Rabbit remains at 10
1 Dec 2011
James O’Connor will start his first Test at flyhalf when the Wallabies tackle Wales at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
O’Connor is rewarded following a strong outing at 10 against the Barbarians last week. The Melbourne Rebels player will start alongside another flyhalf in Berrick Barnes, although Barnes will be wearing No 12 on his back.
The only change to the starting side from last week sees James Horwill returning to the second row. Horwill will resume the captaincy.
Wallabies – 15. Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14. Lachie Turner, 13. Rob Horne, 12. Berrick Barnes, 11. Digby Ioane, 10. James O’Connor, 9. Will Genia, 8. Ben McCalman, 7. David Pocock, 6. Scott Higginbotham, 5. Rob Simmons, 4. James Horwill (c), 3. Salesi Ma’afu, 2. Tatafu Polota Nau, 1. James Slipper,
Subs: 16. Stephen Moore, 17. Ben Alexander, 18. Nathan Sharpe, 19. Radike Samo, 20. Ben Lucas, 21. Ben Tapuai, 22. Anthony Fainga’a.
21 Comments
1 Dec 2011, 12:02 pm
Well UFO, let’s see how this dragon goes against top quality opposition !!
1 Dec 2011, 12:10 pm
Wales have a very good backrow especially Warburton & Faletau…And a superstar 12 in Roberts running into lightweight channel of OConnor,Barnes,Horne….
1 Dec 2011, 12:10 pm
i dont like the fact that they’re getting to gel and jol so much earlier than the boks are.
we only get a paltry pansy england three times in a row (hows that gonna make it any better) before the big stuff.
1 Dec 2011, 12:23 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-2: priestland, roberts, davies, hhmm only roberts is really a threat and if the aussie keep a lot of the po, beiber and barnes can skin these cats…
1 Dec 2011, 12:40 pm
9 Genia
10 Cooper
11 Ioane
12 O’Connor
13 Ashley-Cooper
14 Mitchell
15 Beale
…will be a killer backline in 4 years if they stick together.
God help us all…
1 Dec 2011, 12:49 pm
@Caper(Caper)-5:
personally i’m calling them to take next seasons four nations, with the boks trailing as dark horses.
1 Dec 2011, 13:12 pm
I think this has the potential to be a good combo with O’Connor at 10 and Barnes at 12. Barnes will guide him and help settle him in and offer an additional kicking option to help reduce the pressure of his new switch to 10.
1 Dec 2011, 13:35 pm
And so Dingo slips up again by reverting back to a 4/3 split rather than hiss winning formula of 5 flanks and 3 locks in the 22…
Simply over-kill having 2 utility backs (9/10/12/15 and 10/12) and Faingaa (12/13) and particularly risky considering Lucas has not played 9 for awhile at any level near test rugby) where Phipps was excellent against the Baa-baas…
Dingo accommodating his blue-eyed boy MaCalman again he could have at the very least kept Hodgson on the bench with Samo…
@2.6-1 not bad odds for a Welsh win…
1 Dec 2011, 14:19 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-2:
As we showed the boks…its not just in the size of the muscle its also in the size of the grey matter between the ears that wins a rugby game.
We have beaten these boys countless times…..they just didn’t appear from nowhere!
1 Dec 2011, 14:29 pm
@wallabie.(wallabie.)-9: Not to mention the size of the ref’s paycheck, which you guys got spot-on. Well done there.
1 Dec 2011, 14:44 pm
@justrugby(justrugby)-1:
hey jr…
yip… let’s see….
i’m confident he’ll do well…
but remember i’ve said all along that, like any other player, it would be only fair to give him a decent number of tests at flyhalf so that he can really establish himself… and that, good or bad, he get’s judged on more than one game…
i’m sure if he does well many posters here will say… ‘it was only one game…” i trust that if he does not do as well the same posters also say… ‘it was only one game…”
but i reckon we’ll see just how good he is…
1 Dec 2011, 14:48 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-6:
i said last year that aus will not win the 2011 world cup…
but put your house on them winning it in 2015 and being the first side to win it three times…
and they’ll need conner at flyhalf to do that… cooper proved already he doesn’t have the BMT stones for the job… and lost the plot in this WC… o’connor has proved by taking that touchline penalty that he’s no wilting daisy…
1 Dec 2011, 14:50 pm
@bryce_in_oz(bryce_in_oz)-8:
but dingo makes up for it by keeping conner at 10…
@wallabie.(wallabie.)-9:
you’re quite right… and o’connor doesn’t just have the goods… he has the smarts too…
1 Dec 2011, 15:32 pm
As a Bok supporter, this Aussie team worries me… Big time.
I suspect we may be seeing the beginning of the formation of a Great Wallaby Side.
1 Dec 2011, 15:45 pm
@Upho(ufo)-12:
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-14:
agreed.
its ominous.
1 Dec 2011, 15:54 pm
MAn i like this OConner very talented chap. I wish we(SA) could produce all rounders like Oz does. Our players are painfully one dimensional!!
Anyway will be a good game. Wallabies to take his one again!!
1 Dec 2011, 17:17 pm
@race of tan(race of tan)-16:
We’ve had plenty over the years, it’s just that most of them have been considered too small, like O’Conner.
1 Dec 2011, 17:32 pm
But we haven’t had plenty of really great coaches. We’ve had plenty of great players and we’ve also had plenty of political interference which has led to plenty of dubious selections and plenty of nonsense. We’ve had plenty of kicking away possession and one-dimensional gameplans and empty chatter from the powers that be. Maybe with a bit less of these things we could be the power we should be. How, for example did SA not select Sarel Pretorius as a Bok? Look where he’s headed now. How was Hougaard not in the starting lineup? How did Habana keep playing when he couldn’t do the business? Why was Bismarck kept out? etc..etc. Oz had no problem changing the captain weeks before the WC. Yep….brains are the difference for sure. And have we learnt from all of this? Ha Ha
1 Dec 2011, 17:36 pm
@David(David)-17: versatility in SA is not embraced instead it is frowned upon, even by players themselves eg ruan. how many times have we heard that muir jerked around francois steyn?
2 Dec 2011, 00:15 am
@David(David)-17:
Exactly…where is brent russell?
2 Dec 2011, 02:11 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-19:
I disagree… RSA have had plenty of utility backs in the past and present hence more use of 5/2 splits… and in this game of 22man 85min rugby they’ll have plenty more… RP, Aplon, Lambie, Frans Steyn to name but a few that are still in the picture…
@David(David)-17:
I disagree… at 88kg’s and 92kgs respectively both J’OC and Cooper would have made any Bok team past and present… I’ve yet to see a player of J’OCs calibre anywhere in a Bok jumper… Ruan was the closest…
@Upho(ufo)-13:
When Cooper comes back he’s the incumbent, J’OC will move to his favourite position of 12 and Barnes will be 10/12 bench cover… and they’ll play these positions in the S15 for their respective unions…
@wallabie.(wallabie.)-20:
All flash and no defence…
Wallaby players are going to do well to win this game despite a few poor selections by Deans… over-kill on the bench with those 3 backs… another loose-forward to add more 60/70 min oomph against a very good Welsh back-row and pack would have been the way to go with Phipps/Faingaa or even lesser so Lucas/Faingaa…
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