Rugby Championship 2023

First topic message reminder :

In RWC years this obviously becomes no more than warm up and preparation stuff for each countries RWC hopes, but fascinating all the same. Eddie's first match in charge of Australia away in SA.

SPRINGBOKS: 15. Willie le Roux 14. Canan Moodie 13. Lukhanyo Am 12. Andre Esterhuizen 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse 10. Manie Libbok 9. Cobus Reinach 8. Duane Vermeulen (c) 7. Pieter-Steph du Toit 6. Marco van Staden 5. Marvin Orie 4. Jean Kleyn 3. Frans Malherbe 2. Bongi Mbonambi 1. Ox Nche.

RESERVES: 16. Joseph Dweba 17. Thomas du Toit 18. Vincent Koch 19. RG Snyman 20. Evan Roos 21. Deon Fourie 22. Grant Williams 23. Damian Willemse.

WALLABIES: 15. Tom Wright 14. Suliasi Vunivalu 13. Len Ikitau 12. Reece Hodge 11. Marika Koroibete 10. Quade Cooper 9. Nic White 8. Rob Valetini 7. Michael Hooper (c) 6. Tom Hooper 5. Nick Frost 4. Will Skelton 3. Allan Alaalatoa 2. Dave Porecki 1. James Slipper (c)/Matt Gibbon.

RESERVES: 16. Jordan Uelese 17. Matt Gibbon/ Blake Schoupp 18. Zane Nonggor 19. Richie Arnold 20. Pete Samu 21. Tate McDermott 22. Carter Gordon 23. Samu Kerevi.

Sunday, July 9, 1.05am AEST, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

Four players are in line to make Test debuts while Wallabies co-captain James Slipper has overcome a knee injury to be named for Australia's Rugby Championship opener against South Africa.The Wallabies are looking for a first-ever win in Pretoria on Sunday morning (AEST) with Eddie Jones in charge for his first Test since returning as coach.Tom Hooper, 22, will earn his first cap after being named as blindside flanker while there are three possible debutants on the bench in five-eighth Carter Gordon, lock Richie Arnold and 21-year-old prop Zane Nonggorr, with Taniela Tupou requiring more training minutes after his Achilles injury.Brumbies utility forward Hooper will line up alongside co-captain Michael Hooper (no relation) with No.8 Rob Valetini rounding out the back row.Slipper was in doubt after a training mishap but will make his 128th Test appearance alongside Waratahs hooker David Porecki with Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa at tighthead prop.Nick Frost and France-based Will Skelton are the starting locks.

Nic White will reunite with Quade Cooper in the halves while star inside centre Samu Kerevi will return from a hamstring issue via the bench, leaving Reece Hodge to combine in the midfield with Len Ikitau.

Former NRL star Suliasi Vunivalu will make his first Test start on the right wing, with Marika Koroibete on the left edge and Tom Wright at fullback.

Jones said the Wallabies' preparation for the Loftus Versfeld clash had been first rate.

'As a squad, the players have worked extremely hard since coming together as a group and we've prepared well this week,' he said.

'The 23 players selected have an opportunity to be part of history with a win over South Africa in Pretoria on Saturday night.'

Meanwhile, No. 8 Duane Vermeulen will captain world champion South Africa in its opening test of the Rugby World Cup year against Australia on Saturday and Manie Libbok will make his first start at flyhalf.

Vermeulen stands in for regular captain Siya Kolisi, who is recovering from knee surgery and an injury doubt for the Springboks' World Cup title defense in France that starts in September.

Coach Jacques Nienaber also gave a South Africa test debut to lock Jean Kleyn in the team announced on Tuesday. Kleyn is a South Africa-born former Ireland international who was recently cleared to play for the Springboks.

While Vermeulen leads South Africa in its opening game of a shortened southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, the Springboks will send a separate group of players containing a host of 2019 Rugby World Cup winners to New Zealand to prepare for a test against the All Blacks on July 15.

That group misses the Wallabies game to focus on New Zealand and contains the likes of hooker Malcolm Marx, locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager and backline players Faf de Klerk, Cheslin Kolbe, Makazole Mapimpi and Damian de Allende, all World Cup winners.

