Wallabies v Wales Preview - July Rugby Tests 2024

[@footyfin]

Should be interesting. As an Aussie - I'm cautiously optimistic ... Although to be fair i am not familiar with a number of Welsh players, plus I'm taking nothing for granted.

[@WelahMan]

Well basically… our coach ignored our best club side and picked players from a team that won only 4 games this season and the rest from a team that won only 3… our best ball carriers haven’t been picked and our second best hooker was disrespected and left… our fly half isn’t even a fly half, our team has no competent kickers and our best fly half’s have been left behind😃👍

[@footyfin]

@@WelahMan are you sure Eddie Jones isn't the new Wales coach? Sounds like his work 😬

[@RRTNZ]

​@@WelahMan Cytuno, byddwn ni'n ofnadwy ! Tasen ni'n ennnill bydd miracle !

[@simonmorgan225]

​@@WelahMan100% also our best centre is on the bench being replaced by a winger 😭

[@WelahMan]

@@simonmorgan225 LITERALLY…

[@nathannweyer4741]

Think this might be the toughest game to pick this weekend😂

[@garethrichmond4388]

Good luck Australia may the best team win. CYMRU AM BYTH!

[@laurencecharles7919]

Come on wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🎉 good luck to Australia 🇦🇺 big game

[@johnmcdonald-6196]

Hopefully both sides have positives come out of this test. As an Aussie, I’d just like to see the team play well under the new coaching set up.

[@Forest9528]

This game is imo definatly the hardest to predict because this match is pretty much not to see whos better but who is less bad

[@mrwelshmun]

I think this will look like a tier 2 game. Wales are still rebuilding and haven't found many locked in combinations and Australia are pretty much in the same position. The 10 Jersey concerns me for Wales.. I was impressed with Elis Bevan though

[@RRTNZ]

Mae Gats wedi dewis Costelow eto ! FFS bydd yr amser i newid !

[@calmkidcalamity9125]

Glad to see Jeremy Williams get a shot hes been putting hard work all season. Come on Wallabies! Good luck to Wales 🐉

[@lucascarmody]

Noah and Gordon have actually played a bit together. Previously in the French series and also last year during World Cup where they went and played in Toulon.

[@Waywind420]

Schmidt's selections are on-point, it's only the halves that are concerning. White has played with Donaldson and Lolesio an extensive amount, McDermott knows Lynaghs game too, Gordon at a pinch knows Donaldsons game style but he's being paired with Lolesio 🤔?? If you want to hit the ground running you want to pick combinations. Paisami-flook is good , Faessler-Tupou is good, Wright-McReight is good.

[@Zomo1553]

Australia have a 9, who's name I dont know. It might be McDermott. He played against scotland at Murray field a couple years ago, had a mullet, but he was seriously good that day. Fast and zippy around the breakdown and was the best Aus player. Never seen him play since though. Edit: granted I haven't watched much of Aus the last couple years

[@Waywind420]

@@Zomo1553 Yeah sounds like Tate Mcdermott. The guy is rapid, but he's got a sub-standard passing game. AS good as his skills and speed are, passing is the primary role for a 9 so it's tricky knowing where to play him

[@TwoCentsRugby]

The Lolesio/Gordon combo was definitely a bit of a left field one for me. Schmidt said Gordon's pass is the crispest one at the moment so yeah, maybe that was enough

[@mikescudder4621]

Looking forward to the matchup!

[@dewabule]

Jake Gordon to stand up and make the 9 jersey his own… he deserves the opportunity. Aussies have enough talent to win this, and kickstart the rebuilding.

[@fleshen]

I wonder what the Ospreys have done to upset Gats?

[@rhysjones9870]

play good rugby thats what 😂

[@TwoCentsRugby]

It's... hard to understand😅

[@brynjones3530]

Excited for this 2nd row partnership for Wales. Get 50 caps into those lads asap

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah man both talented youngsters

[@georgemiller1307]

Awesome wales jersey🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿. Good Wallabies

[@rossd6809]

Last year i was not a big supporter of Tom Wright but he has had some good club games .

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah he's earned another chance for sure

[@jasonparsons]

Two teams that are both in desperate need of a win and turnaround in fortune. This July matchups are very evenly balanced this year

[@88Agumon]

R. Dyer realy was a football player in the match vs RSA

[@gezzarandom]

Two teams in need of a serious moral boost, could be good.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah man exactly right

[@BeraVukialau]

Fiji vs Georgia also

[@Richiv77]

I'm going for a Wallabies win.

[@sirviv]

Go Wallabies!

[@bernardrawlings1889]

I feel that Wales have a good chance of beating the Wallabies. Our backs are pacer it depends on how our scrum, if we hold up front then I fancy our chances.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah very experimental feeling from both teams aye - could go wherever way

[@frankmercury2833]

For sure 😊

[@Samizouza]

A gimmie for the Aussies, however I'm more interested in what the Schmidt era will be like.

