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I’ve always fancied myself as a selector. Certainly the last couple of years I’ve felt I could have done a lot better than Robbie Deans. Right now though, you couldn’t pay me enough to take the job.
The forwards aren’t too much of an issue, there are some possible changes, but much of the forward pack was inked in with replacements pencilled next to them in case of injury before the season even started.
Looking at the Wallaby backline though, I just have no idea how you would start to piece it together. There are just too many good players and worryingly too many similar players to make the composition simple.
Start with the easy stuff, excepting injury Will Genia will start at scrumhalf and Digby Ioane on one wing. That leaves five backline spots, or seven if you include the bench (without the back up scrumhalf spot of course).
Now start listing names of likely Wallabies: Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale, James O’Connor, Christian Lealiifano, Israel Folau, Ben Tapuai, Pat McCabe, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Rob Horne, Berrick Barnes, Nick Cummins, Drew Mitchell…
That’s 12 names and we haven’t even brushed the end of year tour Wallabies like Dom Shipperley and Mike Harris and Bernard Foley, or the returning veteran Clyde Rathbone, or the rising young guns Jo Tomane, Chris F’Sautia and Kyle Godwin.
Looking only at names, the Australian Rugby Team is blessed with natural talent, but the reality is the Wallaby backs are a problem.
Cooper, O’Connor, Beale, Lealiifano, Barnes and Harris are all essentially competing for at best three positions (flyhalf, fullback and bench). Throw in Godwin and Foley for good measure and you’ve got eight players into three jerseys.
This is a difficult decision at the best of times, but to make matters worse they are not even being played in those positions every week at Super Rugby level (Lealiifano and Godwin played at 12 in the opening round – O’Connor, Harris and Barnes have also played that position previously).
It is possible that one of the playmakers could shift out to second five-eighth (O’Connor has previously expressed a desire to play in the no.12 jersey for the Wallabies) it is more likely that the Wallabies would play a more solid centre in the mould of McCabe or Tapuai.
There are also the claims of the code-hopping Folau to consider. Most likely he will play on the bench or the wing if he plays at all, but a bumper season for the Waratahs could see him pressing for the starting fullback role.
That second wing opposite Ioane is getting more crowded too with Tomane, Cummins, Mitchell, Shipperley and even Rathbone vying for the spot.
The outside centre spot seems troublesome with the ever-dependable Ashley-Cooper likely to keep it initially. Deans’ favourite Horne could stake a claim.
An inside centre could be shifted wider or a winger towards the middle.
Even the talented youngster F’Sautia could come into the reckoning.
The more I look at the jigsaw puzzle the more confused I get. Form might resolve some questions but I still think too many of our ‘best’ backs are playmakers.
As unthinkable as the notion might have been in 2011, I don’t think the Wallabies can afford to have more than two of Cooper, O’Connor and Beale on the park at any one time.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.