Toomua's selection means Beale is the right option at 10

Don't think Beale at 10 is a worry. Just hope W pack goes well, and have a reliable kicker on the night. Go Wallabies. Cast gold over those blacks!

Wasn't Aaron Cruden also the 10 who led the Chiefs to back-to-back Super titles? Wasn't Aaron Cruden the 10 who led the All Blacks to the majority of their victories in their perfect 2013 season?

"Foley is a fantastic player and fly-half, and should feel hard done-by for being dropped to the bench, but he’s been undone by Toomua’s necessary selection." I doubt it is for that reason. Unless McKenzie is going to institute a style like Cheika, of aggressively closing to the advantage line and seeking to gain superiority by rapid play and lots of short flat passes, then he is better to go with Beale. And he shouldn't get them playing like Cheika has, unless he is prepared to re-work their whole style of play, especially the forwards. My personal opinion is that Cheika's style would work better for the Wallabies, but its not going to happen so better that the selections match what we are going to do.

To be honest I just hope W fans are not let down by their side too much tonight. If they win, then good on them, and as everyones pointed out many times my underestimating the Tahs backfired on my selections leading up to the final and it might again here. I just think too many fans are riding on the back of the Tahs win and the French series. They believe the disasters of last year versus all of the Lions, SA, NZ and England where they were really hammered, are somehow behind them without actually beating any of those sides yet. Still looks premature to me and every time I look at the W's side it just looks weak. Most of the pack wouldnt make top 4 or 5 in the world and 9, 12 and the two wings have done little to scare the international scene in the backs. Even Folau, AAC and Beale have clear deficiences in their games- Beales defence, AAC's distribution and Folau can go absent for long periods. ABs have weaknesses as well but at least they've been there and done it. Theyve put a serious string of matches together so are expert at closing matches out. Oz might win but something from someone sure has to happen that we havnt seen before at test level to do so. Its just not obvious where that will come from.

Did you not watch him against England? Its not about loyalty, its about best for the position and I don't know if those were the matches but he was returning from a long injury spell. Underestimate Cruden at your peril I say.And once again this is not sxv. Cruden has been the mainstay 10 of the 17 tests won to date. No need for Hansen to be loyal...he picks himself...unlike Beale. Target him...? whew...good luck with that.

I wasn't aware of those stats but do you have the amount of missed tackles Beale has compared to Foley? I just see so often that Beale gets driven back in the tackle because he can't take a defender on and run a straight line like Foley can. He has the same issues QC had. I'd pick dependability over X-factor any day especially against the ABs. Will be interesting to see what Mackenzie sees in him at 10.

I thought that the French series demonstrated a remarkable lack of flair in the halves. Especially when compared to some of the later tests last year.Cooper and Toomua were proving to be an excellent combination. With Cooper unavailable it does make some sense to replace him with a player who plays in a similar style.

The All Blacks are going on about Beale but I think the real weak link at 10 is Aaron Cruden. He guided the Chiefs to defeats to the Force, Brumbies- twice, and Waratahs. He has not looked that good and I'm surprised Hansen picked him and not the other bloke from the Hurricanes. Maybe Hansen is under pressure from the NZRU to show loyalty to him. The Wallabies will target him for sure.

Goose.

last 20 min link will bring on phipps for white, move beale to inside centre and foley to five eight with toomua to the bench making it a waratah combination from 9 to 13. Kuridrani will also come in for mccabe in the last 15min to provide go forward from set plays setting the platform for the waratahs combination aiming at the tired forwards. watch for this during the game.

The best thing Foley can do if he wants to regain the no. 10 jersey for the Wallabies is be photographed talking to some reps from an NRL or French rugby team. It works a treat I hear!!

Yes people keep saying things about Beale without actually knowing what they are talking about. For the last 3rd of the Super comp Beale was the main distributor for the Tahs. Gaining more possessions and passing more than Foley who only kicked more than Beale who had the higher pass and run stats. Beale had higher linebreaks, linebreak assists, runs, try assists and metres gained than Foley for the season but Foley was the controlling force. Thats exactly how Toomua and Beale will operate, as Foley and Beale did in the later and most successful period in the Super season, with Beale as the main distributor and attacking flyhalf and Toomua as the controlling force. The doom-sayers will say "its not smart to try to do things from club rugby at test level" but thats exactly what every player picked is expected to do. Translate their rugby success at club level into test success. Beale doesnt have to do everything exactly the same but they will be asking him to try and play well with Horne, Folau, AAC like he has all season and to combine well with Toomua who will alternate flyhalf duties like he and Foley did.

Yes, I'm inclined to agree with this view. It's Toomua's retention that kept Foley out of the lineup, not Beale. They obviously see Toomua as being by far the best 12 and are therefore looking for the right 10 to compliment him. The counter argument to this is of course the selection of Foley-Toomua for the French series, but they obviously feel that something more will be necessary to beat the ABs. It's hard to argue. Certainly the Tahs would not have beaten the Crusaders without Beale on the field in my opinion.