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Prior to the third match of the European tour clash with France, Michael Cheika took it upon himself to shake up the Wallabies team in order to rest some stars and provide some Test match exposure to the rising talent in the Wallabies squad.
However, despite speculation from several fans and the entirety of the French media, Cheika and his men can hold his head high as the new-look Wallabies held on for an impressive and deserved 25-23 win over a hot-stepping, ball-spreading French line-up.
In the wake of this game a few questions still need to be addressed: who impressed and is ready to face the Irish and who still needs some improving and should line up against the French Barbarians?
Let’s take a look over the team that fronted up against France.
Front row
The performance of the front row was, simply put, the most disappointing aspect of the game. Having fought over places on the bench in previous games, neither James Slipper nor Allan Alaalatoa did enough to shore up the scrum and gain any sort of ascendancy against the might of the French scrum.
Tolu Latu started a little shaky, but showed improvement throughout the match to a point where I’d be happy for him to take a bench spot behind Stephen Moore, especially if James Hanson is still sidelined following his jaw injury.
Scott Sio and Tom Robertson came on late in the piece, but not even the reserves could help the Wallabies win a scrum, so the props and hookers have their work cut out for them this week in preparation.
Locks
Oh boy. It was a lot easier to praise the work of the locks when Adam Coleman and Rory Arnold were starting, but with the former injured and the latter rested, the replacements did little to instil faith in our depth. Rob Simmons showed strength in the lineout at times, but the overall handling and physicality of both he and Kane Douglas left a lot to be desired.
The injection of Will Skelton was vaguely more beneficial in that he got a few consecutive hit ups against a softened defence, but he still relies a lot more on potential than actual results when getting picked. I’d back Simmons to impose himself most in a lineout against Ireland, while Douglas and Skelton need another hit out to build confidence.
Backrow
I’m not sure I need to say anything more than David Pocock. What a man! His impact and skill set is irreplaceable and again his work at the breakdown has him down as a must start for the remaining Test matches. Scott Fardy came into the team and played admirably, disrupting lineout ball and getting involved in the rucks.
Fardy still didn’t leave much of a mark in his hit ups, which is where Sean McMahon steps in. His ball running and impact in the collision zone is huge and he even worked for a much-needed turnover and penalty to get us out of trouble.
Dean Mumm showed his worth in the lineout and with Coleman out and Douglas and Skelton not overly impressive in the air, his use in the 23 will likely become more important in the last two Tests. However, the injury to McMahon may force his exclusion once more.
Halves
It’s hard to look past Will Genia and Bernard Foley as the showstoppers. Genia played such a big role in the build up to both of Foley and Tevita Kuridrani’s tries and his sniping runs and slick passes went a long way in shaping our attack.
Foley, the late call up, was again kicking for goal up toward his best and snagged some great kicks, which eventually made quite a difference. His angled runs and inside balls often helped us get over the advantage line and scored a nice try by linking up with his halves partner for a close dash over the white line.
Nick Phipps didn’t get a chance to impose himself on the game as much as he’d want, but his spot on the bench seems safe. Jono Lance was a late call up to the bench, and was never going to really get a crack unless of injury, so I hope his chance comes against the French Barbarians.
Centres
Kyle Godwin’s debut could be one of the most complete Wallabies’ debuts of the year. Although he was safe and steered away from risk in most of the occasions he got his hands on the ball, he didn’t make mistakes in his handling, illustrated briefly the perks of having a left footed kicker in the backline and was absolutely massive in defence, often making tackles outside of his channel and stopping line breaks against the damaging French wings.
Probably not enough to usurp Reece Hodge, but more than enough to earn another crack against the French Barbarians and potentially make his way onto the bench for further Test matches.
Kuridrani displayed his usual game by running into half-gaps, taking the ball to ground and defending well. However, he continued his try scoring efforts of one per game on this tour by dotting down an absolute pearler in he corner, utilising every last millimetre of the pitch to score the Wallabies final points of the game in the 57th minute. This act of superhero-like flight will do enough to bolster his highlights reel and insist that he wears the 13 jersey while Samu Kerevi is injured.
Outside backs
The defensive efforts got mentioned in reference to the centres, but deserves an even bigger mention for Sefanaia Naivalu to punished anyone who dared to run in his general vicinity. The bone crushing hits he put on were a massive tool in the Wallabies arsenal in stemming the French attack and his efforts will surely see him rewarded with more game time.
Luke Morahan put his best foot forward with a superb running game from fullback. Though he’s not going to replace Israel Folau or Dane Haylett-Petty, his hard running and safety under the ball will go a long way to getting him more game time whether it be on the wing or at fullback.
The game started with low expectations of Henry Speight and he raised them only marginally. Better with ball in hand and was able to make metres with no handling slip ups, but his defensive lapses are detrimental to the Wallabies chances and if it weren’t for the covering efforts of others, I think we may have conceded more tries.
Based on the assumption that the rested players will be saved for the Test and that the extended squad and Barbarians members will be utilised in the French Barbarians midweek game, I would like to submit the following teams for the games this week:
Team to compete against the French Barbarians (24/11)
XV 1-15: Paddy Ryan, Andrew Ready, Toby Smith, Kane Douglas, Sam Carter, Scott Fardy, Sean McMahon (if free of injury), Jack Dempsey, Nick Frisby, Jono Lance, Marika Koroibete, Kyle Godwin, Izaia Perese, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Andrew Kellaway. Res: James Hanson (if back from injury), James Slipper, Tom Robertson, Will Skelton, Dean Mumm, Nic Stirzaker, Quade Cooper (if back from injury), Henry Speight
Team to compete against Ireland (26/11)
XV 1-15: Scott Sio, Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu, Rory Arnold, Rob Simmons, David Pocock, Michael Hooper, Lopeti Timani, Will Genia, Bernard Foley, Sefanaia Naivalu, Reece Hodge, Tevita Kuridrani, Dane Haylett-Petty, Israel Folau. Res: Tolu Latu, Allan Alaalatoa, Tom Robertson, Dean Mumm, Scott Fardy, Nick Phipps, Quade Cooper, Luke Morahan
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