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Something occurred to me during the Wallabies’ good-enough-is-far-enough win over France on Sunday morning.
Even though Wallabies coach Michael Cheika’s consistent chopping and changing of the side is something that has got my goat during 2016, he is simply running from the same song sheet he held since taking on the job.
At times this year, I’ve bemoaned the number of changes he’s made week-to-week, and the silly delays in naming a side, followed by a massively inflated bench one week, and no bench at all the next. Just once, I’ve had the thought, it would’ve been nice to read the words, “…has named an unchanged squad” on a press release.
The year following a Rugby World Cup was always going to be about rebuilding the Wallabies, and Cheika on multiple occasions this year has used words to the effect of ‘adding to the depth’ of the selection pool. In fact, going back further, he used those exact words when the ‘Giteau’s Law’ allowance for overseas-based players was announced.
The match against France was always going to be the match on the Spring Tour in which Cheika rested players and made multiple changes as he sought to get game time into other squad members and so it was, with the official wording reading, “Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has made twelve changes to his starting side for the Test against France at Stade de France in Paris.”
It ended up being one more than that, with uncapped Western Force flyhalf Jonno Lance a late replacement on the bench for the injured Quade Cooper.
So, 13 changes from the week before against Scotland, but in reality, 19 of the 23 Wallabies jerseys had different players in them than was the case in Edinburgh.
Lance went unused in the end, and will have to wait for his Wallabies debut, though Cheika since the 25-23 win has said, “He’ll run the show down in Bordeaux for the Wallaby XV that goes down there, and I’d say it won’t be long before he gets that (Test) cap.”
Kyle Godwin did make his long-awaited Test debut, however, becoming Wallaby no.903. He was the 13th debutant of 2016, which I’ve since read is the highest number of debutants in a single season since 2005. And who knows; there’s still two Tests left on tour, that record could yet be topped.
For what it’s worth, I thought Godwin played well. He didn’t play with same sort of midfield ascendency he enjoyed toward the back end of the NRC this season, but he did the ball-distribution and line-straightening job asked of him very well. He may not play next weekend in Dublin against Ireland, but I’ll be honest, I couldn’t quibble if held his place somewhere in the matchday 23.
But Godwin was also the 48th player Cheika has used in 2016. Curious as to just high the number of players used this season is, I mapped out the matchday squads for every Test played this year.
Cheika used 32 different players in the three-Test series against England back in June – by comparison, England used 27 – and used another 14 players during the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup series.
He’s added Tolu Latu and Godwin to that list since arriving in Europe, and Lance would’ve been no.49 had he crossed the sideline at the Stade de France in regulation time.
Could Cheika raise his bat before the year is out? With the likes of Marika Koroibete on tour, you couldn’t rule it out, though if we include the French Barbarians game coming up on Thursday night, then the number sails past 60.
The Wallaby XV squad to play in Bordeaux – to be joined by another five players from the official touring party – was named late yesterday afternoon, and added a host of new players to the 2016 list.
Among them are: former Western Force hooker Nathan Charles, now with Clermont after coming back from injury with Western Sydney in the NRC. Former Brumbies and now France-based backrowers Peter Kimlin (Grenoble) and Ben Mowen (Pau). The evergreen Mark Gerrard, from Toyota Industries Shuttles in Japan, and who I thought had retired from playing to start coaching, and really promising Western Sydney Rams prop Dave Lolohea, who at this stage remains without a Super Rugby contract for 2017.
They’ll join Sam Carter, Jack Dempsey, Sef Fa’agase, Nick Frisby, Andrew Kellaway, Koroibete, Lance, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Andrew Ready, Izaia Perese, Tom Robertson, Paddy Ryan, Will Skelton, and Nic Stirzaker, and I don’t mind admitting that now I’ve lost track of who is and isn’t in the Wallabies squad.
Several of these guys have been on tour as ‘apprentices’, you’ll recall, in the same manner the All Blacks have used in recent years. Half a dozen or more guys were added after the Barbarian campaign ended last week. Taniela Tupou is definitely with the touring squad though not eligible for another twelve months, and I thought Adam Coleman had gone home, but he may actually still be on tour.
And if that’s not enough, four new coaches are involved in the midweek game, too, with former Wallabies and NSW Waratahs assistant Scott Wisemantel, now an assistant at Montpellier, taking the reins. He’ll be joined by Melbourne Rebels backs coach Morgan Turinui, and former Wallabies Justin Harrison and Chris Whitaker.
Whatever the number, the point remains. By the start of the 2017 Super Rugby season, more than three complete XVs worth of players will have had recent Wallabies experience, and been exposed to the Wallabies system. If they don’t go into next season as better players for the opportunity, then it will have been the player himself who wasted his time.
And I reckon this is worth keeping in mind over the remaining games of the Spring Tour, too. By the start of next season, the Wallabies pool of player will be deeper than it was 12 months before.
We’ve questioned his logic, and second-guessed his motivations throughout 2016, but the whole time, Michael Cheika has just been doing exactly what he told us he’d be doing.
And when all’s said and done, he really can’t be faulted for that, can he?