Wallabies: Which Super Team Best Represents Them

This year the demise of the SA teams has seen the rise of the Aussie teams in the S15. Currently, the Brumbies are in 3rd spot, the Force in 5th and the Waratahs in 8th (like the Force with a game in hand) and the Reds and Rebels bringing up the rear.

There is certainly a sense of palpable confidence in the air among the Aussie teams. The Australians are a confidence side and there has been a lift in confidence with the Northern tour last year and this S15 form will only add to that.

When you look a little closer though, what of the problems in the RC last year have been addressed? Quade Cooper, when he attacks the line and puts those clever short balls through to the outside man, looks impressive. However, for every magical thing he does, he seems to throw a speculator forward pass or makes an error. Does Link continue with his vice-captain and give him free rein to express himself or does he go with a no-nonsense Brumbies solidity in Toomua? Will it be Foley's year to get a crack at test rugby? Genia seems a likely partner to Cooper but is his form as up and down as Cooper's? Can a lot of that be attributed to the Reds' pack and their inconsistency in going forward?

The Waratahs have the most test-resembling pack but still there is the question who to partner Moore, who to put in at lock and how to balance that back row. There are plenty of candidates but very few that stand out as say a Whitelock, Read. I see a lot of possible names in that Wallaby pack much like say Dane Coles. He's good and effective at what he does but deep down you wonder is he being picked on reputation or lack of other candidates' reputation? Horwill fits that bill for me. He's a proven leader as a Reds captain but would he be the first name on the test sheet? Similarly, in the centres you have where to put AAC and with whom? Plenty of candidates but is this plethora of choice a sign of weakness or strength in depth? Sometimes when you say there are plenty of candidates, it's an indication that a standout name is conspicuous in its absence. Let's say Hooper is an automatic pick, then who are the picks to partner him in the back row? Fardy you might say at 6 for a bit of Brumbies mongrel but what about the pick at 8 to balance those two? Plenty of candidates with previous reputations like Palu or Higganbotham but question marks over their current form.

Obviously S15 form doesn't necessarily translate into test form. I don't imagine Link will want to play a Brumbies style of rugby with the Wallabies and will go with a combination of the Reds attacking philosophy with the forward solidity of the Waratahs. But are we left with a Wallabies side that is best represented by the Force? Not to be taken lightly as they have players who are capable of doing damage. Well coached and with lots of confidence but with very few big name players like Folau who grab the spotlight and question marks over their staying power at the business end of the competition?

I think whoever plays the Wallabies this year in June or the RC will encounter a team who is keen to play attacking rugby and won't lack for confidence in that area. However, I still think the balance of the side has key combination and technical issues and that confidence can easily disappear or fade if the opponents take the team seriously and prepare themselves thoroughly.

I think they may surprise this year but it’s all dependant on how their forwards play. It’s such a cliché but it’s true. There was a time when Australia had a dominant forward pack but those days are long gone. For every Pocock/Hooper/Smith you get a Matt Dunning/James Slipper. They lack substance in their tight 5 (no massive surprise to anyone) but they have backrowers who tend to bring the rest with them. However, therein lies the problem. Nullify the backrow and you pretty much beat the Wallabies.

I’d like to see Will Skelton a) get fit and b) get a start. He’s got massive potential

I thought young London Irish prop Max Lahiff was over in Oz now. He looked a real propsect! Dont tell me the Aussie propping coaches are doing their great work with him?

Why cant Australia produce top class props? Or is that actually a myth?

Geordie - I played in the Qld Cup premier comp 12 years ago.  We had a highly respected coach within Aus who the previous year had coached Canberra Vikings (Brumbies B team) to victory in the Qld Cup.  But I never once saw him get the forwards pack down for either live scrummaging or a session on the machine....never.  Good coach he was but just no tight work - no wonder we were humped all year.  The emphasis was always on fitness and physicality.  

We weren't the best funded side, only 1 Qld player, no Wallabies and operating against clubs packed with Reds and Wallabies but my recollection was there was never an emphasis by any club on having a monster tight 5.  Brothers had an all-Wallaby front row, but even they didn't always dominate up front.

It seems really bizarre now but we played Fukuoka Sanix who were touring (with Graeme Bachop and Jamie Joseph playing) and their front row was massive, they battered us up front and won out comfortably - but they were all pro rugby players.  You just never expected to get battered up front by Japanese players!!

Ah cheers for that Mintie. Interesting to hear.

Righly enough you dont expect to get beaten up by the Japanese teams...but they must be improving all the time.

