Joubert was right all along
Why would you ever become a referee? A team gives away 10 penalties and nobody bats an eyelid, but you give away one and…
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I have a funny feeling that we’ll see a back 3 of Pocock/Hooper/McCalman at least for the Rugby Championship. Cheika will definitely experiment with both Hooper and Pocock on the field before the World Cup at some stage, if only to see if it can work. That would mean you need a jumping 8 for the lineout (ruling out Palu). McCalman wins out over Higgenbotham has he does all the same things in the forwards and doesn’t disappear to the wing for 30mins of every game.
If this experiment doesn’t work I would expect to see Pocock picked over Hooper. I think Hooper is a very good rugby player with many caps to come and he filled in admirably whilst 7’s and captains have fallen around him. The fact that he is playing nearly as well as last year and we have another 7 performing at a higher level than him is only a good thing for Australian rugby.
I also wouldn’t mind seeing Fardy in the second row. He is a natural second rower who has been a makeshift 6 for the Brumbies and Wallabies for the purpose of team balance. Fardy, Simmons and Skelton would be my three locks, not necessarily in that order.
A coach's dream: A selection headache