Wallabies Squad 2020 - Dave Rennie makes his mark

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Dave Rennie begins his tenure as Wallabies Head Coach with 16 uncapped players after several months to mull over his squad. It is a hugely encouraging moment for Australian rugby that Rennie has put his faith in youth. He clearly intends to make his own mark.

Rennie has stated that omissions of Isi Naisarani, Tevita Kuridani and Jack Dempsey are related to a drop in form.

Having replaced Michael Chieka as Head Coach, Dave Rennie will bring a new dimension to the Wallabies. His tenures at Chiefs and Glasgow Warriors highlighted the quality of his coaching, in particularly, the fast, well planned, structured attacking play. He is also a family man who believes in a strong team culture.

A major criticism of the Wallabies in recent years has been the poor defence and inconsistent performances. Chieka was very much the marmite (vegemite) of coaches with very divided opinions from Wallabies supporters. I was an avid opponent to his style of coaching and feel that Rennie will help elevate the Wallabies all round game and results. Rennie's inclusion of sixteen uncapped players shows he is very much keeping an eye to the future and possibly RWC 2023 glory.

Bledisloe Cup RD 2 - Eden Park Sunday 18th KO 4pm (NZDT) 4am (GMT)

Australia: 15-Tom Banks, 14-Filipo Daugunu, 13-Hunter Paisami, 12-Matt Toomua, 11-Marika Koroibete, 10-James O’Connor, 9-Nic White, 8-Harry Wilson, 7-Michael Hooper (captain), 6-Ned Hanigan, 5-Matt Philip, 4-Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 3-Taniela Tupou, 2-Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1-James Slipper. Replacements: 16-Jordan Uelese, 17-Scott Sio, 18-Allan Alaalatoa, 19-Rob Simmons, 20-Liam Wright, 21-Jake Gordon, 22-Jordan Petaia, 23-Reece Hodge

New Zealand: 15-Beauden Barrett, 14-Jordie Barrett, 13-Anton Lienert-Brown, 12-Jack Goodhue, 11-Caleb Clarke, 10-Richie Mo’unga, 9-Aaron Smith, 8-Ardie Savea, 7-Sam Cane (captain), 6-Shannon Frizell, 5-Tupou Vaa’i, 4-Patrick Tuipulotu, 3-Ofa Tuungafasi, 2-Dane Coles, 1-Joe Moody. Replacements: 16-Codie Taylor, 17-Alex Hodgman, 18-Nepo Laulala, 19-Scott Barrett, 20-Hoskins Sotutu, 21-TJ Perenara, 22-Rieko Ioane, 23-Damian McKenzie

Sometimes you want to wring the neck of your forwards - ref yelling at the Aussie lock to leave it in the maul and he kept going. Potentially cost Australia the win!

16-16 - 1 minute left.

So much drama!!

Australia with a kick to win it from past halfway - it hits the post but knock on ABs and the wallabies get a chance with the ball again.

Now.NZ turn over and have a chance to attack. All in overtime!

That's one of the craziest overtime periods I've ever seen - 8 minutes where each team had several chances to win it and turnovers everywhere! No idea why either team didn't try for the drop goal.

Massive credit to the Wallabies - no one expected them to be competitive and they really were. ABs we're strangely flat and will be disappointing with that.

I need to go lie down!

Well that would have been a well deserved win if James O'Connor had the courage to kick a drop goal from 15 metres directly in front of the posts...but what a great game and a great finish in the end as well. Probably the best result for the game. I do think if you don't have the courage to be a match winner by dropping a goal, or take the blame for missing the drop goal, then you're not a test match kicker/10 and neither Moanga nor O'Connor took the option despite ample opportunity in that last set of plays.

Loved the way Australia played. Rennie could end up being the Kiwi Eddie Jones (!) for Australia as he's brought a toughness and focus they've been lacking for a decade. That was the kind of performance that the Wallabies need to be putting in as their norm to be honest. It was a great mix of tact, physicality, decision making, and still leaving room for the playmaking quality and attacking flair that makes Australian rugby so great to watch. Nic White looked world class.

New Zealand looked like they hadn't learnt a thing from the last 3-4 years under Hansen. It was the same old tactics of counterpunching rugby with not much desire to play the percentages. They're amazing at the breakdown although got away with a few 50:50s due to a sympathetic ref and they counter attack like no other team, they're all on the same page and so much better than anything we see in the north. But they didn't not win this game due to Reiko Ioane dropping the ball over the line as Australia had their own try scoring moments go begging. They lost because they were never really in the game.

