Richie McCaw's Test cap record is about to be equalled

They went short and to the over throw repeatedly against the English and this telegraphing of intent by Jason Ryan to repeat the dose may be a smokescreen.

What I'd do against the Irish is start Cane at seven to rough them up (legally) in a return to 2016 and start three locks with Tupou shifted to six.

Sititi at eight with Savea to lead the bench impact with a 6-2 split that includes Darry and Finau. Ratima and ALB to cover the backs.

Savea to replace Cane after thirty or so minutes with Cane instructed to empty the tank.

No disrespect to Ireland, they're the toughest test, slightly tougher than France with with only six days recovery for the Allblacks and up against the best coaching group in the north.

If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.

It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅

It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.

That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.