Australia-France series

Right since Mckenzie announced his team for the first test, let's start a thread i say!


1. James Slipper (Reds)
2. Stephen Moore (c) (Brumbies)
3. Sekope Kepu (Waratahs)
4. Rob Simmons (Reds)
5. Sam Carter (Brumbies
6. Scott Fardy (Brumbies)
7. Michael Hooper (Waratahs)
8. Wycliff Palu (Waratahs)
9. Nic White (Brumbies)
10. Bernard Foley (Waratahs)
11. Nick Cummins (Force)
12. Matt Toomua (Brumbies)
13. Tevita Kuridrani (Brumbies)
14. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Waratahs)
15. Israel Folau (Waratahs)

16. Tatafu Polota-Nau (Waratahs)
17. Pek Cowan (Force)
18. Paddy Ryan (Waratahs)
19. James Horwill (Reds)
20. Ben McCalman (Force)
21. Nick Phipps (Waratahs)
22. Kurtley Beale (Waratahs)
23. Pat McCabe (Brumbies)

Core of the team built around tahs and brumbies players (being the form aussie teams). Horwill on the bench with a rookie instead. No genia or higginbotham. Still looks like a strong team and looking forward to see Foley at test level. Isnt also AAC normally playing at centre?

As for France we dont even know who we will be starting with a 10... Gonna be between Knackered Tales, Michalak (who only played one game in 6 weeks) and Parra (a SH...).
Will France achieve their 1st win away to Australia in 24 games? Would think one win out of 3 games is possible.

Interesting that Moore has been given the captaincy and Hooper being groomed for that role.

Certainly some bold choices from Link and it'll be interesting to see when Cooper comes back whether he and Genia get picked ahead of White and Foley. Genia looked back to his best against the Highlanders but gets dumped for his patchy form this S15 season. I wonder how Genia will react because Link says he's rewarding form and picks a player like Kuridraini who is there more with his combination with Toomua than any form. I don't think AAC's best position is 14 and his defensive capabilities above all are wasted on the wing. You need a backline general and 13 is usually your man to do that so why Kuridrani? Surely there are other right wing options to free up AAC inside?

Foley's has Phipps on the bench but effectively I see a halfback and flyhalf pairing with no understanding. If I were PSA, I'd be telling my loosies to put those two under all sorts of pressure and see how they react.

Beale is on the bench but is he covering outside halfback? He's been pretty much everywhere else in the last few Super seasons but is he a victim of versatility? He's been playing at 12 for the Tahs but McCabe is on the bench as well so I guess he's covering everything else apart from 12. I know he's a talented footy player but I'm not so sure he's that talented. They did the same to JOC and that didn't work out too well against the Lions.

Certainly some bold choices from Link but I'm not convinced. That backrow doesn't sound too bad on paper but I have a feeling it will be underwhelming when it comes to match day. A new lock pairing and a new half pairing and there are areas that France can certainly apply a lot of pressure.

When the prodigal sons return later in the year, that'll test the team spirit and Link will have to manage the egos. The Aussie Super 15 teams have been playing well but that's no guarantee of test form. Confidence was high after last year's autumn tour. It's important for the Wallabies that continues and question marks hang over this team whether they are capable of continuing that form because for my mind, like him or not, Cooper was the catalyst of that confidence. I think Foley should've got his chance earlier but I don't think he'll be as free running as he is for the Waratahs. Test rugby is a great confidence leveller if you don't have that unshakeable belief in yourself.

thanks Kia, was wondering if I would get one reply!

maybe AAC is seen as not physical enough to play centre against the likes of Bastareaud etc... seems like they want to go with a playing 12 and hard 13 sort of centre combo (reverse to the ABs). Beale is clearly the ultimate utility back, covering 10,12 and 15 and can kick as well.

apparently the Suncorp will be barely half filled with a mere 29000 tickets sold so far... that's probably a record in terms of low attendance for a test match down there I guess.

  Next time you see that 0 next to my name, you be sure to stop by whocares! Difficult to generate the same level of interest as the England NZ series on a predominantly UK and Irish board. Would be interesting to hear from our Aussie contributors on their thoughts about the team.

Maybe the poor attendance at Suncorp is because they're protesting against Genia's dropping! In a way France will be glad it's not a sell-out. I remember when they came to NZ with a reserve team, hardly got any attention and then made everyone sit up and notice by winning.