Great match of rugby though. Don't regret getting up for it in the slightest. Should go down as one of the great test matches, it had a bit of everything.

The All Blacks are the epitome of Big D1ck Energy rugby.

They're not just content to win they try to humiliate teams by playing counter attacking rugby where they soak up the pressure and then go the length of the field and score. They're also not happy to just drop the goal having rode their luck with a kick from 60m that hit the post and then the other team failing to drop a goal right in front. Instead they try to bash it over the line to win with a try because, presumably, a drop goal victory would feel 'dirty' or flaccid.

Have to say that the All Blacks are either on the brink of revolutionising rugby with the way they play or they're failing to learn the lessons they've had handed to them since the 2017 Lions tour: there's more than one way to win a test match.

RDW wrote:

I need to go lie down!

Me too. That last 8 minutes was something else.

If only the Wallabies had taken a pot at a field goal after the ball rebounded off the post! So much momentum so I guess it was tempting to go for the try.

Must say I was expecting a vastly different scoreline in favour of the ABs but it was a remarkable effort from the Wallabies, especially in that second half. They had the lion share of possession and territory, made some promising line breaks and executed their tries well. Unlucky at times with some rulings but they most certainly hung in there and took it to the ABs.

There seemed to be far less errors than usual especially given the atrocious conditions. I hope they can play as well in the remaining 3 matches. You could see that draw hurt the Kiwis; the draw is a massive positive for our blokes who must realise they can mix it with the best. They'll need to do even better next game as we all know the kiwis will do everything to redress the situation and dish out another lesson when they meet next week at Eden Park.

Looking back on the game, Australia will certainly be the happier team. Credit to Dave Rennie - he's turned them into a competitive international team almost overnight. Very early days though, with next week going to be an even tougher test.

Rennie had them set up in the modern way - organised defence and good variety to the game, but enough attacking flair to get the tries when needed. Lineout and discipline need a lot of work but it was never going to be perfect.

The young guys looked naturals at this level - I thought Wilson was excellent at 6 and Daugunu was a great finisher. Nick White was electric - if the rest of the team could get on his wavelength there will be a lot more scores. I'm not convinced on the O'Connor/Tamooa midfield combo but they're probably both needed for their experience just now.

Shoot out to Hooper too on his 100th game - I thought he had a good game. And who was first man on the scene when Hodge's kick bounced off the posts? You guessed it.

As for the ABs, that was the most negative display I've seen from them ever. It looked like their were playing it like a defensive drill - committing no men to rucks, happy to defend and only attacking on the counter attack (which they did brilliantly as always). This could have been Foster trying things out, but surely next week they'll flick the attacking switch and actually use their outrageous talent.

The AB back row was excellent and Bridge played well, but Ioane and McKenzie have probably played themselves out of selection for next week. Shows how much the ABs really need Barrett.

The ABs usually get a big reaction when they lose / draw so I can see next week being tough for Australia, but I hope they get confidence that they can mix it at this level.

Blimey what a match. Aus did well.

Just finished watching. You have to New Zealand got out of jail a bit there with a couple of decisions going their way at key times. First run out though and they do tend to get better quickly.

One thing that NZ's counterattacking tactics bring is explosiveness. It's odd but they looked fitter and stronger than the Wallabies at select moments and once Australia turned the ball over having not gone for their drop goal, NZ were able to get up field much easier than Australia were, who did the same by using clever back and forth ruck balls that didn't allow NZ to push up in defence and made sure the same players were tackling over and over again to avoid them putting in explosive tackles.

There is some logic to their tactics as they always have that 'one shot' capability to win it at the death and to be honest a better pass out to the 10 instead of to the floor where he slipped over would have done it when they were on the Wallabies line right before they turned the ball over the end the match. But I don't like their tactics, or at least there is enough proof that they have lost their competitive dominance by moving away from a more balanced gameplan.

If they continue with this for the next 3 years it is setting the stage for Gatland 2024.

What a game! I had high hopes for Rennie and his coaches and it looks very promising so far. Much more organised and the players seemed like they had a better idea of what they were trying to achieve. The rush defence was very good too and caught the AB's out a few times.

AB's got very lucky not to be penalised at the end with hands in the ruck and I'm glad Reiko Iaone went for a showy try rather than just sliding over the whitewash. What a shocker! That one came back to hurt them.

Ioane was in touch for the first try so it cancels out the botched try tbh.

