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“Brent,” the brave editor said only hours before the start of the first One-Day International of the summer, “I think it’s about time we started getting into rugby again.”
“Paddy, you’re drunk before midday again,” was my reply.
But he (probably) wasn’t drunk, and he wasn’t asking for my opinion. And the 2015 Super Rugby season was less than a month away. This was an argument that couldn’t be won, and would force your humble correspondent to start considering the Gilbert as much as the Kookaburra.
And while yes, it probably is time to start contemplating another rugby season, it’s difficult to come up with anything other than questions. I mean, everyone’s unbeaten in January, aren’t they?
So here are the questions that stick out at this time of year, with stumps still in the ground, and the goalposts still lying down among the long grass in the corner.
Australia
Can the Waratahs go back to back with no major recruitment and 100 per cent less Kane Douglases than in 2014? Have their persistent, but not terminal, set piece issues in 2014 been rectified? Is Dave Dennis serious about upgrading himself from a flanker/lock into a lock/flanker?
Has Bernard Foley increased his kicking range, and if so, by how many centimetres? Is Kurtley Beale prepared for the inevitable increase in defensive attention he’ll attract as the leading try-assister last season?
Has Israel Folau learned to run off anyone else? How long will Michael Cheika play wing lotto before settling on his preferred options?
Is Scott Fardy a flanker or a lock for the Brumbies in 2015? Who has taken up lineout calling, in the absence of Ben Mowen? Where does last year’s player of the year, Jarrod Butler fit into the grand scheme of things? Will David Pocock be still playing by Easter?
How will Stephen Larkham fare as a standalone coach, and without grey-locked bucket hat-wearing Laurie Fisher beside him? How will Fisher’s absence affect the Brumbies’ breakdown and set piece work? Will coach, captain, CEO, and chairman all still be there at Christmas time?
Is year ten the season the Western Force finally delivers on their potential? Is this the season Kyle Godwin goes from promising youngster to genuine match-winner? And will he be wearing 12 or 10? Is Nick Cummins the Mayor of Perth yet?
Did they learn the hard lessons of last year’s late-season fade out? How do you replace Kieran Longbottom? How many Super Rugby regulars did their cunning but bloated NRC squad unearth?
Whatever happened to Angus Cotteral? Has Michael Foley spent the last seven months stroking a cat while quietly plotting his Super Rugby domination? If not, what else has he been doing?
How long will it take before Karmichael Hunt has the NRL scribes calling for CEO Dave Smith’s head after yet another ‘salary cap oversight’? And how many minutes after that will said NRL scribes start labelling the Wallabies as ‘World Cup certainties’?
Will Liam Gill re-emerge as the Wallabies contender he can be? Who of Gill, Jake Schatz, and Ed Quirk will be most disappointed by the recruitment of former All Black Adam Thomson? Which young lock is next in line to succeed James Horwill? Will Greg Holmes finally be recognised as the best scrummaging tighthead in Australia?
Will James O’Connor have cameras trained on him wherever he goes in public? Will he live up to his redemptive tones on arrival at Ballymore? And just how far can the Reds go if everyone is fit and firing in 2015?
How will the Rebels fit Sean McMahon, Colby Fainga’a, Scott Fuglistaller, Jordy Reid, Scott Higginbotham, Radike Samo, Luke Jones, and Lopeti Timani into the backrow? And how old – seriously – is Radike Samo?
How will the Rebels fit Jack Debreczini, Bryce Hegarty, Tamati Ellison, Mike Harris, Mitch Inman, Tom English, and Sefa Naivalu into the midfield?
Is this the year the Rebels progress from ‘potentially’ to ‘actually’ being a decent team? And whatever happened to the Rebel Army?
New Zealand
Are Hurricanes celebrating the return of prodigal son, Ma’a Nonu, or still rocking themselves in the corner at the loss of Tim Bateman?
Does one Jimmy Cowan equal one Peri Weepu at the Blues?
Is pulling on the Chiefs no. 12 jersey like riding a bike for Sonny Bill Williams?
Is this the second or third coming of Robbie Freuen at the Crusaders?
And are slates wiped any cleaner playing stock-wise than they were at the Highlanders during the off-season?
South Africa
Was the Bulls recruitment policy in the off-season to distract the Cheetahs and pillage forwards while they weren’t looking?
Did the last player to leave the Cheetahs also turn out the lights?
Will the Lions expand on their 2014 gameplan of ‘let Marnitz kick drop goals’?
Is all happy again at Casa du Plessis in Durban?
And in what new way will the Stormers underwhelm in 2015?
Rugby in January. There’s no such thing as a silly question…