Michael Cheika’s keenness for Crusaders backrower Pete Samu to become a Wallaby underlines one of his core strengths as a coach, but also exposes his limitations at the international level.
The Melbourne-born Samu was not named last night in the Wallabies’ 32 man squad for the upcoming three-Test series with Six Nations champions Ireland, but he will be rushed into the team as soon as he is cleared by New Zealand.
Cheika is a wheeler-dealer. At the provincial level with the NSW Waratahs and Irish side Leinster, Cheika developed a reputation as a super recruiter with an eye for talent which could transform a team.
Cheika’s recruitment of former Wallabies blindside flanker Rocky Elsom to Leinster was instrumental to the Irish province winning its maiden European Cup.
Similarly, two of the first things Cheika did when he became Waratahs coach was to bring Kurtley Beale back to Sydney from Melbourne and recruit the abrasive South African back-five forward Jacques Potgieter, which led to NSW winning its first Super Rugby title.
But as Wallabies coach Cheika is largely restricted to the existing pool of talent in Australia’s Super Rugby teams, despite the fact there are more professional Australian rugby players playing overseas than in Australia.
Cheika managed to get around the rigidity of Rugby Australia’s selection policy when the so-called Giteau Law was introduced in time for the 2015 World Cup, which enabled him to choose overseas-based Australians such as Matt Giteau if they had played 60 Tests.
The only player who was considered under the Giteau Law for the Irish series was hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, but he is resting after playing for English club Leicester.
Unlike the provincial scene, Cheika just cannot go to the marketplace and find another hooker. Instead, he will have to rely on three rookies – Folau Fainga’a, Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Jordan Uelese - for the Irish series with Polota-Nau coming back for the Bledisloe Cup and The Rugby Championship.
Uelese is the most experienced of the trio with just 35 minutes of Test rugby, while Fainga’a and Paenga-Amosa are uncapped.
The inexperience of this trio will be a potential disadvantage against the Irish, who are very strong in the set-pieces, but the Wallabies need one or two of them to step up for the World Cup in Japan next year.
There are only three other uncapped players in the squad – Brumbies fullback Tom Banks, Rebels utility back Jack Maddocks and Reds backrower Caleb Timu.
A player with Campese-esque attacking qualities, Banks has the potential to provide the Wallabies with the kind of X-factor that Cheika drools over.
Like every Wallabies coach before him in the professional era, Cheika has increased the selection pool by poaching players from rugby league. There are three ex-NRL players in the current squad – fullback Israel Folau, winger Marika Koroibete and outside back Curtis Rona, while another Cheika recruit Taqele Naiyaravoro was a notable omission.
There are a lot of familiar faces in this Wallabies squad, which is why Cheika was so excited about Samu signing for the Brumbies next year, making him eligible to play for Australia.
The Super recruiter was quick to make Samu part of his World Cup plans and Rugby Australia is now involved in discussions with New Zealand to have him released for Test duty as soon as possible.
A damaging ball-runner, Samu could play the same kind of role that Sean McMahon played in the Wallabies backrow last year before heading off to Japan.
Once again, Samu would be an example of Cheika finding the right player to fill a need in the team just like he used to do as a provincial coach.
But for all of Cheika’s skill as a recruiter, his options to bring new talent into the Wallabies remain limited outside the existing player pool unless Rugby Australia continues to tweak its overseas player policy.
It would not have escaped Cheika’s attention that South Africa has recently decided to select overseas-based players for the Springboks, something Australia and New Zealand have resisted because of its potentially detrimental effect on Super Rugby.
If Australia did select overseas-based players, it would immediately double the talent pool available to the Wallabies, a recruiter’s dream you would think.
