Rugby Union

[moza1]

Larkham definitely missed but even he couldn't save us with our crap forward pack. Rogers was doing all that was asked and more.
Giteau is played at 12 then yes he was missed. If 10 then no he wasn't missed.
Mortlock not really missed, Tuqiri stood up and Mortlock hasn't been great this year.
I agree on Mitchell he is really exciting. Has to be on the wing at least next year. If not fullback.

Yes, I agree with you on the forward pack.
George Smith and Phil Waugh are still trying as hard as they can but the rest are just playing crap.


Mortlorck has been injured a lot this year so it hasnt been a good year for him.

But Im not making excuses. We lost Fair and Square.

 

[Maxkarter]

What happened to that Clyde Rathbone chracter, I thought he made it into the side?
But you guys do look lost without Larkham on the field, but I'm not a huge follower of Aussie rugby so i'll shut my trap lol.

 

[aussie1st]

Rathbone was injuried. Hes meant to be a outside center but he hasn't shown that much yet. I liked him and Gerrard on the wing. What a combo that was for the Brumbies. Now Gerrard has been moved to fullback and Rathbone was partly in Center but a few games he was on the wing.

 

[aussie1st]

Super 14 is no more, time to kick off the internationals.

From what I have read the Wallabies starting 15 against England will be

1. Greg Holmes, 2. Adam Frier, 3. Rodney Blake, 4. Nathan Sharpe, 5. Dan Vickerman, 6. Daniel Heenan, 7. Rocky Elsom, 8. George Smith, 9. George Gregan, 10. Steve Larkham, 11. Mark Gerrard, 12. Mat Rogers, 13. Stirling Mortlock, 14. Lote Tuqiri, 15. Chris Latham.

To me looks pretty dam good. Tons of kicking options in the backs and hopefully a good forward pack.

 

[James219]

What exactly are England playing at? They've brought over a pretty mediocre line-up for a tour of this magnitude, with the chief excuse being injury precautions, although some premier players actually were genuinely unavailable. I can't wait to see Wilkinson on the international stage again- the question is when, though. Hopefully he'll be fit for the 2007 WC.
The forward pack is the main area of concern with Australia, hence your use of the word 'hopefully'.
Every member of the backline has a very potent, and different, kicking game, so that shouldn't be a problem- the combination of strength and speed there is also a very promising prospect. I've never been a Gregan fan; his position has only been secured by his role as the skipper and, to be honest, Whitaker has been the much better scrum-half option for the last three years or so, but he obviously won't be a threat due to his move to England. Anyway, it looks strong enough to be able to pounce on a relatively inexperienced English XV.
Here is their complete squad:

Backs
Stuart Abbott
Iain Balshaw
Olly Barkley
Scott Bemand
Mike Catt
Andy Goode
Jamie Noon
Peter Richards
James Simpson-Daniel
Mathew Tait
Mark Van Gisbergen
Tom Varndell
Tom Voyce
Nick Walshe

Forwards
Duncan Bell
Alex Brown
George Chuter
Louis Deacon
Chris Jones
Ben Kay
Michael Lipman
Magnus Lund
Lee Mears
Lewis Moody
Tim Payne
Graham Rowntree
Pat Sanderson
Andy Titterrell
Julian White
Joe Worsley

I love the feel of the Australian int'l Union winter season in its early stages!

 

[aussie1st]

Some good players in that English team. I know Tait was awesome in the 7s, he could score a try from anywhere. He'll be one to look out for, the English forward pack should still provide us with a test to show where we are at.

 

[James219]

Some good players in that English team. I know Tait was awesome in the 7s, he could score a try from anywhere. He'll be one to look out for, the English forward pack should still provide us with a test to show where we are at.

