There's been a lot of attention on Cheika's presentation to the Rugby Australia board on Friday but the reality is the meetings have not stopped behind the scenes and the planning work for next year's World Cup continues apace. One of the most important took place in Sydney last week. All of the Super Rugby high performance teams – we're talking coaches, assistant coaches, strength and conditioning types, the lot – met with their Wallabies equivalents and RA high performance boss Ben Whitaker to nut out a plan for next season. The outcome? A work in progress still, but the words we've been hearing are "individualised" and "collaborative" and "robust". What we think that means is that while there might be an overall 20 per cent reduction in playing and training load for Wallabies players, how that looks will be worked out on a case-by-case basis. There will be no mandated rest periods. Lone wolf: Brad Thorn impressed with his attitude at the recent coaching summit in Sydney. Credit:AAP The good news is Brad Thorn turned up. The Reds coach – described in his first season in the top job as a lone wolf – didn't make the same meeting last year, but last week he was there with bells on.

We also hear one of the most vocal contributors was NSW coach Daryl Gibson, who didn't let his close relationship with the Wallabies coach get in the way of challenging the system. Rebels coach Dave Wessels was there too, no doubt reflecting on what was one of his tougher seasons as a head coach. Wessels said all of the coaches were open to the Wallabies' ideas for next year. "I think everybody there wants the Wallabies to win the World Cup, that’s the big picture," he said. "We also recognise that success in Super Rugby would go a long way to supporting that, and at the same time there’s a balance in knowing that Super Rugby success helps the Wallabies players grow in confidence, so the two are inter-linked." Wallabies job swap not on Cheika was in a jovial mood at Leichhardt Oval yesterday but he turned serious, quickly, when asked whether he was considering a radical coach-swap in his assistants ranks.

One of the many ideas put to the Wallabies coach internally at Rugby Australia was whether defence coach Nathan Grey might swap with attack coach Stephen Larkham in an effort to get the Test team, well, you know, scoring more tries and stopping more of them too. Yeah, nah: Cheika is not interested in a job-swap for his assistant coaches. Credit:rugby.com.au "I don't think that would be a smart strategy at this point," Cheika said matter-of-factly. "It's about using the experiences you've had – the positive and negative experiences – to make the changes and the corrections you need to do a better job." No.10s don't grow on trees

Our piece on the next generation of Australian No.10's generated some solid discussion and prompted more people to get in touch with their picks. Apparently former Reds playmaker Jake McIntyre, 24, is contemplating a return home from France, where he is playing for Agen. Loading In the Australian Under 20s ranks, Sunnybank's Isaac Lucas and Randwick's Will Harrison impressed this year, while there are national eyes on Queensland Schoolboys Carter Gordon (Nudgee College) and Reesjan Pasitoa (Brisbane Boys College). There are also plenty of people who don't understand why Sydney University five-eighth Stuart Dunbar doesn't have a Super Rugby contract. According to one highly qualified observer, the Riverina-raised playmaker was "immaculate" for the Students in their run to the grand final and is said to have matured after a season with Italian club Verona.