Giteau had his moments in a last gasp win over the Boks and the jury is still out on whether he’ll go to the World Cup in September.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has several replacement options with the most likely are Kurtley Beale or Christian Leali’ifano.
Other options could include moving Quade Cooper or Matt Toomua to 12 with Bernard Foley a possible starter at 10.
Waratahs utility Beale wore the No. 12 jersey throughout the NSW side’s Super Rugby winning 2014 season and is an instrumental part of the side.
The 26-year-old is a relative veteran on the Test scene, making his debut in 2009. In 2010 he slotted a long range penalty after the final whistle to beat South Africa in Bloemfontein.
Leali’ifano was drafted into the Wallabies’ travelling squad after Giteau was ruled out and has been a lynchpin in Canberra, with the Brumbies making the finals each of the last three years.
His 2013 Test debut lasted less than a minute after he was knocked out against the Lions. He returned the next week to kick the winning conversion and level the three match series.
Neither player was in the match-day squad last weekend, with Beale’s last international match a 26-17 loss to England at the end of last year. Leali’ifano’s last game in the gold jersey was a 29-26 loss to France in 2014.
So, with the RWC getting ever closer, who should Cheika choose?
With the help of Opta, we’ve taken a look at the stats to make a decision.
Leali’ifano played 18 games to Beale’s 15 with Leali’ifano crossing for four tries to Beale’s one.
A noted runner, Beale made 204 carries, compared to the Brumbies playmaker’s 137. Beale also made 12 clean breaks to Leali’ifano’s 11.
Second phase play is all important in Super Rugby, but can be the undoing of sides in Tests. Beale knows how to get an offload away – he threw 30 in 2015 – while Leali’ifano was more conservative, only making 12 offloads.
They kick in open play roughly the same amount, but defensively, Beale still has frailties. The Waratahs back is protected at times, but only made 61.8% of his tackles. Leali’ifano is fearless in the tackle, making 143 for an 85.1% success rate.
They can both kick from the tee if they need to, but Beale was hardly used by the Tahs this season. He made three of the four shots at goal he lined up, with Bernard Foley the preferred option.
Leali’ifano kicked at 71.8% accuracy for the Brumbies in 2015, slotting 61 shots at goal.
