If Australia lose to England this weekend and Foley starts it will be a wasted opportunity to test things out.
If that is how things pan out Cheika will have:
1. Lost 3 out of 4 tests
2. Not tested anything beyond basically the same team that was used throughout the domestic season
3. Have showed faith in a failing line up, despite the fact the tight 5, the Wallabies biggest historical weakness have performed reasonably well.
Come next season there's minimal opportunity for him to try anything as there are no lesser games and the coach goes into the World Cup knowing nothing new.
It seems Cheika is showing the very same conservative streak that many were critical of Link for, and I and many were critical of Deans for.
If this was Cheika's 3rd year in the job, I'd agree with you, but it's his 5th week.
He's pretty much done what most coaches would do in the same postion in steadying the ship, introducing himself and his style to the players and observing and evaluating the players on the tour at training and in matches. The players in the match day squad have now had ample opportunity to impress or not - chopping and changing to test multiple players doesn't give any of them the chance to impress and IMO is actually counter-productive. T he guys who he has picked are getting their chance. Other players will get plenty chances in Super 2015 and TRC 2015.
In the circumstances of the coaching hand-over, I think he's done as good as anyone else in Australian rugby could. I disagree with him brining Beale over, but I suspect he has done so to make a statement to Pulver et al, just like the lines about I'm here to coach the rugby team it's other people's responsibility to make sure he pays the fine (like the CEO).
