Bledisloe Cup: Wallabies set to throw David Pocock straight into fray against All Blacks at Eden Park
There’s no more intimidating atmosphere than Eden Park but Wallabies coach Michael Cheika will have no qualms about David Pocock facing the All Blacks first up after a six-month lay-off.
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Wallaby warhorse David Pocock could be back in the gold jersey as early as next week after rejoining the team for full-contact sessions after his long injury layoff.
Aside from upsetting New Zealand in Saturday night’s Bledisloe Cup opener, that’s the best news Australia’s long suffering fans could wish for after his extended stint on the sidelines had many worried that he may never make it back.
His appearance at team training this week raised some hope that he might even make his return against the All Blacks in Perth but coach Michael Cheika said that was never a realistic goal, so the aim now is to get him back for the return leg in Auckland next weekend.
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“We’re more focusing on the next one,” Cheika said.
“He has trained all week with the team, slightly modified, but this is the most he has done with the team so he is getting very close.”
Already regarded as long shots to win this year’s World Cup, the loss of Pocock, Australia’s best player last season, would have been a near fatal blow for the Wallabies.
Pocock hasn’t played for around six months because of a calf injury and while there’s a temptation to keep resting him until the World Cup, Cheika said he’ll play him as soon as he’s ready.
“I am hoping he will be available next week,” Cheika said.
“What we have tried to do with David is not set a day and say ‘this is when we want him.’
“Because that’s what happened during the season, we kept trying to get him back on this day or those games, and we kept pushing, and we fell short every time.
“So we are just going to get to the next milestone and if we get through that we will see how he lands.”
Cheika is also toying with the idea of handing exciting Queensland teenager Jordan Petaia his first Test cap next week.
There is nowhere more intimidating to play Test rugby than at Eden Park but Cheika said he’s got all the faith in Petaia, who was picked to make his Test debut on last year’s end of season tour to the northern hemisphere before he got injured.
Petaia got injured again this season but is slowly working way back to fitness and Cheika wants to see what he can do if thrown into the deep end.
“He’s been here with us this week, he’s completed all the training and I’d say he’d be available for selection next weekend as well,” Cheika said.
“He’s looked very good at training. He’s fresh, he hasn’t played a Test before but he looks like a fine young player. I’m looking forward to giving him a chance at some stage.”
Originally published as Bledisloe Cup: Wallabies set to throw David Pocock straight into fray against All Blacks at Eden Park
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