Scott Sio, such an integral part of the revitalised Australian scrum under the tutelage of Mario Ledesma over the last 12 months, returned to training with his fellow Wallabies in their Surrey retreat of Weybridge on Tuesday and looks set to be named in their frontrow for Saturday's World Cup final against New Zealand when they announce their side on Thursday afternoon.
The loose-head was sorely missed in last Sunday’s semi-final against Argentina, and although the Australian management will adopt a wait and see approach to Sio’s recovery from an elbow injury, it looks as if both finalists will have fully fit squads to choose from.
Given what the Aussies have been through, emerging atop the Pool of Death and then that huge scare against Scotland before eventually subduing Argentina to earn their fifth successive match at Twickenham, that is remarkable.
"We've had a difficult run to the final, pretty much every game has been final week," admitted their backs' coach Stephen Larkham today. "We know what we need to do in terms of preparing for a big game because that's what we've been doing for the last few weeks."
The Wallabies have found different ways of winning very different matches, clinically plundering four tries against the Pumas while somehow keeping their try-line intact, as they did in a bruising try-less group decider against Wales when successfully defending their try-line for seven minutes while reduced to 13 men.
“I guess this tournament has been a little bit up and down in terms of attack and defence. What was pleasing was the way the guys combined in attack and defence on the weekend. I don’t want to focus too much on my area, I want to be sure the players are performing in all areas.
“The longest passage was 4 minutes and 30 seconds, which is the longest I’ve ever been involved in. It was a combination of both attack and defence, and the guys handled it really well. The guys scored a couple of nice tries, but defence is going to be the key.”
Looking ahead to the final, Larkham said: “We’ve scored some good tries but defence is going to be the key. The most important thing we’ve given the team over the last 12 months is a bit more structure. From all reports, game plans were changed from week to week, as were the defence and attacking styles. Ever since (Michael) Cheika came on board there’s been a real clear direction.”
Larkham himself played in two finals, as part of the victorious Australian team that beat France in Cardiff in 1999 and the Wallabies team which lost to England in 2003 in Sydney; their last appearance in a final. But even has been a little surprised by the advances made under Cheika, what with winning the Rugby Championship this year and now reaching the final.
“This journey is fairly similar to 1999. The guys got together under Cheika a year ago, was it? No, less than a year ago,” he corrected himself, in slight amazement, “and have had accelerated growth together. I was really proud of the rugby we played in that November tour. In 1999 and 2003 we had two years of preparation for those campaigns. These boys are at the same stage we were at, particularly in 1999.”
Asked to compare the two teams, Larkham smiled and said dryly: “This team is much better.”
David Pocock, who missed the last-ditch quarter-final win over Scotland with a calf strain, came through a typically unstinting 80 minutes against the Pumas last Sunday despite it emerging that he suffered a broken nose and then, having had it re-set, broke it a second time.
Sporting bruises under and above both eyes along with a gash to the side of his right area, the teak-tough Zimbabwean-born back-rower hardly looked in a fit state to play the final when he was wheeled out for the Wallabies’ media day today.
"This is David Pocock, although it doesn't really look like him at the moment," said their press officer Adam Freier by way of introduction.
Asked initially if playing in the back-row was taking a toll, particularly against the Pumas, Pocock smiled and said: “”I don’t know what you mean,” before adding: “I’m feeling really good. The game was exactly what we expected. The Argentinians combined that real brute strength and focus on set piece with a lot of flair. It was tough and really physical.”
“It’s one of those things where it’s getting towards the end of the season, you’ve played a lot of rugby and your body gets used to recovering. We’ve got an outstanding medical team and physios that look after us, so there’ll be no trouble getting up for another game.”