Fair result in the end. Australia were by far the better team but that slight lack of composure, courage, and experience to drop the goal at the end summed them up. Some great stuff but they also relied on a few All Blacks errors to get their points - I still have no idea why JOC bottled the drop goal and was doing everything he could to avoid being in the position to score the winner.

Worth remembering that this was JOC's first Test at 10 since 2013 I think I heard them say, plus he's only been back playing there this season at club level.  It's probably not something they've worked on in the short time they've had together either, with the coaches having to cover a lot of ground in a short space of time just to pull the team together, with loads of newbies.

It doesn't fully excuse it - he should have gone for the drop - but I can understand why it happened. The whole team were completely clueless at that point about what to do and were lacking control from the halfbacks, which shows how inexperienced they are as a team just now. They'll learn from the experience though and I'm sure will go through the scenario at training before the next test!

They're hardly the first team to botch a drop goal at the death over the last few years - Beauden Barrett famously doing the same not so long ago. It has definitely become a lost art!

So I think this game highlights why NZ going down with just internal competitions would be bad for them.

SRA was meant to be the best ever competition that was more or less international standard and was so far ahead of anything else.  SR Australia was meant to be so bad and was a terrible standard and the best team would be destroyed by all the NZ teams.

Come the international test and the Australian domestic competition seems to have prepared the team just as good as SRA and their young players are developing nicely.

I expect NZ to win the second game comfortably but Australia going to NZ with 6 newbies and getting the draw is no small achievement and shows that SR Australia is good enough to develop players for tests.

Interesting to note Aus' lock depth England fans. 5 of them all top players, currently unavailable due to being overseas .

RDW wrote:Worth remembering that this was JOC's first Test at 10 since 2013 I think I heard them say, plus he's only been back playing there this season at club level.  It's probably not something they've worked on in the short time they've had together either, with the coaches having to cover a lot of ground in a short space of time just to pull the team together, with loads of newbies.

It doesn't fully excuse it - he should have gone for the drop - but I can understand why it happened. The whole team were completely clueless at that point about what to do and were lacking control from the halfbacks, which shows how inexperienced they are as a team just now. They'll learn from the experience though and I'm sure will go through the scenario at training before the next test!

They're hardly the first team to botch a drop goal at the death over the last few years - Beauden Barrett famously doing the same not so long ago. It has definitely become a lost art!

Rennie spoke in the post match interview that they had practised it and looked clearly frustrated that they didn't go for the win.

39 seconds in

Yeah I saw that RRB. JoC said that he was in the pocket but the ball was passed wide instead of back to him, so he had to come forward again.

It was a real breakdown of communication and brainfart across the team! As I said they'll definitely learn from it and I'm sure will go through it in detail in the debrief.

Tell you what though this result has brought rugby in Australia right back into the mainstream - the press have been loving it, which is no mean feat as this is finals time for the NRL and AFL. Plenty digs in NZ's direction too given how much the SR AU competition was talked down.

Very early days though - there is a high chance the Wallabies will get pumped next weekend and normal service will be resumed!

I'll have to rewatch it but it looked to me like JOC was doing everything he could to stand in a position where he would have to run/pass the ball rather thna kick it.

Discussion about why neither side worked a drop goal at the end.

Agree with the guy who is exasperated there but also agree that if the NZ pass had stuck it was a guaranteed try.

Australia are the biggest culprits, JOC messed up massively. I watched it back and he never, ever looks like he wants to land the drop goal.

So in other news I class myself as fully Australian - just had a pest controller come and remove the most dangerous spider in the world (funnel web) from a cupboard!

Oh wow! Luckily I never had to encounter one of those living in Perth, just redbacks and huntsman spiders. Get a photo? Or were you out of there?

Managed some photos - long zoom.

You know it's bad when the pest control guy looks at it, exhales then says "oooh yeah these are really dangerous"

RDW wrote:So in other news I class myself as fully Australian - just had a pest controller come and remove the most dangerous spider in the world (funnel web) from a cupboard!

Congratulations!
In Pyrmont? It must have caught the light rail by accident.  

I've had many close calls in my time.

- Next door neighbour was bitten and was one of the first to receive the anti-venom. Australian cricketer Rick McCosker's aunt.
- One walked over my Mum's foot as she stepped over the door threshold to the laundry.
- I nearly dived on one in a swimming pool. It was on a leaf... but only saw the shadow reflected on the water when I was in mid dive.
- Clearing an old compost heap we discovered a nest of about 20-30 of them. Luckily I was wearing shoes.