Kolisi, who had surgery on his right knee in late April and is in a race to be fit for the World Cup, is also with the group that will travel this week to New Zealand, the Springboks said.

'Our plan from the outset was to select a squad that we believe has what it takes to beat Australia while at the same time selecting a group of players that could travel to New Zealand to give us the best possible chance to do well in both matches,' Nienaber said.

Vermeulen captains South Africa for the third time and first since 2019. Libbok will also be the focus of attention given South Africa's injury problems at flyhalf.

Regular No. 10 Handre Pollard is out while stand-in Damian Willemse has only recently recovered from injury and is on the bench against Australia in Pretoria on Saturday.

Like Libbok, flanker Marco van Steden is set to make his first start after having previously appeared for South Africa off the bench.

Prop Ox Nche was named in the team but later sustained a chest injury at training on Tuesday and was a doubt for the game. Steven Kitshoff would remain behind in South Africa as cover instead of traveling with that group of players to New Zealand, the Springboks said.

Good try from Australia

Lovely team try that.

RDW wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

hugehandoff wrote:ABs opening 15 minutes were awesome. The intensity was bound to drop after that, but they finished well to round off a very impressive victory over a full strength SA. Great preparation for both teams. Will Jordan is a real point of difference.

Got to wonder how big a loss Pollard is for SA. His form at the tail end of the season for Tigers was excellent, have SA got another flyhalf who can mix controlling pragmatism with attack when it's on like he can?

It's remarkable how poor SA's options are at 10. Got to wonder how good they would be if they had a proper one!

I'd argue that Pollard is very much a proper one. It does seem like they've put a lot of eggs in that particular basket though. The other options either seem to have obvious floors or little to no international experience.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

RDW wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

hugehandoff wrote:ABs opening 15 minutes were awesome. The intensity was bound to drop after that, but they finished well to round off a very impressive victory over a full strength SA. Great preparation for both teams. Will Jordan is a real point of difference.

Got to wonder how big a loss Pollard is for SA. His form at the tail end of the season for Tigers was excellent, have SA got another flyhalf who can mix controlling pragmatism with attack when it's on like he can?

It's remarkable how poor SA's options are at 10. Got to wonder how good they would be if they had a proper one!

I'd argue that Pollard is very much a proper one. It does seem like they've put a lot of eggs in that particular basket though. The other options either seem to have obvious floors or little to no international experience.

Yeah Pollard is class but always injured. The fact that their backup is a centre says it all!

Wallabies mauling session on Coogee beach is paying dividends


https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/eddie-s-coogee-beach-bash-kicks-off-wallabies-world-cup-campaign-20230620-p5dhyk.html

Any Australian fans.
What do you guys make of Reece Hodge?

Always thought he was a decent player, solid enough. Covers a few positions.
In and out of the side a lot, maybe to inconsistent?

westisbest wrote:Any Australian fans.
What do you guys make of Reece Hodge?

Always thought he was a decent player, solid enough. Covers a few positions.
In and out of the side a lot, maybe to inconsistent?

He's the classic super sub Mr versatile who is a great squad player. Long range kicking game is a good option too 

It's the old cliche though that his versatility is his weakness as he's never really had a chance to nail down a position.

Got to say this game is already a major step down in intensity compared to ABs v SA

Wallabies continue a sky high penalty count - been a problem for them the last few years.

Marky Mark! He's the kind of player people pay money to see - could be a real star of the WC

Crazy play by Wallabies to get in that position though.

Aussie discipline their downfall once again! Get into a winning position then stupid penalties let Argentina back in.

To be fair, it was an entertaining match. I figured it would likely go down to the wire, but I didn't expect a score on the final play of the game. Argentina will be tougher as the RWC comes around. I can't feel the same for Australia, unfortunately.

doctor_grey wrote:To be fair, it was an entertaining match.  I figured it would likely go down to the wire, but I didn't expect a score on the final play of the game.  Argentina will be tougher as the RWC comes around.  I can't feel the same for Australia, unfortunately.  

Aus will be there or there abouts given the easy draw they have. It's absolutely comical the way the world Cup has worked out with all the best teams in one side of the competition. Hopefully WR change this for future competitions.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:To be fair, it was an entertaining match.  I figured it would likely go down to the wire, but I didn't expect a score on the final play of the game.  Argentina will be tougher as the RWC comes around.  I can't feel the same for Australia, unfortunately.  

