RugbyShout

Wallaby and Reds star Quade Cooper is likely to stay in Rugby Union for the Super 15 and the Rugby World Cup.

 The big talking point in the Wallaby team named to play the All Blacks this weekend is the move by Matt Giteau back to five eighth.

Robbie Deans decided to use him as the playmaker instead of leaving him at inside centre. Giteau replaces the suspended Quade Cooper.

As expected, Berrick Barnes comes into the run-on team in the centres although there was speculation that he’d replace Cooper in the No 10 role. 

Saturday night will be the first time that Gits and Sookface have been combined since the final game of last year’s Tri Nations Series against the All Blacks in Wellington.

Squeeky Moore is also recalled to the starting side with Saia Faingaa heading back to the bench.

He’ll be comforted by the fact that he’ll be sitting with his brother Anthony, who has been selected for his first test (if he gets on).

Matt Hodgson returns after injury and replaces Ben McCalman in the reserves.

The night will be a special one for lock Nathan Sharpe as he ties the Australian record held by former skipper John Eales for the most caps earned by a Wallabies second rower.

Sharpe, who made his debut against France in Melbourne eight years ago, will be lining up in his 84^th Test

Wallabies 

15. Adam Ashley Cooper        (Brumbies)

14. James O’Connor               (Western Force)

13. Rob Horne                         (NSW Waratahs)

12. Berrick Barnes                  (NSW Waratahs)

11. Drew Mitchell                    (NSW Waratahs)

10. Matt Giteau                       (Brumbies)

9. Will Genia                            (Queensland Reds)

8. Richard Brown                    (Western Force)

7. David Pocock                      (Western Force)

6. Rocky Elsom                       (Brumbies, captain)

5. Nathan Sharpe                    (Western Force)

4. Dean Mumm                       (NSW Waratahs)

3. Salesi Ma’afu                      (Brumbies)

2. Stephen Moore                   (Brumbies)

1. Benn Robinson                   (NSW Waratahs)

Run on reserves:

16. Saia Faingaa                     (Queensland Reds)

17. James Slipper                   (Queensland Reds)

18. Rob Simmons                   (Queensland Reds)

19. Matt Hodgson                    (Western Force)

20. Luke Burgess                    (NSW Waratahs)

21. Anthony Faingaa               (Queensland Reds)

22. Kurtley Beale                     (NSW Waratahs)

Yeah ok, so I was dealt the short straw this week and I had to do the player ratings. I watched the game at home with a few mates and in the end it was bloody hard to assign

"Socceroo-esque in its disappointment"

points. Players did some things well, and work rates were ok. But for me there was a distinct lack of intensity. We didn’t play like it was a test match. Like we expected the Poms come in and take it to us. Me? I’m blaming the pack. Perhaps we spent too much time on the scrum (which improved, well done Pato!) but was it at the detriment of other areas?

So I tried to employ the same scale Juan Cote did last week, with one slight adjustment. I basically marked every forward down one point. Too me they were the ones to blame. This may be harsh as the back line were flakey. But I expect that from our backs. They’re going to play lose (some of them not as loose as this game) but we need our forwards to harden the hell up. What can we expect though? Without the likes of Cliffy, Big Kev, Fat Cat, Squeak and Taf it is somewhat understandable. And just another lesson for some of our younger brigade.

To the points:

15 JOC – Overplayed his hand. Created opportunities but went himself too often when others could have taken advantage of the break - 4

14 Diggers – Was effective when he got involved but doesn’t seem involved enough. Does he have the roving commission he had at the Reds? Should he? Injured now, so a moot point – 6

13 Horne – doesn’t impose himself on the game enough for the position. Not like Morty, Herbie et al did. We need physicality here and with AAC we can get it – 5

12 Gits – The QLD Origin team has natural talent much like this Wallaby team. But they also have Lockyer to control the game. That’s what Gits should be doing. He isn’t and it was needed v the Poms. Didn’t play badly, but not doing what we need him to do. Like, ummm, kicking penalties in front of the posts – 6

11 Schmoo – Not as sharp as usual and seemed out of the game. Has been dynamic this season, but was not in this game. Some nice touches but was outpointed – 4

10 Quade – Shut down largely by the Poms but still looked our most dangerous back, albeit after a dodgy start. Looked very composed under pressure and chose hisoptions well – 7

9 Sanchez – Looked a little slow in my mind, which was somewhat understandable considering it was his return from injury. Didn’t so much meerkat as slothed it a bit – 6

8 Brown – high work rate and some big hits but he just doesn’t seem to be able to cope at the back of the scrum. Also gave away a stupid penalty which resulted in crucial opposition points and a crucial time. Not for the first time in test rugby - 5

7 Bam Bam – Looked to be the only Wallaby forward who really gave a damn. Others did what they did, but were almost going through the motions. Pocock played with test match intensity and was a nuisance at the ruck – 7.

