Autumn Int. other countries

[JB1973]

plan of allowing Flood to f off is backfiring too

Ford Tuilagi and Joseph as midfield?
theyre going to railroad Burgess in there in 6 nations too probably

PSA has his halfback combos, Lancaster has his midfield combos

Come 6n England are going to be very hard to beat without a southern hemisphere ref

Ford has said that Burgess will be playing back row for Bath so that's probably unlikely.

permanently?
know they said they were thinking of playing him there initially but Lancaster wanted him playing centre

Burgess is great RL player and a terrific athlete but there doesn't appear to be a fixed plan for his union career.


Lancaster clearly sees him as a centre while looks like his employees see him as a back rower, it's hard enough to switch codes let alone learn two positions !

I remain to be convinced he is going to be a success , his main asset is his powerful running with ball in hand , if he plays on the flank he will be expected to have to ruck/maul, lift in the line out , jump in the line out , compete for loose ball on the floor etc, there are lots of technical skills that he will not have had to employ in rugby league

If he plays as a ball carrying 8 he could do well if he learns how to control the ball in the scrum etc) , but England already have Billy V and Ben Morgan in that department . It's also a bit of a luxury to have an 8 who doesn't offer much else than ball carrying, especially one who hasn't played union to any level before

[jezzer]

Apparently Biggar will be back for the last 2 Wales games.

Delighted for him. Could never understand why he wasn't getting his game ahead of Priestland. You's have worried that - if the groin injury was serious - he might not have gotten another chance for a long time.

Biggar should have been our 10 for the last two seasons, I do think that Anscombe will be wearing that jersey come 6 nations time

Yeah, Anscombe's rise is why I was worried for Biggar that his window of opportunity might be closing. Hopefully he'll get a chance to show his abilities off over the last 2 tests.

[fourthirtythree]

It's been a real head scratcher for everyone. Why Priestland has been preferred to Biggar. Made no sense to me.

[johng]

I'd say the pictures of Gatland in a dress up to all sorts probably swung it..... Allegedly...

[simonokeeffe]

I'd say the pictures of Gatland in a dress up to all sorts probably swung it..... Allegedly...

I heard it was pictures of him falling off his roof with his arm up an emu's backside

if Anscombe gets railroaded in ahead of Biggar ie not on form can see Biggar moving abroad should a good deal come in

[Donny B.]

Wallabies prop Sekope Kepu will play his milestone 50th Test for Australia in Saturday's clash against France in Paris.

The talented 28-year-old will become just the sixth prop in Australian rugby history to reach the 50-game milestone, joining a group which includes Ben Alexander (70 games), Benn Robinson and Al Baxter (69 games), James Slipper (60 games) and Ewen McKenzie (51 games).

Kepu will reach the mark in his seventh year of Test rugby after making his debut against Italy in 2008, with the honour adding to an already special season which also included winning a maiden Super Rugby title for the NSW Waratahs.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika congratulated Kepu on his achievement.

"Sekope has been a great player for Australia over a long period of time and I speak for everyone when I congratulate him on this very special milestone," said Cheika.

"He has proudly represented the Wallabies for seven years and the experience he now brings to this team is invaluable. He still has plenty of improvement in his game and I'm confident his best years of rugby are ahead of him."

Kepu's selection comes as part of a starting line-up which includes just one change to the team which beat Wales 33-28 at Millennium Stadium at the weekend.

The change sees lock James Horwill come into the starting XV in place of Sam Carter, highlighting the improved depth of the Wallabies' second-row.

The Wallabies bench has yet to be finalised and will be confirmed and announced in the lead-up to the match.

Cheika said he was expecting a vastly different French team to the one Australia swept 3-0 during the June Test series.

"The French have a completely different mindset when they are playing at home, as well as some exciting new players in their squad, and we are under no illusions as to the intensity they are going to bring to the game," added Cheika.

"For us, it is still early days and we are getting used to a new system in attack and defence. I was happy with the first steps we took against Wales.

"The challenge for us this week was to ensure that we raised the bar much higher in terms of our accuracy and intensity at training.

"We really want to do Australia proud against France this weekend."

Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Leali'ifano, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Sean McMahon, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 James Horwill, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Saia Fainga'a, 1 James Slipper
Replacements: TBC

Date: Saturday, November 15
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Kickoff: 20:00 local (18:00 GMT)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)

[Peg Leg]

Anyone else think AAC is wasted back on the wing?
More a case of not enough wingers than Kuridrani being the better option?

