Tri Nations: Wallabies - Springboks @ ANZ Stadium, Sydney (23-07-2011, 11:00 GMT)

[Wally]

Australia v South Africa at ANZ Stadium (Sydney)

ANZ Stadium, Sydney (23-07-2011, 11:00 GMT)

Wallabies team: Kurtley Beale, James O'Connor, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Pat McCabe, Digby Ioane, Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Ben McCalman, David Pocock, Rocky Elsom (capt), James Horwill, Rob Simmons, Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu. Res: Saia Faingaa, Pekahou Cowan, Nathan Sharpe, Matt Hodgson, Scott Higginbotham, Nick Phipps, Anthony Faingaa.

Obviously a stronger team than the one that faced Samoa last week. However there are still some selections that bother me.

- The Brumbies midfield combination
- Rocky Elsom
- The front row

In total there are..

8 Reds
2 Waratahs
6 Force
5 Brumbies
1 Rebel


[/B]
*Vbookie odds supplied by BWIN*

 

[Gavin]

I second the selections that bother you. I'd even go futher to say that Giteau should at least be in the 22. Phipps didn't impress me and at least Giteau could cover 9-10-12; I just hope he has been rested and hasn't been made a scape goat after the Samoa loss. Sharpe on the bench? Really? Would rather have seen Samo isn't of McCalman starting, and Elsom thrown on the scrap heap with Higginbotham in his place.

 

[Cramps]

I thought Kepu played woeful against Samoa and Alexander is a perennial seagull that needs to do some more tight work.. Does anyone know when Burgess is back? Although I think Guiteau would be a good sub it is about time he received a reality check. I'm just hoping Genia isn't injured.. I prefer Vickerman and Sharpe to Simmons but I don't think he will disappoint.. Vickerman is a more well rounded experienced person than a lot of the others in the leadership group and could bring a lot to a team.. Is turner injured as well?

 

[Amobokoboko]

I think Oz will do fine, the SA squad for the Tri nations didn't look that strong.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

South Africa: 15. Gio Aplon 14. Bjorn Basson 13. Juan De Jongh 12. Wynand Olivier 11. Lwazi Mvovo 10. Morne Steyn 9. Ruan Pienaar 8. Ashley Johnson 7. Danie Roussouw 6. Deon Stegmann 5. Johann Muller 4. Flip van der Merwe 3. Werner Kruger 2. John Smit 1. Dean Greyling
Reserves: 16. Chiliboy Ralepelle 17. CJ van der Linde 18. Alistair Hargreaves 19. Jean Deysel 20. Charl McLeod 21. Adrian Jacobs 22. Patrick Lambie

Except for Olivier (and Steyn) it's a backline that likes running rugby, I think it should be a good game. As I said in another thread, the backrow looks rather weak, especialy in defense and in the breakdown work. I think Pocock will win this game for the Wallabies.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

8 Reds
2 Waratahs
6 Force
5 Brumbies
1 Rebel

With one Tah going to the Rebels and one Brumby going to the Tahs. So, with the current contracts it's
8 Reds
2 Waratahs
6 Force
4 Brumbies
2 Rebels

 

[TRF_heineken]

South Africa has put in some tough men in their squad up front for this game, Dean Greyling, Werner Kruger, Johann Muller, Danie Rossouw, Deon Stegman and Ashley Johnson are hard as nails and they know how to tackle and clean.

not gonna be a pretty game especially if the boks are going to play a more forward orientated game which i presume they will. especially with strong carriers like Dean Greyling, Danie Rossouw and Ashley Johnson.

