I agree with what Will Skelton said when the Wallabies played France, something like “we should have just run through them”. There it is that’s the strategy, down the middle, make them take on the big Wallaby forwards who can give time and space to the settling Wallaby backs.

I’ve got my fingers crossed about any injuries, but they are a young team and should be able to handle the heavy work load due to quicker recovery times one of the benefits of being a young guy.

Injuries have been the main cause for the Wallabies drop in world rankings. I think EJ has recognised this and that’s why we have this Wallabies side for the smash and grab operation,

Now for Georgia who have the same ideas.

We have been discussing how young the Wallaby squad is and I see that as an advantage as the young guys can handle a heavier work load as their recovery rates are faster, than older players.

The squad and specifically the preferred run on 15, plus the other 8 subs, need as much game time together to reach that magical moment EJ has been promising where it all clicks into place and comes together.

The curse and difficultly of managing a World Cup campaign is injuries, forcing unwanted changes to the regular run on team.

The Wallabies need to put the best 15 on the field each week to get closer to that EJ moment, otherwise we may not make it out of the pool stages as Fiji are looking really dangerous and anything could happen in the Wales game.

As I see it, do we really think the Wallabies are going to win the World Cup? It’s such a long shot, this smash and grab idea, in criminal terms, it’s more like a plan with all the participants ending up with everyone being caught and serving long prison sentences.

The team selected by EJ is young, brave and ambitious with plenty of raw talent. Unfortunately it is coming up against sides who too are smart, well coached, talented, brave and ambitious, but more settled having played together many times, with fine tuned attacks and ferocious defensive patterns.

I think we all should settle back and forget the numbers and enjoy the show. Let’s see how deep the Wallabies can go in the competition and wish them all the best of luck. As Wallaby (and Australian SRP) supporters we are conditioned for disappointment, and those numbers do speak for themselves.

Having said that, if EJ has basically this same side playing in the 2027 World Cup in Sydney, then the Wallabies will be a more formidable proposition. In between they would have had the BIL tour in 2025 to further fine tune the team, and let’s not forget trying to beat the ABs at Eden Park and winning back the Bledisloe Cup. For the record the cup I was allowed to hold at the Crown Casino in Melbourne when Australia won it. Yes I’m clearly a rugby tragic like the rest of you.

For me the EJ show is all about the future of the Wallabies and the international reputation of Australian rugby, with Phil Waugh looking to fixing the domestic rugby scene.

I’m all in and looking forward to sunnier days being strapped in for the inevitable roller coaster ride. This is the life of being a Wallaby supporter.

Brett, spot on no more foxing and no more chances and no chopping and changing unless it’s for injuries. Play the same team every week and we should see the boys improve and fine tune. I think by doing exactly that we will not see the Wallaby curse of previous years where
inconsistency was persistent, world beaters one week, dreadful the next. Inconsistency in selection breads inconsistency in performance.

I thought Fines-Leleiwasa when he replaced McDermott at 9 in the the closing minutes was really good, that kick pass were Vunivalu scored the closing try from a catch was an absolute classic. I think the commentary team pointed out that most tries have been scored in the warm ups from kick passes to get around the excellent defences. Is looks like this is one of the new trends in test rugby, so tall wingers are the name of the game?

One of the trends which is still the same is the boys numbered 1 to 8 have to step up for the battle up front. Was it Will Skelton, the new Wallaby captain who said about the game against France, something like “we should have just run through them”. This I found an interesting comment and I think he is onto something as the Wallaby forward pack has some big units to grind down the opponent’s forward pack and all of a sudden the look and feel of the game changes. Yes Will run through their forward pack, pick and drive, take the ball at pace, make them tackle , bring the whistle happy referees into the game, let them fight for the ball and create the opportunities for them to infringe, compress the defence, attack the line, kick pass to the edges.