Yeah, but 7's is an entirely different matter to 15-a-side Rugby Union. I do remember him, a bit- he was capable of making breaks from pretty much every area of the field- but because of the idea of attrition and territory in international Union, it'll be very interesting to see how he adapts and performs against the Australian line-up. People are comparing this side to the one that came over here in '98 massacre- I don't remember that, but have heard about it, and although this one doesn't look particularly great, I can't see anything of that sort happening against this Aussie unit. (It's good, but under pressure)

 

[aussie1st]

Disappointing end for the Tahs losing to the NZ Maori's 20-16. From what I hear Baxter did well on the other side of the scrum against Manu who is a good prop in NZ. NSW did hold the lead late in the game but a late try by Luke Mahoney gave the game to the Maori's.

Can't wait to the international season kicks off. In particular it will be good seeing how Rogers goes at 12 and how Blake goes in the scrum.

 

[Maxkarter]

Well today is going to bring an interesting game for the Springboks, they will be playing against a Rest of the World XV, and that team from what I hear could be quite strong. I can't wait for kick off.

 

[IloveGilly]

Of course they'd have to be strong, hopefully they smash 'em!

 

[Maxkarter]

Final score Springbok XV 30 - World XV 27

With Jake White fielding really what I could only call a half decent squad, with people like Habanna and Burger being left out. And with all of the Springbok points coming from penalties they really should have lost the match.

 

[aussie1st]

SA were always favourites. Getting a World side together is trick enough, then they have to get the combos right. Not good signs for SA though as they basically did this last year where they couldn't score tries unless it was from an intercept. If they play like that in the Tri Nations they could see the wooden spoon.

 

[aussie1st]

The mighty All Blacks and Ireland have named their team.

All Blacks:
Mils Muliaina; Doug Howlett, Ma'a Nonu, Aaron Mauger, Joe Rokocoko; Luke McAlister, Byron Kelleher; Rodney So'oialo, Richie McCaw (capt), Marty Holah, Greg Rawlinson, Chris Jack, Carl Hayman, Keven Mealamu, Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: Anton Oliver, Neemia Tialata, Troy Flavell, Jerome Kaino, Jimmy Cowan, David Hill, Scott Hamilton.

Ireland team:
Geordan Murphy, Shane Horgan, Brian O'Driscoll (capt), Gordon D'Arcy, Andrew Trimble, Ronan O'Gara, Peter Stringer, Denis Leamy, David Wallace, Neil Best, Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan, John Hayes, Jerry Flannery, Marcus Horan.
Replacements: Rory Best, Bryan Young, Mick O'Driscoll, Keith Gleeson, Isaac Boss, Denis Hickie, Girvan Dempsey.

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,19380948-23217,00.html

Interesting Isaac Boss playing for Ireland. That boy has been all over the place, first with Waikato, then moved to Wellington. He was playing fullback at one stage.

All Blacks team was a bit surpising. Two flankers at 6 and 7, could be a good move and should work better than Aus experiment with two openside flankers as Holah and McCaw are quite big. No Carter anywhere was a bit of a surpise, definitely not their best team to play Ireland but they should still win easiler as McAlister is more than capable.

 

[James219]

The mighty All Blacks

I knew you were kiwi!

Anyway, the All Blacks line-up looks slightly diluted with the key figure in Umaga having gone into int'l reitrement; he was a quality player and an influential leader. Still, McCaw is a more than capable successor.
I'm not a huge follower of NZ rugby, so aren't familiar with all of the squad, but even without the brilliant Carter at scrum-half, they should still win fairly comfortably. They've also got Rokocoko's agility and pure speed in the backline which adds the extra option of effective wide play.

 

[aussie1st]

I take you aren't a big rugby fan James Carter is the World's best 5/8 not halfback

Here is a squad you should know more about James

ENGLAND: Iain Balshaw; Tom Varndell, Mathew Tait, Mike Catt, Tom Voyce; Olly Barkley, Peter Richards; Pat Sanderson, Lewis Moody, Magnus Lund; Alex Brown, Louis Deacon; Julian White, Lee Mears, Graham Rowntree. Replacements: George Chuter, Tim Payne, Chris Jones, Joe Worsley, Nick Walshe, Andy Goode, Jamie Noon.

Foxsports has the Wallabies on fox sports 2. They deserved foxsports 1! It's too bad Channel 7 lost the rugby as I could watch tour matches on there.