For Larkham really . Had a 2nd knee op last week so must be doubtful even for final. Barnes looks the part though.
Robinson back training for the English so should be available to replace the donkey Lewsey at the back. Interesting comments from Tuqiri on the England side, backing up the ARU president.
In Sharpe and Palu they have great ball carriers. Smith is back to some of his best form of 4 or 5 years ago and rivaling McCaw as the pre-eminent openside. Mortlock and Latham would walk into the NZ side.
They will miss Larkham's experience at 10 but Barnes is quality. And although the front row has improved I don't think it's good enough to take on NZ in the SF.
strangely enough, after the aussies last poor outing, i think a good england gameplan could stifle the opposition, and the aussies may just play into their hands... a bit like '03
the only way this will be anywhere near a contest is if england keep the aussies from crossing the whitewash for the first 50 mins, and i just cant see it happening.
england... never write them off when backs are against the wall. got a sneaky feeling on this one.
freddie, so what if they don't 'play rugby' ...don't be so sanctimonious. they don't have the platform to open it up. if they play to their strengths (albeit few), so f*cks...? whatever rugby they play at least it can be no worse than that gash the micks have trotted out over the past few weeks
You have to admire the way other coaches can take the decision to drop a sacred cow after one bad performance. If our own had had the same cojones perhaps a few more players could heve been kept on their toes.
you never can tell - but I can't see England getting within 15 points of them. Aus haven't been at the peak of their powers recently, but their backs have the potential to make mincemeat of England..
[The Artist Formerly Known as Caolan]
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero - Tyler Durden
There's nowhere in the rule book where it says how you have to play James thats true.
But the way the Aussies play is much more attractive to watch. Ashton doesn't have the players to cope with the sort of 'heads up' rugby he aspires to, so can not be criticised for going back to a forwards based game.
For me, not only should the Aussies win, they will.
Aussies call up Turinui for Lyons.