BUT, with Juan de Jongh, Gio Aplon, Bjorn Basson and Lwazi Mvovo at the back there's some serious pace to burn! and 2 excellent guys under the high ball at the back in Basson and Aplon.

expect the high-ball bomb from Steyn with Basson and Aplon on the chase and some forwards waiting in anticipation to kill some aussie backs.

boks to win by 8

 

[Zealinda]

With one Tah going to the Rebels and one Brumby going to the Tahs. So, with the current contracts it's
8 Reds
2 Waratahs
6 Force
4 Brumbies
2 Rebels

Wrong again my friend count three rebels and one less Force player, you forgot James O'Bieber

2 Waratahs
8 Reds
5 Force
4 Brumbies
3 Rebels

 

[TNT88]

Generally we just count them for the club they played for this season. I don't think Wally made a mistake, that is just how the count is intended.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

^^yeah, I know, it was just me who was wrong for counting only some of the transfers. Both Zealinda and Wally are right.

South Africa has put in some tough men in their squad up front for this game, Dean Greyling, Werner Kruger, Johann Muller, Danie Rossouw, Deon Stegman and Ashley Johnson are hard as nails and they know how to tackle and clean.

not gonna be a pretty game especially if the boks are going to play a more forward orientated game which i presume they will. especially with strong carriers like Dean Greyling, Danie Rossouw and Ashley Johnson.

BUT, with Juan de Jongh, Gio Aplon, Bjorn Basson and Lwazi Mvovo at the back there's some serious pace to burn! and 2 excellent guys under the high ball at the back in Basson and Aplon.

expect the high-ball bomb from Steyn with Basson and Aplon on the chase and some forwards waiting in anticipation to kill some aussie backs.

boks to win by 8

I don't think I have ever seen Johnson tackle. And Rossouw can't cover for both. If Stegmann is to play as a true openside, there will be a huge lack of workrate in there.

 

[TRF_heineken]

If Stegmann is to play as a true openside, there will be a huge lack of workrate in there.[/FONT][/COLOR]

haha, you are seriously underestimating Johann Muller and Flip van der Merwe with the lack of workrate... both of these guys know how to put in the hard yards...

 

[Wally]

I listed this season's representatives to show how the Brumbies and Force, two poor performing sides, managed to snare 50% of the 22.

On form Scott Higginbotham, Saia and Anthony Faingaa deserve places over Rocky Elsom, Stephen Moore and Pat McCabe. And as much as Giteau needs a wakeup call he deserves to be ahead of McCabe, or at least a spot on the bench. The only reason Higgers, who has been in blistering form, isn't in the team is due to Elsom's (dodgy) captaincy.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

South Africa has put in some tough men in their squad up front for this game, Dean Greyling, Werner Kruger, Johann Muller, Danie Rossouw, Deon Stegman and Ashley Johnson are hard as nails and they know how to tackle and clean.

not gonna be a pretty game especially if the boks are going to play a more forward orientated game which i presume they will. especially with strong carriers like Dean Greyling, Danie Rossouw and Ashley Johnson.

BUT, with Juan de Jongh, Gio Aplon, Bjorn Basson and Lwazi Mvovo at the back there's some serious pace to burn! and 2 excellent guys under the high ball at the back in Basson and Aplon.

expect the high-ball bomb from Steyn with Basson and Aplon on the chase and some forwards waiting in anticipation to kill some aussie backs.

boks to win by 8

Johnson can't tackle. Good that they put him at 8; we have had to carry Spies' lack of defensive play so maybe it won't hurt us too bad with him at 8. Big dissapointment not to have brussow fit. i'd have put a couple of bucks on the Bokke if he were playing. Stegmann is a liability. At the back, Wynand Olivier is VERY lucky to have been selected. Hopefully Lambie comes on earlier rather than later. Very glad for both Greyling and Kruger. I hope they have good games. Apart from Steenkamp I rate these two tops of SA props. But I guess we'll see if they can make the step. What they are good for is competing at the breakdown and carrying the ball up strongly, particularly Greyling.

At least Aus has Higginbotham on the bench. Hopefully he doesn't come on LOL. I think they should have gone for Sharpe ahead of Simmins as well.