To EJ’s credit he has selected this style of team. The big question is there enough time for them to pull it all together. EJ is confident it will come at some time, that’s what he is telling us. In this instance I’m a believer, I think we will see that moment I just hope it starts in the pool stages or in the quarter final, if we make it, because after that “moment” when they do start to bring it all together the Wallabies will be a real danger team for those who fancy themselves as finalists, and have marked down Australia as unlikely to no chance.

I think we could be on the verge of the renaissance of the Wallabies, this is real smash and grab stuff, can they pull it off as it’s a huge ask?

I agree with EJ, just keep playing the same team week to week and it will come. They will get better. They can now concentrate on the areas that they’re weakest, namely goal kicking, mixing it up at the line, calibrating the defensive structures. The rest looked pretty good for such a young group. Now it’s time on the pitch, building combinations, exactly what most of us thought they’d be at this stage.

Hey Brett, when it comes to vision for domestic rugby in Australia you’re a really respected and great journalist.

Brett,

It was a great podcast with Phil Waugh, well done.

I realise I have been a pest banging on about a professional domestic club competition earlier this year, which would broaden the pathways and expand the player base. Based on Phil Waugh’s comments he too sees the logic as this is the only way forward, seen as some as very ambitious, which it is.

There has been a dislocation crested between the Australian SRP teams and domestic club rugby, where club rugby has that natural connection with the local community, that tribalism.

Domestic rugby clubs already have the local following, the grounds, the local schools and community feeder systems in place. It is just missing one big ingredient, money.

I have suggested before that RA use their marketing and business connections to connect the clubs with the money, to leverage this expertise to help the clubs become fully professional, albeit initially on a modest scale, but a model that is scalable. If it were me I would even have the domestic club rugby competition tiered. With the sim to lift standards and make it more competitive, to have a few dominant clubs for the other clubs to aspire to and to make them the target, a high water mark.

In turn the the benefits would flow with interest in domestic club rugby to increase, with rising standards cascading to creating better content and money for and from the broadcasters. The cycle begins.

I see the professionalisation of domestic club rugby not only necessary for Australia to stay in the domestic code war fight for players, interest and community reach, but also the basis of a broader feeder system upwards to SRP and eventually narrowing further to playing for Australia.

We must keep as many high quality players participating domestically, playing week in week out in local derbies, building combinations, getting time on the field showing their skill sets domestically rather than heading overseas making someone else’s competition superior to our own.

Well done RA for selecting Phil Waugh as the champion for change.

Geoff, you’re right it is change piled upon change, but is it really? If you look at the starting 15 in the last 2 test matches, the only significant changes were at 3 due to injuries, and swapping Tom Hooper from 7 to 6 and bringing in Fraser McReight at 7, because EJ said the track under the roof at Dunedin was dry and going to be faster. If it was going to be slow wet and boggy, he may have picked a bigger body at 7. Overall these are small tweaks, but the main team is staying the same. It’s the bench which is the concern, particularly 10.

Oh that’s right, memory is slipping!

Geoff,

McLennan has made the right call, and so has EJ. They do need to look to the BIL tour in 2025 and the World Cup in 2027.

The Wallabies need to have a settled side, one that is used to playing with each other with that 6th sense where they know what their team mate is going to do. It was like when Tim Horan threw that mystery ball to David Campese in the semi final against the ABs in the 1991 World Cup and Campese just happened to be there to catch and score a try. There are lots of other examples, but you really only get that magic when players have been together for lots of matches.

RA realise, like the rest of us, that the chances of pulling off a snatch and grab raid at the World Cup against sides who are more settled, have excellent support structures already in place including strong professional feeder systems is highly unlikely. Its like conducting a snatch and grab raid on Fort Knox, fun to think about for a movie script, but in reality it isn’t going to happen, your just going to get arrested and end up in jail serving a very long sentence.

Back to reality, it’s great to dream and provide hope, to spin the possible which is really the impossible, more like Naked Gun.

