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In the lead-up to Saturday’s potentially epic decider at ANZ Stadium, Wallaby coach Robbie Deans holds a handsome points lead over his Lions counterpart Warren Gatland.
Deans’ selection of openside flanker George Smith is the icing on the cake after James Horwill survived two citings for stamping.
Those two factors in my book have the Wallabies favourites to make it back-to-back history-making series wins over the famous men in red.
And the legend Smith will have been in both of them, which is history-making in itself. There is no better way to enjoy an early celebration of his 33rd birthday next week.
While Deans deserves praise for Smith’s selection, which goes against his normal train of thought, continually ignoring Peter Kimlin’s versatility is baffling.
He can play 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 with equal ability, making him a priceless bench-man at worst. He offers far more than the two others picked for Saturday – Rob Simmons and Ben McCalman.
But overall, Deans has done a pretty good job at the selection table, it’s just a shame there’s no room anywhere for Liam Gill.
So Deans is on a roll.
But Gatland isn’t. He’s played his cards badly.
In trying to unsettle the Wallabies even further after their close loss in the first Test at Suncorp, Gatland stirred the pot by suggesting the IRB should look at an incident involving Horwill and opposition lock Alun Wyn Jones.
We all know the stamping story, and the nine days and 17 hours of deliberation before Horwill was cleared twice.
That left Gatland, and the IRB, redder in the face that the bright Lions jersey.
No points to Gatland for opening the tin of worms with Horwill’s exemplary career record of not being cited, even yellow-carded, in 37 Tests and 86 games for the Reds.
To think Horwill would be so out-of-character to stamp in the third minute of the first Test with 237 minutes still to go in the biggest series of his career was farcical.
But Gatland’s no pointers didn’t finish there.
He dropped Irish centre icon Brian O’Driscoll for the decider when he should have been captain in the absence of injured skipper Sam Warburton.
The double whammy has left O’Driscoll gutted, and his countless fans around the world gobsmacked.
But Gatland wasn’t finished there either, by naming a staggering 10 Welshmen in the starting lineup with one of them – Alun Wyn Jones – as captain.
And who coaches Wales – Warren Gatland.
Four major decisions that will backfire on the Kiwi come Saturday.
As the heading says, Deans on a roll, Gatland about to be rolled.