The decision on whether or not to risk David Pocock or Israel Folau in Australia's Rugby World Cup quarterfinal against Scotland boiled down to one question for coach Michael Cheika: could they do their jobs?
In the professional era, in a knockout game, there's no room for sentiment in selections. And Cheika has shown since he took the Wallabies job a year ago that he's not a sentimental bloke.
"They couldn't do their jobs and that's the key," Cheika told a news conference Saturday, on the eve of the quarterfinal at Twickenham. "You've got to be able to do your jobs in this team and I don't think either player could do it to their full potential."
Pocock has been the stand-out backrower of the tournament, despite playing at No. 8 instead of his more accustomed spot on the openside flank. Folau hasn't been at his blockbusting best, but is always a threat to a defending team. Both limped off the field early last weekend in the 15-6 win over Wales that decided top spot in Pool A. Pocock had a calf muscle strain, and Folau has struggled with an ankle injury for two weeks.
Cheika replaced them with Ben McCalman at No. 8 and Kurtley Beale at fullback, rewarding both incoming players for taking their opportunities previously off the bench.
"It's really just a straight swap for those guys," Cheika said. "We'll just ask them to improve the team with what they bring.
"I know Pocock and Folau are great players but I really believe in the guys who are coming into their positions."
The Australians have won 19 of the 28 tests against Scotland, and had a 33-16 win in the quarterfinals in 2003, their only previous encounter at the World Cup. The Wallabies have also been on a roll in 2015, beating the All Blacks in Sydney to clinch the southern hemisphere's Rugby Championship in August among their eight wins. With pool wins over Fiji, Uruguay, England and Wales, the Wallabies have been one of the form teams of the tournament.
Scotland has struggled, placing last in the Six Nations without any wins, losing to South Africa in the pool stage here and only just managing to hold off Samoa 36-33 last weekend.
Cheika said he doesn't look at form guides when he's preparing for a game.
"We've taken a very introverted approach in this tournament. I don't know if that's naive because we're only pretty young as coaches in the international sphere but we've just focused on what we're doing," Cheika said. "Obviously, we have to do some analysis of the opposition but we've kept it at the basic minimum."
In other changes to Australia's starting lineup, Michael Hooper returns at No. 7 and Sean McMahon reverts to the bench, and lock Rob Simmons swaps with Dean Mumm in the secondrow.
Skipper Stephen Moore and centre Matt Giteau are set to earn their 100th test caps when they run on against Scotland.
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