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Heading into their respective quarterfinals, Canham and Smith had clocked up 13 games for 850 minutes and 14 games for 989 minutes, respectively, according to Opta statistics.
So, they both have proven themselves to be durable athletes this year. However, the difference really emerges in defence.
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt speaks to the media after naming his squad.Credit: Getty Images
Canham made 133 tackles with 27 misses, while Smith made 189 with just 10 misses. In addition, the big Red had 13 dominant tackles compared to Canham’s five.
Smith was also far more circumspect with ball in hand, producing just three offloads to Canham’s 15.
Canham, with his natural athleticism, made more metres per carry, getting 360 metres from 76 carries, while Smith made 360 metres from 96.
Statistics don’t tell the full story, of course, but they do paint part of the picture: Smith’s strengths are those more closely aligned to the requirements of Test rugby.
It doesn’t mean that Canham isn’t suited to Test rugby – he would have been in my squad – but it might indicate that he needs to narrow the gap to Smith just in terms of Smith’s excellent defensive output.
In fact, it would not surprise if Smith starts against Wales, because you’re almost guaranteed to get a 7-8/10 performance in which he hits a ton of rucks and puts himself about in the middle of the field, as well as producing the goods with his tight carries in the opposition 22m, something we have seen frequently for Queensland.
His selection might even be seen as symbolic of Schmidt’s first squad. This is a blue-collar Wallabies squad, arguably even light of a bit of X-factor, and its identity is going to come from how hard it is prepared to work.
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Look at the back three: Andrew Kellaway, Darby Lancaster and Dylan Pietsch are rounded footballers and I would also expect to see Filipo Daugunu seen as an option on the wing because he shares an attribute with Lancaster and Pietsch, in particular: to attack defensive breakdowns on the edges.
Hamish Stewart is another very Schmidty selection, a clever and selfless player who makes those around him look better, and doesn’t make a lot of errors. Ditto Josh Flook. In the back row, Liam Wright is cut from the same cloth.
Canham can count himself unfortunate, but in this first squad Schmidt has given all Australian players a clear indication of what he values most.
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