{"id":94684,"date":"2021-07-03T12:21:44","date_gmt":"2021-07-03T12:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=94684"},"modified":"2021-07-03T15:00:33","modified_gmt":"2021-07-03T15:00:33","slug":"legends-bold-picks-to-set-wallabies-standard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=94684","title":{"rendered":"Legend's bold picks to set Wallabies standard"},"content":{"rendered":"

There has been a lot of talk about an understrength French team leading into the Wallabies' opening Test of the year in Brisbane on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

But the harsh reality is that Les Bleus<\/em> boast more depth than Australia at the moment and even after quarantine will still put a more than competitive team on the paddock.<\/a><\/p>\n

So if I was Dave Rennie I would be taking no chances and resist the temptation to experiment for what is a crucial home series to win back public support.<\/p>\n

Stan Sport is your home for international rugby and the only place to watch the Wallabies-France series and British and Irish Lions tour. Start your free trial now!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I believe you need experience in the first Test of the year and so I'd be picking the likes of Matt To'omua in the centres and Matt Philip at lock.<\/p>\n

It's really important to make a statement in the first Test of the year.<\/p>\n

You've really got to put a marker down and make sure that Wallabies brand is strong \u2013 win the Test to demonstrate to the French and our supporters that they are serious and have got some depth.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Horrific injury ends Aussie star's Olympic dream<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> All Blacks star's surprise Olympics sevens snub<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Coach tasked with finding Wallabies' 'dark side'<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It would be a big call to put too many kids in so expect most of the young talent – guys like Len Ikitau, Darcy Swain and Andrew Kellaway – to come off the bench.<\/p>\n

The best bet would be to give them a taste of Test football in the second half.<\/p>\n

With Nic White out, Tate McDermott vs Jake Gordon is a 50-50 call at halfback but I would be disappointed if Tate didn't start.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I think he's earned the right.<\/p>\n

Last year he was in the top three halfbacks in the country but this year he's really come up a couple of notches.<\/p>\n

His running game is electric but it just depends on whether the selectors feel Gordon has recovered sufficiently from his latest injury.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

James O'Connor's injuries leave Noah Lolesio as the No.10.<\/p>\n

O'Connor will be 33 at the next World Cup, which is fine \u2013 that's the same age as Dan Carter when he won in 2015 \u2013 but your body starts to pick up a few niggles once you hit 30.<\/p>\n

This is probably not going to be your backline in two years' time at the World Cup but some of these players will absolutely feature.<\/p>\n

\"Fans<\/p>\n

Two years out from the World Cup is when you've got to really start planning and looking at the age of people and are they going to be right?<\/p>\n

Even though they're forced to go that way, it's a great opportunity to find out where Noah is at Test level.<\/p>\n

There's so many players who have performed well in Super Rugby and then struggled at Test level so you really do need to find out.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I would have picked Feleti Kaitu'u at hooker after a strong season for the Force.<\/p>\n

But his calf injury means Brandon Paenga-Amosa has to start to provide some experience, even though he is off to France at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

I've picked Taniela Tupou to start but he's equally devastating coming off the bench and we're blessed to have some depth at prop.<\/p>\n

\"Banks<\/p>\n

This is a crunch series for Tom Banks.<\/p>\n

He is a really exciting player in Super Rugby but just hasn't grasped that gold jersey at 15.<\/p>\n

With no Dane Haylett-Petty, he's got an opportunity in these three Tests to nail the 15 jersey.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Otherwise they'll start to try some other options.<\/p>\n

He's injured now but I still like the idea of trying Jordan Petaia at 15.<\/p>\n

Reece Hodge is another option there.<\/p>\n

This might surprise some people but winger Tom Wright would be the first back on my teamsheet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The last two seasons he's been really consistent.<\/p>\n

The two most exciting wingers in Australian rugby are Filipo Daugunu and Marika Koroibete.<\/p>\n

But you know exactly what you're going to get from Tom Wright.<\/p>\n

You're going to get very few mistakes and also a very strong carrier, a strong defender and then you bring on someone like Filipo with 30 minutes to go.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In Super Rugby this year, teams were kicking deep to Filipo a lot because he doesn't have much of a kick on him.<\/p>\n

If you kick high enough into the 22, he's going to run it back and you're going to capture him behind the 22.<\/p>\n

I noticed teams were doing that a lot to him and those weaknesses are magnified in the Test cauldron.<\/p>\n

\"Len<\/p>\n

I'm excited to see what Len Ikitau can do at Test level.<\/p>\n

He's been one of the form centres in Super Rugby.<\/p>\n

And what's really impressed me is his footwork and offload ability.<\/p>\n

We've got to be able to have that offload ability.<\/p>\n

\"Jordan<\/p>\n

New Zealand and All Blacks centres \u2013 the top six in NZ, every single one of them has strong defensive ability but their next skillset is offloads.<\/p>\n

Because it's such a difficult game these days, to break Test defences, you've got to be able to bend the defensive line or make a half break and then get an offload away.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Otherwise you're going back to third phase, fourth phase rugby again.<\/p>\n

Most centres in Australia are trying to get that offload into their games and Len has already got it.<\/p>\n

Can't wait for Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There has been a lot of talk about an understrength French team leading into the Wallabies' opening Test of the year in Brisbane on Wednesday. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94684"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94684"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94686,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94684\/revisions\/94686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}