Comments on: Rugby World Cup 2015: Team of the Group Stage

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 19:45:36 +0000

15. Goromaru 14. Milner-Skudder 13. Kriel 12. Giteau 11. Habana 10. Foley 9. Davies
8. Gorgodze 7. Pocock 6. J. Burger 5. AWJ 4. de Jäger 3. Kepu 2. Horie 1. James.

Very close…. Biggar, Laidlaw, Leitch, Sio, Hooper, Nakarawa, DTH.

By: Rob Watson

Rob Watson — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 12:02:53 +0000

Sonny Bill has looked sharp (when coming off the bench against tired teams ranked far lower than the All Blacks).

I can’t see that he’s done more than Giteau. NZ haven’t even been tested like the Aussies. If SBW was that good he’d be a starter, surely?

By: Pablito

Pablito — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 10:03:59 +0000

Eh? He was pretty rusty against Fiji admittedly but so was the rest of Aus. He didn’t play against Uruguay, was brilliant in attack against England and showed against Wales that rumours over his poor defence were unfounded.

He’s the only fly-half to have played against two Tier 1 nations and he guided his team to victories in both.

Can’t think of anyone else who has been as good

By: Leon

Leon — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 08:39:42 +0000

Foley had a great game against England but was pretty rubbish against everyone else

By: Jacob

Jacob — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 07:52:50 +0000

Nakawara is a good shout – he’s been brilliant. I’d have Davies over Matawalu, I think he’s been extremely good.

I’d definitely have Foley at 10. Also think Pollard has been great for SA. No co-incidence that they’ve improved drastically with him moving to 10. He is a man who knows how to get a back line moving.

By: JD

JD — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 05:44:32 +0000

Although ‘fun’ it’s clear from this team selection you are are not a coach of a national side, more emphasise should be put on the wider issues. Matt giteau may very well be an excellent distributing / running and kicking 12, but that team is way to focused on scoring points and winning the game without worrying about the threat and relative strengths of the opposition. What you really need to think is who are you likely to play against and ensure that you pick the most defensively capable players even if it is at the expense of your own attacking play. For this reason there is a clear case for Brad Barritt as a starting 12 in almost all elite selections. By snuffing out the oppositions advances at source the game will be kept close until the last 20 -15 mins, then, regardless of what happens we should look to bring on a more creative 10 at FH and move bigger to inside centre and shift brad to 13, the good distributors inside him should release BB as an attacking threat in the outside channels without giving up a defensive superiority. I do not feel it matters how the game is panning out as it is more important to get the off field mentally sorted, therefore we should plan for these changes before the game so everyone is confident and believes in the plan. As we know all backs positions are essentially the same and so each player can shift around without fuss and more often than not with great effect. Therefore I don’t think we need to worry about being too specific when choosing the bench, least of all the 23 shirt. In fact I would recommend a flanker (almost any club level flanker will do with at least half a seasons experience) as back line injury cover/impact sub for a national side with near unlimited resources such as this. This extra flanker in the backs will cause all sorts of problems for the opposition and they just won’t cope with our new and innovative approach. We will easily rubble over any talented and experienced but essentially ‘lightweight backs’. These guys represent a bygone era of running rugby that has no place in the modern game. It’s taken me some time and a lot of experimentation to come up with this winning formula but I truly believe in where this idea is going and what could be built from it.

Kind regards

Stuart Lancaster and Andy Farrell*

Yes I am an England fan.

By: ed

ed — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 17:40:39 +0000

Goromaru
Cordero
Kriel
Giteau
DTH
Foley
Davies/Laidlaw
Sio
Horie
Nel/Kepu
Douglas
Nakarawa
Fardy
S Burger
Gorgodze

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 17:09:36 +0000

Matawalu has only played two matches. He’s been pretty good but you can’t pick him as the best over 4 games.

By: Pablito

Pablito — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 15:59:19 +0000

Also, as Jacob says, if a top level 10 can’t orchestrate a back line to score against 13 men, there’s something wrong

By: Pablito

Pablito — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 15:58:10 +0000

Foley? Surely he’s the best fly-half so far by some distance. Dismantled England in attack and against Wales showed up those who claimed he was lightweight in defense

Two Tier 1 nations and he played brilliantly against each. Must be the top 10 so far

As for the rest – Nakawara at lock and Matawalu at scrum half – Gareth Davies has been good considering his low profile at the start but I felt that against Aus he was too keen to go himself and missed a few occasions when a pass would have been much the better option

By: stroudos

stroudos — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 15:36:21 +0000

One Australian prop being praised as best in the tourny is bad enough; to name both of them would be twisting the knife… ;)

By: Leon

Leon — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 15:24:34 +0000

While I appreciate your argument i’m not sure I could pick another 10 who has outperformed him.
The other contenders would be Sanchez or maybe Russell