With all the talk about the Waratahs bringing a new found confidence to the Oz environment. And a rise in Aussie rugby, and while that is true. Their are things againgst them. Those same Waratah players who are in such great form at Super Rugby, relied on their combinations. 15. Folau 14. Alofa 13. AAC 12. Beale 11. Horne 10. Foley. Now look at the Aussie backline 15. Folau 14. McCabe 13. AAC 12. Toomoa 11. Horne 10. Beale 9. White. Completely different combinations, and no where near the same team from the June tests. Where as with NZ 15. B Smith 14. Jane 13. C Smith 12. Nonu 11. Savea 10. Cruden 9. Smith. The exact same backline from the june tests, where they got better and better. And now well be moving forward to applying those results to the RC. I feel the different combinations, and the out of the position McCabe at right win, and Beale experiement at Ten well come back to haunt Aussie. NZ look stronger in the tight, partic in the loosies, it well be close but I expect NZ to pull away in the last 20 28-13.
New Zealand to win comfortably on Saturday
One would expect the Wobblies backline to have more class than that fileded by the Warts.Beal e has matured as a player and is less susceptible to moments of madness.
Logically it looks like it will be great expectations from the kbbs and small realizations!!!
ABs will take a while to warm up so we will see if the Wobblies can get on the board first. I think the AB plan is not to do the booming kicks (as Dagg did so well) but to do shorter strategic kicks and keep it away from Folau.
The sabbs (South African Bird Brains) are very quiet about the chances of the Boks I notice. Perhaps that is the best policy given the circumstances
Given proper refs we should beat the abs home and away.
I must also add my other major concern - the return of wee matfiled to wreck our tight five.
By the time ou mcaaaw warms up the game will be over!
Now the wee abs have a pretty powederpuff backline as well lead by none other than Carol Jane!
3 IQ smoking the hard stuff
I just lov the confidence the kiwis are showing... it always comes before they lose...
I got a good feeling - like the news Conrad is out... fekitoa is a good player but Link will have plans to rattle him...
Don't think Ill bet anyone anything but quietly confident...
Claydog me mate - don't stress - Link is an excellent coach who knows how to rattle the kiwis...
getting better by the day...
Well, we have our ol' mate Steve Walsh reffing the game he is an Ozzie & if he can pull his attention off seeing himself on the big screen & stop combing his beard he should be ok. If you are nice to him he may give the Boks a few Ref Assisted Tackles (RATS) as I know the boks have problem tackling as evidenced by my Avatar.
Don't get to excited about this new hope. SR is one thing, Bledisloe Cup contest is a world of difference.
I cant choose a winner here because for once the margins are very close.I don't know what the stae of Smith is but let me tell all of you Ozzie fans Fekitoa is no push over.He beat the most defenders then any other center in SR and he might just be on his second test match,but let me tell you he has sting in his tail.Just ask any Sharks fan they will tell you.Respect the man.
But then McKenzie has turned this team around the same way he turned the Reds in to a winning side.The biggest struggle for the Wallabies will be the mental battle 10 mins after the first 40...If they are down by 7 and don't score quickly then NZL will have the upper hand but if not the All-Blacks are in for a long day at the office.
I have to say,I am a lways exited about the first game of the season and this time expectations are well high.Best of luck to both.
Having Beale at 10 is a wild card; the forwards are missing a few players. On the ABs side C. Smith is out Woody is out & it is the first test which takes place on Ozz. So there is enough to be concerned about.
On balance I believe ABs will win it because of their across the board ability but Wobblies could pull one out of the hat. They have some real fire power in the backs.
It will be a great game to start the test season.


