St. Elmo's Fire

The way I see it, the poms want to play the ABs at their own game this weekend, which is a huge mistake. Looking at the backs they have brought in, it appears they want to not only beef up their D but also to play some running rugby. The two midfield backs they are fielding this weekend are accomplished ball carriers so obviously the idea is to match the ABs style pound for pound. Never the less I think this is calamitous as they dont have the manpower nor the history of playing expansive rugby and they would be doing this at their own peril.

Infact I think they will realise the folly of their tactic early on and then play the game at a snails pace and hope to frustrate the ABs int o doing the same. They cant attack the ABs scrum at anytime because hello hello Tony Woodcock is on the bench this weekend so no hope there. If anything they might try distort the new midfield combination and yes I too like so many peops here have my doubts about Kahui's ability to last even 60 min. That stinking word "rotation" which we all thought had gone with the World Cup seems to have re emerged with Henry choosing yet again to break what was becoming some good combinations. Never the less alot of these players need to be blooded before the tri-nations so quite frankly the dude has no options.

Personally I have my doubts about Adam Thomson's defensive abilities but fitness wise he will live up to his billing. Its a quesstion of whether he will foot the physicality of the game. Rudi Wulf is brilliant under the high ball, a good chaser of pressure kicks but may be found wanting in his ball clearance abilities. Good to see Leon out there as he was the form Fullback in S14. He has never been spectacular ala Cully, but very solid and consistent especially on his home turf.

I hope the lineout has been sorted out coz thats always been a weakness.

Moving on, I am salivating at the Wallabies/France game this weekend(which I cant believe my fellow scribe didnt even mention). We all know how unpredictable the French are and if last weekend is anything to go by, the French will throw the ball around like there is no tomorrow. I have always found the biggest weakness with any Wallabies team is their sort of almost forced regimented style of rugby ala Brumbies style where every player knows where they should be at every breakdown. The Wallabies hate teams that throw the ball around and I think as a team their fitness levels are worrying to say the least. The French would do well to attack their scrum which I must say was not that impressive at all. I know its ealry days in Deans' reign but you just cannot teach an old dog new tricks and those forwards were found wanting at set piece and in general play.

The Wallabies , well they will do their thing play their scripted rugby and maybe throw the casual offload. If there is one thing Deans has to work on, its their improptu rugby ( the stuff ya just cannot teach players).