For some reason it has been decided that the Wallabies need to play two games in the north after the RWC. I really hope that it’s filling the ARU war chest otherwise it seems a completely pointless exercise.
Well the end result. The Baa Baas got smashed. They basically played with the same interest I have in this tour, none. Well for some there is a great deal of interest and players being anointed as the next big thing (Mr Brand at 5/8 for one). In short a lot of people need to take a deep breath and do some remembering. There is this sudden rush by some to find a 5/8 to replace Cooper after a less than spectacular RWC. Well in Cooper’s defence if you choose the wrong game plan and select players who are great at defence but not attack you cannot be expected to shine. Nevertheless the sudden desire to have JOC be the 5/8 everywhere (Rebels included) has me remembering another rugby prodigy who promised the world but did not deliver, Giteau. I did a piece on Giteau’s career here but to summarise, why take a great IC and turn him into a 5/8? Somehow I can see the same thing happening with JOC. For a simular comparison of a one-off effort by an Aussie (?) and being named the next rugby messiah see.
Lets be brutally honest that performance by the Baa Baas was substandard, they let JOC have space a plenty, they adopted the Rebels tacking style while some great passes by Cipriani gifted the tryline to the wallabies. To suddenly claiming that the memories of the RWC have been overcome, etc, etc is well just stupid.
The Welsh will provide more backbone but hell. Can someone please explain why we are playing this game? Surely the players didn’t need any more frequent flyer points or status? Wouldn’t they have been far better off having a rest before the Super 15 kicks off in Feb.
For the Article with links 
