Guys, guys, guys. let's stop with the "Quade must play" arguments.
I've always been a big supporter of Quade, and do believe that he is better than Foley at his best, but he's just not going to be selected for this game, nor should he.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm quite sure he's been sin binned in the last 3 tests he's played in. That's not something we can afford on Sunday.
His form this test season just hasn't been that great. it's been more than a month since he played in a high pressure game. He had a decent game against Uruguay but he's left his run too late. Cheika won't be selecting him, and on balance you'd have to say that's the right call.
I think most of us have a fairly good idea as to what the team will look like. There's really only a handful of question marks. I'd expect we'll start with Foley/Giteau and finish with To'omua/Giteau.
Not sure which of Phipps/Genia will start. I'm ok with either.
The only real question mark for me is the left wing spot. I'm concerned that we are lacking in attacking ability out wide. Drew Mitchell I thought looked dangerous last night. Yes he had a few poor touches to start the game, but he was one of the Wallabies best as the game wore on. He went looking for work, and made a number of line-breaks. He also contributed to the kicking responsibilities. He might be a better option than Horne. I don't think we'd lose a hell of a lot in terms of defence but we gain in other areas. However, I think Horne plays an important role in Cheika's game plan by regularly defending in the 10/12 channel. He makes a good impact there too. So I'm not sure we'll see any changes.
Looking at the likely line up the Wallabies MUST win the breakdown if they're going to take the game. We should be able to do that. We'll be strong defensively, but we need to trust our systems. Our discipline at the breakdown needs to be much better. If we give away cheap kickable penalties we'll be strangled out of this game.
The scrum is a concern too. Not because I don't rate our scrum (which is probably the best it's ever been), I just don't trust Poite or the English. The French ref last night blew several penalties against the Wallabies at the scrum despite the fact that they clearly had complete dominance from start to finish. In the second half they deployed some tricks on turning the scrum and the ref gave them the benefits of the doubt. I have no faith that we'll get a fair go on Sunday.