So McLennan and EJ are correct to build to the future, because the danger is if the Wallabies and Australian rugby are still in a mess for the BIL tour and the 2027 World Cup is a disaster, the consequences for the standing and reputation as one of the southern hemisphere’s super powers will have been lost, probably forever.

That reputation took a few generations to build and was done with the help of NZ, who realised in the 1970s at the time of apartheid in South Africa that they needed a strong rugby neighbour to keep the ABs at the top. Nothing has changed, it’s just the world has changed and it’s all about money, politics, professionalism, domestic competitions and maintaining a national team that can compete with those with a lot more money, depth, structures, pathways, rules about transferring nationality and all the other advantages crested over the last 20 years.

So I’m all in, I want EJ to go all out, or rather all in if you’re playing poker, leave nothing on the table, play the run on team for every match, no matter how strong or weak. No chopping and changing. Have them build up those combinations, that sixth sense, knowing your team mate isn’t going to miss that tackle so you don’t have to cover, is going to catch that impossible ball, is going to be there on that Hail Mary pass.

Now we only need to worry about injuries, especially at 10. Memo to QC please keep fit!

Will,

There is a lot of head scratching going on and why didn’t this guy or that guy get selected. I think we should look at who has been selected and how EJ wants the Wallabies to play, basically using size up front to grind the opposition into submission.

The run on 15 to me is looking settled, subject to recovery from injuries, but even then the core of players, albeit they’re new to test rugby like Tom Hooper at 6, has been assembled in record time. The 15 have selected themselves as it should be.

The side looks big and powerful up front, especially at 3, even if TT is unable to play due to injury. The backline too is settled and I really like the look of all the numbers 9 to 15.

The biggest ingredient is for EJ to play the same run on team for the next 5 matches up until the knock out stages of the World Cup. This will make the team even more dangerous as they get used to playing together and raise the level of intuition inherent in good sides. So there should be no chopping and changing when playing weaker teams in the pool games like Georgia to rest players. The policy should be the first 23, with the first 15 on for at least 60, preparing them for the heat for when they make it out of the pool. One can assume this is the case as this side is good enough.

They can now fine tune the new playing style, which is stuff all kicking unless it’s deep into the corners putting pressure on the return, still a dangerous tactic against Fiji who can hurt you from anywhere, and using the massive forward pack to grind the opposition into submission.

The biggest risk, as I see it, is if CG gets injured who are they going to use to replace him? I would have taken QC to plug that gap, who is much better than the Waratah’s Donaldson, who also has Nic White’s expensive instinct of kick first and hope for the best, a possession killer, especially if the game is close.

Ok let’s go, now let’s see how they go against France in the “friendly”, exciting, right! This is real smash and grab stuff.

Sam, nice article. We have been discussing the possession game plan and the poor kicking tactics that have been employed by professional Australian teams.

It seems the Wallabies are making progress. Get rid of handing over easy possession mainly from box kicks at the back of rucks and then one can concentrate on the rest, which will be the reduction in tackle count, and shape of attack and inevitable defence.

EJ in a very short period from the first game against the Springboks, a disaster, to the last game against the ABs in Dunedin, as you correctly point out has a settled back line, and I think a pretty good one too. The more games they play together and the necessary combinations start to become intuitive, the more dangerous they will become.

I also think the forward pack is looking more settled to as the players seem to pick themselves, with the error rate dropping, because there is less kicking and less defending, in turn less referee interference.

Now EJ and his coaches can start to concentrate on feints and more complicated attack tactics with the backs, and the forwards can get better around the breakdown. The breakdown work will be really important as it seems the French are excellent especially at getting their hands into the rucks and stealing turnovers and blunting the attack.

I agree with you I don’t think the Wallabies will beat the French in the “friendly”, but it will be an important measure of how far they have travelled in a short period of time. It will also be a great opportunity to test their improvements against a probable World Cup winner.

Geoff,

It’s the sum total of little events that result in winning test rugby and losing.

The 2nd string ABs who started the game were being outplayed by the Wallabies, who seemed to be more settled both in the forwards and the backs. I think EJ is getting close to his run on team for the first two matches at the World Cup.

