The Rugby Championship - Buildup

First topic message reminder :

Seeing as there's only 3 matches left in Super Rugby, time to start thinking about TRC

Fixtures:

The Australian squad are already in camp (except for their Brumbies' players), with all their Super Rugby commitments finished - Quade Cooper and Scott Higginbotham notable squad omissions, thought Quade may get a reprieve as Karmichael Hunt is out for the next 2 months

Wallabies Squad:

Rugby Fan wrote:15-Damian McKenzie
14-Ben Smith
13-Ryan Crotty
12-Sonny Bill Williams
11-Rieko Ioane
10-Beauden Barrett
9-Aaron Smith

8-Kieran Read (captain)
7-Sam Cane
6-Liam Squire
5-Sam Whitelock
4-Brodie Retallick
3-Owen Franks
2-Codie Taylor
1-Joe Moody

Replacements: 16-Nathan Harris, 17-Wyatt Crockett,18-Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 19-Luke Romano, 20-Ardie Savea, 21-TJ Perenara, 22-Lima Sopoaga, 23-Anton Lienert-Brown

Some surprises in the All Black selection. NZ Herald says McKenzie coming in at full back, with Ben Smith moving to the wing, is long-term planning, given Jordie Barrett is now out for the season, and Smith goes on sabbatical soon. Still, not many predicted it for this match, and the Herald's own podcast said it would be a risk, given that McKenzie gives a lot away in height against Folau.

Hints that Kaino being dropped from the squad entirely is because he has picked up yellow cards for tackling too high. Other suggestions he's getting a kick up the backside rather than written out of World Cup planning.

Dane Coles is out after picking up a head knock, which must be a real concern for the future. Aaron Smith will play despite lurid headlines showing that he tried to get the girl in that notorious incident to lie about what happened.

Most transitional looking side I have seen in ages.

Still staggers me that Riko seems to have elbowed his way past the likes of Julian Savea to start. Is he really that good? Are Milner-Skudder and Dagg being rested or are they injured?

Also, the press need to stop milking the Aaron Smith thing. Enough already. It doesn't absolve him one bit to say that he has faced the music and now he needs to be left the f#ck alone to start piecing his family life together. I don't want to see him crying on television again. They're rugby players - not UNICEF goodwill ambassadors. We revere them so much as athletes that we project 'better person' status onto them and then start beating our breasts when they make mistakes. Certain sections of the Kiwi press also need to stop trying to dress this up as being a sports story and an airy matter of principle. It's tabloid scraping, so let's just watch the car accident for another 20 seconds and drive on.

Australia

1. Scott Sio (32 Tests)
2. Stephen Moore (120 Tests)
3. Allan Alaalatoa (11 Tests)
4. Rory Arnold (12 Tests)
5. Adam Coleman (12 Tests)
6. Ned Hanigan (3 Tests)
7. Michael Hooper (c) (68 Tests)
8. Sean McMahon (15 Tests)

9. Will Genia (78 Tests)
10. Bernard Foley (45 Tests)
11. Curtis Rona (Debut)
12. Kurtley Beale (60 Tests)
13. Samu Kerevi (8 Tests)
14. Henry Speight (12 Tests)
15. Israel Folau (55 Tests)

Reserves
16. Tatafu Polota-Nau (71 Tests)
17. Tom Robertson (9 Tests)
18. Sekope Kepu (80 Tests)
19. Rob Simmons (71 Tests)
20. Lopeti Timani (7 Tests)
21. Nick Phipps (52 Tests)
22. Reece Hodge (13 Tests)
23. Tevita Kuridrani (47 Tests)

It's hard to believe that Aus are playing this poor when they have some of those players available.

Not sure about anything else, but Rieko Ioane looks like what Savea did when he first came through.

He absolutely roasted the rapid Elliott Daly in one of the Lions tests, while Jack Nowell is probably the best defensive wing England have and looked pretty poor against him 1 on 1

From what I've seen I think Ioane could be the next big thing to come out of NZ, as big as Lomu. Obviously he's a slightly different player to Lomu but has his own expertise and can be just as if not more effective.

BamBam wrote:Not sure about anything else, but Rieko Ioane looks like what Savea did when he first came through.

He absolutely roasted the rapid Elliott Daly in one of the Lions tests, while Jack Nowell is probably the best defensive wing England have and looked pretty poor against him 1 on 1

Think you're overplaying those two incidents.

The Daly incident, if you're talking about the first incident when Ioane raced away to score a try, that was after Williams dropping a high ball. So Daly is stood facing the wrong way and expecting to support Williams, suddenly has to turn and get after Ioane. After a head start and a turn, I'd expect Ioane to get away tbf.