Nah we've moved to leafy Balmain and a nice house with garden. Which also means more wildlife! We've got a possum problem too which is also well known for Sydney.

I'll definitely not be telling Mrs RDW about all your close calls.

ha ha possums. Oh dear.

There's a joke here where they trap and release possums from the first place then deposit the other one from the second place back at the first place.

Wait until they start courting and breeding (usually around 2am)... you might hear horrible 'asthmatic' sounds, grunting and scratching right above your head when you're trying to sleep.

Hopefully it won't get that bad for you and the Mrs.

Pal Joey wrote:ha ha possums. Oh dear.

There's a joke here where they trap and release possums from the first place then deposit the other one from the second place back at the first place.

Wait until they start courting and breeding (usually around 2am)... you might hear horrible 'asthmatic' sounds, grunting and scratching right above your head when you're trying to sleep.

Hopefully it won't get that bad for you and the Mrs.

To be fair we had that in our flat in Pyrmont, just for different reasons!

The possums aren't too bad - we've heard the horror stories about when they get into wall and roof cavities. Luckily our house is concrete walls and flat roof so all we hear is them running over at night.

We have had issues with a baby one keeping on falling into our internal courtyard and not being able to get back out - been a few times woken on the middle of the night by it screeching and banging off the windows. I spent 3am one Saturday trying to pick it up and take it outside! Settled for building a possum assault course instead after the little b***are bit me. I was definitely questioning my life choices that night!

Be careful handling them. Sharp claws and all sorts of parasites.

Many years ago we had what we thought was a tough male "alley" cat as a pet. Not very friendly or easy to pat. It went missing for a couple of days until one day we found it under the house with its throat ripped out... covered in maggots. One duel too many with the 'house' possum!

Yeah I had decent gloves on luckily. They look cute but can definitely be vicious!

Back to the thread...

I just wish Campo wouldn't come out like he did this week and state that the All Blacks have "lost their aura."

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/that-all-black-aura-is-gone-wallabies-great-takes-aim-at-kiwis-20201014-p564zc.html

This happens every time the Wallabies manage to achieve a win or in this case - scrape a draw. This only fires up the Kiwis and the resulting response is usually a thumping of the highest order. I hope he's right but surely he realises how such a comment can only motivate the opposition.

Maybe a glimmer of hope here but as the following article notes - if Beauden Barrett manages to take the field then I don't like our chances on Sunday.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/fresh-injury-rocks-all-blacks-but-stats-show-barrett-the-worry-for-wallabies-20201015-p565jq.html

Just waiting for Peter FitzSimons to put the final jinx on them now. He comes close here. I guess he is entitled to feel optimistic though.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/don-t-move-along-yet-wallabies-fans-there-s-something-to-see-here-20201014-p5654d.html

Hopefully it won't be 36-0 again but I have a feeling victory at Eden Park will illude the Wallabies again... especially now since it has been renamed "Cooper's Catch Park" (named after a Kaikoura family's fush and chup shop) for Bledisloe II.

I've been thinking the same - the media response has been pretty cringe. It's been one game, and we all know you can get freak games in rugby - doesn't mean there's been a sudden change in rugby fortunes. I fully expect a huge NZ response and big win from them.

And the current players and coaches can't be fans of former players coming out and saying things like that!

It is true, though, and it's nothing new. They had lost it by 2017 and, on reflection, probably lost it post-2015.

Pal Joey wrote:Be careful handling them. Sharp claws and all sorts of parasites.

Many years ago we had what we thought was a tough male "alley" cat as a pet. Not very friendly or easy to pat. It went missing for a couple of days until one day we found it under the house with its throat ripped out... covered in maggots. One duel too many with the 'house' possum!

Obviously not tough enough.

I have a generally angelic looking ginger cat who has possum eradication down to a fine art : he brings in one  (usually headless) every other week until the local population is down to zero. Then of course a new lot move in and the carnage kicks off again...  I have wondered if I ought to offer to hire him out as a pest control contractor for people with your kind of problems  

But perhaps your Sydney possums are more rugged ?


On a more thread-appropriate note : that was a heck of a last eight minutes !  And I am , like most on here , bewildered as to why neither side tried a drop goal. But perhaps it was written : a draw the "right" result.

Certainly a fine start for Rennie ; but I guess it has ramped up the pressure for the Wallabies to back it up now against an AB side that will be out to prove a point...

alfie wrote:

Pal Joey wrote:Be careful handling them. Sharp claws and all sorts of parasites.