I hear commentary on whether the 9/10 combination is correct. I think the 9 position had been cemented by McDermott as he was selected captain and Nic White has been relegated to the pine.

I have been critical of Nic White”s game all through the SRP season and also against the Springboks as he insists on kicking away possession with his hair brained box kicks. The last 3 box kicks, particularly the last was in our half, uncontested and put the desperate ABs on attack. He is a liability and worse when the game is close as it was when the other team is absolutely desperate to get the ball. As I have said before, dumb!

The 10 is it Carter Gordon or Quade Cooper? Originally I thought give CG a go and let’s see what he can do. Then let QC finish the game with his experience. Now I feel give CG a go let him make all the mistakes under pressure (which he did) now, rack up some game time and become the regular first choice. Smart by EJ. QC did come on, did some great work dropped the ball, probably because he is not getting the game time. Either way the Wallabies have 2 good 10’s to take to the World Cup.

Finally the No.3, I have been waiting to see Pone Fa’amausili get his chance. I was not disappointed, however I was concerned later in the 2nd half to see the ABs drive through the tight head with Fa’amausili and Skelton at tight head and lock respectively. How could this happen with 2 really big humans in position? I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt as Fa”amausili was nursing a shoulder injury and was dominant but did get hurt in the 1st half.

Again I think EJ is getting there with his big body ball in game play and trying to eliminate the crazy kick away possession tactic will be effective in the World Cup, but how deep will the Wallabies go is to be seen.

How far Australia goes will be on display when it plays France in France for its no so “friendly” on the 28th of August. France must be one of the low odd favourites to win the World Cup.

How lucky are the Wallabies to play a friendly against France before the World Cup to further fine tune tactics, gather more experience and get used to playing probably another one of the best rugby teams in world rugby, I can’t wait as the Wallabies are in the perfect position of underdog and on the rise, with a team looking more settled and more dangerous every match being played. Thank you EJ!

Brett, I agree with everything you said! I think Dunedin will be another step forward even though the Wallabies may get punished on the scoreboard. This sequence has a 2003 feel about it when just before the World Cup then the ABs put a cricket score on the EJ coached Wallabies, then lost a couple of weeks later to the same team.

The question one should ask themselves is do the Wallabies with no expectation of winning can play freely in a World Cup?

Whereas the ABs have the weight on them from the NZ public with an expectation to win, everything all the time, making them vulnerable to pressure and possibly restricting their usual freedom to play high intensity free flowing rugby in a World Cup?

Just food for thought!

Geoff,
I think you nailed it. I can be critical of how the Wallabies are coached, their tactics, being mainly willing to give over possession easily, through poor uncontested kicking, soft at the breakdown, error prone,defending and collecting penalties.
I thought the Wallabies were the big improvers on the night. They fought for the ball, they didn’t give away too many penalties it was hand to hand in your face combat. MK was a standout as he was unbelievable everywhere back on his feet to contest and win a turnover, rest of the backline looked threatening. It’s starting to gel.
The Wallabies are finding their mojo quickly. Yes, they were down in the first half, but most of that half was keeping the lid of the very good ABs.
The tight head position was disrupted by injuries to AA and TT having some kind of injury to his ribs, taking on a soft tackle to try and protect himself, it was considered high. So not only did we lose TT, but he was yellow carded as well. A little harsh and deadly to any chance of staying with ABs. They scored 2 converted tries in those 10 minutes between the 60th and 70th minutes. Thereafter the Wallabies held tough when they could have folded.
I also liked how CG and McDermott started at 9/10 and were replaced by QC and Nic White in the 60th minute. Slipper also looked fresh coming on late. I think that’s how all the games should start from this point on.
With regard to the injury to AA at tight head, I have been waiting for Pone Fa’amausili to getting a start, or to get more game time. Yes he is slow and sone say lazy, but with ball in hand and a hard man, and holding up the scrum at 3, he is enormous in ability and size. The ABs found this out in Melbourne last year he is a handful and will find him a real handful again,
In summary the ABs will be finding it harder to bully the Wallaby forwards as the pack is gathering sone real size, an EJ initiative.
I think the game in Dunedin will be another step in the right direction for the Wallabies as they seem to have sorted out their game plan, that is if we have to run through 20 or more phases, ball in hand, that’s what we will do, just like the ABs are doing and is exactly what we have been discussing on the ROAR all SRP season.
As an aside, I think Michael Cheika is doing a fantastic job with the Pumas. They took the Springboks down to the wire in SA, and they will be a real danger team at the World Cup. Once they get possession they just come at you again and again, squeezing the life out of you like a South America anaconda.
Both the Wallabies and the Pumas need to find a kicker with an average above 90% both teams want to be able to apply score board pressure through penalties, a necessary ingredient in a World Cup tournament. Keep knocking over drop field goals rather than trying to break down the excellent defenses. That’s the tactic that has been used successfully in previous World Cups, even by tte Wallabies in 1999.

