AB RWC squad
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@Steven-Harris I'll be significantly more worried if Joe Moody goes down and we've got Ofa starting at loosehead with Atu Moli on the bench.
I'm a bit concerned that this RWC has come at a poor time in the cycle for us - a year too late for the old guard and a year too soon for the rookies.
Hansen has currently got an interesting juggling act melding form with experience, though I'm hoping that many of the old guard are simply, "timing their runs".
I've certainly got way more question marks than I had in 2015.
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I think that's simply because we just aren't as good (overall or relative to key competitors) as we were in 2015.
If Karl T were fit, I'd be feeling a lot happier, as he can hold his own at LH, and would allow Ofa to go back to TH where (IMO) he is much better. Ofa could still be the 5th prop, but also the reserve starting TH. We'd then be able to carry Ta'avao and Karl on the bench and be (IMO) a bit stronger for scrummaging on the bench. We could also use Moli as the fifth and he could cover both too.
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@gt12 Yeah - exactly right, I think.
When the Lions were here in 2017, I was very confident we would beat them (even though we didn't), where now I've got doubts about beating individual Home nations.
Next year, when we might have had time to bed in our various new players a bit more, we might be stronger again - this year seems like we might fall between two stools - form and experience.
We can still win, just not as likely as if we were at our peak in the "cycle".
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The only thing those new props are missing is experience. But of course, the problem is that most props "meet their Waterloo" (get outplayed by a grizzly veteran) at some stage. The danger is it could be in a knock out game where just one scrum can change the whole game. Would have though having Franks on the bench would have been a kind of insurance at the business end of the tournament....
But the wise men have determined it will be a fast, mobile type of game in Japan despite world cup history telling us differently. I hope they are right. -
You’re in Japan right? I think their idea is pretty right through As the Typhoons and the majority of rain should be done by the end of October, so I don’t think we’ll have a wet/cold gluggy ground for the semi/final.
Even if we do get a Typhoon in early October, the grounds should still be fast and the weather warmish. I’m more worried about the opening weekend against SA - right during the time of year we get wet weather - that could become a real battle. Having said that, it should still be hot, so we might be able to run them off their feet...
<a href="https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainy-days,Tokyo,Japan"><img border="0" alt="Average rainy days (rain/snow) in Tokyo, Japan" src="https://weather-and-climate.com/uploads/average-raindays-japan-tokyo.png"></a>
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@gt12 True but most knock-out games are arm wrestles despite the weather. One lineout, scrum or maul often dictates who wins the game. Franks is the still one of the best in these phases of the game.
Yes, in Utsunomiya. Have tickets to four games, one ABs possibly 2 if they lose the 1st game. -
Don't agree with Meeuws at all. He's living in the past... Laulala, Tuungafasi and Taavao are all more than good enough to hold their own, there's plenty of evidence for that. For all the talk of Franks supposed scrummaging prowess he seems to be the tight head in an awful lot of beaten ones. He's good at scrumming in that he can be relied upon to usually hold up his side - but everyone else has caught up and they actually play rugby outside the scrum. I'm more than happy for Ofa and Angus to be there if Laulala goes down.
Who the hell is saying he's slowed down in the last couple of years too? The criticism is that he's never slowed down because that would be called standing still.
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@Bones it was good to get them thoughts of a guy who laced his boots on 42 occasions in the front row for the all blacks not to mention 242 first class games..
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@Steven-Harris said in AB RWC squad:
@Bones it was good to get them thoughts of a guy who laced his boots on 42 occasions in the front row for the all blacks not to mention 242 first class games..
Did you ask him why the others aren't up to it and what it is about Franks scrumming that is so special?
I find it a bit of an absurd idea to have someone coming on for "scrum impact" in the last 10-15 minutes for about 2-3 scrums. Especially when he's not exactly renowned for being damaging, just for holding up his side well.
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@Bones said in AB RWC squad:
@Steven-Harris said in AB RWC squad:
@Bones it was good to get them thoughts of a guy who laced his boots on 42 occasions in the front row for the all blacks not to mention 242 first class games..
Did you ask him why the others aren't up to it and what it is about Franks scrumming that is so special?
I find it a bit of an absurd idea to have someone coming on for "scrum impact" in the last 10-15 minutes for about 2-3 scrums. Especially when he's not exactly renowned for being damaging, just for holding up his side well.
Usually it's the strong scrummager that starts the match only to make way for the rangy hard fast runner late in the game. It all sounds a little odd to me
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@canefan said in AB RWC squad:
@Bones said in AB RWC squad:
@Steven-Harris said in AB RWC squad:
@Bones it was good to get them thoughts of a guy who laced his boots on 42 occasions in the front row for the all blacks not to mention 242 first class games..
Did you ask him why the others aren't up to it and what it is about Franks scrumming that is so special?
I find it a bit of an absurd idea to have someone coming on for "scrum impact" in the last 10-15 minutes for about 2-3 scrums. Especially when he's not exactly renowned for being damaging, just for holding up his side well.
Usually it's the strong scrummager that starts the match only to make way for the rangy hard fast runner late in the game. It all sounds a little odd to me
Would be good to find a really scrum solid but immobile hooker and lock to bring on at the same time. Imagine being able to win our own scrum in the final quarter instead of what we usually do.
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@Bones said in AB RWC squad:
I find it a bit of an absurd idea to have someone coming on for "scrum impact" in the last 10-15 minutes for about 2-3 scrums.
That's what I was getting at in an earlier post.
The last comment is interesting as I was going to put "2-3 scrums" in mine - googled for "how many scrums in an international test?" Didn't find a lot except six nations stuff (which may have more scrums due to wet weather) but indicative data nonetheless, and tests usually have approx 15-18 a match - so every 5 mins or so (whether there are more later in the match I don't know). Even that seemed a lot to me...
My conclusion was that, no, it wouldn't be worth having for someone on for 20 minutes to hold up a few scrums if they were doing little else in the way of carrying, dominant tackles, turnovers.
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@Snowy said in AB RWC squad:
The last comment is interesting as I was going to put "2-3 scrums" in mine - googled for "how many scrums in an international test?" Didn't find a lot except six nations stuff (which may have more scrums due to wet weather) but indicative data nonetheless, and tests usually have approx 15-18 a match - so every 5 mins or so (whether there are more later in the match I don't know). Even that seemed a lot to me...
Some AB Tests this year:
12 scrums vs SA
9 scrums vs Aus I
14 scrums vs Aus II -
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@Higgins said in AB RWC squad:
@Snowy The phsyological advantange of destroying your opponents scrum cannot be underestimated.
When was the last time Franks did that? And how useful is that in the last 2 minutes of the match when you're in your own half?
