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With injuries to Matt Giteau, Matt Toomua, and Rob Horne, Michael Cheika was forced to make changes, and that got him in the mood to keep going after last week’s 42-8 hammering by the All Blacks at ANZ.
Quade Cooper won the flyhalf slot, forcing incumbent Bernard Foley to inside centre to replace Giteau.
Samu Kerevi is the new outside centre, with Tevita Kuridrani dropped to the bench.
Rob Simmons has been dropped altogether, with Adam Coleman joining Kane Douglas as the starting locks.
Blindside flanker Ben McCalman has been dropped altogether, with Scott Fardy regaining his berth.
And surprisingly, halfback Nick Frisby has been added to the touring arty, which obviously puts extra pressure on bench halfback, Nick Phipps.
Behemoth lock Will Skelton, and exciting 21-year-old utility back Reece Hodge are the new benchman.
Without doubt, that’s the most sweeping changes in Cheika’s 20 Test coaching career, but he could so easily have gone further.
After losing all four Tests this year – three against England, and last week – there have been far too many long-service Wallabies who have been basking in past glories, and not putting in as normal, nor as expected.
Skipper Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu, Scott Fardy, Dean Mumm, Bernard Foley, and Adam Ashley-Cooper readily come to mind as having to improve their performance.
Cheika can’t afford to have senior Wallabies playing on just reputation, so careers will be on the line tomorrow in a case of shape up, or be prepared to ship out.
But there are other selection questions to be answered, such as how long will Cheika stick with the “Pooper” exercise?
David Pocock is the senior openside flanker, which could lead to Michael Hooper being benched as a backrow-backline replacement, allowing Lopeti Timani to take over as No 8.
When will Cheika move Israel Folau into the centres where he can be more hands on as the Wallabies most destructive attacking back, which will allow Andrew Kellaway to make his debut at fullback?
And when will hookers Moore and Tatafa Polota-Nau improve their lineout feeds?
So in the light of all these changes, what can we expect in Wellington?
Let’s have patience, pride, and passion for starters.
Lack of patience last week produced sloppy passing, limp catching, and far too many missed first time tackles.
But pride and passion have always been locked in concrete with Wallaby teams of the past, but for some unfathomable reason, both went MIA last week.
There’s no argument, Wellington will be the Wallabies most important game this year.