Aus will be there or there abouts given the easy draw they have. It's absolutely comical the way the world Cup has worked out with all the best teams in one side of the competition. Hopefully WR change this for future competitions.

I think every World Cup there are questions about how the draws worked out.  It must be hard to balance picking the pools late enough to have the best distribution of teams and early enough for teams and their supporters to know where they will be playing.  The pools selection seemed more reasonable when they were picked but certainly not now.  England and Aus got very lucky here.

Boks didn't look as match sharp, NZ had that in abundance. The squad split didn't work out, and now it's not something I would advise if your first match (for those rested on the first weekend) is versus the All Blacks. It seems like a strategy that could work for SA mid-tournament in future, or perhaps in the upcoming RWC. Their supporters are of the view that a better 10 and 15 is required though.

doctor_grey wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:To be fair, it was an entertaining match.  I figured it would likely go down to the wire, but I didn't expect a score on the final play of the game.  Argentina will be tougher as the RWC comes around.  I can't feel the same for Australia, unfortunately.  

Aus will be there or there abouts given the easy draw they have. It's absolutely comical the way the world Cup has worked out with all the best teams in one side of the competition. Hopefully WR change this for future competitions.

I think every World Cup there are questions about how the draws worked out.  It must be hard to balance picking the pools late enough to have the best distribution of teams and early enough for teams and their supporters to know where they will be playing.  The pools selection seemed more reasonable when they were picked but certainly not now.  England and Aus got very lucky here.

The issue is just far out in advance they do the draw. Why draw over 2 years out! The teams will be doing the vast majority of their planning regardless of who is in their group, so it makes no sense.

I remember seeing what the draw would have been like if done a year ago and it would have been a much better distribution.

Unless there’s a major upset on the evening of the final, a team from pool A or B are winning the World Cup. The draw has worked out really well for Fiji and Georgia in pool C and Argentina and Samoa in pool D. All these sides will feel they’ve got a very good chance of making the QF’s. Even though the draw is wrong the pools are still very competitive based on form.

RDW wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:To be fair, it was an entertaining match.  I figured it would likely go down to the wire, but I didn't expect a score on the final play of the game.  Argentina will be tougher as the RWC comes around.  I can't feel the same for Australia, unfortunately.  

Aus will be there or there abouts given the easy draw they have. It's absolutely comical the way the world Cup has worked out with all the best teams in one side of the competition. Hopefully WR change this for future competitions.

I think every World Cup there are questions about how the draws worked out.  It must be hard to balance picking the pools late enough to have the best distribution of teams and early enough for teams and their supporters to know where they will be playing.  The pools selection seemed more reasonable when they were picked but certainly not now.  England and Aus got very lucky here.

The issue is just far out in advance they do the draw. Why draw over 2 years out! The teams will be doing the vast majority of their planning regardless of who is in their group, so it makes no sense.

I remember seeing what the draw would have been like if done a year ago and it would have been a much better distribution.

Travel companies, insurance, fans, television schedules etc it's more than just the teams planning. Most of those things you can't just arrange overnight.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

RDW wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:To be fair, it was an entertaining match.  I figured it would likely go down to the wire, but I didn't expect a score on the final play of the game.  Argentina will be tougher as the RWC comes around.  I can't feel the same for Australia, unfortunately.  

Aus will be there or there abouts given the easy draw they have. It's absolutely comical the way the world Cup has worked out with all the best teams in one side of the competition. Hopefully WR change this for future competitions.

I think every World Cup there are questions about how the draws worked out.  It must be hard to balance picking the pools late enough to have the best distribution of teams and early enough for teams and their supporters to know where they will be playing.  The pools selection seemed more reasonable when they were picked but certainly not now.  England and Aus got very lucky here.

The issue is just far out in advance they do the draw. Why draw over 2 years out! The teams will be doing the vast majority of their planning regardless of who is in their group, so it makes no sense.

I remember seeing what the draw would have been like if done a year ago and it would have been a much better distribution.

