Champion flanker and enforced No, 8 David Pocock hasn’t played for the Brumbies for six weeks and won’t be on duty against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires this weekend.
There are only 88 days to the first Wallabies international of the year against the Boks at Ellis Park in the opening round of the abbreviated Rugby Championship, and as the weeks tick by with no Pocock it’s understandable that Wallabies coach Michael Cheika and selectors Scott Johnson and Michael O’Connor could start feeling uncomfortable.
The reason is simple: no Pocock at any stage of the international World Cup campaign would be a major minus.
Pocock has overcome a concussion, but he has an ongoing calf problem, the legacy of a too hard, too early Wallabies camp last January.
The bigger problem is a chronic neck injury, the result of far too many illegal tackles that should have been stamped out by referees ages ago.
The neck condition could yet prompt an early retirement as soon as the completion of the World Cup, and at 30 years of age and in the prime of his stellar career, that would be a tragedy for both him and the code.
In the past two years Pocock has played 22 Tests and just 20 Super games. This season he’s played just 138 minutes in three games.
There’s another scenario that has rugby fans waiting in anticipation: what will the new three-man selection panel do with the Pooper experiment?
We all know Cheika wants Michael Hooper at No. 7 and captain with Pocock at No. 8. But how will Johnson and O’Connor react to that? They will have an equal say with Cheika at the selection table.
That’s a dramatic change and something Cheika has never faced before in his entire coaching career. It’s always been his way or the highway on selections.
Having said that, there could be an even bigger selection problem if Israel Folau wins his code of conduct hearing on 4 May. Cheika has already made it crystal clear he wants no part of Folau in any future Wallabies campaign.
(Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
That was obviously a heat-of-the-moment quote without clearing it with Johnson or O’Connor. They haven’t yet made their stance clear on Folau and shouldn’t until the 4 May result.
But wouldn’t you like to be a fly on the wall at the first selection meeting of the new panel? There are so many other spots up for discussion – the meeting could take hours.
I promise Roarers one thing, and it’s crucial: both Scott Johnson and Michael O’Connor will select the way they see it, which is why they have been hand-picked by Rugby Australia. They will never become limp rubber stamps to the Michael Cheika way.
As a result, the Wallabies, the fans and the code will be the ongoing beneficiaries.
DaveR
Guest
Its very simple. Pocock cannot be considered for the Wallabies now unless he performs at an exceptional level for the Brumbies over the rest of the season (without further injury). Similarly, I read with horror that Uelese is possibly on the Rebels bench, at the expense of Rangi or Abel, after a year out, without having to come back through club rugby, which would be normal. A complete joke.
Bobby
Roar Rookie
Yeah right, as if he won't get picked!
Keilidh
Roar Rookie
Peter, I think you are right, and if Pocock is not fit, another 7 will be picked to play the same game plan.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Pocock could miss ever game up till a start in a World Cup final and still win MOTM.
Phil
Guest
Selector,your memory may be better than mine,but wasn't Hooper selected for the Wallabies while playing for the Brumbies?That would hardly mean he was playing off the bench behind Faainga.I thought Colby came more to the fore after Hooper left for the Tahs.
Crash Ball2
Roar Rookie
Yep, Wright has been outstanding. Standout Australian 7 for me this year.
Fionn
Guest
The Wallabies had a selection committee from the 70s until about 2010 from memory. The All Blacks still have a selection committee. Not a new Australian thing.
Crash Ball2
Roar Rookie
According to Growden, the payout clause was only for the equivalent of 6 months salary. If finance is a factor, it is clearly secondary to factional support in the hallways of Moore Park.
PeterK
Roar Guru
results couldn't get worse. The issue is RA is broke and can't afford the payout. They need to make the position untenable for cheika by making sure the other selectors do NOT give him the team he wants. That way it is win/win, worst case a better balanced team gets selected, best case cheika resigns. RA need to redirect the money from folau's contract to pay cheika out but RA will probably have to pay folau out instead.
Crash Ball2
Roar Rookie
Only in Australia would anyone propose taking the best open side flanker in the world and making him a hooker / halfback / barista / anything else.
Crash Ball2
Roar Rookie
Agreed. Lesson: RA, sack the worst Test coach of the last 60 years. It really isn’t that hard.
Crash Ball2
Roar Rookie
There is no one holding Cheika to account for absolutely anything Pogo. Injuries are just the tip of a continental sized iceberg.
Crash Ball2
Roar Rookie
You might criticise Pocock for many things, but lack of game influence is simply not one of them. When he’s on the pitch, he’s generally the best wearing gold.
Crash Ball2
Roar Rookie
Pocock has never, ever played like a 6. Like, not ever. Official Internet crazy factor: 10:
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Well spotted Markus. It is not only the individual selected that is contentious. It is the system of play that a certain player requires to allow inclusion. We have Hooper. We must have Hooper. So the system revolves around the fixed imbalance. So Pocock, one of the best ruck monkeys in the game, morphs into an 8 role. We have Foley. We must have Foley. So we select a playmaker at 12 because Bernard is only half a playmaker. So we then are married to a 2nd playmaker system, whoever plays. Cheika was talked into picking Quade a couple of years ago. But stuck with Foley at 12??, a second, unnecessary and counterproductive playmaker that confounded our best playmaker’s craft. Similar with the Izzy for 15 mob. A non-kicking, non-positioning non-rugby IP fella in the very important 15 shirt? Four years of Wallaby development have been substantially wasted in my view, not just by picking the ‘wrong’ players, but by committing to the flawed systems that assume too much and imagine alternatives too little.
Keilidh
Roar Rookie
But to do that, you would have to analyse the opposition!
David Lord
Expert
You win the thanks for coming award of the day liquorbox, non-active players wouldn't even be mentioned at the selection table.
liquorbox_
Roar Rookie
Johnson has stated that the team will be picked on form, if you are not playing then it would be hard to "be in form".
Bleedsgreenand gold
Roar Rookie
Pooper worked once, a long, long, long time ago. The rest of the world has moved on and we have been left grasping for wins and coming up empty handed. Beale is not our saviour, neither is Pooper. Overwhelmingly the NH teams are moving towards big, strong centers and a smart kicking game. We have been left to chance our arm on X-factor players at the cost of strong, in form players playing with a smart game plan. I don't know what the game plan is that Cheika has, but if it is based around what we have seen over the last three years, the world cup isn't going to be pretty.
Utah
Guest
Yeah but probably on the lowest dollars for ability to influence a game