked it demonstrated he was following team orders by the management to kick the ball down the pitch as far as he can. I conclude Wales did not lose because of Preistland but the coaches tactics.

PS I live in Gwent and from Mid Glamorgan not Swansea, enjoy the game with rose tinted glasses.

Happy with the team.

Let's hope it goes well.

Linebreaker wrote:Hey... that's OUR gameplan!

I know its your game with the only difference being that Wales were frozen and lacked confidence and self-belief whilst the Aissies said "Hey let's rock man and get down there and throw it about" - The Aussies believe in their ability, we did in the 6 nations but we haven't at key times in these test matches to date. Our best game has been SA in the RWC when we really took it to them and failed as a consequence of 2 relatively simple kicks at goal (fine lines) - Conversley, are we all looking to young Jamie too much to carry the ball up the middle, may be so time to stand up for yourselves lads. Good luck.

It seems to me that the players have instructions only to play in the opposition half, or even the opposition 22. I can't agree with that. If it's on, it's on, wherever you are on the field. We seem to have forgotten that.

We seem to care more about territory than about possession. How else do you explain our fondness for kicking away the ball after we've struggled for so long to get hold of it?

Maybe if the chase was better putting the Wallabies under more pressure in their own half, or if Wales had contested the lineouts better; then the outcome would have been completely different. I think it was 10-0 on Oz's own throw so the territory and possession stats would have been a lot better for Wales if they had taken more advantage of their kicks and got one or two against the throw.

Kicks in play were 26-26, so it just comes down to the actual game situation, the execution of the kicks themselves and then taking advantage of the ensuing gain on the field. So kicks have to be quality ones with intent or purpose... but that's just the platform for the successive play.

On Saturday, the Wallabies had the upper hand in that department (even though both teams had the same no. of kicks) so it was what they did immediately after - either force an error and cause a turnover which really helped our cause. Hence the 66% in favour of Australia in territory & possession. Of course it's best to have both those stats well in your favour but Wales did quite well to be leading with a minute to go with those key stats heavily against them.

I've heard the game is a sell-out. The ARU must be kicking themselves they didn't schedule this match at the Olympic Stadium.
They would have had 60,000 or even 70,000 I reckon. Interest is building nicely despite the 2-0 lead.

That's good news, Breaker. It's been a hard-fought series, which is good for supporters - of course, it helps if the home team wins!

Apparently there's a few games on beforehand starting at midday:

"A range of pre-match entertainment will be offered on the day from
midday until 2:30pm including a fan day at the SCG and two pre-match
games prior to the 3:00pm main game kick-off. The New South Wales
Suburban Rugby Union and Queensland Suburban Rugby Union match kicks-off
at 12.10pm, followed by the NSW Primary School Sevens Championship
Finals at 1:45pm."

and this caught my eye...

"If you have purchased tickets in the Aussie Supporter Bays, please
remember to pick up your Castrol EDGE Golden Suit from the rear of Bay
20 or 28."

It's like a cheap, full-on Formula One body suit - canary yellow of course! No thanks! (but still might grab one for a larf)

Don't pretend you don't want one!

Im actually glad Preistland is staying at 10. He played pretty well last week, his defence saved one certain try, and he can't be blamed for the complete lack of composure in the last 30seconds - much of which was the forwards fault.

The two players who lost us the game last week were Matthew Rees and Sam Warburton. If Howley had kept Ken Owens starting, we would have won. If he had subbed Warburton at halftime, we probably would have won.

Starting Rees this week is a horrible decision

Warburton too does not deserve to start, and does not deserve to be captain.

I just hope that Howley has an epiphany at HT, realise that he has cost Wales any chances they have had by some awful selection mistakes and defended his mistakes by picking the same players again, and takes Rees and Warburton off if they are not playing well.

If Tipuric spends 80 minutes warming the bench, then I will have lost any hope for Wales in the next 6N with Howley in charge.

The Ian Evans thing is also ridiculous, if he isn't injured, it is a c*ck up to rival not picking Biggar, replacing Ken Owens and not benching Warburton at HT (or even 60minutes) last week.

Ah, the one eyed Osprey circles overhead once more

munkian wrote:Ah, the one eyed Osprey circles overhead once more

How do you work that out?

Bloody hell, they're like Vultures, here's another !

munkian wrote:Bloody hell, they're like Vultures, here's another !

Still haven't answered though?

munkian wrote:Ah, the one eyed Osprey circles overhead once more

Im a Blues fan and I want Tipuric in over Warburton, and Ian Evans over Bradley.

