Rarely do Australian cricket and rugby Tests clash with so much at stake.
The baggy greens, down 2-1 in the five-Test Ashes series, must win at Trent Bridge starting Thursday and draw the fifth Test at The Oval, or vice-versa, to retain the Ashes.
Another loss and the Ashes are gone.
The Wallabies must beat the All Blacks at ANZ on Saturday to win the Rugby Championship for the first time, and win again at Eden Park on Saturday week to end the Bledisloe Cup drought that began in 2003.
Let’s start with the cricket, and the brittle Australian batting that must stiffen to have any chance.
It’s high time for David Warner and Chris Rogers to give the Australians a rollicking opening stand instead of firing one-out.
Time too for Steve Smith to fire at first drop like his majestic 215 and lightning 58 at Lord’s, but his renowned consistency went missing in the first and third Tests.
Then the real trouble kicks in with the lack of runs from skipper Michael Clarke (94 at 18.80), Adam Voges (73 at 14.60), and Mitchell Marsh (45 at 15).
All three deserve to be dropped, but Clarke will stay by default as there are only two possible replacements on standby, with Shaun Marsh and Shane Watson to take over from Voges and Mitchell Marsh.
The revamped batting order would read Warner, Rogers, Smith, Shaun Marsh, Clarke, Watson, and Peter Nevill.
Now it’s crunch time with Watson back in the side to stiffen the cordon and the attack with economy, with the hope the runs will come. There’s more chance of Watson scoring than Mitchell Marsh who has show-pony tendencies with glory shot-making.
Rumours that Peter Siddle could replace Mitchell Starc must never eventuate, Starc is far more dangerous and needs to bring that potency to the Trent Bridge table.
As must Mitchell Johnson with plenty more of the two explosive bouncers in three deliveries to Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes.
So time for the baggy greens to stand up and be counted, or come home empty handed.
It’s also time for the Wallabies to stand up against the All Blacks with so much at stake.
The last time the Wallabies won was 25-20 at Suncorp in 2011 to capture the Tri-Nations.
In the 54 Tests of the professional era, the All Blacks have won 38, the Wallabies 14, with two drawn. But the All Blacks have won the last eight, with two drawn, so the Wallabies haven’t beaten the men in black for 10 successive Tests.
The Wallabies will miss lock Rob Simmons for both the Bledisloe Tests, with the Queenslander undergoing wrist surgery. But thanks to Michael Cheika’s on-going in-depth program, just about every position has quality back-ups, with the exception of hooker Stephen Moore and fullback Israel Folau – both irreplaceable.
But Cheika has some serious selection decisions to make. Top of the list – whether to play both outstanding open-side flankers David Pocock and Michael Hooper from the kick-off.
Whether to replace props James Slipper and Greg Holmes in the starting line-up with Scott Sio and Sekope Kepu.
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Whom to replace Simmons – James Horwill, Scott Fardy or Dean Mumm.
Who to play at 8 – Wycliff Palu, Scott Higginbotham or Ben McCalman.
Who to play at 10 – Bernard Foley, Quade Cooper or Matt Giteau, and that will decide the first-choice goal-kicker.
And who will play 12 – Giteau, Kurtkey Beale, Matt Toomua, Christian Lealiifano, or a bolter in 21-year-old Fijian powerhouse Samu Kerevi, who will wear gold sooner than later.
It’s a nice position for Cheika to be in, and it’s all of his own making. His recent training sessions have been so intense as to draw blood – this squad means business.
But the only litmus test will be the 80 minutes at ANZ and the 80 minutes at Eden Park, where the Wallabies haven’t won since 1986 when Alan Jones was the coach and Andy Slack the skipper.
Time for the Wallabies to chalk a big ‘w’ on the team notice board – twice.
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