Michael Cheika looks to youth for June Test series, omits several big name veterans
MICHAEL Cheika will leave several veterans on the couch during the Wallabies’ June Test series after naming a 34-man squad heavily based on “form and the future”.
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MICHAEL Cheika will leave 246 Test caps on the couch during the Wallabies’ June Test series after naming a 34-man squad heavily based on “form and the future”.
In his first squad of the year, Cheika included seven uncapped players and a handful of rising youngsters, including NSW flanker Ned Hanigan, Force loose-forward Richard Hardwick and giant Queensland lock Lukhan Tui.
Impressive Reds journeyman Karmichael Hunt was also given the nod.
But it was the names Cheika left off the squad list that were more surprising, with experienced forwards Scott Fardy, Rob Simmons, Dean Mumm and Will Skelton all overlooked, along with veteran Waratah back Rob Horne.
BELOW: WALLABIES SQUAD FOR JUNE TEST SERIES
Cheika conceded the fact all bar Simmons are either heading overseas or retiring next year “definitely was a consideration” in his selections.
The coach explained that he agonised over leaving out the likes of Fardy, Mumm and Horne but felt if they weren’t going to be in the run-on team, Cheika wanted to fill up the remaining spots with in-form youngsters who would benefit from the exposure.
“This is a strategy we want to pursue,” Cheika said.
“I think that’s a pretty sound philosophy. We are looking at form, and asking: “would that player be picked in our Test team right now?” And decide from there.
“If at any stage during the series we felt they would be selections in the starting team, we could go to them.
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“But around the squad as a whole, it is an opportunity to develop a couple of younger guys who in ‘18 and ‘19 we think will benefit from being in and around the squad, and maybe getting some game time.”
The Wallabies will take on Fiji in Melbourne, Scotland in Sydney and Italy in Melbourne, and while none are easy opponents, Cheika is using June to push on with his re-generation of the Australian side.
Of the 13 players who were given Test debuts last year only two — Nick Frisby and Leroy Houston — were not named.
To put the scale of change in the Wallabies in context, just 12 of the 2015 Rugby World Cup squad are in Cheika’s 34-man June squad, named roughly two years apart.
The big bolters are Hanigan, Hardwick, Jack Dempsey and Tui.
Tui is a 1.98m and 124kg behemoth from western Sydney who Cheika admitted wasn’t even “on our radar at the start of the year”.
The 20-year-old’s bruising tight play and surprisingly good skills saw Tui oust Kane Douglas and Simmons in the Queensland side, and now in the Wallabies squad.
“He likes to be in the battle from an impact point of view,” Cheika said with hearty approval.
“He doesn’t mind getting into the rough stuff a little bit.”
With Sean McMahon injured and David Pocock overseas, feisty Force flanker Hardwick will be Michael Hooper’s back-up at open side.
Dempsey, who has only played 30 minutes of footy in the last two months, will jostle with Hanigan for a blindside flanker role, but Lopeti Timani and recalled 32-Test Wallaby Scott Higginbotham could form a no.6/no.8 combination.
Up front, Scott Sio is not going to be fit to play in the first Test but will be right for the second.
The backs were a little more predictable from Cheika, with Will Genia expected to play in the first Test, and Nick Phipps on track to recover from an ankle injury. Joe Powell is a strong show to grab his first Test cap.
After being picked in squads last year, Eto Nabuli and Marika Koroibete were both named again and are decent chances of winning Test debuts as well.
Dane Haylett-Petty is hoped to make his return for the Force this weekend against the Hurricanes.
Cheika said he saw Hunt as a fullback but suggested his utility value could come into play, along with his natural leadership skills.
“We are looking for personalities as well, who can lead a group and improving and playing some good rugby,” Cheika said.
“He has had to go through a fair bit to get to here and I am sure now he will try and make every post a winner.”
Cheika said he has no qualms picking young guys to explore their potential.
“It is something we are keen to do and we have to back our young players coming through in putting form on the board,” he said.
“They’re putting their hand up and showing they want to be a part of it, and yes they might be a bit raw, and they need to get polished up a little bit, but it’s our job to do that.”
Cheika bristled at a question that asked if he had difficulty finding form players inside Australia’s Super Rugby teams, whose collective form has been poor this year.
“I am not having any of that question about is it hard to pick from the teams we’ve got,” he said.
“This is Australian rugby, these are our players and they’re capable of doing anything. It is about getting the mindset right and then going out and doing their absolute best.
“We have some players there who can play better, we have players who are playing quite well and some players who aren’t in this squad but who need to improve to push the competition up.”
Wallabies 34-man squad for 2017 June Test Rugby Series
FORWARDS: Allan Alaalatoa, 9 Tests, ACT Brumbies, Rory Arnold, 9 Tests, ACT Brumbies, Adam Coleman, 9 Tests, Western Force, Sam Carter, 13 Tests, ACT Brumbies, Jack Dempsey*, NSW Waratahs, Ned Hanigan*, NSW Waratahs, Richard Hardwick*, Western Force, Scott Higginbotham, 32 Tests, Queensland Reds, Michael Hooper, 65 Tests, NSW Waratahs, Sekope Kepu, 77 Tests, NSW Waratahs, Tolu Latu, 4 Tests, NSW Waratahs, Stephen Moore (c), 117 Tests, Queensland Reds, Tatafu Polota-Nau, 68 Tests, Western Force, Tom Robertson, 7 Tests, NSW Waratahs, Scott Sio, 30 Tests, ACT Brumbies, Toby Smith, 4 Tests, Melbourne Rebels, Lopeti Timani, 6 Tests, Melbourne Rebels, Lukhan Tui*, Queensland Reds
BACKS: Quade Cooper, 67 Tests, Queensland Reds, Israel Folau, 52 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Bernard Foley, 42 Tests, NSW Waratahs, Will Genia, 75 Tests, Stade Francais, Kyle Godwin, 1 Test, ACT Brumbies, Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Tests, Western Force, Reece Hodge, 10 Tests, Melbourne Rebels, Karmichael Hunt*, Queensland Reds, Samu Kerevi, 8 Tests, Queensland Reds, Marika Koroibete*, Melbourne Rebels, Tevita Kuridrani, 45 Tests, ACT Brumbies
Eto Nabuli*, Queensland Reds, Sefa Naivalu, 6 Tests, Melbourne Rebels, Nick Phipps, 52 Tests, NSW Waratahs, Joe Powell*, ACT Brumbies, Henry Speight, 11 Tests, ACT Brumbies
*uncapped
NOTABLE OMISSIONS
Will Skelton, Scott Fardy, Rob Simmons, Dean Mumm, Kane Douglas, Rob Horne
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