Townsville Bulletin

NO NEED FOR CHANGE Ex-skipper urges Michael Cheika to pick and stick for Cup decider

- MELISSA WOODS

ed a grand slam in 1984, Slack wants to see the same players who thumpednew Zealand 47-26 in Perth last weekend rewarded with selection for game two.

Four years ago the Wallabies were in the same scenario after winning their opening Test in Sydney but with the World Cup in mind, Cheika changed most of his backline and traded two forwards.

The Wallabies were crushed 41-13 at Eden Park, however they went on to make theworld Cup final later that year.

With the teamto be announced today, Cheika hasn’t given any indication this week if he intends to repeat those plans but Slack hopes he doesn’t.

“I think part of the good performanc­e last week was that everybody who was selected earned their place and deserved to be there and I’m not sure that’s always been the case,” Slack said.

“I think when you’ve got a team where everybody can say, ‘ He deserves to be there’, it builds a confidence within the team.

“You know the bloke besides you is going to do their job so if we start fiddling and mucking around with selections again just to experiment, I think it’s a backward step.”

Slack wanted the starting line-up to remain intact but could see room for the return of champion flanker David Pocock, who has been sidelined since March with a calf injury. Whenslack led his troops to victory at Eden Park, he never envisaged the mark would stand more than 30 years on.

He said he had found the ground “tricky” due to its cricket ground dimensions, but felt it had no mystical value. Slack’s only explanatio­n for the long drought was simply how well the All Blacks played at their spiritual home.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Australia