Who will feel Cheika's Wallaby axe?
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika will name his 30-man Rugby Championship team on Friday, with 10 members of the current training squad to be axed.
While Cheika is keeping his cards close to his chest as to whom he will deem surplus to requirements, there are plenty of opinions out there about who should make the cut.
The most contentions position seems to be flyhalf – where two schools of thought seems to be pitting Quade Cooper against Matt Giteau for the starting spot.
Quade Cooper has been one of the standout performers on the training paddock at the Wallaby camp, with some Aussie pundits feeling he has positioned himself as the frontrunner for the No.10 jersey in the opening round of the Rugby Championship – when Australia host South Africa in Brisbane on July 18.
Despite two separate shoulder fractures that ruined his Super Rugby season, and a mysterious third shoulder injury which hampered his pre-Wallabies preparations, Cooper impressed sideline critics the past week.
Assistant coach Nathan Grey was also giving very little away as to the make-up of the backline, or the prime candidates for the 10-man squad cull.
"We want everyone with the expectation that they're running on against South Africa in a week's time," Grey told the Australian media.
"That's the mindset of everyone and then it's up to us as coaches to sit down and get that ideal side.
"There's a number of possibilities with guys across the backline.
"We want to have our strike weapons with the ball in hand and there's a lot of those in the team."
However, Matt Giteau has been punted as the best alternative to Cooper in the pivotal position.
The Wallabies' 1991 World Cup-winning coach Bob Dwyer feels Giteau's masterclass in steering Toulon to a 24-18 European Champions Cup win over Clermont in May is proof of his ability to give the Aussies direction from the No.10 channel.
The 32-year-old Giteau, who played mostly at inside centre for Toulon this season, was shifted to No.10 for the Final in a bid to spark the star-studded backline.
The move worked a treat, with Giteau producing several classy touches and incisive runs.
"It was the number one world class performance by a flyhalf in the second level of rugby, if you can call the European Cup that, it was absolutely first rate," Dwyer told AAP.
"His acceleration to get the backline moving was fantastic. He ran straight and got his backline running straight.
"He knew when to carry and when not to. When he carried, he was a real threat and the second touches he got were first class.
"As soon as I see a fly half getting second touches, I know he's running straight and playing flat."
Giteau hasn't played for the Wallabies since he was overlooked by coach Robbie Deans for the 2011 World Cup squad and after playing his 92nd Test earlier that year in a loss to Samoa.
Waratahs flyhalf Bernard Foley is also in the running, according to some pundits Down Under.
But the choice is simple for Dwyer, a former coach of champion flyhalves Michael Lynagh and Mark Ella.
"Giteau brings the players outside him onto the ball and makes them carry the ball in front of him, so then he can get around them easily … I just think he's so far ahead of the rest, it doesn't matter," he said.
Dwyer would like to see Reds veteran Will Genia partner Giteau in the halfback positions for the Wallabies at the expense of Waratahs scrumhalf Nick Phipps.
"I don't know how many passes he [Phipps] has thrown this year that have missed everyone, but it's too many," he said.
"I think he's a great athlete and has unbelievable courage and determination, but you can't have a scrumhalf who misses everyone with his pass.
"Will Genia is the man for me. If you can get the best out of him, he's our best scrumhalf."
Source: AAP
