I think maybe we should rename this thread 'Argument @ EK'.
Seriously gents, let's drop the Bus versus Boeing bull!!!! and stick with the topic. Anyone who doesn't admit that the 777 had major serviceabilty problems in its first months of service has a very selective memory or wasn't there. The 787 and the A350 will have similar teething problems, and, as with every other type new to service, the tireless engineers will get around them one way or another. The Whale seems to have overcome most of its problems and is becoming quite a hit with the (God, am I really using this 'newspeak' bull!!!! term?) 'customers'. Most love it, as well they should, when you consider ocean liner proportions of the aluminium that surrounds them when many have paid for little more than the equivalent of a ferry ride.
Back to the subject of the thread: I can't help but feel that if on an ULH flight, company policy forces two extra sets of eyes to be on the flight deck for takeoff and landing, it's patently silly to publish a missive to captains forbidding them from making use of those two extra sets of eyes.
Me myself personally, unless the augmenting captain and FO refuse to co-operate because they feel they must obey company instructions, will be saying those magic words 'non standard' and asking the augmenting crew, tired or not, to consider themselves part of the crew and to speak up loudly and clearly if either of them sees anything they feel isn't as it should be. I'll also offer to do the walkaround if I'm the 'B' captain. If the operating captain feels he can't take me up on that offer, I'll understand completely.