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It was very noble of Michael Cheika to take the blame for last Saturday’s pathetic 23-7 loss to England, and apologising to Wallabies fans for the result.
It’s to be hoped Cheika has since taken the gloves off behind closed doors and ripped into the Wallabies with the home truths.
The Wallabies deserve a gobful. There would have been countless thousands of fans watching on television and giving their team plenty.
The most successful Wallabies had a great coach, and more importantly, a great captain who had vision outside the box.
Alan Jones had Andy Slack to capture the Wallabies’ only Grand Slam, and win the Bledisloe.
Bobby Dwyer had Nick Farr-Jones to win the Rugby World Cup and Bledisloe.
And Rod Macqueen had John Eales for Rugby World Cup success and a never repeated series win over the British and Irish Lions, plus a Bledisloe victory and Tri-Nations scalp. The ARU trophy cabinet was chockers,
Cheika is a great coach, but he hasn’t got a great captain.
Stephen Moore, Michael Hooper and Dean Mumm have led the side on Cheika’s watch with little to zero vision outside the box. David Pocock’s the man, but he’s on the injured list.
And make no mistake, a great captain is priceless in today’s world rugby with the ability to switch tactics without messages from the coach’s box.
Moore and Hooper had no vision last Saturday. How on earth could the Wallabies lose with over 70 per cent possession and territory?
They owned the ball and the field, but lost 23-7.
To avoid an even more embarrassing whitewash next Saturday, Cheika has no option but to change the on-field executive, by demoting Moore to the bench, and leaving Dean Mumm and Nick Phipps out altogether.
Make Israel Folau the skipper, and play him at outside-centre where he can get more ball, forcing Tevita Kuridrani to the wing, and Dane Haylett-Petty to fullback.
Nick Frisby to become the Wallabies halfback with strict instructions. If he shadows Phipps’ pedestrian traffic cop ordering of his backline while the ball is sitting there waiting to be delivered, a big hook will come out and Frisby will be a Super Rugby rep for the rest of his career.
Lock Will Skelton to join Rory Arnold, and depending on Pocock’s availability, Ben McCalman to be No.8 from the kick-off.
And Scott Fardy to be on report for the Rugby Championship, after his worst ever game.
Last week there were 345 Wallaby caps in the starting pack, 171 in the backs, and 207 on the bench.
That’s a wealth of experience money can’t buy. But the vast majority of that experience went MIA last Saturday.
That’s the reason why the Wallabies were flogged by a team with hardly any ball, nor territory.
Go figure.
The suggested squad for the Wallabies’ third Test:
1. James Slipper (vc)
2. Tatafa Polota-Nau
3. Sekope Kepu
4. Rory Arnold
5. Will Skelton
6. Scott Fardy
7. Michael Hooper
8. Ben McCalman
9. Nick Frisby
10. Bernard Foley
11. Rob Horne
12. Samu Kerevi
13. Israel Folau (c)
14. Tevita Kuridrani
15. Dane Haylett-Petty
16. Stephen Moore
17. Scott Sio
18. Greg Holmes
19. Rob Simmons (if available), or Sam Carter
20. James Horwill
21. Sean McMahon
22. Nick Stirzaker (if available), or Matt Lucas
23. Luke Morahan