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How are the 2015 Wallabies set up for 2019?

13th October, 2015
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Matt Giteau (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Expert
13th October, 2015
38
4684 Reads

Among all the argument and debate and outright guesswork this year about who would and wouldn’t make the Wallabies’ squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, we’ve all probably been guilty of overlooking the magnitude of forward planning that Australian rugby has been undertaking.

Coach Michael Cheika unashamedly admitted his role in the creation of ‘Giteau’s Law’, the allowance that means overseas-based Australian players can maintain their Wallabies eligibility so long as they’ve played at least 60 Tests, and had previously provided at least seven years of service to the professional game in Australia.

It was widely suggested the allowance was made in order to select the reigning European Player of the Year, Matt Giteau, who plays his rugby with Toulon in France.

Among the many quotes he’s given over the year, both around this significant policy shift, and with regard to his desire to build the depth of the Wallabies’ selection pool, two things become clear in Cheika’s thinking.

Firstly, he wants to be able to reward the players who dedicate large portions of their career to Australian rugby. When ‘60+7’ was set as the bench mark, the inevitable trawling of records discovered a number of players who were about to sign with overseas clubs – or indeed, had already – were within arm’s reach of the 60 Test mark.

James Horwill and Will Genia have now reached 60 Tests, and Sekope Kepu has already hit the mark during the World Cup. Rob Simmons and Kurtley Beale have committed to the ARU for their immediate future, but they could both possibly hit 60 Tests by the end of the tournament.

Secondly, he is creating an atmosphere with the Wallabies squad that is making players want to stay put.

Back in February – before the 60+7 allowance was made – Cheika told me in an interview, “My challenge is to make the environment so good that no-one wants to go overseas.”

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Since then, a number of key figures in the Wallabies’ future have committed to continue playing in Australia beyond the RWC. David Pocock and Beale were announced just prior to the team departing for the USA last month, and other players including Simmons, Michael Hooper, and James Slipper have also re-signed this year. More players, including Nick Phipps and Matt Toomua signed long-term deals last year.

In addition, Israel Folau, Bernard Foley, and Ben McCalman have signed flexible contracts for beyond the Rugby World Cup which allow them to take up lucrative contracts in Japan and return for Super Rugby.

All the bouncing balls are slowly falling into place.

Looking at Cheika’s squad for the Cup, 16 of the 31 players selected are 26 years of age or younger, meaning that come the 2019 tournament – currently slotted in for Japan, but watch this space – they’ll be no older than 30. Another five players in the current squad would be no older than 31 in 2019, and you couldn’t rule out someone like Kepu out, either, who will still only be 33 by 2019.

The Wallabies have one of the more experienced squads in this year’s RWC – 1263 Test caps, as at the start of the tournament, only topped by South Africa and New Zealand – but by comparison, have one of the youngest average ages among the 31 players at just 26.4.

Of the Wallabies 31, only Palu, Giteau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, and skipper Stephen Moore lined up for their third World Cup, and none of them count in the 22 players totalled above who would be in line to return in 2019.

Cheika won’t allow himself to think so far ahead, but after a rough 2013-2014, it would be nice if the current coach were still in place in four years time, too.

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Then you have the whole ‘investing for the future’ element, of which the National Rugby Championship will be a major cog by 2019; it’s a competition Cheika has already seen benefits from, too, in selecting Sean McMahon for his Test Debut on last year’s Spring Tour, and having the guts to select him to start in Michael Hooper’s place against Wales. Then you have the efforts of including the likes of Samu Kerevi in Wallabies training squads this year.

There’s no reason at all why some of the current NRC young guns, guys like Junior Laloifi, Ryan Louwrens, Ned Hanigan, and Hugh Roach couldn’t be established Wallabies by the next Rugby World Cup. And that’s before you bring up names like Nic Stirzaker and Jack Debreczini, who most good judges see as future Wallabies sooner rather than later.

More than a dozen 2014 NRC players made their Super Rugby debut in 2015, and those players are already experiencing the obvious benefits of playing at a better standard of rugby. Finally, the ARU is making the investment in young players it so quickly cast aside after just one season of the Australian Rugby Championship in 2007.

The Wallabies may yet do very well in this year’s Rugby World Cup after they topped Pool A, and obviously, Australian rugby fans and Australians in general would love nothing more than a third possession of the Webb Ellis Trophy.

But it’s also important to consider what’s happening now and how that is shaping things for future seasons. If 2015 does prove to be a Rugby World Cup too soon for this crop of Australian players, it should also be viewed as a worthwhile investment for future success.

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