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Ewen McKenzie wears three hats – he’s the Wallabies coach, he must select the best side to win every Test, and he must mentor attractive, open rugby to keep the turnstiles clicking.
Hat one is obvious, but hat two has a major question mark over it, while hat three is a direct result of hat two.
McKenzie has pulled some stunning selections so far in the Rugby Championship.
For the first two Tests against the All Blacks, when the Wallabies had to be at full strength to stand any chance, McKenzie dumped fly-half and goal-kicker Brendan Foley to the bench for inside centre Kurtley Beale.
The results were a 12-all draw, and a 51-20 flogging, the Bledisloe gone for another year.
That draw should have been a drop-goal win for the Wallabies. In the last six minutes, there were four golden opportunities to break the deadlock, and none were attempted.
Whose fault was that, captain Michael Hooper as the decision-maker on the spot, McKenzie from the coaches’ box, or dumb rugby from the backline?
Whatever the reason, or whoever was to blame, it was a win allowed to rot on the vine.
Then the flogging, and the less said about that the better.
For the next two Tests, McKenzie dumped Beale and his original first-choice halfback Nic White to the bench, promoting the Waratah pairing of Nick Phipps and Foley.
Stunningly, he left out behemoth lock Will Skelton altogether.
Result, the Wallabies won 24-23 against the Boks in the last minute, thanks to McKenzie injecting Beale into the game at the 73rd minute. He couldn’t have left it any later.
The Rob Horne try and the Foley conversion did the trick from 23-17 down, but the coach sure cut it fine.
Hat three – the Wallaby fans aren’t turning up in droves. At the Boks game in Perth, where there are thousands of South African residents, and the Force have drawn good crowds, only 25,718 bothered in a stadium with a capacity of 43,082.
The fourth Wallaby appearance will be tonight against the Pumas at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast, the home of the NRL’s Titans. It has a capacity of 27,000, so far only 15,000 tickets have been sold.
The Pumas have been in the Rugby Championship since 2012, and have never won a match. Their best result was a 16-all draw at Mendoza against the Boks in their inaugural year.
The full stats – the Pumas have played 15 games in the Rugby Championship for 14 losses, and that draw. They have scored 214 points and let in 464, a deficit of 250.
But they will be a handful for the Wallabies tonight. Don’t underestimate the men from Argentina, they boast the best pack of the four nations in this tournament, but haven’t the backs to make capital out of that fact.
Nonetheless, Ewen McKenzie will have to up his ante on hats two and three to make sure the Wallabies are playing to their capabilities, and the fans are clicking the turnstiles to be entertained and proud of their national team.
There’s a way to go.