Rugby Championship: Christian Lealiifano gets Wallabies nod as Quade Cooper misses out
Some big names missed out, rookies have been given their chance, a star name returns and there is no shortage of fullback cover in Michael Cheika’s Wallabies squad for the clash against South Africa.
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Wallabies boss Michael Cheika has named five fullback options for life after Israel Folau with the upbeat belief that his try-power can be replaced for the World Cup.
Cheika said on Thursday there were “hands up everywhere” to grab the prized No.15 jersey when he unveiled a squad that can hopefully turn around last year’s calamitous run.
Fullback frontrunner Kurtley Beale, Dane Haylett-Petty, Tom Banks, Jack Maddocks and Reece Hodge are all in the 34-man tour squad to prepare for the July 20 Test against South Africa in Johannesburg.
“We have a lot of players in the squad who can play fullback, we started to have a look at a few different options at training this week and Tommy Banks will now join us (after the Brumbies’ rest week),” Cheika said.
Folau’s fractious dispute with Rugby Australia has been a three-month saga already but this is the first real squad he has missed, when not injured, since switching to rugby in 2013.
Elite sport is so much about the road ahead and this consuming sprint to the World Cup that the Folau case has become a bubble over some distant sideline for the players.
It’s not uncaring or through disdain but a functional mechanism that they need to get stuck into some big footy.
How you replace the bloke who scored 37 tries in 73 Tests and caught high balls on the tryline like he was plucking sparrows from the sky is still a serious question.
“To address the tryscoring, we need to play with more teamwork,” Cheika said.
“That’s pretty logical so that means more support play, better alignment, better hands catching, being there, which comes down to fitness, and we have plenty of that to do.”
Put simply, no one is expecting a single player to replace the Folau package but a more connected back three and a better synched backline may have equal impact overall.
In-form Brumbies playmaker Christian Lealiifano has beaten Quade Cooper for a spot and halfback Nic White is in his first Wallabies’ squad for four years ahead of NSW duo Nick Phipps and Jake Gordon.
Young Queensland openside flanker Liam Wright, 21, has earned a chance while David Pocock remains injured while two further uncapped choices, Rob Valetini and Isi Naisarani, show how open the backrow still is.
Best of all, Cheika and co-selectors Scott Johnson and Michael O’Connor have shown that Super Rugby form counts because there are more Brumbies (10) than NSW Waratahs (nine), Melbourne Rebels (nine) or Queensland Reds (five).
“There are mainstays in the core but we looked at form and someone like Liam Wright really brought things, like stealing ball on the ground, to force his way in since May,” Cheika said.
Cheika said trump Pocock had “turned a corner” with his tricky calf injury and playing before the World Cup was realistic.
Only 31 players can be picked for the World Cup. With Pocock, lock Adam Coleman (shoulder), Tatafu Polota-Nau (ankle) Jordan Petaia (foot) and Pete Samu (hamstring) on the way back from injuries and utility James O’Connor freshly arrived, the squeeze for spots is on.
“There’ll be opportunities to get back in (for others) so the readiness to take them is very important,” Cheika said.
“Only 31 are going so there’s healthy competition.
“One thing that will be real important is building momentum and belief from here because it’s no secret we are coming from way back which you’ve all documented over the last eight or nine months.”
Cheika said the formal three-selector process introduced with director of rugby Johnson and former Wallaby O’Connor had proven valuable.
“It’s the first time we’ve worked in earnest as a selection panel so, with different opinions and challenging each other, there’s a better outcome than if I’d been picking it by myself,” Cheika said.
Cheika added with a laugh that there’d be no leaks: “We made a pact, all had to cut ourselves and put in a bit of blood, that what goes on in the selectors’ room will stay in the room.”
Cheika said he had yet to really get to know O’Connor but “he’s hungry to be involved and to prove himself” and had already left a positive impression in two days of squad training.
WALLABIES SQUAD
Backs: Tom Banks, Dane Haylett-Petty, Reece Hodge, Kurtley Beale, Jack Maddocks, Marika Koroibete, Tevita Kuridrani, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Samu Kerevi, Matt Toomua, Bernard Foley, Christian Lealiifano, Will Genia, Nic White, Joe Powell.
Forwards: Isa Naisarani, Jack Dempsey, Michael Hooper, Liam Wright, Luke Jones, Rob Valetini, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Izack Rodda, Rob Simmons, Rory Arnold, Sekope Kepu, Allan Alaalatoa, Taniela Tupou, Scott Sio, James Slipper, Tom Robertson, Folau Fainga’a, Tolu Latu, Jordan Uelese.
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