Travel companies, insurance, fans, television schedules etc it's more than just the teams planning. Most of those things you can't just arrange overnight.

A year in advance is more than enough time for them to do everything. 2 years in advance is ridiculous. If it takes them 2 years to organise everything they can't put in place until after the draw then they should all be sacked. The football World Cup has the draw roughly 6 months in advance and theres 32 teams in that one so if our lot can't do it in twice that time with less teams then they aren't fit for the job.

Fans are realistically not booking things anymore in a year in advance anyways as the likes of flights and hotels can't be booked that far in advance.

The next football world cup qualifiers don't fully finish until November 2025 and the tournament starts June 2026 - if football can do it, rugby can!

The Cricket World Cup has only just announced its fixtures and locations, and that's three months out from the tournament starting! The Rugby World Cup draw should have been done after the 2022 Autumn Internationals, no excuses for that.

RDW wrote:The next football world cup qualifiers don't fully finish until November 2025 and the tournament starts June 2026 - if football can do it, rugby can!

The organisation at the last football world cup was shambolic. I wouldn't hold them up as something to copy. They operated a central hub and then shuttled fans out and even then managed to man sausage it up, even with an unlimited budget.

The cricket world cup has half the number of teams. Less logistics.

I'd agree that 2 years is overkill but 12 months is probably cutting it short, Easter time the year before would probably work. Especially in France where the stadium's are spread throughout. Make it easier for people wanting to travel there.

Whilst in general we can't book hotels that far in advance within the industry the tour operators will be booking them up well in advance so as to be able to market them to people who are booking a year in advance.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

RDW wrote:The next football world cup qualifiers don't fully finish until November 2025 and the tournament starts June 2026 - if football can do it, rugby can!

The organisation at the last football world cup was shambolic. I wouldn't hold them up as something to copy. They operated a central hub and then shuttled fans out and even then managed to man sausage it up, even with an unlimited budget.

The cricket world cup has half the number of teams. Less logistics.

I'd agree that 2 years is overkill but 12 months is probably cutting it short, Easter time the year before would probably work. Especially in France where the stadium's are spread throughout. Make it easier for people wanting to travel there.

Whilst in general we can't book hotels that far in advance within the industry the tour operators will be booking them up well in advance so as to be able to market them to people who are booking a year in advance.

To be fair the last world Cup was in a non Footballing nation, so I wouldn't use that as an example. If rugby sees its world Cup as one of the most popular sporting events in the world than they should be able to handle these things a lot closer to the event.

The last football world cup was in Qatar it's not exactly a place built for tourism nor did it have lots of infrastructure already in place for a tournament, France already has all the infrastructure needed. It had 32 teams not 20 as well as many hundreds of thousands of fans more than a rugby world cup and they still managed to oragnise it about as well as any RWC.

We only actually knew around 12 of the teams in the RWC when they drew it.

I feel like they could easily have drawn it after last years summer tests in July or August, that would have been like 14/15 months. Theres plenty of things that could be done before the draw, really the only things that would have to be left to after that are things that absolutely cannot be done before the draw.

Theres no excuse as far as I am concerned for them not being able to do it that far in advance and if the people who are in there can't get it done then they need to fire them and get people in who can.

Having said all that it is World Rugby who are organising this so they should probably all have been fired long ago

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/11/18/football/qatar-fan-village-accommodation-intl-spt/index.html

This wasn't well organised.

Doha does have good tourist infrastructure and spent billions in preparation. Fans with no tickets just arriving does happen though and this was in a country with high levels of state control so no barriers to planning.

Rugby could certainly name it later but there is a benefit to naming it earlier as well. Not least that it adds some competition to the international games after the world cup.

There was roughly 3.4 million visitors to Qatar for that world cup in a place which is in a literal desert, doesn't have a football infrastructure or a masisve tourism industry and has huge problems with heat etc so needing special measures.  It had to build an entire infrastructure for 1 tournament which then would not be needed again so couldn't be permanent either.

There is expected to be around 600k visitors in France to the rugby world cup.  This is a country that already has the rugby infrastructure and a huge toruism industry right across the country not just 1 city.  They are completely not comparable.

Also none of that has anything to do with when the groups were drawn anyways.

