Wallaby EOYT 2016
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@ACT-Crusader Eddie has started the mind games in the media straight after the Argentina test saying that they were going to have a meeting with the refs to discuss Aus scrummaging. A shame really as prior to this he's said and done all the right things. Ach well. it is what it is.
Looking forward the this test the most as despite it being a whitewash down under they were mostly very close matches. Scrummaging may well be an issue but not because of Aussie, if we scrum like we did against the Argies in the bit of overtime at the end of the first half we will be toast. For the life of me I couldn't understand why Harrison kept lifting his head when we were under such pressure - FFS mate at least add some weight to the scrum. The ball isn't going anywhere.
Points of interest selection wise for England are at No8 as Vunipola is gone until after the 6N and he will be a big loss. Morgan is way out of favour with Eddie so it will be Hughes if fit and Beaumont if not I'd guess. Maybe Clifford. I'd like to see Beaumont given a chance as he offers something else with his pace. Then there's the wing issue. Nowell, Watson out injured, Daly on the naughty step. so a straight choice of Yarde or Rockoduguni I'd guess. I'm hoping Yarde as Aus are always clever and will exploit Rocko's defensive issues. Other than that the run on XV pick themselves.
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Has me torn this one but on balance I'll be hoping for a convict win.
Partly because their chance of a GS has gone now so crowing rights have lessened and partly because Eddie is acting like a bigger cock than Cheika.
Would also be good to derail a likely England world record win run which the Aussies have responsibility for from being so crap earlier in the year.
Eddie is a great wind up merchant and pulls Cheika's string mercilessly. In one way I have to admire his trolling skills but on the other it is a bit off when a fellow countryman turns coat like that(kind like how Gatland has been in the past) -
Jeez, Eddie is and has always been a real knob. He is just getting worse with the success he has had with the Poms. It has got to the point where he is worse than Cheika! Wow!
It is really sad that I am wishing for a Wob win because of the relative knob level of the respective teams coaches. -
@Samurai-Jack TBH this is really the first time that Percentage Eddie has said something dickish whilst being England coach - that is dickish even when taken in context. Yeah he's said some other stuff that in isolation could be viewed as not so good but when you see the whole interview, nowhere near as bad. ON the whole he's been pretty restrained - more so than I dared hope for.
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And I guess you can now say that Jones' baiting of Cheika has borne fruit:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38131951
It seems Cheika's major gripe is that Jones mentioned that the Aussie press were disrespectful of the England squad last summer. If they were, what is wrong in pointing that out? Looks like retaliation for Eddie's scrummaging comments to me and that the hook has been swallowed.
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I thought most coaches agree that meeting the ref before matches and pointing out stuff they should look at is counter-productive. Certainly the AB coaches have mentioned that they don't bother at all.
I'm guessing Eddie just wants to get Cheika into a room and rile him up face to face.
Bit funny that England can now feel precious about scrummaging technique. -
@Catogrande I don't usually pay much attention to the lead up to a test when it comes to what coaches or players say to the media.
On the scrum, OZ are solid with Sio, Moore and Kepu, The bench props are more of a concern though since the rapid decline of Slipper. The locks Coleman and Arnold have added a bit of extra bulk also.
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Yep and with no Coleman there, Cheika has to make a call on Douglas versus Simmons.
Arnold also hasn't been playing full games due to a few knocks here and there, but maybe that's to save his legs for this one. We'll definitely need the pack firing, and I think we might revert to a backrow of Pocock, Hooper, Timani for this one, and risk the slightly weakened Pommy lineout.
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Poms this week. Cheika decides he isn't here to fuck spiders and starts firing shit at Eddie Jones:
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika blasts Eddie Jones and England prop Dan Cole
England’s illegal tactic that infuriates Cheika
“He’s been having a crack and wants to talk about our scrum because we’re ‘cheating’ in the scrum, I think the important thing there to note is that he’s got to be looking at his own players because they’re the ones who have got the penalty try against them and a prop [Cole] with a yellow card and that same prop’s been infringing the law since his career started probably, if not all of this year,” Cheika said.
“If [Jones] thinks that the refs are that naive to take the strategy ‘well if he has a go at our scrum they’ll forget about his guy,’ well that’s up to the ref. That’s not up to me. Nothing I can say can make a difference about that.
“It’s up to the ref whether he gets influenced by that really after the guy’s been boring in and falling down all of June in the series that we played against them and that’s his tactic and if he thinks that me saying something back about that is going to change the referee’s mind well that’s totally up to the ref.
“I don’t think the ref should be influenced like that anyway.”
“We scrum square, we’ve got an Argentinian scrum coach [Mario Ledesma] and all we do is scrum square and try to get as much weight as possible,” Cheika said.