I don't think AAC is a playing 13 by any stretch of the imagination. He's more like the defensively hard 13 you speak of who can put his head down close to the line and finish off opportunities. He's not a distributor like Nonu by any means. He's physically strong enough to deal with Bastareaud but I don't think he's fast enough to be on the wing and I don't think Kuridrani's form warrants selection. Ideally you want your test players to be playing in the same position as they do for their clubs. Ben Smith proved that theory wrong but AAC at 13 and Rob Horne at 14 makes more sense to me.

I guess McCabe can cover 15 as well as 12 and Beale 10, 13 and back three but while that's nicely plugging the holes, if Foley has a shocker, wouldn't you want a specialist 10 coming on and is Beale really a specialist or is he someone like JOC who just so happens to have played at 10? I think Beale has played longer and with more success than JOC in that position but it seems to me Link has this mentality it doesn't matter where we play Beale, AAC or McCabe on the field. They just need to be there somewhere and they'll do damage. There was that feeling about Folau but is there anyone who genuinely thinks he can easily play on the wing or at 13? Utility to me is a dirty word.

sure will do my best Kia
where's Linebreaker I wonder.

ok so you dont like "utlity" let's use another strong word i.e. impact player...with his pace and skills, Beale could do loads of damage to a tiring french defense in the 2nd half. am actually more worried to see him coming off the bench than starting.

am not too convinced on Horne yet (isnt he a centre first as well?). australia probably missing drew mitchell here.

anyhoo, here's the French team :

15 Bonneval
14 Huget
13 Fickou
12 Fofana
11 Le Bourhis
10 Michalak
9 Machenaud
7 Le Roux
8 Chouly
6 Ouedraogo
5 Maestri
4 Vahaamahina
3 Mas (cap)
2 Guirado
1 Domingo

subs : Tofolua, Debaty, Slimani, Flanquart, Burban, Parra, Lamerat, Dulin.

looks like PSA is throwing away this first game as he's not bothering to start or bench Dussautoir, Nyanga and Picamoles ! that said this exact same mobile backrow played together during the AIs so I dont really complain. same with the half backs (the same combo that trashed Autralia 2 years ago) . obviously he's also resting some of the Castres players (Tales, Dulin and Lamerat) and Bastareaud.
the big surprise is Le Bourhis getting his first cap on the wing (when he mainly plays centre for his club). at least been a while since nobody from bordeaux begles wore the jersey so something to look forward to saturday morning.

Few names I don't recognise there. Le Bourhis sounds like a French Russian mafia boss! Who is that second row partnering Maestri?

Haven't seen Michalak play recently but he'd inspire less confidence than Cooper from a French perspective. Looks like some nice pace in those backs and they'll enjoy the hard ground at Suncorp.

Impact player I like much better than utility player but it's the same problem. Call me old school but I like to see my impact come from a specialist position. Take Luatua. He can cover lock but any impact he makes for me is going to come from playing at 6. What is Beale's specialist position from where he can make an impact? I don't think he can make the same level of impact in every position and unfortunately for him his best position to make impact is already occupied by Folau.

Vahaamahina ?
big bloke (6ft8 and 19 + stones) coming from New Caledonia quite an athlete who has some pace as well but a bit of a penalty machine. only 22 though so one for the future I'd hope.

Michalak hasnt been bad for Toulon recently but hasnt played i nany of their key games (HC and T14 SF and final) so quite an unkown.

Un Kanak! Nice. Good to see France tapping into their own Melanesian talent. They have Melanesian, Caribbean, Polynesian and African feeding grounds. Good to see New Caledonia represented. I have fond memories of that place.

Kia
 
Vahaamahina is a massive lump who plays for Perpignan. He is also the least skillfull, and one of the slowest and least dynamic, front 5 player to pull on the french jersey that i can ever recall. He weighs around 20 stone and yet regularly coughs up ball in contact. PSA persists with him, i think, becasue of his bulk and lineout height,neither of which he uses to their full advantage.
 
With so many quality French locks ( Samson, Pierre, Suta, Jacquet to name but 4) i am still mysfied why he gets selected.
Ironiclly he set up France's only try in their terrible match against Scotland by being turned over by Scott Lawson (giving away about  a foot in height and 5 stone in weight !) and when Scotland attempted to run the ball, Huget made a beautiful interception and scored under the posts!
He was laughlbly playing 6 in that match and made it to about 3 break downs in the whole game.

Maybe he's there to make Bastareaud look trim in the backline. Michalak just makes him look even fatter so if Vahaamahina is puffing his way to the rucks, as he chugs past Bastareaud, maybe people will say, man that Bastareaud looks ripped...

he's not exactly fat ! but yeah sometimes quite lazy...

I'm interested in this series, not least because I can't tell where each team really stands in world rugby.

