This year we’ve got Super 15, the Lions Tests, more Super 15, The Rugby Championship, a spring tour ... Is the rugby season too long and too diffuse?

Well, clearly rugby is trying to compete with the other codes for exposure and viewers. But you’ve got to say it hasn’t worked, and that’s been shown by the disjointed play we saw in the Super 15 after the Tests against the Lions ... Still, I think Channel Ten has done a terrific job marketing the Wallabies on free-to-air. I think they’ve been very brave taking these Tests to every capital city live. That’s something that hasn’t happened since the ABC televised rugby back at the ’91 World Cup and it’s something that’s brought people who haven’t been watching rugby back to the game.

Revitalising the Genia-Cooper halves pairing will be McKenzie’s first point of order as coach.

Both our World Cup-winning teams of ’91 and ’99 were products of the amateur era. Has Australian rugby struggled to adapt to professionalism?

I think a lot of it comes down to leadership at the very top, the administration of the ARU. I don’t think they’ve had the vision or the programs to seek out new talent that’s capable of going all the way. I don’t think our pathways to the top have been consistent. Looking at the academy structure and the gap between club rugby and Super 15 rugby, I don’t think we’ve got that right ... I also don’t think we’ve had the right coach at the Wallabies. Alan Jones, Bob Dwyer and Rod Macqueen were outstanding coaches with brilliant support staffs. But since 2002, when we last won the Bledisloe Cup, I don’t think we’ve had that absolute world-class coach; someone who can take on the world and beat the world. In Ewen McKenzie, I do think we’ve now got a coach in place who can do that.

So you can see the Wallabies recapturing that dominance we enjoyed over the Kiwis under Rod Macqueen?

Whether we can get that level of dominance is another thing, but, yes, of course I can see us regaining the Bledisloe Cup. Ewen’s a very positive guy and he has a terrific record against New Zealand teams at the Super 15 level. I’m sure with him at the helm, Australia can get it right and win back the Bledisloe Cup. It’s going to happen, I’m quite sure of that. I can see signs we’re moving in the right direction. Don’t forget, our Australian Schoolboys team beat New Zealand last year ...

− Aaron Scott