Gnostic
Mark Ella (57)
No no, I think Izzy is just an example of a player who's preternatural skill in the air (at least in 2013) solved the issue of opposition having an easy time getting into the Wallabies half by putting up midfield bombs.
So he and Pocock are the only two examples of players who possess a skill that they are so good at it forces tactical adjustment by the opposition. I'm mulling over the others.
I think you do Skelton a dis-service there, he commits multiple tacklers. It is then up to the support runners to make the most of the holes that are created by him attracting and committing two or three tacklers. Against the Highlanders he still achieved that but the support runners were swarmed as well to prevent the offloads and slow the play.
The big problem I see in what you have as an otherwise very good premise is that this focus and reliance on individuals and their points of difference is no better than Deans' reliance on "X factor".
The Highlanders no name pack and backline beat the Tahs in all facets of play because they executed a well crafted plan to target the obvious weaknesses in the Tahs side, which had been apparent all year. I am very disappointed that the Tahs didn't evolve from last year and fix those issues. If the Wallabies don't I expect a RWC exit in the pool stages and a third or even last place in the RC. Selection will only have a small part to play in the evolution of the side, but a very important one.
For instance a big part of the Tahs inability to exit their 22 was the fact that they had no real kickers in the whole backline despite fielding two Wallaby 15s. If as has been suggested many times the Wallabies field a first choice back three of Tomane, Speight and Folau the weakness is not addressed at all. A selection of Cooper at 10 and To'omua at 12 can partially address the weakness but will require significant backline alignment changes between attack and defence and a lot of buggerising around.
Those sorts of conundrums can be argued in the second and backrows as well.
So does Chieka try to craft a side to cover some of the glaring weaknesses exposed in both the Tahs this year and the Wallabies on the EOYT, or does he say bugger it and concentrate on the Wallabies game to the exclusion of what the opposition may do?
I know what I'd like to see, but there is no kicking coach and no set piece coach at this stage.