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So, after all our pontificating and bickering, we have a Wallabies squad to face France. There’s 32 of them in the squad.
Of those selected, four are new and 21 come from the playoff-bound Brumbies and Waratahs.
Surprises, thankfully, were few and far between, with those heading overseas put out to pasture, the rising Force’s presence felt and the second row, home to three of the uncapped folk (and aged 24, 23 and 22), the area of obvious inexperience.
Ewen McKenzie’s hand has been forced by injuries to experienced mainstays like Quade Cooper and David Pocock, as well as those fighting for spots such as Joe Tomane, Liam Gill and, more recently, Luke Burgess and Kyle Godwin.
There will be few complaints. Brumbies fans may wonder what Robbie Coleman and Jesse Mogg, with 12 tries between them this season, have to do to get a spot.
‘Tahs fans would press the cases of Dave Dennis or Benn Robinson, Melburnians Mitch Inman and Toby Smith and Force fans that of Angus Cottrell.
But these are minor issues, it is largely the squad we expected. McKenzie hasn’t upset his improving apple cart – after losing players to injury and the lure of the game overseas, this is constrained continuity.
Questions, inevitably, remain unanswered. While the names are largely as expected, much of the squad’s intrigue surrounds the positions those names have been assigned.
McKenzie told us that the designations were made for the benefit of ‘the armchair selectors’ – that’s us.
Most eye-catching is Kurtley Beale’s selection as an outside-half and Matt Toomua as a centre, despite the former cutting his teeth at 12 all year and the latter being Australia’s form fly-half.
But this is merely more continuity from McKenzie – ahead of the World Cup, he clearly fancies a maverick talent, in the shape of Cooper or Beale, inside the safe pair of hands that is Toomua, and the ability of the free spirit and the ferocious tackler to inter-change.
Elsewhere, Scott Fardy is selected as a flanker, despite playing all but two Super Rugby games as a lock (the last time he packed down at six was March 15). The 13 shirt would appear to be Tevita Kuridrani’s after Adam Ashley-Cooper was named in the back three.
While McKenzie’s ideas won’t be set in stone, these positional picks give an insight into how we can expect the side to look on June seventh at Suncorp.
McKenzie is likely to pick a team before picking a captain, which makes the question of who’s skippering his ship is especially interesting. Stephen Moore, who’ll rarely play more than 60 minutes, and Michael Hooper, who at 22 is probably still short of the maturity and experience to engage with the referee as a Test match captain should, are the only guaranteed starters in the pack.
The shape of the back line, as mentioned above, is becoming clearer but only Will Genia is a leadership candidate among those pencilled in. With Nic White looming, the eraser is dangerously close to Genia’s name.
So there’s no obvious candidate, which leads us to Scott Higginbotham – a peculiar and divisive case. He’s not played yet for McKenzie’s Wallabies, thanks to that pesky shoulder injury in 2013.
This time round, while many want him as captain, others believe he’s not worthy of a place in a congested back-row containing Fardy, Wycliff Palu and Ben McCalman. How does Ewen solve a problem like Higgers?
There are accusations that the big Rebel strolls around the park too much, that he’s not consistent enough, that he operates on the fringes of the game and that he’s indisciplined.
Unfortunately for Higginbotham in the final department, the stats don’t lie – nobody has given more than his 23 penalties away this season. The Rebels no. 8 was at it again on Saturday in Brisbane – binned for a barge in the first minute and involved in a tussle in the last. Pull your head in, Scotty.
Yet, the adoration and admiration received by Higginbotham in Melbourne is the sort normally reserved for footballers of a different code. He’s an inspirational figure at Australia’s newest franchise and, at times over the last two years, has looked like he’s hauling them forward (and that’s most definitely the direction they are moving) by sheer force of will.
With Higginbotham, as cliched as it sounds, you know you’re getting 100 per cent and he’s shown an ability to engage with the officials this season (unlike a certain Mr Horwill).
As a back-row forward, he’s more athletic than ever, rules the air at line-out time and tackles hard, although as that penalty counts shows, he needs to clean up his act at the breakdown.
More than ever this season Higginbotham, playing with an immense freedom that has at times been his own worst enemy, has shown touches of pure flair and class – there are few better off-loaders in the world game and even fewer forwards who set up two tries with deft kicks in their career, let alone a season, as he’s done against the Cheetahs and Highlanders in 2014.
If McKenzie has decided to go with a maverick talent at 10, he needs a captain to match. For mine, that man is Scott Higginbotham and he’ll be wearing the number eight.
No nonsense now – bring on Les Bleus.
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.