[Donny B.]

Anyone else think AAC is wasted back on the wing?
More a case of not enough wingers than Kuridrani being the better option?

Think wasted is a bit strong but Kuridani (who I didn't fancy at all when I first saw him) has been fairly sensational lately and you still want Ashley-Cooper in the team somewhere cause he's quality.

[simonokeeffe]

thought Carter was excellent last time out, seems a bit harsh to drop him

nice to see Wallabies play same time more or less two games in a row before us, theyll either be getting a little tired or will have to rotate for us

[JB1973]

AAC is class I'd have him in the centre even if it is at 12. Should be a cracking game Saturday especially with Owens reffing.

Aussies by 5 to 10 points

[bronxbull]

Redundant question of the Autumn Internationals by Eddie Butler - What's Liam Williams complaining about?-
How long have you got Eddie?

[Schumi]

Wales have been awful in the second half. They seem to have stopped playing since the red card.

[paddyor]

England 28-31 SA.

Another late try(unconverted) masks the margin of victory. Farrell was poor, went off injured. You have to wonder what they were doing rushing him back.

[Dave Cahill]

England 28-31 SA.

Another late try(unconverted) masks the margin of victory. Farrell was poor, went off injured. You have to wonder what they were doing rushing him back.

A late try and a the usual Steve Walsh f%~k up for another 7 points to England. At least when he was drunk he had an excuse.

[blockhead]

Isn't that 5 defeats on the trot for the red rose? Although 4 of them were against the all blacks.

[Dave Cahill]

Isn't that 5 defeats on the trot for the red rose? Although 4 of them were against the all blacks.

Correct on both counts sir

[hugonaut]

England 28-31 SA.

Another late try(unconverted) masks the margin of victory. Farrell was poor, went off injured. You have to wonder what they were doing rushing him back.

You have to wonder what Mike Catt is actually doing in camp! I thought that he could be a really positive influence on England as a backs' coach, but they are absolutely moribund behind the pack. Their tactics are unimaginative, their execution is sub-par, and their selection doesn't make a huge heap of sense.

The more often I see England play, the more I think Sam Burgess has a chance of making their World Cup team. The time is rapidly passing for them to put together a fully functioning backline of the sort they fielded from 2000-2004 [when they scored 20 tries in 6N '00, 29 tries in 6N '01, 23 tries in 6N '02 and 18 in 6N '03] – in fact, I reckon the time has probably passed for them.

There's a pretty reasonable chance that they decide on a very simple, uncomplicated gameplan with a centre combination of two from Burgess/Burrell/Tuilagi to get them over the gainline with regularity and give their pack front foot ball. Pick two fullbacks in their back three to give them more kicking options and a bit more football [probably Foden on the wing and Brown at fullback] and you've got a pretty pragmatic selection which plays to both their actual and their traditional strengths and doesn't demand anything that their players aren't comfortable doing.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

There's a pretty reasonable chance that they decide on a very simple, uncomplicated gameplan with a centre combination of two from Burgess/Burrell/Tuilagi to get them over the gainline with regularity and give their pack front foot ball. Pick two fullbacks in their back three to give them more kicking options and a bit more football [probably Foden on the wing and Brown at fullback] and you've got a pretty pragmatic selection which plays to both their actual and their traditional strengths and doesn't demand anything that their players aren't comfortable doing.

Been saying for a while that they could even win the World Cup if they stop trying to expand their game and go back to what they have done best over the last two years or so. Just really nail that game plan and build the squad that suits it.

Thing that I'd be worried about if I was an England fan though, is that that actually is the way they've played over the last two games. It's just been terribly executed. Yes they're missing Tuilagi and Burrell who have been crucial in their best performances in recent times (although not sure Burrell will be picked when he's fit again) but there are definitely enough of the right players on the pitch to be doing better. Their passing was atrocious today. Actually everything they did with ball in hand was terrible. They just haven't built on what they were doing in the 6N and have definitely gone backwards. Fixable, but there has to be a suspicion that Lancaster can only take them so far.

[Morf]

Did Wilson's try suggest a double movement to anyone else?

I noticed the director chose to cut away from the shot just before grounding and change to a different angle for the replays.

[Lamb of BOD]

Scotland are giving a really good account of themselves so far today (just into the final quarter as I write). You'd have to give Cotter (not to mention Townsend) a lot of credit for the turnaround in their play