And I'd prefer Owens over Rees or Hibbard...

Too bad some people have less eyes than a one eyed Osprey huh!

wales606 wrote:

munkian wrote:Ah, the one eyed Osprey circles overhead once more

Im a Blues fan and I want Tipuric in over Warburton, and Ian Evans over Bradley.

I was trying to work that one out, I had a similar comment from a scarlet supporter because I stated Hibbard was the fall guy!

Disappointed but not surprised by the selection.

I never really thought Howley had the minerals to make the big calls by dropping Priestland and Warburton.

With Beale now at XV it will be a very very long day for us unless Priestland gets his kicking game sorted

You have to wonder why Evans even travelled with Charters and Ryan providing cover; a superb 6 Nations - player of the tournament IMO - but not even a bench spot. Is this some sort of punishment for getting married (as if that wasn't bad enough) Howley in charge next season could be disastrous and could really set us back.

Getting married in season should be a banning offence at least. It does seem very strange that he was allowed to travel late but then hardly be in involved.

Has he even played (Brumbies maybe)

glamorganalun wrote:

wales606 wrote:

munkian wrote:Ah, the one eyed Osprey circles overhead once more

Im a Blues fan and I want Tipuric in over Warburton, and Ian Evans over Bradley.

I was trying to work that one out, I had a similar comment from a scarlet supporter because I stated Hibbard was the fall guy!

Hibberd is the fall guy, literally.

His sole contribution at that maul was to stand off it and then pull it down. well done fella.

bedfordwelsh wrote:Getting married in season should be a banning offence at least. It does seem very strange that he was allowed to travel late but then hardly be in involved.

Has he even played (Brumbies maybe)

Ian Evans arranged the wedding when he hadn't played international rugby for 3 years!

glamorganalun wrote:

wales606 wrote:

munkian wrote:Ah, the one eyed Osprey circles overhead once more

Im a Blues fan and I want Tipuric in over Warburton, and Ian Evans over Bradley.

I was trying to work that one out, I had a similar comment from a scarlet supporter because I stated Hibbard was the fall guy!

No mate, you recieved a comment when blaming the kicking for loosing the game rather than the penalties Hibbard gave away, the comment was also based on remarks earlier in the week pointing the finger at RP as been at fault. I have often found your opinions to be very one sided toward O's players, all fans tend to favour their own team but personally I dont agree with the blaming of individual players regardles of wether they are proffesional or not, athough admitedly we've probably all done it at some point.

I can see why the coaches would not want to alter a team that did well last week. We would be applauding them rather than chastising them if the last minute had been different.

Let's hope they can make amends on Saturday.

Is Priestland the best 10 Wales have?

With the amount of folks that was ripping into him last week, i thought he would of been droprd out of sight, and out of mind of the Welsh setup completely.

He is next scapegoat for Wales. Now they move on from Gatland for short time.

Wait until he get injury then we will be hear how Wales lose because they miss Priestland and some statue put up and we hear stories about how Prietland was best 10 going to the world cup.

maestegmafia wrote:I can see why the coaches would not want to alter a team that did well last week. We would be applauding them rather than chastising them if the last minute had been different.

Let's hope they can make amends on Saturday.

I don't entirely agree with that. For sure we would be applauding (and yes the RP, Warbs, Hibbard bashing wouldn't be happening). But I think we'd be (with a huge sigh of relief) be debating we done enough for the win and no more. The performance was still well below par, and we'd still be picking holes in the tactics.

Agree we make amends tho'.

I agree that was far from Wales best performance of the last 12 months. Though it wasn't a poor performance by standards of international rugby.

We are not impressing our dominance in the scrum, where we do have the upper hand, the line out wasn't fluent but the aussie defensive line out was impressive, breakdown wasn't controlled by Wales but bar jones they have lacked game time.

Not excusing them but there are reasons why we didn't play our best...!

This weekend will hopefully see one final push and a result.

wales606 wrote:If Tipuric spends 80 minutes warming the bench, then I will have lost any hope for Wales in the next 6N with Howley in charge.

Absolutely. Unless, of course, Sam suddenly rediscovers his best form on Saturday - but it would still be two Tests too late!

I think Howley is copping far too much flack for this series, it is the same players bar Roberts that successfully won the Grandslam, in my view this Wales team experienced for the first time "the fear of losing" it affected the way ndividuals made decisions and how they responded in the moment.

It is natural to make that paradigm shift from, lets give it a go like they have in he last two years, to now where they believe they are good enough to win.

