Curious Substitutions
I don’t know if I’m reading into things a bit here, but I was quite struck by Michael Cheika’s use of the bench during the French test. More specifically the decision to substitute Lealiifano so early and for Rob Horne.
It must be said that Lealiifano hasn’t shone as brightly as he did in the final Bledisloe match in any of the tour matches to date. Michael Cheika made a point to reward the players that performed in that match with incumbency but that substitution made me question whether that reward is considered paid now. It’s not that Christian was subbed, it was the timing, less than 10 minutes into the second half made it look like more of hooking than a rest.
From a tactical perspective it may have been an attempt to add some starch defensively but it still seemed odd to insert Horne who had largely (and quite commendably) played on the wing for the last year. While he did hold his own, in retrospect Cooper might have been the better option and might have been more familiar in the inside backs. Eventually this was the case when Tomane was subbed for Quade and the backline was shuffled, Quade went to 10/12 while Horne went to the wing.
It made me wonder whether Cheika was perhaps trialing inside centres, Lealiifano has his go and he was keen to see how Horne and Cooper might go. Overall though it made me wonder if all of those options were just keeping the spot warm for Kurtley Beale, especially as he had flown to Dublin prior to this match to prepare for the Ireland test.