6 Rocky – I thought this was his best game for the Wallabies in a while as he was busy and aggressive in tight. Initial stats don’t seem to back this up, but I’m backing my first thoughts. Not convinced about his captaincy still, highlighted by his decision to let Gits take that penalty shot straight after being hit hard and illegally - 6

5 Sharpie – continues his impressive form and was not far behind Bam Bam in terms of his effectiveness. Is doing a lot of work with the ball, without overplaying his hand, whilst busy in defence too but I don’t think the intensity was there - 5

4 Mummy – this game reconfirmed my theory that Mumm aint up to test match footy. At least at lock.  He’s strong in the lineout, sure, and has an ok work rate, but there’s no physical presence about him and that’s what we need at the moment - 4

3 Ma’afu – improved the scrum and had a decent work rate, but it’s not enough. Our defence, so fantastic last week, was soft and our tight five were all a part of that. Doesn’t have the fitness for test footy yet - 4

2 FaingaaS – did the little things right, decent line out, headed an improved scrum, made tackles. But his physical presence isn’t significant enough for test match footy yet - 5

1 Daley – like Salesi and Sai he’s just not test match hardened. Scrums started well, but a lack of strength and fitness soon showed and he became less effective. Again, a decent work rate, but minimal actual effectiveness or impact - 4

The scale:

10 – A legendary performance to go down in the history books
9 – Outstanding performance: Man of the match shoo-in
8 – Excellent all round game
7 – Good game with a few sparkles
6 – Solid performance
5 – Average – ho hum
4 – Below par
3 – Had a bad game
2 – Tell your story walking pal
1 – A complete joke

They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.  If that’s the case then Robbie should be looking over his shoulder for the men in white coats.  In the end, the Aussie selectors have been left with little choice but to stick with the same front row as last week for Saturday’s 2^nd test against England.

Ben Daley and Saia Faingaa, from the Reds, will once again team up with Salesi Ma’afu, from the Brumbies, as they attempt the impossible – preventing the Wallaby scrum form being steam rolled.  It is a difficult argument to support for anyone that saw the absolute mauling received by our rookie trio against their unheralded English counterparts.

Even if you didn’t see the game, you couldn’t have missed the countless column inches it generated. Even our own site had article after article after article after article asking the questions and then trying to find the answers.

I suspect the same guys have been stuck with for two reasons. (1) they are the last men standing and (2) combination. The second point is probably more relevant than the first as it was blatantly obvious that it was what we lacked last weekend.  Salesi was going that way, Dales this way, Sharpie was down, Mummy was up and the back rowers were doing anything but scrummaging.  If we don’t see any improvement in this aspect alone we should be saying “Adios” to Pato Noriega and “How much do you want?” to Axel Foley.

The changes to the rest of the team are minimal and to be expected.

Will Genia reclaims his starting spot, after watching last week’s game from the bench. This is unfortunate for Luke Burgess, who was excellent last week, but perhaps a necessity given that Genia’s slicker service will be needed from a back peddling scrum.

Adam Ashley-Cooper comes back from injury via the bench, replacing Peter Hynes, after James O’Connor’s excellent recent form.

Matt Giteau is straight back into the starting line-up for Berrick Barnes. This may be due to Gits’s greater experience or his superior goal kicking game. Or it may be because ol’ Sookface got caught up in all the hype surrounding the Soccer World Cup and insisted on booting the ball down field every time he got in on Tuesday night for the Barbarians.

The Wallaby team in full is:

The test will be played at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium and kick off is 8pm (AEST) on Saturday night!

The English Rugby team heads to Gosford in search of their first win of their Australian tour as they prepare to take on the Australian Barbarians again. Both teams have made a number of changes from the sides that took the field in Perth last week.

For the Poms winger David Strettle and out centre Dominic Waldouck are the new faces in the backline whilst, the pack has been almost completely re-shaped. Jon Golding and Paul Doran-Jones are two more props we get to observe destroy our inexperienced front row, whilst Dan Ward-Smith joins the stomper Dave Attwood at lock.  A completely new back row will be on show as Stefan Armitage (brother of fullback Delon) joins forces with James Haskell and Joe Worsley.

Haskell will be the only double up from Saturday night’s test where he started on the bench. Matthew Tait, who was also on the test bench but remained unused, will back up his bench sitting duties for this match as well.

For the Aussies we’ve stuck with the exact same prop as last game in Weeks and Cowan and one would think that Weeks in particular may be under consideration for a test call up. The big name in the front row, in more ways than one, is Tatafu Polota-Nau who returns from injury and will be using the game as some form of fitness test in anticipation of his return to the Wallaby 2 jersey Saturday night.

At lock Mitchell Chapman’s impressive game last week has seen him remain in the side, 17 stiches and all, alongside Reds lock Rob Simmons.  This selection sees the Tahs fans crying out in support of Kane Douglas as he ones again rides the pine. Aussie 7s captain Pat McCutcheon will start the match at openside flanker, replacing Matt Hodgson whilst Stephen Hoiles will captain the team from Number 8.

Kurtley Beale has been named at flyhalf for the encounter due to Berrick Barne’s return to the test team with Peter Hynes in at fullback the only other change to the backline.

There aren’t too many surprises on the bench. Test rookie James Slipper will get another chance to impress when he gets a run whilst test players Burgess, Barnes and James O’Connor will probably see as little of the match as possible, injury permitting.

Once again, unless policy at Fox Sports has changed, this match will be live streamed at www.foxsports.com.au, and will not be televised.

Steve Walsh will referee.