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Ewen McKenzie handed winning formula on a platter

3rd September, 2014
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Where have all the collars gone? (AAP Image/Joosep Martinson)
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3rd September, 2014
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Waratah coach Michael Cheika set the benchmark for the Wallabies by taking out their first Super Rugby title in 19 years.

In the toughest provincial tournament in world rugby, the Waratahs scored the most tries 55, and had the second least scored against them 24 – the Sharks had 22.

The Waratahs scored the most points 481 over 16 rounds, and had the least scored against them 272. The differential of 209 was way ahead of the second best and most successful franchise in history Crusaders with 123.

And to add the icing on the cake, Waratahs fly-half Bernard Foley was by far the top points-scorer of the tournament with 252, way ahead of the Hurricanes’ Beauden Barrett on 209.

Cheika then proved it with a 26-8 domination of the Brumbies in the semis, and a nail-biting 33-32 last minute win over the Crusaders in the Grand Final, a team the Waratahs hadn’t beaten in their last 11 outings, spanning a decade.

So it would be fair to say Michael Cheika had devised a formula for all seasons and all opponents.

Did Ewen McKenzie feed off that proven success?

An emphatic no.

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Prop Benn Robinson didn’t even make the squad to meet the All Blacks to kick start the Rugby Championship.

The tournament-winning Nick Phipps-Bernard Foley pivotal 9-10 combination was totally ignored, and McKenzie came up with Brumby Nic White, and Waratah inside centre Kurtley Beale.

Unfathomable.

White’s pedestrian service was often hurried up by the ref calling him to “use it”, when he eventually got rid of the ball it was a lottery as to its accuracy, either too high, too far behind support, or even bouncing his passes along the deck.

And the least said about his box-kicking, the better.

The Waratah success was built around the pivots Phipps, Foley, and centres Beale, Adam Ashley-Cooper with Israel Folau chiming in from out the back.

Beale and Folau worked a treat under Cheika’s guidance, but once Beale was moved inside by McKenzie, there wasn’t the room for the exciting pair to weave their magic.

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Matt Toomua is no Beale, and while he’s as honest as the day is long, he will never have the x-factor, or flair, of a Kurtley Beale.

So what has McKenzie done after a 12-all draw and a 51-20 flogging to lose the Bledisloe Cup for another year?
Phipps and Foley will be the pivots against the Boks on Saturday in Perth, but Beale has been dumped to the bench.

Tevita Kuridrani comes into outside centre, forcing Ashley-Cooper onto the wing.

Hello, where is the sanity in that mixed mash?

Up front, where the forwards were suffocated by the men-in-black at Eden Park, there’s one forced change with hooker Nathan Charles injured, more’s the pity for both Charles and the side, but behemoth lock Will Skelton has been dropped altogether.

How did lock Rob Simmons, flanker Scott Fardy, and No 8 Wycliff Palu escape the chop? All three were totally ineffective at Eden Park, but then they had a few mates there.

What makes the current McKenzie selections so hard to cop and/or understand is Michael Cheika gave him the right formula on a gift-wrapped platter.

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But Ewen McKenzie has chosen to ignore the obvious, which makes Saturday’s clash with the Boks, who aren’t playing all that crash hot themselves, all the more vital.

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