Not much competition for me, Roby all the way, and with Sinfield somewhere he can cover if needed.

The only other options I'd be tempted by would be:

a) Little runner on the bench - Burrow or Robinson, but I wouldn't do this against a big pack, we need the hooker to be a defender. Burrow has great technique (with leg tackles) imo, and Robinson is a great defender for his size, but you just can't replace raw size and strength sometimes.

b) McIlorum to start for a brutal opening defence, then bring on Roby at 15-20mins and leave him on for the rest of the match. McIlorum can cover loose (Burgess to the front row) if needed too.

He played very well last night. But let's face it we made him look good at the same time too. Any of the hookers we've been talking about would of had a field day against our defence yesterday. But as I say if it makes you feel any better, he played very well.

I said McIlorum would be an ideal 9 for test match rugby the other day but that his form was poor. Well he's back now and he showed on Thursday what he can bring. He will rush out and miss the odd tackle as he try's to pull off some big hits but as long as the players around him are switched on you can compensate for that.

If he keeps that form up now I'd edge towards him starting with Roby coming on after 20-25 minutes.

Roby is far better than anyone else and is good enough to do the 80. If you are looking for something different in the 17 then Burrow is the best as an interchange, just don't play him for too long or his inadequate defence will get exploited. As a replacement for Roby if he was injured Houghton or Lunt to do the long minutes, McIlorum is decent but far from great and over rated thanks to having a great team around him and his thuggery won't frighten the Aussies and Kiwis.

I hear that about a lot of Wigans players yet we're a good side because of lads like McIlorum. To suggest he's simply riding the back of others talents is utter drivel. He along with Sean O'Loughlin are the heartbeat of the Wigan pack and team because they set a frantic tempo for the other forwards to follow which allows some quality backs to do their thing.

Ask any Wigan fan, staff member or player how good this guy is and they'll sing his praises to the hilt. I'd suggest opposition players would give him a ringing endorsement as well and tell you how tough it is to play against him.

James Roby is world class, the best hooker we have and he'll be heavily involved but McIlorum would be a cracking foil for him.

Roby is our best 9 in the country, no doubt about that. But he excels when his forwards are dominating and he gets a quick PTB. We won't get that against Australia and we won't get that against NZ. So Roby's strengths are somewhat neutralised unfortunately. The Aussies aren't stupid, they know how to beat us, it's by controlling the ruck, using their better techniques to slow the tempo down and not allow Roby to work.

Sadly there's no real alternative

But every hooker looks better when their forwards are dominating and will suffer if their team ruck is slowed?

To re iterate, Roby is far from just a scooting hooker. He's matured into a very well rounded 9.

McIlorum is a good hooker. I think one of the reasons that Wigan have done so well over the past few years is that players coming in are often genuinely skilled in their position, rather than some squad players who are more general rugby players who happen to play in that position. Goulding is another example of this, not many people would rave about him as his not 6'4" of lightening quick, but he's a good centre, got the centre skills and when he's in a position he'll generally do things the way a coach would want. McIlorum is generally like this, imo.
A few years back, Saints had a hooker called Bernard Dwyer. I thought he was great. Tough, busy, seemed to have a decent pass. I was young and hadn't been watching the game long, so my obvious saints bias wouldn't allow me to understand why one of my favourite players never got picked in the international sides. Looking back, Barney was a good player, but there were just better hookers about. I'd suggest McIlorum has a lot in common with Dwyers situation (and probably isn't a dissimilar player).

Agreed, but his main strengths are 'scooting' and the like, I agree he's a very well rounded 9, but i'm just perhaps comparing him to players like Cam Smith and Farah where their distribution and passing ability is their main strength etc.

But like I said, we've nothing better and i'd like to see him out there for the full 80 in the World Cup

Things must be getting desperate if McIlorum is being considered. Wow.

This is where Roby has improved this year on his varied passing game and short kicking options. The Saints pack has been dominated in most games this season and Roby has adjusted to it, obviously if he gets the opportunity to scoot it will be a bonus.
What you will see from Roby in the world cup is a similar style to Cam Smith but if he gets into open play it hopefully will damage the opposition.

I'll bow to your superior knowledge, I have seen very little of Saints this year, I look forward to seeing Roby injury free in the world cup and showing what he can do!