It punishes teams who were not good at the previous RWC and then rebuild as they can't move up the rankings that quickly, it leaves the draw hugely uneven which leads to teams who shouldn't be in the later stage being in the later stages.

You have the team ranked 1st, 4th and 5th in the world in the same group.  At least 1 of those team will go out in the group stage.  You have 2 and 3 in world rankings in another group and they are all on the same side of the draw too so will play each other in the quarter finals thats the top 5 teams in the world.

On the other side of the draw you have a group with the best teams in it as 7 and 9 in the rankings and an other group with teams that are 6 and 8.  They will then play each other in quarters.

There is the possibility we end up with semi finals that are extremely lopsided and which is a terrible look for rugby in the tentpole tournament for the sport.

They also have this new competition to add competitiveness to games after the world cup, not that I have ever really watched an Ireland game and thought they are taking it easy cos it's right after a world cup.

The table has NZ on 9 points. They scored 4 tries against SA though, how do the try bonus points work nowadays?

mikey_dragon wrote:The table has NZ on 9 points. They scored 4 tries against SA though, how do the try bonus points work nowadays?

I think in the RC and Super Rugby you have to score 3 more tries than the opposition or something like that, rather than just a flat 4 tries. I think I prefer the NH version, but I’ve seen a couple of games where the leading team has had a bonus point lined up, conceded a try and then had to go hell for leather in the last few minutes to score again and get it back. It makes for some exciting finishes to games.

Watched the NZ SA game, there is little doubt France and Ireland are in for a torrid time in the pool games. I wouldnt be betting against both NH sides losing and then playing the other SH heavy in the quarters. For Ireland there is also the no small matter of Scotland and Tonga who will extract a physical toll in a very tough pool.

Given the way some teams have progressed and others regressed from the quarter finals in the last RWC, the current pools are unfortunate. I didn't however see to many comments or complaints on the path England faced at the last RWC though. Swings and roundabouts come to mind.

Presumably folk on here think that as well as the timing it is also not the right thing to do, to award the semi-finalist at the last competition as top seeds and remove all links to the previous competition. Maybe that's right but this time around it will generate interest/excitement in the pool stage rather than a procession of cricket scores across all the pools.

Recwatcher16 wrote:Watched the NZ SA game, there is little doubt France and Ireland are in for a torrid time in the pool games.  I wouldnt be betting against both NH sides losing and then playing the other SH heavy in the quarters. For Ireland there is also the no small matter of Scotland and Tonga who will extract a physical toll in a very tough pool.

Given the way some teams have progressed and others regressed from the quarter finals in the last RWC, the current pools are unfortunate. I didn't however see to many comments or complaints on the path England faced at the last RWC though. Swings and roundabouts come to mind.

Presumably folk on here think that as well as the timing it is also not the right thing to do, to award the semi-finalist at the last competition as top seeds and remove all links to the previous competition. Maybe that's right but this time around it will generate interest/excitement in the pool stage rather than a procession of cricket scores across all the pools.

Win or lose, they're going to face another heavyweight in the quarters. It's a tough draw, and no mistake.

Libbock in at 10 now, and a half decent back 3.

No 7&1/2 wrote:Libbock in at 10 now, and a half decent back 3.

Some more rotation for this one. Looks like the Boks are making sure they go through most of their squad before the tournament.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:Libbock in at 10 now, and a half decent back 3.

Some more rotation for this one. Looks like the Boks are making sure they go through most of their squad before the tournament.

Which is exactly what we are hoping England will do...

By the way, has anyone seen how quickly tickets for the Boks-ABs match at Twickenham are going? Just looked on-line and there are no decent seats available.

It's all those Saffa's and Kiwi's in London again. Taking the jobs, taking the best seats....

Recwatcher16 wrote:Watched the NZ SA game, there is little doubt France and Ireland are in for a torrid time in the pool games.  I wouldnt be betting against both NH sides losing and then playing the other SH heavy in the quarters. For Ireland there is also the no small matter of Scotland and Tonga who will extract a physical toll in a very tough pool.

Given the way some teams have progressed and others regressed from the quarter finals in the last RWC, the current pools are unfortunate. I didn't however see to many comments or complaints on the path England faced at the last RWC though. Swings and roundabouts come to mind.

