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There’s only 29 days until Michael Cheika sends his Wallabies into their Rugby World Cup opener against the dangerous Fijians at the Millennium Stadium.
In that time Cheika has an urgent job to vastly improve the percentages of his goal-kickers Bernard Foley, Quade Cooper, Matt Giteau, and Kurtley Beale with no Nic White in the 31-man squad.
Nothing less than a 90 per cent success rate throughout the tournament will be acceptable.
I would feel a lot more confident if James Hanson was the third hooker, James Horwill was one of the four locks, and White was the third halfback instead of sacrificing Matt Giteau as a pinch-hitter.
Having acknowledged the obvious drawbacks, the Wallabies have the best possible draw in the hardest pool of the four, rightfully tagged the ‘pool of death’.
Fiji, Uruguay, England and Wales in that order is almost heaven sent.
How Cheika treats the draw will decide if he’s going to be fearless, as he was at ANZ Stadium against the All Blacks, or reckless as he was for the return bout at Eden Park.
With Fiji and Uruguay the first two rounds, Cheika has the ideal chance to give his 31-man squad a telling hit-out before the business end of the pool against England and Wales, both at Twickenham.
My team for Fiji would be:
1. Scott Sio
2. Stephen Moore (c)
3. Sekope Kepu
4. Dean Mumm
5. Rob Simmons
6. Scott Fardy
7. Michael Hooper
8. David Pocock
9. Will Genia
10. Bernard Foley
11. Joe Tomane
12. Kurtley Beale
13. Tevita Kuridrani
14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
15. Israel Folua
16. Tatafu Polota-Nau
17. James Slipper
18. Greg Holmes
19. Will Skelton
20. Matt Giteau
21. Quade Cooper
22. Matt Toomua
I’ve selected Beale at 12 because he’s the only Wallaby who can cut Folau loose, and according to Cheika’s squad list, Beale has been selected purely as an inside back when he can just as easily play 10, either wing, or fullback, if required.
Besides I still reckon he’s the best attacking Wallaby 12, and his defence is far more reliable than most give him credit.
And he can take the long-range penalties, while Giteau is there as halfback and 12 cover, with Toomua covering 10 and 12.
Cheika can border on being reckless in the second game because if any Wallaby team can’t beat 19th ranked Uruguay by at least 60 points, they have no right to be called a Rugby World Cup contender.
1. James Slipper
2. Stephen Moore (c)
3. Greg Holmes
4. Kane Douglas
5. Will Skelton
6. Ben McCalman
7. Sean McMahon
8. Wycliff Palu
9. Nick Phipps
10. Quade Cooper
11. Drew Mitchell
12. Matt Giteau
13. Rob Horne
14. Henry Speight
15. Israel Folau
16. Tatafu Polota-Nau
17. Scott Sio
18. Toby Smith
19. Dean Mumm
20. Rob Simmons
21. Will Genia
22. Tevita Kuridrani
23. Adam Ashley-Cooper
By the time Michael Cheika has those two wins under his belt with a healthy for and against, he will have the perfect run-in to settle on his top side for the five most important games the Wallabies will play in the Rugby World Cup.
So long as he’s fearless.