Likewise the Nowell incident. That was nothing to do with Nowell, really. Haskell jammed in on a man that wasn't his in Midfield (when he should have held his line and stuck on his man) which in turn sucked in Payne (I think) and Nowell to close the gaps, which obviously then left loads of space outside. Nowell is lots of things, but quick isn't one of them so again, I'd expect Ioane to score that with that much space to play with.

Ioane clearly looks a decent player, and it will be interesting to see the development, but I'm not sure him capitilising on a handling error and subsequent lucky bounce, and a defensive system error are enough to compare him to Savea. It's early days yet.

Ioane is undoubtedly the real deal and if maintains his upward curve will surely be the AB wing man to the WC and after. Excellent season for the Blues.

Wonderful talent and very lucky for the Lions that illness got the better of him.

Ill be very surprised if Aaron Smith gets picked due to his recent behavior off the pitch.

Aaron smith has been picked due to his recent behaviour on the pitch.

aucklandlaurie wrote:Aaron smith has been picked due to his recent behaviour on the pitch.

It's a shame. His complicated private life should just be his affair. However, if it turns out he misled the NZRU about the incident, then it could become an employment issue. In early statements, the union seemed to suggest there was nothing new in the stories but Stuff.co.nz reports they have asked a lawyer to investigate. I hope that's just ordinary due diligence rather than a reaction to the possibility Smith wasn't honest with them.

So what's the chances of an Ozy upset then? I think they're probably as good as they've been for sometime, assuming of course that there's real fight in the dog.
I heard that the weather may not be great and this could help Ozy as it certainly did the Lions, if they're able to pressure the AB's, particularly their backs.
I like the idea of Crotty and SBW at centre but think its a year or 3 to late and with them both now getting on, I can't see this combination lasting very long. Also the wonderfully exuberant McKenzie does have real test match questions to answer and this is the perfect stage for him to do so, however if he can be closed down or rattled, then will he be able to perform the required basic's while resisting his want to flash his undoubted talent. I think his selection is a brave call and Hansen should be congratulated for it but it does mean the AB's now have a very inexperienced back 3 excepting ofcourse their real FB who is world class and has been shunted to the wing to make way for boy wonder.
Ozy rugby is screw ball these days however the latest NFL voiced advertisement is so good that they deserve to play a half decent game on the back of it alone.
Ultimately the AB's should win comfortably with the superior pack taking control, however let everyone realise it is not just Ozy who are in transition and particularly Hansen et al need to produce after the Lions rubbed their noses. Questions should be asked if the short term goals continue to be missed as otherwise the much planned for WC could slip from their grasp. Changing times for SH rugby as for much elsewhere and further chapters are written in the decline and fall........

In case anyone cares .. SA v Argentina teams

The teams:

South Africa: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Raymond Rhule, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Jaco Kriel, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira

SA Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Curwin Bosch, 23 Damian de Allende

Argentina: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Tomas Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Enrique Pieretto, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro

Argentina Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Juan Martin Hernandez, 23 Matias Moroni

I care, BamBam.

Quite a few unfamiliar players in the SA team, to me anyway. It looks like they're leaving out the overseas based players?

BamBam wrote:In case anyone cares .. SA v Argentina teams

The teams:

South Africa: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Raymond Rhule, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Jaco Kriel, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira

SA Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Curwin Bosch, 23 Damian de Allende

Argentina: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Tomas Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Enrique Pieretto, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro

Argentina Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Juan Martin Hernandez, 23 Matias Moroni

Players not in that will be missed, Combrinck, Whiteley and Malherbe.

Raymond Rhule is a serious weakness in defence, Cassiem is a similar player to Whiteley but nowhere near as inspirational, and Coenie Oosthuizen is a penalty per scrum.

Damian de Allende has not played any rugby worth noting since his comeback from injury and is out of form, if they were going to put soneone in unproven then why not Rohan Janse van Rensburg?

I still have no faith in the influence politics have ober selections, the team remains compromised and the coach doesn't instill any belief in his abilities

Jantjies is also a bigconcern, he can blow very cold under pressure.

What with Sonny Bill behaving like a thug on the pitch and Smith behaving like a sexual predator off the pitch and cry baby when caught out after trying to get his victim to illegally sign an affidavit, it seems the NZ team need to have a rethink about what sort of image they want to portray to the rest of the world. But this is often the case with successful organizations, they become a rule unto themselves and eventually that hubris catches up with them. I expect that if Smith did. engage in this sexual tryst in a toilet while on NZ duty and then lied to the bosses he will be sidelined, as he should be if there is any sense of propriety in the NZRFU

Yeah, and Kieran Read's kids can't behave on live TV.
NZ are a disgrace, luckily we have the noble British and Irish but not Scottish Lions to deliver us from such evil.