Failure now is much more in their minds than before because the Welsh public snf themselves have greater expectations.

Biltong, Howley's getting criticised for picking out-of-form players. It's not the players' fault that they're out of form, it's his for not selecting players who are in better form.

Bilting, the way that Webb started box-kikcing from the moment he cane on, even though we were a man to the good in the backline, suggests it was a premeditated tactic. The lack of composure, though, is down to the players concerned. Howley may have told them to kick. He didn't tell them to kick badly.

Not sure blaming players to be out of form either, the only ones I would agree is warburton who dissappeared against Pocock and Priestland, but then even Gatland stuck with Priestland during the six nations.

Now irrespective of what the media says, how mich influence did Gatland have in selections.

I think the welsh are barking up the wrong tree.

Got to laugh at Jamie Roberts busting Matthew Reeses balls over his crap line out throws for the whole world to see on twitter this morning,
i never thought i would actually say this but we are missing Huw Bennett,
he to is rubbish at his line out throw ins but Howley seems to find that acceptable, but Huw bring a far better tackle rate and hit far more rucks.

if warburton reese and priestland is still on the pitch after 60 minutes and playing like they did last week then howley not doing his job

I think the big debates have been over Priestland and Warburton.

Hook never fills me with confidence but I think he should have had a crack this weekend.

Tipuric has been on top form all season whilst Sam is coming back off a lay up so wouldn't have hurt to given him a rest.

I think the forwards should be taking a lot of flak. The backs have kept the team in both matches. The forwards have been very poor, they were meant to be superior and whilst they havenot been dominated...AUS have go the upper hand on them twice.

Against the worst front five in tier 1 rugby... thats poor.

This whole 'Lions front row' hailing is a little embarassing when they're giving scrum penalties away to poor opposition.

The backs however with a number of injuries, new caps and an inconsistent pivot are holding their own.

To be honest im surprised they took Priestland he already admitted he played the whole six nations injured and needs an op on his knee,
they should have rested him he is clearly injured.
Also Warburton looks injured, but as a captain they are right to pick him but should have subbed him for Tipuric for the last half hour of each game.

Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones both look injured to but again very important players to Wales so i think Howley was right to pick them but he should have subbed them both for the last half hour in both games.

But we have the luxury of sitting at home and can point the finger all day,we are not in Howleys shoes.

viewtothegym wrote:Warburton looks injured, but as a captain they are right to pick him

Disagree 100%. Pick your best XV, then appoint a captain from that XV.

LP,

I agree with you, pick team then captain, we went trhough it for far to long with Ryan Jones lets hope we don't make same mistake with Sam.

As for the front row I wouldn't be to unhappy if James had started at L/Head but we have no other credible option to Jones

I've been impressed with Rhys Gill recently. An equal to Gethin Jenkins in the scrum and he looks more dynamic around the park.

Wales have played 20 matches in 12 months, that's got to be a record for a Welsh team

munkian wrote:Wales have played 20 matches in 12 months, that's got to be a record for a Welsh team

Could be a reason why some of the players are looking slightly haggered, and also a contributing factor to why the regions have been performing poorly last season (besides the Ospreys in the league)

I just read it on twitter - I wasn't using as an excuse but you could well be right

munkian wrote:I just read it on twitter - I wasn't using as an excuse but you could well be right

It is a crazy number of games you're right, and when you consider the training camps that came before a lot of these games (WC, 6Ns) then there really has been little rest periods over the years, apart from between the end of this season and the current tour.

So not much of a direct excuse for this tour, but worrying none the less.

Linebreaker wrote:"If you have purchased tickets in the Aussie Supporter Bays, please
remember to pick up your Castrol EDGE Golden Suit from the rear of Bay
20 or 28."

It's like a cheap, full-on Formula One body suit - canary yellow of course! No thanks! (but still might grab one for a larf)

Just a heads-up LB, me and my mates bought tickets in the supporters bay in Brisbane thinking we'd don our 'onesies' and look fantastic along with everyone else in that section. We walked through the gates about 10mins before kickoff and the buggers had none left, turns out they were just handing them out to every man and his dog who asked for one. So if you want one, grab it on the way to the nearby pubs well before rather than just on entry to the game.

Thanks for the tip FC.

I'm going in earlier for a bite to eat at the Olympic Hotel on the cnr Moore Park Rd / Regent St, then walk over for the first match at midday. If they're giving them away that early then I'll be ready to seize my onesie.

I was devastated to miss out. A chant went up in the supporters bay at one point along the lines of "where are our onesies!"

They look completely ridiculous of course.