Jones is really going for a big forward pack to punch holes in the AB’s pack, down the middle, fire with fire.
I really liked Pone Fa’amausili who isn’t on this weeks 23, the giant prop from the Rebels, I have seen him included in the squad previously, but he has only seen a few minutes.
Pone was also the catalyst for the wallabies go forward ball in Melbourne last year in Melbourne against the ABs in the game that got away, and he did come off injured. I remember the look of doubt on Barrett’s face after he was knocked over by Fa’amausili in that game.
Yes he is slow around the ruck on defence, but really good on trucking the ball up, as this is the game plan EJ seems to be wanting to introduce. I would have started with him at 3, then had TT follow up from the bench. That’s one big human followed by another.
One can assume there isn’t going to be much kicking, but if there is it will be short and in front of the forward pack, so when AB’s do win the high ball as they are so good in the air, the Wallaby pack will drive over the ball in numbers using size and weight, winning back the 50/59 option.
If that is the strategy I’m on board.

Hey Eddie, in case you haven’t realised the ABs not only think they are better than us, but they are. Ok you might win on Saturday by some fluke, but I wouldn’t want to be playing them again in Dunedin, the response will be like waking up a giant!

Let them win easily on Saturday, which is an easy task in itself, just like they did in 2003 before the World Cup in 2003, then beat them in the playoffs at the World Cup. Use exactly the same tactics would be a great idea.

Nick
Thank you and a great article.
One could pick any of the 3 outlined, but if it included the 5 super rugby sides, and if was my choice I would expand this to 12 teams, fully professional, unlimited only by money and the capacity to pay recruit from anywhere, (probably from NZ and the South Pacific) with a draft on Australian players.
The advantages of that option would be more opportunity for players being promoted from all the clubs across Australia, widening of pathways to international level, local derbies each weekend, a greater broadcasting income generating opportunity due to more content via cable and free to air, more press and increased public interest.
Where would the money come from to create an extra 7 domestic Super Rugby sides? These funds should not be drawn from RA as they just don’t have enough to go around already from their current puny $40 million broadcasting deal. I would have RA to use their marketing team and corporate and other extensive connections to act as the match maker for the 7 new clubs, and ultimately for all 12 clubs to underwrite the costs of running these clubs and paying for players etc.
In turn these 12 clubs would share in the new broadcasting income contract for the domestic competition, sponsorships etc,
The beginnings would be modest, but you would be creating a scalable domestic model with a generational long term benefit e,g, players would be retained domestically rather than having to head overseas for Rugby opportunities,
The long term goal is for RA not have to provide any funds to its super rugby sides as they will be self funding. RA would take a share if this increased broadcasting rights as it is the ultimate administrative body, and had “brokered” the arrangements by joining up the money s receive a “royalty” which could come in many different forms, with the 12 franchises.
With this self funding scalable model , the franchises would then be free to recruit from anywhere in Australia and the rest of the world, the only limitation is how much money do they have to spend. This will go back to how much money do they make from the new broadcasting income. This will be no longer a subsidised competition draining the bank accounts of RA.
The long term goal of a 12 team fully professional model, and because it is scalable could be 14 or more teams across Australia, would be to earn more than the $400 million per annum the NRL earns from the broadcasters per annum or $650 million that the AFL makes.
These numbers will never ever be achievable on the current puny 5 team SRP model, with local derbies a rare event. Also because we’re not being beaten up by the NZ teams, because all our best players are offshore, we can enjoy our own competition lifting public interest, which increases broadcast income. One good thing leads to another,
So how would that fit into the current SRP obligations where Australian has to produce 5 teams under contract to play NZ teams? We don’t we pull out of SRP. It’s time to go fully professional and have an Australian domestic rugby competition.
We still get to play the ABs, Springboks, Pumas and the rest of the world at test level. It’s just we will have a much broader player base to fill the ranks of the Wallabies, and over time no longer requiring the services of players playing overseas because the best talent would be playing domestically, and all the benefits that come with that e.g. player combinations, control over player availability, workload, etc.

