Rugby World Cup 2015: experience to play major factor in Wallabies pursuit of Webb Ellis Cup

APART from their collective history at World Cups, the Wallabies believe a squad that boasts an average of 40-Test caps can provide a crucial advantage in success for glory.

Kurtley Beale and David Pocock both are re-signing with the ARU. Wallabies. Pic Stephen Cooper

THE Wallabies believe their collective history at World Cups can provide a crucial advantage in the pursuit of the Webb Ellis Cup as it emerged Australia will be among the most experienced nations in the tournament.

With 11 of the 20 competing World Cup nations having released their squads, Michael Cheika’s 31-man outfit is — so far — comfortably the most experienced with a combined 1243 Test caps between them.

That averages out to an impressive 40 Test caps per man.

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Kurtley Beale and David Pocock. Picture: Stephen Cooper

With four Test centurions in their side, the All Blacks are likely to take over the most experienced mantle when they name their squad on Sunday afternoon, but the Wallabies are expected to still be ranked second.

The Wallabies’ new greybeard status is in marked contrast to Australia’s squad at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where Robbie Deans’ men were the youngest and greenest at the entire tournament.

The 40-Test average is a massive increase on the 2011 average of 26.7 Test caps, where the squad contained just six players with 50 Test caps or more.

The 2015 Wallabies squad will have 13 players — just under half — who have played 50 Tests or more.

The average age of the 2015 World Cup group is also significantly higher than the Wallabies’ youthful squad in 2011. Cheika’s men will have an average age of 26.5 compared to the average of 24.6 Robbie Deans’ troops, and tellingly, Stephen Moore will be one of nine players over 30 this year, compared to just three in 2011.

In 2011 there were ten Wallabies under 25, and in 2015 it’s only four.

The Wallabies will comfortably be the most experienced in the “Pool of Death”, with England only averaging 24.5 Test caps in their squad, and Wales still unnamed but likely to be around 26 Test caps. The English will have just three players with more than 50 Test caps.

Arguably most crucial, however, is the fact that 18 of this 31-man Wallabies squad have played in at least one World Cup before. Four players are into their third tournament.

Deans said often if the core of the young 2011 World Cup side could push through to 2015 as well, Australia’s generation next would harden up and be well-placed to improve on their third place finish.

David Pocock, Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Kurtley Beale are all back (and now have 50-plus Test caps) with only James O’Connor missing.

The Wallabies finished their final preparations before heading off to the World Cup.

“The group is obviously a lot more experienced. A lot of the guys going to the last World Cup it was our first experience,” Pocock said.

“You are excited but not too sure what to expect. I feel like there is a lot of unknowns in this World Cup but we will have a bit more understanding of what’s required and the intensity and how much we will need.

“As a player the last World Cup was a great experience and I learned a lot from it, and hopefully I will take those learnings onto the next one. There is a lot of excitement, and there are four or five guys that this will be their third one. We can draw on them for their experience.”

Pocock said World Cup experience was crucial in dealing with seven straight Tests, and understanding the win-at-all costs intensity seen in World Cup finals.

Beale was equally convinced the experience of 2011 would make players better equipped for the 2015 World Cup.

“That experience is definitely going to help us prepare well, and preparation in World Cup time is the key,” he said.

“For a lot of our guys, having that experience is definitely going to help us do the things we want to do, which is win games.”

Pocock and Beale both gave the Wallabies a boost on the eve of their departure to the USA, and then the UK, by announcing they’d re-signed with the ARU, and Brumbies and Waratahs respectively. Pocock signed for one season and Beale until the end of 2017.

Originally published as Rugby World Cup 2015: experience to play major factor in Wallabies pursuit of Webb Ellis Cup