In many ways, 2016 has been a rebuilding year for the Wallabies with coach Michael Cheika playing musical chairs with his roster for much of the season.
That ultimately comes down to three factors. Competition for spots, a lack of automatic selections based on form and poor results this season.
It also seems that Cheika isn’t the only person having a tough time getting the makeup of his final squad organised. Rugby pundits have debated the matter to death with seemingly no consensus ever being reached.
So with a 32-man squad named for the spring tour, what should the Wallabies team look like for the Wales Test?
At fullback, the explosive Israel Folau is the incumbent but Dane Haylett-Perry enjoyed an incredible Super Rugby season in the position.
The wing positions are slightly more contentious. Uncapped Fijian flyer Marika Koroibete features a rare combination of raw pace and power, safe hands, incredibly agility, strong defence and an uncanny ability to find the try line that is sure to give Cheika a selection headache.
Henry Speight received a recall in Bledisloe 3 after 12 months of Wallabies exile following strong form in the NRC. Sefanaia Naivalu is looking to add to his two caps, Dane Haylett-Perry hasn’t put a foot wrong in 2016 and has been Cheika’s go to man out wide, and then there is rookie Wallaby Reece Hodge and his tremendous boot.
They all have legitimate claims for a starting berth, but five contenders will be whittled down to two.
Locking down the centre positions also a difficult task.
Hodge can again be considered and started at 12 in the last Test, but Cheika has also experimented with the likes of Bernard Foley in 2016. Throw Quade Cooper, Kyle Godwin and Tevita Kuridrani in the mix, and you have both competition and confusion.
The inside-centre experiment of Foley has produced mixed results. Much of this owes to the seeming lack of cohesion between himself and Quade Cooper. In that regard, Cooper and Foley are, at least for the moment, incompatible as starting options.
Foley or Cooper will start at fly-half and it’s likely that the other will be relegated to the bench.
At scrum-half, Will Genia is unavailable for the Wales Test match. That means the two Nicks, Frisby and Phipps, are the two options. Phipps is the more experienced of the two and could well relegate Phipps to the bench.
There are three viable options for the number 8 position. Lopeti Timani has filled the role recently, but David Pocock and Sean McMahon also have experience in the position.
Both McMahon and Pocock double up as options at flanker, with Michael Hooper, Dean Mumm and Scott Fardy providing genuine competition for the two positions. Pocock and Hooper are the most experienced players of that group with 61 appearances each, while Mumm has been the recent preferred option at number six recently.
There’s plenty of size to choose from in the locks. Will Skelton, Rob Simmons, Rory Arnold, Adam Coleman, Kane Douglas are all big bodies with the ability to punish the opposition. It’s a welcome headache for coach Cheika.
Sekope Kepu has been the key prop for the Wallabies of late but he is ably joined by James Slipper, Scott Sio, Tom Robertson and Allan Alaalatoa who will battle it out for the remaining starting prop spot.
Rounding out the starting fifteen is obviously the captain Stephen Moore. The reliable James Hanson and would-be debutant Tolu Latu are the potential backup options.
What would be your squad Roarers? Have your say right here.
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