Lucky Phil, you’re right you’re missing a reliable goal kicker, and you’d be wanting to take points every time you’re inside the AB’s half. Score board pressure needs to be applied as scoring a try against them is so difficult.

Nic White or McDermott are both pretty good, as long as the forwards are dong their job, and they don’t start kicking away valuable possession. It must be great being a halfback behind an AB forward pack. Who is EJ going to use to attack and put pressure on the 9.

Doctorbx, spot on, couldn’t agree more, it isn’t 9/10 ( as long as Nic White doesn’t start to kick away valuable possession) it’s 1 to 8 that need to get their act together, and put pressure on the AB forward pack. Agree these games start with winning up front, a big ask, but not impossible against the ABs, who will be ferocious.

Brett,

Another great article and congratulations on the podcasting.

We have been discussing on the Roar all through the SRP season how the Australian teams needed to hang in to the ball more and put pressure on the opposition defence.

The advantage we have been saying is that it makes the opposition have to attempt to win the ball back, particularly at the breakdown. To use the whistle happy referees and the complex rugby rules, offside, hands in the ruck, entering from the side etc etc.

Here is another statistic, I think there have been only 2 successful jackal balls, by my count, from the Wallabies in the last 2 tests matches, when on defence.

Is the lack of jackal ball a skill set problem or is it a referee problem or both? Whatever the answer it is clearly much harder now to turn defence into attack at the ruck and breakdown, because we have Michael Hooper and Fraser Mcreight two world class exponents and still no success.

Last week you posed the question what game plan the Wallabies should adopt.

Since the correlation of being on defence and having a high penalty count go together, then there is yet another confirmation it has to be possession, possession, possession. Make them tackle you, make them take risks to run the ball back, give you penalty advantages on attack to reload, you don’t kick away possession and never ever cheaply and never to an AB back 3, unless it’s deep into the corner with everyone chasing to choke off any counterattack.

When one boils it all down it is a simple game plan.

Making it simple, then the guys with that game plan can concentrate on intensity. aggression, speed, power to dominate, set the speed of the attack. These are the really important essential ingredients required at test level rugby, particularly against the hugely talented aggressive ABs.

Come on EJ you can do it!

Geoff,

A great article snd sums up the issues very well.

As fans of Australian rugby, we are used to disappointment and inconsistency, World beaters one week and terrible the next.

Your article is notable for the 12 points of flaws, problems and issues and only 2 with some kind of positive spin.

The Wallabies have an easier draw in the World Cup pools. In previous generations we would have been super excited as we probably have sailed through, but now, we are holding our breaths, hoping we will not be embarrassed and become the laughing stock of world rugby, one of the great southern hemisphere teams that has been bought to its knees by the rugby north.

