The tale of two teams: The Wallabies' training guide

In the wake of the furore that accompanied the announcement of the Wallabies squad for the pending Rugby World Cup I was forced to blunt my outrage in an attempt to consider the selections.

I have been a long time admirer of Michael Cheika ever since he captained Randwick. He was a fiercely intelligent man who instilled a ‘knife between the teeth’ style of play.

He continued this as a coach with his love for replicating match conditions in training in order to assess and build the mongrel of his teams. It was a hallmark of his devotion to the Galloping Greens’ running rugby style of play.

Many will remember when he first took over the perennial underachievers in Super Rugby, the Waratahs, and immediately started impressing that ethos. Hard running and contact embracing forwards followed by a backline that was encouraged to run with the ball from anywhere on the pitch and express themselves.

Cheika also seems to be able to gauge the commitment of a player and communicate to them where they fit into his holistic plan. He also has shown that he can draw the best out of the players who have that x-factor. This is no doubt due to his days captaining Randwick, alongside the greatest x-factor player of all time, David Campese.

Much like Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale, Will Genia, Michael Hooper, David Pocock, Will Skelton and Israel Folau, Campese was a mad genius with a rugby ball in his hands. Only better, and at times worse.

One can surmise that after working his magic on Campese, Beale and Folau to get optimal performances, he is backing his leadership to return Cooper and Genia to the world beating form they displayed in 2011.

Cheika knows how to manage elite footballers. Make no mistake, it is Cheika’s devotion to these rugby philosophies that has kept Folau in rugby for the time being.

So why the strange selections?

The best way to get the performance from an x-factor player is building their confidence. In simulating the intensity of Test matches Cheika hopes to allow these players the time to play themselves into their best form against a team that will give no quarter.

In picking a second XV for the Wallabies in order to simulate match conditions, Cheika has essentially picked a sparring partner who will have to prepare his starting XV for the main show. For someone to silently devote themselves to getting the best out of a team they probably will only get very limited time playing for.

Once you take this into account you can see method in the madness. Rob Horne’s selection all of a sudden makes complete sense as he is well known to go flat stick at training. He has held his spot in the Waratahs backline for years, regardless of injuries, due to his commitment outside of games.

The same can be said about Sean McMahon who proved to be a bolter in the side, as Rupert Guinness pointed out earlier in the week.

The USA clash is the only official game that is being played in the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup, but there will be plenty of game time from now until kick-off against Fiji.

If all of Australia’s world-class players hit their straps you could see a Wallabies surge into the final furlong with the finish being another William Web Ellis Cup.

Let’s just hope that Cheika has enough time to use his whip well.