Yeah, and there are simply too many New Zealand coaches around, what's up with them wanting to coach all over the world?

Pretty soon you will see shoulder charges from those good folk ip north, and people emulating what George Michael did in the toilets, what's this world coming too?

Gwlad I can do you a half decent price on a nearly new latrine?

kingelderfield wrote:Gwlad I can do you a half decent price on a nearly new latrine?

Is it the same one that international rugby player Aaron Smith got a random s^&* and f&*( in while on NZ duty? No thanks.

Kaino has returned home to NZ.

This follows the publication of a story in Australia's Daily Telegraph which alleges that Kaino had an extra-marital affair with a Canberra model.

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/kaino-returns-to-new-zealand/

Rugby Fan wrote:Kaino has returned home to NZ.

This follows the publication of a story in Australia's Daily Telegraph which alleges that Kaino had an extra-marital affair with a Canberra model.

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/kaino-returns-to-new-zealand/

Best not for gwlad to see that

Biltong wrote:Yeah, and there are simply too many New Zealand coaches around, what's up with them wanting to coach all over the world?

Pretty soon you will see shoulder charges from those good folk ip north, and people emulating what George Michael did in the toilets, what's this world coming too?

Morning all, looking forward to this game. Always love the Aussies v the Blacks. Probably the best chance the Aussies will have in some time to put a score on the AB's.

I wonder how unified the Aussie fans feel since the ARFU decided to drop the Western Force, that surely alienated quite a few fans.

I'm looking forward to seeing Beale in the wallaby jersey again. Class player.

The Aussies starting with some intent..

I'm really enjoying the rugby both teams are playing.

The AB's simply are a class above when on attack, 2 very good try's for them so far. Very entertaining match.

The line speed in defence and attack from the AB's is brilliant. The line speed in defence sets up the AB's 3rd try.

Running absolute riot here the AB's.

6 tries to 0 for the AB's.

The Aussies are gone, this could get messy in the second half.

Hopefully it gets really messy because there's been an Aussie smear campaign this week that looks like its backfiring

Iaone has been one of the ones killing them.

That's more like it from the ABs after the disappointing form of the Lions tour. Tutira Mai !!!

It wasn't disappointing form from the ABs during the Lions tour. The Lions were just really good.

The problem, as I see it, for the Aussies came out on full attack and tried to play the AB's off the field. This plays straight into the AB's hands as it creates more room for them to move.

The Lions just closed the AB's down and pressured them. Poor approach from the Aussies I feel but the AB's simply are amazing to watch when playing like this.

Sometimes you just have to stand back and applaud excellence.

Unfortunately that is about all the Australians have been doing

If this were a boxing match they'd have stopped it by now...

37 missed tackles by Australia in the first half.

That's the way boys, twist that knife!!

This is poor from the Aussies. Cant imagine that SA or the Pumas will be this loose.

Biltong wrote:37 missed tackles by Australia in the first half.

And they're still missing them in the second...

Cannot remember ever seeing an Australian team so generous. 54-6.

That's more like it ! Rona took that nicely

Bit like spitting into the wind , perhaps ; but something.

Oho ...and another !

alfie wrote:That's more like it !  Rona took that nicely  

Bit like spitting into the wind , perhaps ; but something.

Oho ...and another !

Who has he signed for alfie?

Have the AB's switched off?

Great to see Beale score there

ebop, That was an interesting incident there. AB player taking out his own player in the air. What are your views on this since you claimed that Murray should have been carded when Hogg ran into his elbow on the lions tour. Should there have been a YC for the AB player?

Don't recall saying that eirebilly. My view is that if it's your own player then it is an accident and it is play on. Naturally.

ebop wrote:Don't recall saying that eirebilly. My view is that if it's your own player then it is an accident and it is play on. Naturally.

You did, you claimed that it was reckless and Murray should have seen a card for it. Not surprised you cant remember it when there is a similar incident involving the AB's though

They awarded that try?

Mmmm

eirebilly wrote:

ebop wrote:Don't recall saying that eirebilly. My view is that if it's your own player then it is an accident and it is play on. Naturally.

You did, you claimed that it was reckless and Murray should have seen a card for it. Not surprised you cant remember it when there is a similar incident involving the AB's though

Prove it

ebop wrote:

eirebilly wrote:

ebop wrote:Don't recall saying that eirebilly. My view is that if it's your own player then it is an accident and it is play on. Naturally.

You did, you claimed that it was reckless and Murray should have seen a card for it. Not surprised you cant remember it when there is a similar incident involving the AB's though

Prove it

With that response, I just have