“It’s very obvious from the clips, if you wanted to watch them instead of all the vitriol that goes around, if you really look at the clips properly they’ll tell you the story.
“In the summer what happened to Scotty and James — Cole’s experience in that way and turning in and pulling down just got the better of them and they weren’t able to deal with it.
“We still scrum the same way and do the same things we do. It’ll be up to the referee as to who he believes. If he wants to be influenced by the other chap that we’re the ones scrumming illegally, then they’re the guys that had the penalty try and then yellow card against them.”
Jones said he’d invite Cheika along to his meeting with Peyper, leading the Wallabies coach to reveal the England mentor had stormed out of a similar meeting in June, while claiming he had undue influence over World Rugby (formerly the IRB).
Cheika said he would be in attendance if Jones meets Peyper before the Test at Twickenham
“How could I refuse an invitation from the great man? He’s running IRB now, he’s organising the meetings for the refs and for Australian teams and everything like that,” Cheika said.
“It’s funny how your tune changes because in the summer when we asked for those meetings he was blowing up, he stormed out of one [with Wallabies assistants Stephen Larkham and Nathan Grey].”
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Mumm has been cited for his tip tackle and I think will get a week - bad look for him after getting a week off for using his drunken master skills to elbow a guy behind him earlier this year.
Genia has been called back to French club rugby.
So the team for England might look a little like this:
1 Sio
2 Moore (captain)
3 Kepu
4 Douglas
5 Arnold
6 Pocock
7 Hooper
8 Timani
9 Phipps
10 Foley
11 Speight
12 Hodge
13 Kuridrani
14 DHP
15 Folau16 Latu
17 Robertson
18 Alaalatoa
19 Skelton
20 McMahon
21 Frisby (ffs)
22 Foley
23 NaivaluIn case you were wondering: yes, FUCK Simmons. He's not going to stand up to the Pommy forwards. Skelton is a risk but at least bosh is a known quantity.
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Anyone who saw that interview with Eddie knows he was trolling. He couldn't stop grinning as he was saying it.
Seems to have wound up Cheik though. Good to see he's going back to the "Dan Cole bores in" well though; served the Aussies so well over the summer.
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After due consideration, ceteris paribus, Cheika seems to me to be marginally the bigger eejit. He certainly seems to let Eddie press his buttons. Anyhow, roll on the weekend.
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@Disgusted-of-TW said in Wallaby EOYT 2016:
After due consideration, ceteris paribus, Cheika seems to me to be marginally the bigger eejit. He certainly seems to let Eddie press his buttons. Anyhow, roll on the weekend.
bigger eejit but ever so slightly less unlikeable for mine
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Well... Mumm got off. Jeez.
Dean Mumm cleared to play against England
Michael Cheika says it was a "good result" that back-rower Dean Mumm had been cleared to line up against England after escaping suspension for a lifting tackle during Saturday's loss to Ireland.
London: Michael Cheika says it was a "good result" that back-rower Dean Mumm had been cleared to play against England after escaping suspension for a lifting tackle during Saturday's loss to Ireland.
Mumm was involved in a tipping tackle on tight-head prop Tadhg Furlong in the 22nd minute of the Wallabies' clash with Ireland at Aviva Stadium.
He was shown a yellow card for his offence and was immediately apologetic to the referee and player involved, adamant there was no malice in the tackle.
Cheika agreed with the verdict, saying: "I think it didn't meet the red card threshold and that was backed up by the disciplinary committee so it was a good result."
Mumm accepted he had committed an act of foul play, but according to a statement from World Rugby: "the particular circumstances of the incident meant that Mr Mumm's actions would not have warranted a red card. Accordingly, no sanction was imposed and Mr Mumm is therefore free to resume playing immediately."
It was only in late October that Mumm was in front of a disciplinary hearing for elbowing New Zealand second-rower Brodie Retallick and there were concerns his second infringement in the space of five weeks might work against him.
While Mumm was Australia's starting No.6 in Dublin, he is no certainty to line up there again on Saturday at Twickenham.
Given Michael Hooper and David Pocock will without question start, it appears to be a three-horse race between Mumm, Lopeti Timani and Sean McMahon for the remaining back-row jersey.
It depends on whether Cheika sees England's lineout as an area of weakness - meaning Mumm will probably get the nod - or whether he wants to beef up a forward pack to make the most of missing Red Roses No.8 Billy Vunipola.
The Wallabies will name their team for the final match of the spring tour at 11pm on Thursday (AEDT).
It is understood England coach Eddie Jones is considering postponing the announcement of his team until Friday in what would be an chapter in the pre-match mind games.
Unlike Rugby Championship fixtures, teams are under no obligation to name their final side two days before a game.
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Arm bands! conspiracy! different rules etc
Personally i think the English pulled strings to make sure the non-event got a starting jersey.