Presumably folk on here think that as well as the timing it is also not the right thing to do, to award the semi-finalist at the last competition as top seeds and remove all links to the previous competition. Maybe that's right but this time around it will generate interest/excitement in the pool stage rather than a procession of cricket scores across all the pools.

If you compare NZ v SA to the Ireland v France game in the six nations I think it is fair to say the Ireland v France match was a higher quality game however, all four sides are pretty much up there so they could all beat eachother. NZ have progressed the most. SA of the four have shown the worst form but they get a pass because they have a dreadful rugby championship record in general with just 4 trophies since 1996 but tend to really focus on the RWC.

Back to the Anthony Watson/RFU situation for a moment. Is he really the precedent for this kind of situation? Does anyone remember how Burgess was paid? Only from Bath or from RFU as well?

Really just wondering. Didn't seem as if could have been the only one.

There were reumours of the RFU helping out Bath with payments, but I've never seen any comments confirming it, and presumably it would have shown up in Baths accounts...but that was where Saracens were burying wage records as to ensure we had a really positive 2015 experience (selfless). Watson's situation is slightly odd being currently unattached, though not sure the other clubs will like the fact the RFU are helping out Leicester after all their troubles in staying below the salary cap in recent years. The no comment from each doesn't exactly help.

There's a real buzz about Melbourne in advance of Bledisloe. I've.got my Wallabies scarf ready and sort of know the anthem (sorry Scotland)

Really hope it's a good game and not a single sided AB drubbing as all the bookies are predicting!

Great sequence by Wayne Barnes to officiate that Wallaby try. The Wallabies did OK in that sequence too.

Aus look well up for this!

So far, so good for them. That was a great hit and turnover.

More good officiating in a difficult situation.

Really good game. Australia will be annoyed to concede such a soft try though. What McDermott was doing take a step there I don't know. Got to just catch and pass.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Really good game. Australia will be annoyed to concede such a soft try though. What McDermott was doing take a step there I don't know. Got to just catch and pass.

The entire Wallabies pack owe him a beer for that one though!

Should never, ever have put him in that situation

Young Aussie 10 is having a shocker.

Cooper on at HT?

RDW wrote:Young Aussie 10 is having a shocker.

Cooper on at HT?

I would think so. When Eddie was with England that is exactly what he would have done.

Australia have some decent players but they made a big mistake axing Rennie. They are going backwards at a much faster pace now.

Australia finish bottom of the rugby championship for the first time since Argentina joined, must be part of EJ's world cup master plan.

What must Rennie be thinking now. Wallabies have been truly woeful since EJ took over - completely lacking any coherent gameplan, direction, basic fundamentals of the game and unity. The Wallaby pack was annihilated by the ABs. 

It also brings into light the decision to replace an entire coaching team 4 games before the WC, regardless of who that coach was. They'll almost certain be going to the world cup winless in the year so far.

Really, really awful stuff from the Wallabies tonight.

Yep really mad stuff

RDW wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Really good game. Australia will be annoyed to concede such a soft try though. What McDermott was doing take a step there I don't know. Got to just catch and pass.

The entire Wallabies pack owe him a beer for that one though!

Should never, ever have put him in that situation

It wasn't a good drop down to him from the lineout but it's spectacularly poor from the 9. An international 9 should be able to catch and pass without taking the steps that see him get smashed.

The two Aussie yellow cards went a long way to deciding that game and both were completely unnecessary. Injuries to both tightheads were a real issue and has to be a concern leading into the world cup.

Australia made quite a few good breaks against the Kiwi defence, the difference between the two teams was the support lines where Australia really struggled to find their teammates and the ABs always had an option to find.

Eddie could still make some changes in problem areas. Foley could still return at 10 and give the Wallabies some much needed direction. Bringing Tom Wright back into the back three would certainly help as well.

The pack is a tougher ask. I struggle to believe that Australia don't have a good openside to select. They caused New Zealand a lot of trouble at the breakdown as it was, with a natural poacher in the backrow other than the injured Hooper maybe the time (again) to try and convince McMahon to return to the fold? I'm also astounded there's no better hooker available than Porecki.