Many years ago we had what we thought was a tough male "alley" cat as a pet. Not very friendly or easy to pat. It went missing for a couple of days until one day we found it under the house with its throat ripped out... covered in maggots. One duel too many with the 'house' possum!

Obviously not tough enough.

I have a generally angelic looking ginger cat who has possum eradication down to a fine art : he brings in one  (usually headless) every other week until the local population is down to zero. Then of course a new lot move in and the carnage kicks off again...  I have wondered if I ought to offer to hire him out as a pest control contractor for people with your kind of problems  

But perhaps your Sydney possums are more rugged ?

Yours are probably 'free settler' possums whereas ours obviously come from convict stock. Ex First Fleeters we call 'em.

I've added the teams for the Bledisloe Rd 2 up top

All Blacks changes look pretty good, can see this test being a bit more one sided than the first one. Clarke deserves a start, he was excellent when he came on. Having B Barrett back in the side will cause the Wallabies a lot of problems too, McKenzie hasn't been that great this year despite a few moments of magic at club level. A lot of unforced errors in his game at the moment.

I can see NZ thumping Australia this weekend. A good 40-50 mins and then NZ pull away.

Exciting first half! Much more open game than last week. Australia very much in it, although losing Tamooa is a huge blow. And the flip side, means there's even more talented youngsters to cause carnage now!

Wallabies would have been delighted to be only three points down at the break after all those missed tackles...

But it's all gone pear shaped since the restart. Two tries to the ABs ...only mercy is neither conversion made so still only trailing by 13.

But the men in black look pretty menacing...

And I think that is it now as NZ out to a 20 point lead with yet another try.

Credit to Australia who have attacked better than they've defended and were arguably a bit unlucky to have not scored earlier : so close twice. Still look capable of getting points but you'd think NZ haven't finished doing so either.

The hoodoo will continue , it seems.

27-7FT which is probably a fair scoreline.

Wasn't a huge amount between the teams until the 3 try blitz from the kiwis and it was game over on 57 minutes. They were better than last week but still not the fluent best we're used to from the ABs. Caleb Clarke is an absolute freak of nature.

Australia's biggest issue was holding onto the ball. They must have been close to double figures for dropped balls in contact, and there were far too many Hail Mary's , particularly from the youngsters. They have some outrageously talented players but there's definitely va few rough edges to be smoothed out. Lots of missed tackles too. Lineout was better at least!

Sounds like my prediction wasn't far off. I'll try to watch the full game rather than highlights. I've missed test match rugby, like we all hav I'm sure.

40 missed tackles from the wallabies. That's not good!

As above losing Toomua was a huge blow as he gives them control and organisation while O'Connor plays quite loose at 10. They won't be happy (aus) by that second half at all though.

The Wallabies looked excellent during that first 20 minutes then JOC kicked a ball that effectively handed the AB's a counter attacking opportunity and that allowed them to start dictating the game. The Wallabies did well to hold them to one try in that first half and it looked like another thriller was on the cards.

Clarke was allowed so much space and had a terrific game, but Aus needed to keep that first half defensive pressure going for the entirety of the match. It was a disappointing 2nd half performance for the Wallabies. Far too loose and too many errors. Pretty much everything decreased in accuracy, from defence to attack to set piece. A lot of positives still though, but the accuracy needs to be better to stay in the fight with the AB's.

I think Aus allowed the game to open up in that first half when hitting the breaks and dictating the pace would have been a far more sensible idea. You could tell it was a young team as they wanted to play but 9/10 times vs the AB's they'll win if you play like that. Gotta keep them contained and pick your moments.

The Aussie bench was disappointing - Persia was a handful but the others pretty much weakened the time. Lots of youngsters being exposed at the highest level with very little senior support.

It might be a tough couple of years for the Wallabies but if they can at least stay competitive it should pay off...!

I think what we've seen so far is a lot better than anything than in recent years. They may not have got a try early on but against other top 10 sides they probably would have. I guess we'll see how they go but I'm optimistic they'll get a few good scalps in the next few years and have more consistency of performance. Having that experienced JOC/White/Toomua axis is massively helpful to help the younger backs and forwards get onto the ball more.

I like the look of Aus under Dave Rennie so far, but still early days yet. It’ll be interesting to see how they go against other opposition. Their matches against the ABs are usually open and full of running, that’s the Wallabies strength - which the ABs are also better at. If they get pummelled by SA and England some more then I guess not much has changed. Rennie and the ARU should look at bringing back some test players from overseas, it would help them improve.

Petaia autocorrected to Persia!