Wallabies vs Lions III
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Pietsch, Tupou to start for Wallabies in final British & Irish Lions Test
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has made several changes for the third and final Test against the British & Irish Lions.
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Blair Kinghorn and James Ryan to start in final Lions Test against Australia
Kinghorn to replace Lowe on left wing after impressing in Melbourne as Andy Farrell’s side seek to wrap up series whitewash
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Some interesting selections and omissions
No Lowe or Tuipolotu
Hansen hasn’t made an appearance after a solid start
McCarthy must still be injuredRyan straight in over Chessum
They’ll be looking for Earl, Genge & Mitchell to bring dynamism in the final quarter
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can't say i think that is the best available XV, on reflection throughout the tests, i'm a bit disappointed by the shoe horning in of Irish players. Genge is better than Porter, not sure what Ryan's done to deserve a spot, think Conan is lucky.
Think the bench is mental, Farrell covers 10 and 12, Earl covers back row and 12 but there's a dramatic lack of cover for the other backline positions. Think Marcus should be on the bench instead of Farrell.
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@Dodge said in Wallabies vs Lions III:
can't say i think that is the best available XV, on reflection throughout the tests, i'm a bit disappointed by the shoe horning in of Irish players. Genge is better than Porter, not sure what Ryan's done to deserve a spot, think Conan is lucky.
Think the bench is mental, Farrell covers 10 and 12, Earl covers back row and 12 but there's a dramatic lack of cover for the other backline positions. Think Marcus should be on the bench instead of Farrell.
Jones can cover wing, Kinghorn can cover fullback. Don't think Smith's utility value should be enough to see him getting selected over Farrell (though you could argue he's simply a better player).
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@Mr-Fish said in Wallabies vs Lions III:
@Dodge said in Wallabies vs Lions III:
can't say i think that is the best available XV, on reflection throughout the tests, i'm a bit disappointed by the shoe horning in of Irish players. Genge is better than Porter, not sure what Ryan's done to deserve a spot, think Conan is lucky.
Think the bench is mental, Farrell covers 10 and 12, Earl covers back row and 12 but there's a dramatic lack of cover for the other backline positions. Think Marcus should be on the bench instead of Farrell.
Jones can cover wing, Kinghorn can cover fullback. Don't think Smith's utility value should be enough to see him getting selected over Farrell (though you could argue he's simply a better player).
I would argue that he's a better player, i would also argue he provides more utility value.
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I said above that if Pollock wasn't given a run then he shouldn't have been selected.
I might have to soften that stance a bit, as he's unfortunately been behind Curry (who has smashed the tests to pieces) and Morgan, who hasn't done anything worthy of being dropped. Tough call on Pollock, but I can make peace with it.
Otherwise, agree with everything that Dodge says (first time for everything).
I watched the first test and some of the second in a pub in Portugal that was full of Irish rugby supporters. Honestly speaking, there isn't a lot to like about them. Couple of the brits I was with were rather pissed off as well. Basically it went something like this
Ireland player does something good: "Awesome, he's been doing that for years, pure class"
Non Irish player does something good: ""
Irish player does something shit: "Your better than that, come on pick yourself up and go again"
Non Irish player doe something shit: "Fookin useless coont, fucking Farrell only select on the fooking paymasters, fooking hell, no way should have been ahead of <insert Irish players name here>"Not generally a an of the Irish rugby supporters, but to add balance, I rarely hear anything bad from those who go to Dublin to watch consistently.
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@booboo said in Wallabies vs Lions III:
Is Tupou the Valetini replacement? Trying to bolster their ball carrying?
Hope his form turns around.
Allan Alaalatoa is out injured. They need Tupou for the scrum as well as ball carrying. It's worth the risk that is Tongan Thor. He played well for First Nations Pacific vs Lions.
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@Dodge said in Wallabies vs Lions III:
can't say i think that is the best available XV, on reflection throughout the tests, i'm a bit disappointed by the shoe horning in of Irish players. Genge is better than Porter, not sure what Ryan's done to deserve a spot, think Conan is lucky.
Think the bench is mental, Farrell covers 10 and 12, Earl covers back row and 12 but there's a dramatic lack of cover for the other backline positions. Think Marcus should be on the bench instead of Farrell.
I agree with much of all that. Genge should have more minutes on the park than Porter simply because he is a better player both in the tight and in the loose. Ryan's selection I sort of get. McCarthy is out I guess and Beirne is playing at 6 so it comes down to Chessum, who really hasn't put his hand up, Ryan and Cummings. Ryan DID play well when he came on last week. The one who can feel aggrieved here is the surpise of the tour - Cummings. he has played well apart from the initial game. Does he deserve to be picked above Ryan this week? A close call given Ryan's impact last week. The grit in the oyster here though is Ryan's selection over Cummings last week seeing as how he'd been dogshit all tour and hadn't done much in the two years before that. Tuipolotu is either injured or has been shagging AF's missus. I cannot fathom any other reason for Aki being in the 23. Good to see Kinghorn in instead of Lowe - overdue IMO.
A 5.5/2.5 bench is a real risk I feel. We really have no back 3 cover. Jones at a push I suppose but every other option is either a 10 or 12. I've no issue with any of the bench selections individually but I do not see any balance there.
As I see it:
10 goes down = Farrell in.
12 goes down = Farrell or Earl in.
13 goes down = Aki to 13 - not ideal
11, 14 or 15 goes down = we're fucked.Regardless - c'mon the Irish and British Lions.
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Although some of excitement out of game with series decided, I still looking forward to it. Go up to New Plymouth for Naki game and should be home not long after kick off, so will be good. Main thing of interest will be how Wallaby pack goes with Tupou , and whether he pulls out finger and gets stuck in. Also how Lions play the game, they have been pretty keen on moving ball around, but have seen teams before at end of tour (especially with series won) can go off boil just a fraction.
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Weather has been atrocious here today - heavy rain overnight then in waves today. Very glad was have a competition Bye for the Lions test as it would have just meant moving all games to the wet weather week anyway.
Might be the last of the rain for now as it's blowing from the south east and that looks clear on the radar - Olympic Park is roughly where you see "Homebush" on the map:
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