Can Cheika afford to rest injured Wallabies?
By Sam Ryan
After surviving the ‘pool of death’ on the back of brilliant victories over England and Wales, Michael Cheika’s Wallabies find themselves on what appears to be easier side of the draw for the upcoming knockout stages.
Whilst Australia will avoid New Zealand and South Africa until the final, the Wallabies potentially could face England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland in consecutive weeks, completing a ‘Grand Slam’ if they can play their way into the final match of the tournament.
Cheika’s ‘one week at a time’ philosophy has worked thus far and whilst he won’t be taking Scotland lightly in Monday morning’s quarter final, he must be tempted to rest a number of his struggling stars - namely David Pocock, Israel Folau and Matt Giteau.
Sure, Australia may have lost two of their last three Tests against Scotland and the Wallabies will need another top class performance to extend their stay in the UK, but are you really weakening your side by giving Ben McCalma