Yesterday David Pocock received his call-up to start for the first time for the Wallabies, against the Springboks in Brisbane, he also met one of his boyhood heroes.

Pocock and his family arrived in Brisbane in 2002 with literally a couple of suitcases and nothing more. Before their departure from Zimbabwe, the youngster had been a keen follower of rugby and his boyhood hero was none other than Bob Skinstad.

Bob was in the back of the room during the press conference when David said: “I was always a big fan of Bobby Skinstad when I was growing up, watching South African rugby on the telly.”

They met after the press conference when Skinstad, also born in Bulawayo, introduced himself to Pocock, he even offered him whatever advice he felt he needed ahead of his big game against the Boks.

Pocock will be fulfilling the role of an out-and-out fetcher in a back-row shuffle seeing George Smith moving to eightman in place of the dropped Brown.

I think this was a clever move by Deans with his team ending with a better balanced back-row. Pocock with the help of Smith will also keep our own Brussow a little busier than what he has been use to the last couple of weeks. Deans had the following to say about the changes:

“They’re two blokes that are very good at the breakdowns, which is an important area for us, and hopefully they can profit from each other’s work. They both cover the ground well and have high work rates, and have the capacity to play some footy too if we get that scope.”

“David is very strong and low to the ground, ideal for the position of openside. He has the ability to keep going and impact on events. We’ve seen him just grow and grow in his three years of Super 14 rugby and he’s got everything he needs to do well on Saturday. I’m sure he’ll enter the game with confidence.”

“George has shown the capacity and skill set to play eight, and he should have great support and more opportunity than if he had to be the first arriver.”

All up Deans made seven changes to the starting XV, two of them positional, but he says this should not be seen as the sign that he was making wholesale changes and altering the course of the team after of six successive defeats in the Tri-Nations.

“The changes are not about tokenism or wielding the big stick. We approach the selection process much more from the squad perspective and we believe in all the guys. The coaching staff need to help find the solutions, we’ve reflected, and we are chasing those solutions. It’s not as if we are clutching at straws, these players have all earned the privilege to start and they are all capable of making the best out of the opportunity,” Deans said.

Well, all up he got rid of some dead wood in Brown and Burgess who failed to inspire with the chances given to them. The hooker swap is strange but that may well be part of a rotation policy with both offering much of the same.

With Barnes back it does look like a stronger team but I doubt it will be enough to overcome the Boks on Saturday, that is unless the Boks are over confident and believe pitching for the game is enough to win it! Brisbane has not been a very happy hunting ground for the Springboks, lets hope it goes according to plan and all changes on Saturday.