The Wallabies quest for an unprecedented third Rugby World Cup crown is now just 12 months away with Thursday marking the one year countdown to the game’s showpiece event.
The eighth edition of the tournament will bring the game’s elite together in England and it will again be the All Blacks who start as red-hot favourites.
Fox Sports
But the Wallabies are riding a period of measured success and with some big names still to return early in 2015 there is a growing feeling Ewen McKenzie’s side can be serious challengers for a third Webb Ellis crown.
The Wallabies’ first assignment is to negotiate a tricky pool that sees them face hosts England and 2011 semi-finalists Wales.
To mark the 12-month countdown we asked Fox Sports commentators Tim Horan, Nathan Sharpe and Rod Kafer to name their first-choice starting XVs for the tournament.
THE HALVES
The Wallabies have a number of options in the halves illustrated by the fact coach Ewen McKenzie has used six different combinations since taking the reins in August last year.
Our panel of experts each listed different combinations but backed them to come from halfbacks Will Genia and Nick Phipps, and No.10s Bernard Foley and Quade Cooper.
“They’ve got experience and history in the jumper and they’ve played in big games,” Kafer said of his Genia-Cooper combination. “They’ve been to a World Cup before.
“They’ll be at the right age to be successful at a World Cup as a pair of halves – that’s important.”
Sharpe backed current Waratahs and Wallabies duo Phipps and Foley as the men to do the business in England next year.
“I’ve like what I’ve seen from Phipps and Foley over the last couple of weeks and I think they’ll get better as they play more Test matches together,” he said.
“I like the width of Phipps’s pass and I like the stability that Foley brings. He can play all sorts of styles of game. He can attack the line, he understands how to run a game and the more time he gets in the saddle the better he’s going to be.”
DAVID POCOCK
A former Wallabies captain, David Pocock has had a wretched run that has seen him miss almost the entirety of the last two seasons.
Michael Hooper has not only established himself as one of the world’s premier No.7s in that time but is now also the Wallaby skipper.
All three men have Hooper in their sides at openside but Kafer and Sharpe believe Pocock could slot in alongside him in the backrow at either No.6 or No.8.
Pocock continues to work on his recovery.Source: Getty Images
“Firstly, I’m just a bit worried about Cliffy’s (Palu) body and with that in mind the next best ball-running option is Scott Higginbotham,” Sharpe said.
“I wouldn’t mind Poey having a go at No.6, he and Higgers are both good carriers. I think it could work and you’d have a good lineout jumper in Higginbotham.”
The lineout jumping could be a worry but Kafer believes either Pocock or Hooper could jump at No.2.
“I think (in this set-up) you’ve got good ball-carrying, two good jumpers in Fardy and Simmons,” he said. “I think you’ve got a reasonable lineout option at No.2, in either Pocock or Hooper.
“And Pocock is certainly big enough at the moment to be a No.8. You’d probably get a little bit more from him than what you do Cliff.”
Pocock didn’t make Horan’s side and the 1999 Player of the tournament said the Brumbies star would need to have altered his game following two knee reconstructions.
“I think he’ll have to alter his game, the game has moved on very quickly in the two years that he’s been injured,” Horan said.
“And you’ve seen how Michael Hooper has advanced his game. It’s not just being over the ball (at the breakdown) and winning the ball, it’s being able to run, pass and throw cut-out passes.
“You saw the hole that Michael Hooper hit on the Gold Coast on Saturday night. That’s an area that David Pocock really has to work on to get into his game but first of all he just needs to get back on the field.”
KARMICHAEL HUNT
Israel Folau went from a Super Rugby rookie to Wallaby starter in just six months but Reds recruit Karmichael Hunt faces an even greater challenge if he’s to find a place in the Wordl Cup squad.
“Karmichael doesn’t have enough time and he’s probably not distinctive enough as a player who is going to force somebody out,” Kafer said.
“I mean is he going to play fullback for the Reds or outside centre for the Reds? Is he going to be better than a combination of Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Kurtley Beale and Israel Folau?
“He needs a point of difference.”
Another major Reds recruit is also in contention and Horan believes both James O’Connor and Hunt will be in the mix for the wider squad.
“What do they usually take to a World Cup? 30? He’ll (Hunt) definitely be close,” Horan said.
“It’ll just depend on whether he has an injury-free run with the Queensland Reds. If so, he’s going to be very close. It’s the same thing for James O’Connor – I think he’ll certainly make it.”
CAPTAINCY
Opinions were divided over who should lead Australia to the World Cup although current skipper Michael Hooper had the support of both Horan and Kafer.
“I think you stick with Hooper,” Kafer said. “He’s the Wallabies long-term captain and they’ve got great experience there to support him, guys like Pocock and Moore who’ve both captained the side.
“You’ve got players there with a wealth of experience to help out a young captain, so I think it’s a good balance.”
But Sharpe said Moore’s big-match experience should not be overlooked at a tournament where pressure is at record highs.
“I think Stephen Moore has got the right attributes to captain Australia at the moment,” he said.
“He’s understands what it takes to perform at a high level, particularly in a Test match at a World Cup where the little things are often the difference.”