Rugby-Cheika still seeking answers to Wallabies quandaries

By Ian Ransom MELBOURNE, July 14 (Reuters) - Australia coach Michael Cheika is renowned for pulling off big renovation jobs in short order but his Wallabies project will still be a work-in-progress well into the abridged Rugby Championship. Under the deadline pressure of a looming World Cup, Cheika will give a first glimpse of his plans for the global showpiece in England when he names his matchday side to take on South Africa in Brisbane on Saturday. For all but a few in the 31-man training squad, it may be a welcome ray of light about their places in the pecking order after a full Super Rugby season of being mostly in the dark. It may also be just a fleeting moment of clarity, however, with Cheika expected to trial a number of different combinations in the remaining matches against Argentina and New Zealand. A training camp on the balmy Sunshine Coast last week shaved the squad down from 40 but appeared to settle little else for a team that finished last season with three straight losses to northern hemisphere opponents. Though the starting front row appears to be sewn up with props James Slipper and Sekope Kepu either side of captain Stephen Moore, question marks abound from the second row back. Cheika has yet to settle his ideal halves pairing, with the experienced Queensland Reds duo of Quade Cooper and Will Genia competing with the coach's former New South Wales Waratahs' pairing of Bernard Foley and Nick Phipps. The return of France-based backs Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell to the national fold after several years in Europe has also posed a selection headache, with no shortage of capable centres and wingers in the squad. All three back row positions will be hotly contested, while the possible availability of Ireland-based lock Kane Douglas for the series' final match against the All Blacks may also shake up the second row. After the series, Cheika has only a second Bledisloe Cup test against the All Blacks and a commercially-driven match against rugby minnows, United States, in Chicago to examine his side before the opening pool match of the World Cup against Fiji on Sept. 23. The idea of the coaching staff still stuck at the drawing board a few months out from England might be alarming for fans. But Cheika, who guided Irish side Leinster to the Heineken Cup in four years and the Waratahs to the Super Rugby title in two, has been less worried about fitting players into a starting side than getting them all on the same page. "So what we're trying to do is just get our plan right and make the guys believe in that," he told reporters on Monday. "Be very unified in what we're doing. It won't be complicated and what we want to do is get everyone doing the same thing." As always, the spotlight will be trained firmly on the Wallabies forwards and how they hold up against the more muscular packs of the southern hemisphere powers. They were outclassed in defeats to France, Ireland and England on tour, so any signs of improvement from the pack in the Rugby Championship may be vital for the team's confidence heading to England. (Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)