0
![Not allowed!](images/buttons/down_dis.png)
![Not allowed!](images/buttons/up_dis.png)
Gratz Curtis, well deserved, disappointed for Dane and that Moore starts ahead of Taf.
WESTERN Force code-hopper Curtis Rona will make his Wallabies debut in the furnace of a Bledisloe Cup at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.
Rona was named as a starting winger in the Wallabies team by Michael Cheika on Thursday after Dane Haylett-Petty was ruled out with a biceps
Though Rona played all season as a centre for the Force, the 25-year-old has trained exclusively as a winger with the Wallabies; the same position in which he proved to be a try-scoring freak in the NRL for the Bulldogs and Cowboys
Wallaby Curtis Rona faces a testing introduction to international rugby union.
In other major selections, Stephen Moore will start at hooker ahead of Tatafu Polota-Nau despite recently stepping down as captain and announcing he would retire from Test rugby at the end of the year.
Moore’s set-piece accuracy was no doubt a factor in his selection.
Having missed the June series with injury, Sean McMahon has won the no. 8 jersey ahead of Lopeti Timani.
Outside centre Samu Kerevi also returns to the starting side after missing the June series with injury
He will form a all-new centre pairing with Kurtley Beale, who was named to play in his first Wallabies Test since the World Cup final in 2015.
The Wallabies have one of their more experienced benches in recent years, as well, with four of the eight having played over 50 Tests and a fifth — Tevita Kuridrani — sitting on 47 Tests.
AUSTRALIAN TEAM
1. Scott Sio (32 Tests)
2. Stephen Moore (120 Tests)
3. Allan Alaalatoa (11 Tests)
4. Rory Arnold (12 Tests)
5. Adam Coleman (12 Tests)
6. Ned Hanigan (3 Tests)
7. Michael Hooper (c) (68 Tests)
8. Sean McMahon (15 Tests)
9. Will Genia (78 Tests)
10. Bernard Foley (45 Tests)
11. Curtis Rona*
12. Kurtley Beale (60 Tests)
13. Samu Kerevi (8 Tests)
14. Henry Speight (12 Tests)
15. Israel Folau (55 Tests)
Reserves
16. Tatafu Polota-Nau (71 Tests)
17. Tom Robertson (9 Tests)
18. Sekope Kepu (80 Tests)
19. Rob Simmons (71 Tests)
20. Lopeti Timani (7 Tests)
21. Nick Phipps (52 Tests)
22. Reece Hodge (13 Tests)
23. Tevita Kuridrani (47 Tests)
First Aranmore College wallaby great news
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
Hope Taf, Coleman and Rona do well, but looking forward to seeing this side get massacred.
Hanigan/Hopper/MacMahon will get monstered
The All Blacks backs are going to have a field day with all of the defensive frailties of our back line
We'll be trying to hide Foley, Beale, Folau and Kerevi somewhere. Expect they'll combine for about 15-20 missed tackles.
There's no one in the 15 that's any good at tactical kicking, so we'll be pinned in our territory.
The continued selection of Tom Robertson and Ned Hanigan is laughable. No way Moore should be starting ahead of Taf either.
Good thing I go for anyone but the wallabies now (minus the force players).
Although I've been quietly hoping that we keep on losing for a fair while now, even before the whole force debacle. I really don't rate Cheika or his assistants - there's been no discernable game plan for years now and Cheika is still riding on his very fortunate RWC result where we should've been knocked out by Scotland.
Still pissed about McKenzie getting turfed over Beale and the Tahs mutiny.
Blacks by 40+
*rant over*
He's played how many games of rugby union on the wing ...
Heaps if you include Rugby League![]()
Why Robertson is there is totally beyond me. He was monstered byevery team this year and they still roll him out!
The Darkness by heaps!
May the FORCE be with you!
Hear Hear, don't even plan to watch the match, I have other things on, but won't bother recording it, I'm sure I'll see the destruction in living colour in the "highlights" package.
I disagree, you can only "get monstered" if you're in the location of the fight. based upon that clarification, the only one who will be getting monstered is Hannigan, who is yet to figure out how ineffective he is as a pilferer. If he spends more time with Adam, I'm sure he'll figure out how to play the breakdown properly, but not now.
Not entirely fair on Kerevi, but he certainly won't be enough to stop the flood. The Blackness know damn well the frailties in our 10-12 channel and will be counterattacking through there off every pilfer, giving Curtis no time to slide in and cover the speed bumps.
Well theres Geni....actually no, Fole....no, Fola....uh uh, Beal....OK, you're right, Can Hooper kick, he'll be in position to anyway, we may as well get something out of him other than petulant looks and hair flicking.
It's almost as if the selectors have money on the All Blacks isn't it?
That's not very fair mate, we have.....intensity!
Tru the circumstances sucked, but McKenzie wasn't really a lot better. He was at least creative enough to paper over the cracks in a poor team, but once his innovative coverups were found out, he wasn't capable of changing them. He got out of the Reds before the rot was exposed.
C'mon the![]()
![]()
Beale?!![]()
Japan and the Pacific Islands for Aussie Super 9's!
Let's have one of these in WA! Click this link: Saitama Super Arena - New Perth Stadium?
Gotta make the 400 odd thousand bucks a year to the tahs look like a decision based upon the wallabies, don't they?
C'mon the![]()
![]()
At least he seemed to have a think about tactics and was capable of modifying his game plan to suit his cattle and the opposition.
Cheika stubbornly just keeps trying the same thing, (un)surprisingly keeps getting the same results and then blames it on piss poor excuses like the players aren't fit enough.
He also appeared to have far less obvious bias in his selections.
To be fair to him*, he was one of the standout players of the English Premiership with Wasps heading the table and losing finalists; he could be expected to come into the match with reasonable form and confidence.
[* Not something I'd usually say about Beale, or a Waratah]
Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon