Timing of Brad Thorn's new contract perfect for run at test job

Leaving now is the last think you can criticise these players for.

Hopefully that's the case for Havili as well. Really need the like's of McCleod to step up at the Crusaders. Lakai has the same position. Hopefully he can just get 30min to empty his tank so he doesn't run dry like he did last week. Perofeta is next in line but theres so much competition now, esp with Tele'a returning.

At least week got ALB in there and they made the call to let Ratima concentrate on building for another go next year already. Upgrades in both positions for me though I'd like it the otherway round, to not be.

Happy for Patrick to earn his start this week, along with EDG.

Mo'unga, please come back home ASAP, we need saving as I'm not sure Razor knows that his captain, Ardie, and Reiko have literally played every test this year, and we can all see he's given you the big desperate PLEASE with these selections.

DMac will have to make sure he can find and rip out the battery of that poor test vehicle they have at 10 so he can stop it changing lanes in front of him an slowing traffic down!

Fiji could actually be the ones for upset of the week. Typically clunky with players always in and out of their team this would be about the time they put another England beating performance in against Ireland.

SA to be as strong again this week carrying away from their opposition. Probably an underpar performance though.

New Zealand will be determined to actually put the triple figure score on the Azzurri this time. In actual fact a tired and physically beaten AB side has been chosen for this one so expect to see some space and free flowing rugby from both teams but still nothing more than a 30 point gap between them.

Aussie will be thwarted by a draw in their Slam attempt, otherwise another 1 point game either way.

Lets hope Japan is selecting more of its stop starters like France's Tavita Tatafu's cousin, Tavita Tatafu, otherwise it could be the biggest scoreline game of the weekend.

I understand you'd like to believe that the SA D system has found been somehow 'found out' and its weaknesses exposed.

It suits your agenda that it is only a matter of time before the ABs reclaim their rightful spot at the head of the world game [in all aspects].

It warps your judgment but I say, that's okay.😁

You are kinda right though, the first Irish try that just let England shoot up and went straight in behind rather than being forced back in to find a hole by the blitz.

Look through the games v Ireland, France and the two NZ tour losses, and there is not one try scored in the same way as I'm describing here! Not one.

The system being run by El Abd is not the one that implemented by Jones. They are like chalk and cheese.

It's not the same at all but I recognize you cannot see it - and that's okay.

He's not much different to someone like Paddy, no. Could have had a lot more tests for Aus if he played from home but I think it's simply a case of those dynamics you refer to, he is simply more valuable to a different style game (club in this case) up north so he was proportionately more valued by them than other good Wallabies players that get targeted (ie he got offered too much money not to leave).

Doesn't undermind that he would have been over the 50 mark by now otherwise (which cna be said for a lot of good Aussie players of course).

I went back through the 6N highlights and sure enough in every English win I remembered seeing these exact holes on the inside, that are supposedly the fallout out of a Felix Jones system breaking down in the hands of some replacement. Every time the commentators mentioned England being targeted up the seam/around the ruck or whatever. Each game had a try scored on the inside of the blitz, no doubt it was a theme throughout all of their games. Will Jordan specifically says that Holland had design that move to target space he saw during their home series win.

Well I'm here to tell you they were the same holes in a Felix Jones system being built as well. This woe is now sentiment has got to stop. The game is on a high, these games have been fantastic! It is Englands attack that has seen their stocks increase this year, and no doubt that is what SB told him was the teams priority. Or it's simply science, with Englands elite players having worked towards a new player welfare and management system, as part of new partnership with the ERU, that's dictating what the players can and can't put their bodies through.

The only bit of truth in this article is that Felix is not there to work on fixing his defence. England threw away another good chance of winning in the weekend when they froze all enterprise under pressure when no longer playing attacking footy for the second half. That mindset helped (or not helped if you like) of course by all this knee jerk, red brained criticism.