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Uelese looms as test for Cheika’s Super sway

21st September, 2017
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Michael Cheika might be doing more to improve the Wallabies than we think. (AAP Image/SNPA, Ross Setford)
Expert
21st September, 2017
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Let me attempt to draw some kind of parallel between Donald Trump’s diplomacy at the UN and Jordan Uelese’s Wallabies future.

It’s absurd, I know. I shouldn’t go there. But I’m feeling bold. Fearless. Ridiculous. Wacky. Unashamed. Trump-like, I suppose. And I’ll accept no responsibility if it goes horribly wrong.

So with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un prodding the West over his nuclear arms stash, Trump stood up at the United Nations HQ in New York this week and trotted out a few restrained lines about patience and global solidarity.

“But if it is forced to defend itself and its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” Trump added.

“Our government’s first duty is to its people… to serve their needs… to preserve their rights, and to defend their values. As President of the United States, I will always put America first.”

His stance is that hopefully sanctions and diplomatic pressure will put the brakes on ‘Rocket Man’, but no matter what the UN resolves, Trump retains the right to put the US first and do what is best for his country.

Now, Uelese is the 20-year-old hooker who, with just 28 minutes of Super Rugby under his belt with the Melbourne Rebels this season, unbelievably got a Wallabies debut off the bench in Australia’s 23-23 draw with South Africa a fortnight ago in Perth.

To get a run, it took Stephen Moore to be absent for the birth of his child and starting hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau to leave the field after copping a shoulder to the eye from Jesse Kriel.

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Nonetheless, Uelese is highly rated and was a standout for Australia’s under-20s team at the junior World Cup this year. He showed in his few minutes against the Boks that he’s a strong ball carrier and he’s reportedly a bone-rattler in defence.

It seems like one of his biggest fans is Michael Cheika. The Wallabies coach was keen to introduce Uelese to the international stage at a very young age, especially for a front-rower.

How does Uelese prove to Cheika – and everyone else – he’s got the game and consistency to win more Wallabies caps? With Moore retiring and Tatafu Polota-Nau injury-prone, how does he prove he’s the cannonball the Wallabies could well do with at the World Cup in two years? Super Rugby, of course.

And here’s the dilemma.

Uelese could very well not get a nod in the Rebels’ match-day 23 next season.

Michael Cheika Australia Rugby Union Wallabies 2017

(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

James Hanson is the Rebels’ number-one No.2. He’s a 29-year-old who is tough and mobile and is likely coming into his best years. He’s won Wallabies honours too. He played 14 games for the Rebels in their woeful Super Rugby season in 2017.

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Pat Leafa and Siliva Siliva were the other hookers in the squad and both are very solid performers. It seems they’re unsigned for next year, and there’s every chance that given the Western Force’s axing, Wallabies first-choice hooker Polota-Nau or Heath Tessmann could get a gig at the Rebels. Perhaps both.

The pecking orders across a number of positions are likely to change at a few of Australia’s Super Rugby squads over the next few months as Force players are set free.

So what does the incoming coach at the Rebels – most likely the Western Force’s Dave Wessels – owe Cheika?

After Cheika bemoaned the poor fitness levels of the Wallabies squad when they came together for the June Tests, ARU chief executive Bill Pulver said there would be a push to get the Super Rugby coaches singing from the same hymn sheet as the big boss.

Sounds great in theory, right? Calling the shots from St Leonards means the best for the Wallabies.

But as they say, after all is said and done, more is said than done.

Wessels is Trump. In good faith – or not – he can look to win friends at the ARU and stay chummy with Cheika, but his overarching motivation will be to win games for the Rebels.

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He will be paid by the Rebels and he will be answerable to his board, fans, sponsors and players.

It’s the disconnect between a national governing body and a professional domestic competition.

It’s nothing new. The club versus country battle has been fought for many years in many sports.

As a recent example, Victoria’s non-selection of Glenn Maxwell early last Sheffield Shield cricket season created angst with Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann, who was eyeing the allrounder for his touring squad to India earlier this year.

Wessels will just want to win games. It’s his career on the line. It’s the Rebels’ viability and future on the line. This year with the Force’s demise has illustrated how tenuous a club’s foothold in a competition can be. And if there’s a team that sorely need some victories, and quickly, it’s this season’s wooden spooners.

To borrow some of Trump’s language, perhaps Wessels’ attitude will be “my first duty is to the Rebels… to serve their needs… as coach of the Rebels, I will always put them first.”

Tony McGahan Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby Union 2017

(AAP Image/Joe Castro)

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Perhaps Wessels will pick Uelese purely because he believes he’s the best hooker in his squad. Nothing to see here. No dilemma. No battle. No diplomacy required.

But it looms as a test for Cheika, who’s been promised to have more sway in decision-making at Super Rugby level. But I get the feeling Cheika will feel like a UN secretary general, who lobbies hard but can’t stop a sovereign nation from looking after themselves.

Kurtley Beale is another who might create a scrap. Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson will almost certainly want him next to Bernard Foley at inside centre, but what if there’s an injury to Israel Folau?

Imagine the Test season is a few months away and Cheika wants that combination unbroken for the Wallabies’ sake? But Gibson’s coaching future is at stake and he wants to put Beale at fullback. He’s got a better option at No.12. It could get awkward.

But Uelese’s scenario seems the most intriguing. Has there been a Wallaby who has gone back to their Super Rugby team and failed to even get on the bench?

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