Junior Wallabies confirm side for must-win pool clash with England
The Junior Wallabies have made some significant changes to their starting side ahead of their must-win pool clash against England U20s on Tuesday.
Following their tough 30-10 loss to Ireland, Australia’s hopes of progressing through to the semi-finals of the World Rugby U20 Championship now hangs in the balance.
With one win and a loss to their name, the Junior Wallabies are currently third in Pool B behind Ireland U20 and England U20 – both are on eight competition points after two games, while the Aussies are on five.
But there’s hope. Australia can still progress to the knockout rounds, even if they place second.
From the three pools, the top-ranked second-place side will move on. At the moment that would be Ireland, but other contenders include Wales (seven points) and South Africa (five).
The Junior Wallabies need to win their final pool game if they’re any chance of moving on, and they likely need a bonus point as well. But even then, other results would need to fall their way.
Prop Massimo de Lutiis and lock Jhy Legg have been ruled out of the tournament with injuries, and have been replaced ahead of the final pool match.
Darby Lancaster and Ned Slack-Smith will also miss the match due to concussion protocols, while Marley Pearce is unavailable due to suspension. Pearce will serve the second of his two-game ban this week.
Reds prop Nick Bloomfield comes into the starting side for de Lutiis, while Brumbies lock Toby Macpherson is set to start in the No. 4 jersey.
Backrowers Nick Baker and Leafi Heka Talataina, Reds midfielder Taj Annan, and electric winger Ronan Leahy are also set to return to the run-on XV.
Junior Wallabies to take on England U20
- Jack Barrett
- Max Craig
- Nick Bloomfield*
- Toby Macpherson*
- Daniel Maiava-Tapusoa
- Lachlan Hooper
- Nick Baker*
- Leafi Heka Talataina*
- Teddy Wilson (c)
- Jack Bowen
- Ronan Leahy*
- Taj Annan*
- Henry O’Donnell
- Tim Ryan
- Mason Gordon
Replacements:
- Liam Bowron
- Harrison Usher
- Trevor King
- Ollie McCrea
- John Bryant
- Klayton Thorn
- Harry McLaughlin-Philips
- David Vaihu
Latest Comments
Alright, to his credit he did have something to say after that..
So we might as well start here, which I'm assume was the topic he started with as well. The only reason 20min rec cards were brought in was to make the game fairer, a problem highlighted by their recent frequency.
A player, and team, should receive the same punishment for a particular foul, no matter what. Red cards (as they were) don't achieve that as the punishment is purely dependent and what stage of the game it is (if you think a punishment has an effect on the frequency of offenses, ask yourself if you've noticed more people committing red card offences towards the ends of game). So a team who receives a red card in the first minute of the game, is overly punished and that is obviously going to be the case for the viewers as well. That is the problem a fixed length red card 'solves'.
Now, onto the other topics he raises..
They're not!!!! They are now seen as 20min red card offences. Here at least, you could still be given a straight red no replacement card on the field for 'thuggery'. This is the law change you're asking for!
Going lower is the cause of these problems. There is nothing wrong with upright tackles, they are safe. Shoulder charging and swinging arms are long out of the game Nigel!
No, not necessarily. But in the few cases where they were, that punishment is for the player. Not the team. You can be sent off for receiving a 'team' yellow, this is a case were the rule should directly be rectified however. It's outside this discussion.
I don't recall any careless or reckless behaviour, not at least in TRC, what is he referring to? What we did just see was the game last week be saved by the 20min RC rule. We had what Nigel is describing as an accidental head collision which saw Argentina receive a read card (must have been very close to yellow). Normally that would have destroyed the game (and it did for that period), but by returning to 15 players it was still able to be a contest, which Opta suggests would normally have had just a 7 point gap between the teams. This is why there is a middle ground (what you have been saying you want!!).
Back to his poorly made point. I would suggest bigger off field penalties that are far more involved that a 'tackling' school, and obviously not just for the player, the whole team, especially the coachs, needed to be doing the penance. A definite review to team based yellow cards and how infringement sequences can be better handled is required as well.
Go to commentsGreat day for the RSA based franchises .....
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