I see the Australian selections have caused debate but I often find it difficult to judge players just from reading press and online comments. Australians tend to see many of their players as world beaters even when they aren't beating the world. I think a lot of them can be extremely dangerous, but they can also be ineffective as a team. We'll see whether Link really has got a plan for the team.

I'm also hope to get a better idea of how France intend to play, although it's confusing that Trinh Duc is in next season's squad but not on tour.

Ok massive lump = imposing hulk! There goes that theory. No way round it then: Bastareaud is fat. Though I wouldn't say that to his face. And not just because I'm a coward. His gut would keep me out of earshot...

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Ok massive lump = imposing hulk! There goes that theory. No way round it then: Bastareaud is fat. Though I wouldn't say that to his face. And not just because I'm a coward. His gut would keep me out of earshot...

  

nice 'trip down memory lane' type of sequence from Rugby HQ...and to think PSA scored that famous try   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLilHXUfdBM

1st Test
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Australia:
15 Israel Folau; 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Nick Cummins; 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nic White;
8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy; 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rob Simmons; 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 1 James Slipper

Replacements:
16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Pek Cowan, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 James Horwill, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Kurtley Beale.


France:
15 Hugo Bonneval; 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Felix Le Bourhis; 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud;
8 Bernard Le Roux, 7 Damien Chouly, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo; 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina; 3 Nicolas Mas (c), 2 Guilhem Guirado,
1 Thomas Domingo.

Replacements:
16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Alexandre Flanquart, 20 Antoine Burban, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Remi Lamerat, 23 Brice Dulin.


Referee: Craig Joubert (RSA)


2nd Test: 14 June, Melbourne - 20:00 local, 10:00 GMT, 20:00 EST, 19:30 CST, 18:00 WST
3rd Test: 21 June, Sydney - 20:00 local, 10:00 GMT, 20:00 EST, 19:30 CST, 18:00 WST

Thought I'd set up a thread for this 3 Test series.

France are always an unknown quantity. Will we see some some improvement from their 6N form?
The Wallabies will want to start the series strongly too. A few new combinations being tested... they'll need to click and maximise on any opportunities.

Best of luck LB, the Ozzies look beefed up in the forwards, I expect more ferocity from them.

They should be more physical, I think the Waratahs style of emulating the Bulls pack strength with more skill in the back line bodes well for you this year

Hey mate. I'm gonna close this one down or merge it with Whocares thread.

Yeah, the time for talking is over. They'd better perform!

Or else... that stuffed wallaby is in for a severe beating.  

I see Beale is already on the bench. For disciplinary reasons obviously...   

 

First points to France for the dishy chick singing the anthem   

alfie wrote:First points to France for the dishy chick singing the anthem   

She looked liked a local music teacher from Milton Girls High   

Moore injured. TPN will have to come on early.

Bad luck for Moore, first test as captain and he doesn't make ten minutes.

Jeez... Wallabies under the pump. Thought France were going to score for sure.

You have to love the French when they attack like that ! Came to nothing ; but lovely to watch...

Kick bounces off the post. Typical!   
That must be well over 500 points we've "given away" in the last 15 years. I'm sick of it.

Good finish by the "Folau effect"

Go Izzy, this games a bit more exciting to the last one I watched.

Great offloads by Aus but sh1te tackling.by Mas and Fickou

Dangerous chap , that Folau ...looks much more at home in this game.
And only going to get better.   

What a try.
He looks unstoppable sometimes. Such an elusive, balanced runner and always breaks tackles.

Easy peasy

Another nice try and Australia confidence will grow so France should be wary this could turn into a bloodbath if they don't respond well.

Wish Foley hadn't nearly thrown an intercept... but yeah, some luck to get it out to AAC.

What would be the level of difficulty in hiting a goalpost from a place kick?

I like Foley.

Habana likes him even more BB.   

Biltong wrote:I like Foley.

Same here. Always worry when he does one snipe too many. Maybe he's just setting up for the next play though.

Or likes getting whacked.   

brilliant try. Toomua is so cool calm and collected

Tap looks forward

My bad try scored

Total bullsh1t, clear forward movement

The aerial angle looked more favourable but the ground angles didn't look too flash. Cue the momentum threads...   

Yeah, maybe a touch forward. But it deserves points for the tap alone.
I thought Joubert was going to be a killjoy for a moment... but I was wrong.

That was never going to be forward, the ball at all times heading straight fort the touch judge in the background and he took two steps back down the line.

Well spotted, Laurie. It was a bad camera angle then.

Bad option by fofana, fickle on his right had clear run in