Whoop, there it is. Michael Cheika has put his cards on the table for this year’s Rugby Championship and World Cup Wallabies Squad. As Sean Connery might have said, Surprises Galore.
Props: Scott Sio, James Slipper, Toby Smith, Sekope Kepu, Tetera Faulkner, Greg Holmes
The big news here is neither of the two Bens are in, as predicted on this site. Benn Robinson loses out to the untested Toby Smith. But Ben Alexander must’ve thought the rugby gods were smiling on him when the hugely promising Paul Alo-Emile was ruled out a few days ago… only to see Tetera Faulkner selected in his place.
Injuries could still play a role, but otherwise these two stalwarts of a decade of disappointing Wallaby scrums find themselves on the outer. Interesting to note that as Waratah coach, Cheika played Robinson for the full 80, or close to, nearly every single week, showing next to no confidence in Jeremy Tilse. A week’s a long time in rugby.
Hooker: Stephen Moore, Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Hanson
Logic says that four hookers would fit in this squad. But three it is. Saia Faingaa was huge for the Wobblies last year, but misses out. Tolu Latu also didn’t get a call last night.
Lock: Rob Simmons, Will Skelton, James Horwill, Rory Arnold, Dave Dennis, Dean Mumm
I’m going to say it: if the Wallabies can sort out a world class lock performance in the next five tests, then they’re going to be useful at the World Cup. If not, not. It’s that simple. Hence the six guys here. We’re threadbare in this area and I’m not entirely convinced that this cohort can provide the answers.
Rory Arnold is a huge bolter here. Few, even on this site, would’ve recognised the name 12 months ago. I, for one, thought Adam Coleman would get the nod in the Frankenstein position.
Also surprising is the call up for Dave Dennis and Dean Mumm. Cheika loves his physicality and if there’s a common weakness in these guys, it’s that. Both fit the lock/6 box; biggish, mobile, a decent extra option in the lineout… but neither has scrumming down at lock at Twickenham written all over them.
If anyone predicted that Dean Mumm would be in this squad, I haven’t seen it. It seems reasonable to posit that Cheika got in touch with a guy very well known for his rugby smarts, with Euro rugby under his belt, and told Mumm that if he jumped back to Aus he’d be in with a shout. He did, and he was.
I’m definitely surprised to see Dennis here. The Waratah lineout has been very poor for two years now and the chickens came home to roost on Saturday. As captain and lineout caller, there’s no-one else to blame for lack of lineout practice. The Dennis lineout just looks so haphazard, with lifters out of place, half-arsed execution, and no aspirations of domiance. It looks like a club rugby operation. Take that out of Dennis’ game and I’m not quite sure why he’s there.
The bottom line is if anyone can tell me what Dennis and Mumm offer that Luke Jones doesn’t, then fair play to them. He’ll be bitterly, bitterly disappointed.
Backrow: David Pocock, Michael Hooper, Ben McCalman, Scott Higginbotham, Wycliff Palu, Scott McMahon, Scott Fardy
No huge shocks here, other than the absence of Ita Vaea. My money is that if Skelton wasn’t a solid for one of the lock berths, the lineout-unfriendly Vaea would be there. He’s had a great season and can count himself unlucky.
Strangely enough, the Wallabies have taken three 8s to both of the last two World Cups… for no logical reason. We even took 3 out of 6 backrowers in the last one, and we all know how that key game against Ireland turned out.
Scrummie: Will Genia, Nick Phipps, Nic White
No dramas.
Fly-Half and Inside Centre: Bernard Foley, Quade Cooper, Matts Giteau and Toomua, Christian Lealiifano, Samu Kerevi
The newbie here is Kerevi, who offers a very different type of 12 to the others. Giteau let the cat out of the bag with a tweet from the business class section of QA 648 alongside Drew Mitchell yesterday. He could play a key role in the months to come. His left boot offers a great exit option, while if he’s kicking the goals, Foley or Cooper don’t have to… and neither of those guys are truly world class kickers, let’s be honest.
The reality is that for the love of sweet God, the Wallabies need an A grade kicker. If any of these guys can show that over the next few months, they’ll be starting at Twickenham.
Outside Backs: AAC, Tevita Kuridrani, Rob Horne, Mr T, Joe Tomane, Henry Speight, Drew Mitchell
The big news here is no Honey Badger. He’s great off the field and showed plenty of enthusiasm on it. A solid defender, a decent finisher, and always one to give 100%. But it’s true he’s looked a shadow of that this year since his return from Japan. Still, with the cupboard pretty bare here I thought he might get a chance to play himself back into form.
The other big omission is JOC. I think I’m not alone here, but I can’t help having a bit of a wry smile at this one. No-one doubts that JOC has the talent to break a game open and even dominate at this World Cup. Equally, few doubt that he’s a total liablity and cannot put the team before himself.
Whether it was the drunken abuse at the Perth airport, or sleeping in through the 2011 World Cup squad announcement, or when I bumped into him at 4am in Pretoria with him high as a kite, the reality is: love the player, no love for the man. Reminds me of that great acronym for Kevin Pietersen. I expect he’ll now get out of whatever tentative second year he has on his Reds deal and we won’t see him in Australia again. What might’ve been…
As for who is in, Mr T is the man from left-field. He’s raw, no doubt about it. Full of shoulder charges, loose carries, and poor positional sense. It’s worth noting that it took a few years before Julian Savea added a nicely rounded rugby game to his natural power. Can Cheika make this happen in a few months?
Either way, it doesn’t sit well with the fans that a guy who signed on up north with a view to playing for Scotland, and then opted for Fiji, is now up for playing for Australia. That’s not the John Eales-Nick Farr-Jones school of commitment that inspires guys to keep on plugging away for that gold jersey. Wonder how Luke Jones feels.
Fullback: Israel Folau, Kurtley Beale
Sure, we could put Kurtley almost anywhere here positionally. But if Izzy is out, the Wallabies will need a like for like replacement. If JOC is back in Toulon smoking cash, then Beale must be it… or Bernard Foley.
BACKS: Adam Ashley-Cooper, Kurtley Beale, Quade Cooper, Israel Folau, Bernard Foley, Will Genia, Matt Giteau, Rob Horne, Samu Kerevi, Tevita Kuridrani, Christian Lealiifano, Drew Mitchell, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Nick Phipps, Henry Speight, Matt Toomua, Joe Tomane, Nic White.
FORWARDS: David Pocock, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Scott Sio, Rob Simmons, Will Skelton, James Slipper, Toby Smith, Wyclif Palu, Ben McCalman, Sean McMahon, Dean Mumm, Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu, Rory Arnold, Dave Dennis, James Hanson, Scott Fardy, Tetera Faulkner, James Horwill, Scott Higginbotham, Greg Holmes, Michael Hooper.
