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Andrew,
THanks for detailing Hodgo's credentials as a 6 but, for me at least, that wasn't required. I'm aware of how well he plays 6, that wasn't my concern, the concern was how badly our locks play 4 & 5.
For the majority of his time at 6 the lineout was being called by Mr N Sharpe, a finer exponent of that skill is hard to find....maybe Matfield, but even that is arguable. Certainly nobody in the current game comes close. Rob Simmons is calling the lineout ATM and he isn't even a faint shadow of that good.
They need everything they can get in the lineout and the extra few centimetres a Fardy or a Jones offers might just tip the balance. Add this to the obvious fact that Cheika is deliberately devaluing the breakdown by making his flankers play wide and leaving his only pilfering option out of the squad equals bad news for Hodgeo (and Horwill to some extent)