Half-back hullabaloo
MICHAEL CHEIKA HAS an abundance of talent to choose from at scrum-half and fly-half, but the big question remains, who will he select at 9 and 10 for the seismic Pool A showdowns with England and Wales?
The experienced pairing of Quade Cooper and Will Genia started the Rugby Championship opener against South Africa before the Waratahs combo of Nick Phipps and Bernard Foley were given an outing against the Pumas the following weekend. Phipps and Foley were retained for the thrilling 27-19 win against the All Blacks, but it was Nic White who changed the game late on. The ACT Brumbies number nine fired over a long-range penalty before breaking the All Blacks defence in the dying minutes for the match-winning try.
Phipps, who had a disastrous outing that night against the world champions, was replaced by White for the Bledisloe Cup decider in Auckland, as he linked up with Cooper in the halves. The duo had a shocker at Eden Park with Cooper’s sin-binning, for a high tackle on Aaron Smith, proving costly while White missed out on a World Cup place on the back of that performance. Two world class options at inside centre, in the form of Matt Giteau and Matt Toomua, further complicate matters for Cheika. Striking the right balance will be crucial. It would seem that a 9-10-12 axis of Phipps, Foley and Giteau is the first-choice for the tournament, but don’t be surprised to see a Genia, Giteau and Toomua playmaking trio by the time the Wallabies take on England at Twickenham. The erratic, but brilliant, Kurtley Beale is also in the selection mix at 10 or 12.
Can they cope with the pressure?
Scrum pressure that is. The Wallabies scrum has improved exponentially this season with veteran tighthead Sekope Kepu, who will link up with Bordeaux-Begles after the tournament, and young Brumbies loosehead Scott Sio anchoring a solid unit in recent months. The emergence of Sio transformed the Wallabies scrum during the Rugby Championship. After impressing from the bench against the Springboks and Argentina, Cheika handed the 24-year-old his run-on debut against the All Blacks in Sydney.
Sio, who is the son of former Samoa Test prop David, caused Owen Franks all kinds of problems that night and will be entrusted with doing a similar demolition job on Dan Cole and Samson Lee or Tomas Francis during the tournament. The appointment of legendary Pumas hooker Mario Ledesma as scrum coach in July was also a masterstroke by Cheika. The pair having worked together in the past in the Waratahs set-up.
Australia will be reminded in the coming weeks of their poor scrummaging displays last autumn. The Wallabies pack conceding a penalty try during their 33-28 win over Wales while England’s scrum dominance laid the platform for a 26-17 victory last November.
Under the tutelage of Ledesma, the Wallabies scrum has made great strides, but the ultimate acid test awaits against Stuart Lancaster’s side on October 3rd at Twickenham.
Pocock or Hooper… or both?
Having seen his side overwhelmed at the breakdown by the experimental Springbok back row of Schalk Burger, Francois Louw and Marcell Coetzee – effectively three opensides – Cheika pondered the idea of pairing up his world class No 7s Michael Hooper and David Pocock. The Wallabies head coach experimented with the idea the following week against the Pumas in Mendoza with Hooper replacing No 8 Ben McCalman early in the second half to form a new-lock backrow with Pocock and the industrious blindside Scott Fardy.
The trio would start together en masse against the All Blacks at ANZ Stadium two weeks later, and the results were spectacular. Pocock and Hooper caused havoc at the breakdown and played vital roles as Australia clinched their first Rugby Championship title since 2011. The former Leinster boss reverted to a more traditional backrow in the corresponding Test at Eden Park with Wycliff Palu replacing Pocock at No 8.
Melbourne Rebels flanker Sean McMahon, who has blazed a trail on the sevens circuit, could also make a huge impact during the tournament and is definitely one to watch. Once again, it’s a case of getting the balance right.
Can they keep the scoreboard ticking over?
There is no doubt that this Wallabies outfit has the fire power to breach any defence at the World Cup with Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Henry Speight and Tevita Kuridrani all supreme attacking threats.
But, if the rain starts to drizzle down in London, and things get tight, do the Wallabies have a world class goal-kicker to keep the scoreboard ticking over?
Foley, Cooper and Giteau have all struggled with their place kicking this season. Waratahs playmaker Foley, has has averaged a 74 per cent strike rate with the boot at Super Rugby level and 78 per cent in Test rugby, suffered a bad case of the yips during the Rugby Championship. Foley’s erratic performance from the tee against against Argentina was particularly worrying from a Wallabies point of view. Australia’s World Cup triumphs in 1991 and 1999 were spearheaded by the metronomic goal-kicking of Michael Lynagh and Matt Burke respectively. Does this squad possess a marksman of the same calibre?