This had been the northern hemisphere”s aim for a generation by design, planning, political manoeuvres, rule amendments and money. In turn in the southern hemisphere we have been mostly asleep at the wheel, falling behind and now outgunned in terms of player opportunities, money and competition.

This applies mostly to Australia arguably the weakest of the original fiercest southern hemisphere’s big 3, the one where rugby union isn’t a national obsession.

We wish the guys and the coaching squad all the very best and success in their quest.

Whatever the result, I say we start agitating about your item 12. when all done and dusted,

Australia has to prepare and plan for the BIL tour, then the RWC in 2007. We have to get our act together, because the consequences of poor performances over the next 4 years will be profound and could have the knock on effect of wiping Australian rugby off the international stage for generations, with no hope of ever hosting a BIL or World Cup again.

Yes Australia like to be the underdogs, and the ABs have come out all guns blazing. Sure the Wallabies can put the ABs under pressure. The question is for how long can they sustain pressure and from where?

So what is EJs exciting game plan that is going to lift the 8th ranked Wallabies to take on one and defeat of the topped ranked teams in the world,

As a process of elimination it can’t be a defensive game against the ABs, I think we can agree on that their attack is fast intense so spontaneous and varied one will never be able to number up correctly.

It can’t be a kicking game, that just hands over possession and reverts to the defensive game – see above.

The only option it has to be a game where you hang onto possession and take it up the middle, and look to your fast men to find the gaps. Good luck with that too, as the Springboks tried this and they got belted in the first quarter.

The ABs are in great form, and one has to fight fire with fire and slow it down. It is impossible to compete with the speed and intensity the ABs are currently playing. One has to make them calibrate their defence to how fast or slow we want to attack. I would not be giving any easy possession to the ABs, and I would make sure I would be picking the biggest tight five I could to take it up the middle and to blunt their attack. Run the ball from everywhere, including from inside your own 22, if their is support, take risks. Hopefully the sports psychologist (do they have one?) get them really fired up.

A loss is the most likely outcome. As a Wallaby supporter all I want to see is the boys earn some respect and show that they really can be a dangerous opponent. If it turns into a cricket score I will be reaching for the remote, and all the negative thoughts that will go with that.

The sacking of Tom “chip kick on attack” Wright is a good call. He”s a good runner but seems to lack the necessary rugby smarts for test rugby. He was particularly poor against the Springboks, and against the Pumas he was exposed again. Time to plug the leak at 15. When he played for tte Brumbies I was never impressed, but had “potential”.

Who is EJ going to select to pull the 15 jersey in the footsteps of the fantastic 15s of the past. What an honour to try and duplicate any part of their talent.

Whoever EJ picks will indicate his game plan. If it was my decision. I would go for a fast running offloading fullback who can link up with support players, rather than a kicking fullback. Run the ball back to halfway off you can!

There is no point in kicking the ball back to the ABs, even to a line out as an exit strategy. Kick return at your own peril. Give them a lineout in your half and the ABs will come at you. I would even be inclined to tap the ball for a penalty if the line out is not functioning or kick for penalty goal, when a penalty is called rather than risk a line out, to make sure you retain possession so they have little to no chance of winning the ball back.

The dilemma is damned if you do damned if you don’t. So let’s go for broke, all in, nothing to lose, ball in hand, hand to hand combat, in the trenches, physical domination if that’s possible, create doubt, do a Mike Tyson “upset their good plan by punching them in the face”.

The Wallabies are definitely the underdogs, now ranked 8th in the world, and that’s selecting overseas based players as well, can you believe it? Yes that is confirmation if you had any doubt Rugby union is in the downward spiral and being hollowed out in Australia. A discussion for another day.

EJ talks a big game. Winning a World Cup from 8th ranking is a massive call, with a new coaching team, and a couple few games to sort out the kinks. it’s like a 100:1 at the Melbourne Cup. It can happen and the test against the ABs will indicate whether it’s a possibility or a fantasy.

Pass me the remote!