 

[Darwin]

Reasonably predictable lineups selected by both sides. The only slight surprise in the Australian lineup is the selection of Simmons over Sharpe at lock, and McCabe at 12. Simmons certainly deserves his spot on form, though Sharpe did have a very good Super Rugby season in my opinion. I quite like the selection of McCabe at 12; he runs great lines in attack and could very effective running off Coopers shoulder. He is also a very solid defensive player. His major issue is his lack of experience, but I feel if he takes his chances he may be able to secure himself the 12 jeresy for the RWC.

Man-for-man I believe Australia has the better team. It will be interesting to see how the Aussie scrum goes; Kepu and Alexander are both good with the ball in hand but neither are great scrummagers in my opinion. South Africa possibly lack the front row to expose this though; I do rate Kruger and Greyling, but they do lack experience at this level. Both teams have solid locks, but I'd give Australia a slight advantage here. One area where Australia look to have a clear advantage in the loose-forwards. I don't rate Ashley Johnson at all as his defense and work-rate are poor; I don't think McCalman has been in great form but I'd take him over Johnson any day. Rossouw will add plenty of physicality to the Boks forward pack, but I feel he lacks the speed these days to play in the loose-forwards. I expect Genia and co. will look to exploit the Boks down the blindside. Elsom will certainly need to pull out a big game to justify his inclusion ahead of the impressive Higginbotham. Pocock has a huge advantage over Stegmann on the openside too; not only is he a superior player, but I feel he will be better supported by his fellow loosies at the breakdown than Stegmann will be.

Again Australia look to have a huge advantage in the halves and Genia and Cooper are world-class. I expect Cooper and Genia will often look to attack the South African defence close to the ruck in an attempt to expose the slow lateral defense of many of the Boks forwards. The midfield battle looks evenly matched: McCabe looks promising but AAC hasn't really excelled this year, while Olivier is generally reliable (but very predictable) while De Jongh looks talented. I give Australia the advantage on the wings too - Basson and Mvovo are quality players, but O'Connor and Ioane are incredibly dangerous, and (more importantly) are actually likely to have some quality ball to work with. Likewise Australia have huge a big advantage at fullback as Beale is in my opinion the best fullback in the world, and while I rate Aplon I think he is far better suited to the wing. The Boks certainly can't afford to kick aimlessly as the likes of Ioane, O'Connor, Beale, and Cooper are devastating on the counter attack.

I feel South Africa's best chance of winning will be to adopt a very forward orientated game and attempt to bash Australia into submission up front (the selection of the likes of Johnson and Rossouw points to this too). However I feel Australia's ability to turnover the ball in the loose, and huge advantage in the backline (particularly with their counter-attacking ability) will mean they are too good for South Africa - I'm picking Australia to win this match by about 15 points

 

[TRF_heineken]

wow!

am i the only one giving the Bokke a chance this weekend???

lets hope it's not raining in Sydney so that there can be some running rugby...

but if it's going to rain, then it will be in the advantage of the bokke.

also, at first phase the boks have a more settled pack. Johan Muller is a great lineout jumper and at scrum time we have the better props...

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

ANZ Stadium, Sydney (23-07-2011, 11:00 GMT)

<a href="http://winbetting.at/therugbyforum?CTY=1&amp;CID=15908"><img src="http://b1.perfb.com/b1.php?ID=15908&amp;PURL=winbetting.at/therugbyforum" border="0" /></a>

*Vbookie odds supplied by BWIN*

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I've gone for the Boks on this one
I don't care if it is a "B side" - SA produce quality players, and they're not going to be easy

Australia will come out firing after the loss to Samoa, but so many people have written off the Springboks I think they might just sneak it - I don't think it'll be a pretty game as SA can't afford to let the Aussie backs get the ball too much

 

[big ginger 8]

As someone new to the prediction game will a seperate thread be set up.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

This is the match thread. You can post your predictions here:

http://www.therugbyforum.com/forum/...Game-Ezequiel-s-Tri-Nations-Prediction-League!

 

[Amobokoboko]

Will be a close game anyhow, but the 9-10 combo for AUS is really strong.