At the heart of the plan is the use of overseas Giteau Law players, Wallabies with 60 Tests played over seven years, to inspire the team to success in The Rugby Championship, the Grand Slam tour in November and then on to Japan, in three years time, presumably. The gamble in the plan is that the All Blacks, the most successful Test side in the last decade, operate an exactly opposite system.

When New Zealand players go overseas, even when they are as gifted as Dan Carter or Ma'a Nonu, they are automatically out of selection calculations for the All Blacks. The players know this. They delay their overseas stints to the end of their careers. The rule is sometimes even applied to eligible players who are about to go overseas. So Victor Vito has been excluded from the All Blacks squad for The Rugby Championship. Liam Squire and Elliot Dixon, two loose forwards with potential to become better players, have been selected ahead of him.

The argument is sometimes made that New Zealand has so much rugby talent the All Blacks can afford to be selective. This ignores the field of dreams syndrome. Charles Piatau was not selected for the RWC 2015 tournament because he had signed an overseas contract. Nehe Milner-Skudder was selected to replace him and was one of the side's best players.

We come now to the Giteau Law players that Cheika has selected for his 36-man Wallabies squad for The Rugby Championship: Matt Giteau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Drew Mitchell and Will Genia.

All these players are past their best, to put it kindly. If they are selected in the Wallabies for the Bledisloe Cup Test against the All Blacks at Sydney on August 20 they will be blocking younger players who have the skills, energy and potential to become star Wallabies.

Giteau, for instance, played at inside centre during the 2015 RWC tournament. In the 2015 RWC final, the small Giteau was smashed so badly he had to leave the field. On this evidence alone, Giteau is not the present or the future for the Wallabies. There are younger players in the squad who should be considered ahead of him: Reece Hodge, Semu Kerevi and (fingers crossed on his defence) Quade Cooper. Moreover, and this is the worst aspect of the Giteau selection, Kyle Godwin, a player with the potential to be a great Wallaby centre, has not even made the squad. Godwin is big. He is a strong runner. He has a good passing game. He tackles strongly. And he is a natural left-foot kicker, like Giteau.

Genia could keep Nick Frisby out of the Test side. Frisby has the potential to be a long term Wallaby starter, if he is given the opportunity. Drew Mitchell and Adam Ashley-Cooper (who admitted after RWC 2015 that he didn't expect to play for the Wallabies again) are compromising the selection of squad members Dane Haylett-Petty and Luke Morahan, and players like Andrew Kellaway and Tom English who should be in the squad.

On Saturday night, the Hurricanes are playing the Lions at Wellington in a highly-anticipated Super Rugby final. This final has relevance to the Giteau Law.

The Lions are the best Super Rugby side to come out of South Africa in many years. The team exemplifies how Super Rugby is a much better preparation for Test rugby than the grind of European rugby. Compare the improvement in the play of Elton Jantjies, say, with James O'Connor's mediocre performances for the Reds after his European stint. The inspiring play of the All Blacks in the Hurricanes, Dan Coles, Victor Vito, Beauden Barrett, T.J. Perenara and Ardie Savea, has lifted the side to favouritism in a home final. A Giteau Law for New Zealand rugby would undermine this sort of quality control exercised by the local All Blacks.

Memo to Michael Cheika: The Giteau Law should only operate in a Rugby World Cup year.