They just need a few Sumo in there...might not be mobile but their scrum wont go backwards   

The Force could go top with their game in hand and they are on a roll. The Honey Badger is electric this season and they are all playing wonderful exciting rugby (not all to my taste but still). It has been proven that the Aussie XV does not compare to the S15 but I feel the Aussies are on a real come back trail and Wales & England will have to perform well to beat them next year, that goes for the RC going to Aussie this season.

Force for me tho.

So the Wallabies are The Force to be reckoned with this year.

Sorry but I'm not convinced. Individually the likely starters are all over the place- Folau started (vs home sides at home) like a shot out of a gun and has gone quiet against overseas and away sides. The Reds, where a number of Wallabies are from, have lost all desire to compete- Genia and Cooper are so erratic who knows what test form they'll have, Coopers getting picked off all over the place.

AAC has kept his usually high standards and Hooper and Moore are the other standouts of the requlars. Cummins is strictly sxv and its asking a bit to suddenly have his sort of sxv form available at test (or at least vs NZ/ SA) level- just not gonna happen.

Horwill looks like hes going to cry at every after match speech.

Yes there's a bit more depth, but not at the top where its needed.

Sorry, but the top side just looks in so much disarray they'll need extraordinary efforts from several- either newbies like Skilton, Toomua are going to have to light up or die hards like Higginbotham, Genia, Moore are going to have to step up and drag the rest in.

And with all that theyre going to have the same guys up front- the Slippers, Robinsons, Faaingas.

Just see another year of doom and gloom for the W's at test or at least RC level.

The Brumbies are as boring as the Sharks this season, the Force full of Foreigners, the Waratahs can only win at home, the Reds are poor this season and the Rebels the same as always.

I am trying to think of any new potential Wallabies that has put up their hands this season and can't really think of any.

I doubt much will change this year.

Biltong wrote:The Brumbies are as boring as the Sharks this season, the Force full of Foreigners, the Waratahs can only win at home, the Reds are poor this season and the Rebels the same as always.

I am trying to think of any new potential Wallabies that has put up their hands this season and can't really think of any.

I doubt much will change this year.

Speights qualifies this year.

Biltong wrote:The Brumbies are as boring as the Sharks this season, the Force full of Foreigners, the Waratahs can only win at home, the Reds are poor this season and the Rebels the same as always.

I am trying to think of any new potential Wallabies that has put up their hands this season and can't really think of any.

I doubt much will change this year.

Skilton looks 'abnormally' huge on the field- looks like he's running around with a magnifying glass on just him. If they can get him going at test level they can't be doing too bad. But in terms of test hardened players to take on the RC? have to agree...

Brumbies usually or Reds but one thing about Aus test sides tend to be lightweight in
tight five.BUT have great backs and loosies and tend to move people around to tire
heavier packs.
One thing over the years `i`ve learn`t never write them off esdpecially at home or RWC

Have you had a look at the tahs recently Alan... they're huge chaps.

emack2 wrote:Brumbies usually or Reds  but one thing about Aus test sides tend to be lightweight in
tight five.BUT have great backs and loosies and tend to move people around to tire
heavier packs.
One thing over the years `i`ve  learn`t never write them off esdpecially at home or RWC

We wrote them off last year. And you can write them off this year as well...

JOC looks to have genuinely changed things at London Irish, does he deserve another chance when he returns to Australia?

As the Force were the ones talking to him, imagine him and Cummins in the same back 3 at Super level...

yeah I hope so. Genuinely talented player though no idea how he has gone up there. Sometimes you only have to watch a player for a few seconds to know that they're special players. JOCs one of those.

Oz and sxv rugby needs him badly.

It's less his play, which has been pretty good, but his temperament I was referring to. Apparently he's really bought into the team ethos and there has been no controversy at all!

ChequeredJersey wrote:It's less his play, which has been pretty good, but his temperament I was referring to. Apparently he's really bought into the team ethos and there has been no controversy at all!

but like most of them its all about one offs. JOC getting refused a flight at an airport is hardly an everyday thing. All it takes is one 'special' night. But taking him right out of the scene looks to have worked ok. But hes one of those that loves the stage, the bigger and brighter the better. Everything hes doing will be to get back into the W's world cup side...its like honey to a bear...

The only team in OZ that says they will consider him is the Reds, the Force wants nothing to do with him.

Horwill the captain of the Reds said the senior players will have some input into his return, but ultimately it is the management that will decide

and look at the Reds now...not a hard decision. Well worth the risk I'd think. The others will probably be made to regret it.

It's like honey to a badger you mean!

The force did well to reject him. They are the greater sum of their parts. The Reds are the lesser sum of their parts this year. JOC can be the player who is the greater sum of his team, at least in his mind. The Rebels and Force are not good clubs for him in that respect. He needs to be in a team that has talent and needs him to do a job for the team rather than create the opportunities for the team.