[@alecchen2119]

Any thoughts on the ref? Haven't seen Pierre referee much before

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah I've seen him a few times, seemed pretty steady

[@truthbetold8233]

Ben Thomas played most of his matches in the 12 jersey next to Tinus de Beer, so if even a little bit of de Beer's flyhalf genius rubbed off on Thomas,, he'll be absolutely world class. 😉

[@TwoCentsRugby]

True enough 😅

[@thedalz5308]

Neck on the block here, Aussies home advantage win by 10-15 points

[@marikabaleiwai2624]

Mate can you do Fiji vs Georgia

[@TwoCentsRugby]

I can't find where it's being shown here in NZ sadly :(

[@iamnutty8471]

not doing u20s rugby world cup?

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah time is proving a killer mate!

[@RRTNZ]

Yn honest....dyn ni'n anobeithiol ar hyn o bryd. Fedi diwedda trechon ni Awstralia 40-6, ond nawr ? Byddwn ni'n lwcus iawn i cael gem gyfartal. Bydda i'n gwylio'n nerfus iawn. Cymru am byth 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿❤️

[@thewhitedoncheadle8345]

why when you translate it shows an england flag?

[@davidpearn2484]

The Welsh flag is the same in english as in Wales ffs.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿.

[@RRTNZ]

@thewhitedoncheadle8345 One of Google's little quirks I guess.

[@Thudsrayz]

Head says Wales based on.... Something. Maybe fwd dominance. Unsure who'll control the game, if anyone. Both teams have good talent so this one theoretically could be an absolute barn burner

[@TwoCentsRugby]

If injury prone Tupou goes down early it could spell trouble for the Wallabies up front

[@peterhunter6040]

Where do you get your stats from?

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Mostly from ESPN mate, Ultimate Rugby is also very good

[@JimmyKip]

I rate Salakaia-Loto; the Rebels forward pack looked nowhere near as good when he was out injured. He just played like a veteran so it was kinda weird to see he's not actually all that old - only 27 according to wiki!

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah man I was gutted for Aussie rugby when he went abroad, but good to see him back

[@rhysjones9870]

Gatland just told the welsh public to expect a boring gameplan so it has me worried that what we have seen already wasnt the boring gameplan 🤣

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Oh man that sounds rough 😅

[@truthbetold8233]

I suspect he's bluffing, especially with Thomas at 10

[@rhysjones9870]

@@truthbetold8233 I can only hope but Ben Thomas isnt half as threatening at 10 as he is at 12, Also Costelow playa better with a playmaking 12 alongside him so it would have made far more sense having Costelow 10, Thomas 12 and Grady 13

[@Sourdust]

​@@rhysjones9870Exactly so; many have been calling for BT but the theory was to play him as a "2nd 5" to take some heat off Costelow. Gatland doesn't do footballing 12s so we assumed it was a non-starter. Instead Thomas directly replaces Costelow... and all of Wales just shrugs and sighs...

[@SpookFilthy]

It's not correct to say Tom Wright hasn't played well for Australia ever- he was one of the best players against England a few years back.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah but he's still got a reputation of being a guy who drops off at international level - rightly or wrongly. People say the same about Sotutu for the ABs and he's never really had more than a game or two in one stint, usually quite minimal minutes

[@SpookFilthy]

@@TwoCentsRugby Every single Australian player has been awful at test level for years other than say Valentini / Koroibete. At least Wright offers some good moments. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3u4hqakmb2fbtk

[@connorjohn9256]

Australia win.

[@nepiahemopo1702]

Have both tests been sold out, i wonder.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Not yet anyway

[@SaintArcane]

What a weekend of rugby to look forward to! Great analysis as always Mark, good luck managing you sleep schedule this weekend! 😂

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah I'll be knackered but it'll be great!

[@simonnash9563]

It’s the Who Is the Tallest Ewok competition of the weekend.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Why does this make me wanna watch Star Wars? 😅

[@christiancatley4120]

Should be interesting to see how Australia go under Joe Smidt

[@davidhughes6]

The Aussies must cast aside the damage done to them by Eddie Jones

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Big time mate

[@charlottescott7150]

Come on Wales

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Hopefully they can put in a good shift!

[@Will.Flavell]

Remember the last match between these teams

[@khankake9576]

I do. I was there, the 2011 RWC Bronze Final, can't remember who won.

[@footyfin]

Aussie here. Can't recall the last match 😉

[@RRTNZ]

​@@footyfin no problem mate, it was 40 - 6, for Wales, September 2023. But honestly, that Welsh team isn't coming down this weekend, so you've got every chance of winning, Aussie probably the favourites.

[@RRTNZ]

​@khankake9576 the last match between us and aussie was September 2023 at the RWC, we won 40-6. Far less confident this time. Cymru am byth.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@BeraVukialau]

Wales #10 is not a Flyhalf he's at 12 similar to what Fiji putting Botitu at 10...

[@lauriecarter8931]

C'mon Oz !!!

[@willemsteyn7808]

Wales by 6

[@reclusiarchnotrobsimmons]

I’m expecting a poor quality match. Lots of handling errors, forward passes, poor kicks, penalties, and even worse restarts. Lots of new players and new combinations. Can’t believe Nick Frost didn’t make the team for the wallabies

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah of all the sides this weekend, I feel like the Aussie one is the most surprising

[@captain.awesome4172]

I just want aussie to fix up the silly penalties they give away and hold on to the ball and break teams down and build up to getting a try...instead of trying to score off every play

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah the dumb penalties, really infuriating at times

[@KamogeloRakgalakane]

Turn over Tommy