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It was a couple of thousand kilometres away and seven months past, but the loose-forward cast assembled in Brisbane on Saturday night momentarily drew the mind back to the grim loss to Ireland at last year’s Rugby World Cup.
David Pocock, the man whose absence helped to concede breakdown control to the Irish, wore the captain’s armband of the Western Force. Ben McCalman, one of the designated scapegoats in the infamous group-stage defeat, was beside him at No.8.
Matt Hodgson and Beau Robinson lined up in the No.6 and No.7 jerseys for the Force and Reds respectively. They are deemed by some to have been potential Wallabies saviours egregiously left at home by a flawed coach.
It has become a burdensome defeat for Robbie Deans in so many ways, still wielded as a stick to beat him with, akin to the 58.2 win percentage highlighted by Roar colleague David Lord earlier this week.
The charge is a simple one. The lack of specialist openside back-up for Pocock in the World Cup squad left Australia exposed in the most significant area of the modern game and on the road to eventual ruin.
That ground has been well covered and opinions have long been formed that are unlikely to be changed. Presumably, unflattering reference is made to it in that post-World Cup review compiled by past luminaries and a line, of sorts, can be drawn under the matter.
The discussion now is whether the alternative to Pocock is any clearer, should catastrophe strike. Almost by stealth, the opening Test of the year is creeping up on us, a mere three months away. But in keeping with a messy game at Suncorp Stadium, during which the players treated the ball as if it were covered in acid and not water, conclusions about the pecking order behind Pocock were hard to pin down.
Beau Robinson’s night will be most remembered for the proximity between his missed tackle on Pocock – which led to a try – and his substitution. It looked like a punishment but perhaps too much can be read into these things – he was replaced by Liam Gill at almost the identical time against the Waratahs in round one.
And it shouldn’t be allowed to cloud the fact that Robinson produced the most influential piece of breakdown work of the evening, turning over Force ball in the play that led to Ben Tapuai’s crucial opening try.
Robinson remains a personal favourite because of a compelling backstory that suggests character by the bucketful, his relentless attack on the ball, and the handy distribution skills displayed in the later stages last year, proving he could be that link between forwards and backs.
However, it is hard to think of those considered as elite switching off in the way Robinson did against the Force. It is a challenge for Ewen McKenzie too. For all the systems he might put in place to counter complacency he is fighting against human nature. Our default setting is repose. Such is the ultimate impotence of the coach.
Hodgson did what Hodgson does. He produced a shift of wonderful industry and unflinching commitment to the tackle and breakdown without suggesting he has the requisite physicality to transfer these attributes to the Test arena.
It is probably safe to assume that question marks over his stature – highlighted by the brutal Samoans last July – was front and centre in the decision to omit Hodgson from the original World Cup squad and the apparent reticence to call him up when the opportunity arose.
He is not appreciably larger this year. Yet still fresh in the mind is Hodgson’s brilliant display against the Highlanders at Carisbrook in round 16 in 2011, one of the finest loose-forward performances by any Australian in Super Rugby in the previous campaign. In truth, there is blade of grass between him and Robinson.
There is another potential solution in the wings, if we are to write off McCalman’s prospects of wearing the No.7 again after the Irish experience, as we surely must.
Gill gives the impression of being a young man keen to do things ahead of schedule, even turning up for duty in round one with a beard that looked so incongruous on his youthful chops that we can’t be certain some form of adhesive wasn’t involved.
He was on the outer fringes of the Wallabies’ radar last year and seems to be on the fast-track with the Reds, notching up significant game time already. But that frame needs a few years to fill out before he can realise his huge potential.
Instead, we might have to get used to a situation – alien to the Wallabies in the George Smith and Phil Waugh era, but familiar to New Zealanders – of over-dependency on a brilliant No.7.
All of which brings us back to the question that was doing the rounds in the hours before kick-off at Eden Park on September 17. How on earth would the Wallabies cope without David Pocock?
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.