Argentina tour

[Mikey Brown]

I’d love it if Ma’asi-white stepped up. My gut instinct is that, as a combination. he doesn’t quite have enough pace or power to really make dents in international midfields, and nor does he have the playmaking to make up for it.

But he’s very young, has been doing quite well at club level, and stranger things have happened.

Would love it if he came good

Yeah, I need convincing on Ma’asi-White. I’ve said this before but I think the PI connection and and what people associate with this gives rise to really unhelpful ‘new Tuilagi’ branding (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union ... e32g2yyyxo).

Not hating on RMW BTW. The articles and lazy comparisons aren’t his fault, but he’s only had regular starts this calendar year and while he’s done well, I’m far more interested in Seb Atkinson who has looked consistently very good in an inconsistent side for 3yrs or so.

I’d say the same about Waghorn too FWIW. Promising and well worth checking out, but too soon for more than the ‘XV’ game IMO.

Woodward has at least had more or less a full season and it’s not insignificant that Cheika has consistently picked him.

I’m choosing to ignore the number 8 chat …

With Woodward it'll be interesting to see what Chieka does for the final. Woodward seemed to be the third choice centre and trying to push into the starting spot midway through the season. The injury to Perese really cemented his spot in the first team and he's looked good since. As demonstrated by his off the bench cameo Vs Sale Perese is pretty explosive and Chieka might opt for that over Woodward's more tactical and organisational abilities.

Woodward definitely has a couple of areas where he needs a full pre seasons work. One is his kicking accuracy, he spots the right kick but doesn't always execute well. His direct running threat could do with some work as well.

Have you managed to pair Woodward and Perese at all yet? Feels like that would be potentially very effective.

I do understand why Kata is a consistent presence, but feel like his all-or-nothing style could be a useful weapon off the bench, whilst Perese is an option at 13 outside Woodward?

[Puja]

I’d love it if Ma’asi-white stepped up. My gut instinct is that, as a combination. he doesn’t quite have enough pace or power to really make dents in international midfields, and nor does he have the playmaking to make up for it.

But he’s very young, has been doing quite well at club level, and stranger things have happened.

Would love it if he came good

Yeah, I need convincing on Ma’asi-White. I’ve said this before but I think the PI connection and and what people associate with this gives rise to really unhelpful ‘new Tuilagi’ branding (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union ... e32g2yyyxo).

Not hating on RMW BTW. The articles and lazy comparisons aren’t his fault, but he’s only had regular starts this calendar year and while he’s done well, I’m far more interested in Seb Atkinson who has looked consistently very good in an inconsistent side for 3yrs or so.

I’d say the same about Waghorn too FWIW. Promising and well worth checking out, but too soon for more than the ‘XV’ game IMO.

Woodward has at least had more or less a full season and it’s not insignificant that Cheika has consistently picked him.

I’m choosing to ignore the number 8 chat …

With Woodward it'll be interesting to see what Chieka does for the final. Woodward seemed to be the third choice centre and trying to push into the starting spot midway through the season. The injury to Perese really cemented his spot in the first team and he's looked good since. As demonstrated by his off the bench cameo Vs Sale Perese is pretty explosive and Chieka might opt for that over Woodward's more tactical and organisational abilities.

Woodward definitely has a couple of areas where he needs a full pre seasons work. One is his kicking accuracy, he spots the right kick but doesn't always execute well. His direct running threat could do with some work as well.

The correct answer is a Woodward/Perese combination. It won't happen because Cheika loves Kata (and I will admit, has been using him quasi-effectively of late), but any reduction in bosh is more than counterpoised by having two competent centres (and not going down to 14 at some point).

I would agree that Woodward is not international quality yet - this opportunity's a season too soon for him, to my mind. We'll have Dingwall and SAtkinson who should have first dibs, and then RMW as a project, so it's not unreasonable not to look further than that.

Did Donoghue come on at 12 for Bath on Friday, btw? I thought he did, but I was at my rugby club's end of season dinner, so it was all a bit blurry.

Puja

[FKAS]

Yeah, I need convincing on Ma’asi-White. I’ve said this before but I think the PI connection and and what people associate with this gives rise to really unhelpful ‘new Tuilagi’ branding (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union ... e32g2yyyxo).

Not hating on RMW BTW. The articles and lazy comparisons aren’t his fault, but he’s only had regular starts this calendar year and while he’s done well, I’m far more interested in Seb Atkinson who has looked consistently very good in an inconsistent side for 3yrs or so.

I’d say the same about Waghorn too FWIW. Promising and well worth checking out, but too soon for more than the ‘XV’ game IMO.

Woodward has at least had more or less a full season and it’s not insignificant that Cheika has consistently picked him.

I’m choosing to ignore the number 8 chat …

With Woodward it'll be interesting to see what Chieka does for the final. Woodward seemed to be the third choice centre and trying to push into the starting spot midway through the season. The injury to Perese really cemented his spot in the first team and he's looked good since. As demonstrated by his off the bench cameo Vs Sale Perese is pretty explosive and Chieka might opt for that over Woodward's more tactical and organisational abilities.

Woodward definitely has a couple of areas where he needs a full pre seasons work. One is his kicking accuracy, he spots the right kick but doesn't always execute well. His direct running threat could do with some work as well.

Have you managed to pair Woodward and Perese at all yet? Feels like that would be potentially very effective.

I do understand why Kata is a consistent presence, but feel like his all-or-nothing style could be a useful weapon off the bench, whilst Perese is an option at 13 outside Woodward?

As Puja mentions, Chieka has a hard on for Kata. For some reason he's the go to selection most the time.

Perese whilst more explosive is just as likely to cop a card for dodgy tackle technique and is not as physically strong as Kata.

I wouldn't mind seeing a run of games with Woodward/Perese next season. Hoping to see a bit more of Will Wand next season as well.