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Let all supporters of the Wallabies savour last night’s win because it was the herald of a new age.
It was a classic test match, tense, intense, gripping, tough, controversial, and defining.
This is the beginning of a new cycle for the English who have been in a sort of holding pattern since the brutal yet beautiful RWC 03 dominance.
The English showed pluck of enormous magnitude to make the final of last years RWC, but now the broom has been put through the team and at first blush it is hard not to be impressed.
The “black three” – wow, what would the Wallabies give for a group as good as them; and young. It is a bit scary. Flutey has come on in leaps and bounds since he was playing off the bench for Wellington in the NPC; he’s the real deal.
Cipriani is dangerous and adventurous and his back up in Flood is unspeakably pretty and talented and looks the goods (wouldn’t you love to try and smash him if you were playing him?). Highest praise though for Care, the cheeky, tough, long and quick passing halfback. It all looks pretty ominous.
I focus on the backs purely because the poms will always deliver in the forwards and with Johnson at the helm, last night will prove to be an aberration. He will find the men to do the job.
So England look to be back on the way up.
The Wallabies. Well I am excited.
We played poorly in long patches. Burgess is largely to blame. The distribution was very poor. He won’t be afforded another shocker of such magnitude.
Cross ran across field. Ashley-Cooper again kicked poorly as did Giteau in general play. Hynes did well with what he was given and Mortlock was the little girl with the strawberry curl – but by God when he was good he was very very very good.
How is it possible for a man the size of Morty to just run straight over people? And the long range penalty from a very similar distance and angle as that which he missed at Marseille will put a few demons to rest. Deans will have seen the quality of the man, and the respect he commands from his peers. His is the captaincy for as long as the body holds up.
Nathan Sharpe. Where do you start? If the energy devoted to shitcanning Sharpey was capable of being harnessed you could find a cure for tuberculosis.
Time and again I am amazed at the venom of the criticism pointed his way. Here is a man who left his home town to set up a new rugby franchise in an outpost. That is a man made of stern stuff. He wins his lineout ball comfortably, he pushes hard in the scrum, he makes his tackles and trucks it up – he does all this every time he plays; but last night there was all this and more.
It must be the beard. More likely Deans has challenged him to do more for the team and Sharpe has responded. Magnificent performance for a man upon whom I think Deans will rely heavily in the next three years.
Palu made a superb impact off the bench and maybe this will be his role, which he may find hard to accept, but does seem to be his lot in life with the emergence of Brown Dog.
George Smith was peerless. Johnson will have his 6 and 7 watching the video till they have memorised the lines that Smith ran, in both attack and defence. I would take Smith any day over McCaw.
But let’s get to it. The scrum. As the Roar’s resident Wallaby apologist, I have been (ahem as I pat myself on the back) saying all year that Mortlock, Sharpe and Palu are the real deal- and I have also gone into bat for the scrum which to all but blind freddy, and oh about 85% of rugby “fans” in this country, is a joke.
I recall a quote from a fellow Roarer a few weeks back – this one’s for you Worlds Biggest – and for all the other doubters.
Our front three is one that you can build a World Cup year on. Hyperbole? Nope. Just the facts ma’am. Lets go to the video tape.
First minute. England feed. Three resets. Jonker trots around to Sheridan and Baxter’s side, has a word to them and then turns to his touch judge – one can only assume to say help me out here.
Engagement, Sheridan doe not bind and then bends at the waist which means Baxter who has taken a good bind must go to ground. Sorry, Jonkers is onto it. Wallaby free kick. Baxter 1, Sheridan minus 1 for taking the piss.
Eleventh minute. England feed. Wallaby early engagement. England free kick. Fair enough. Come on boys, we know you’re keen, but lets play the laws.
16th minute. First engagement, and Australia have the shove. My note says “Are England taking the piss or is the Wallaby scrum too strong”. Subsequent events will suggest a bit of both and by the time the Poms realised Jonkers was up for it, all was too late and Baxter, Moore and Robinson had their tails up.
22nd minute. England feed. Collapse on first set. Jonkers says “It wasn’t a proper hit. I want you to set it higher.” Next set Australia get the shove on and it is all up through Sheridan’s side. Jonkers tells Care to get it in and then the scrum collapses. Maybe it collapsed because that is what happens every know and then, or maybe England brought it down because they were on the back foot. All I know is Al Baxter did not take that scrum down.
28th minute. Wallaby feed. Good solid scrum,left side up, perfect. Australia on top.
34th minute. Sheridan has gone off, ostensibly for a blood bin but the coverage shows the trainer working on neck stretches – hello – is this the same guy who tore us apart before. Maybe he doesn’t like a bit of his own medicine.
34th minute. England feed. With Sheridan off Baxter is really fired up – the coverage shows an even more determined facial grimace than usual. First set and Australia have England on skates and twisted and the scrum collapses faster than that horse that Benjamin was riding the other day. Remember that horse Benjamin – ya goose. Jonkers told Care to get it in and as soon as he said this the scrum collapsed. Go figure.
43rd minute. England feed. Australia smash in, drive the England scrum back and then pilfer the ball at the back. Things are looking good. McMeniman goes troppo after this scrum – he knows it is good day, he can feel the England scrum wilting.
44th minute. England feed. Collpase at first set. Jonkers says “set the scrum higher”. On the reset he quickly says to Care “Get it in please”. Jonkers can see what is happening. The boot is now on the other foot.
It is scrum 101 – if you are being outscrummed you set as low as the ref will let you. A high engagement is good for the powerful scrum. Try it out Roarers – it is much easier to wrestle someone bigger and stronger than you if your centre of gravity is lower than theirs.
Anyway Australia smash the engagement, Care does not feed it quickly, England free kick. As best I can gather it is against Robinson for boring in. A highly set scrum would not in fact suit Robinson who is shorter than his opponent and the two hookers.
52nd minute. Wallaby feed, Sheridan back on. Again Sheridan does not bind and bends at the waist, carbon copy of the first scrum. Penalty Australia. Maybe Sheridan is a myth and just a hitherto good cheat…how ironic. Baxter 2 Sheridan minus 2.
62nd minute. Wallaby feed. Surely this cant last. England are going to pull out a big one here. Jonkers again says, “I want this high”. Good solid scrum except Burgess stuffs it at the back.
62nd minute. England feed. Armageddon. Lets replay that, say twenty times. How good was that? The overhead shot is scary for England. At 3.00 am there were tears in this Old Man’s eyes. The scrum comes up, Chisholm is going spare, he is in Baxter’s ear. We all know what he has probably said. “Howdo you like that Sheridan, tear yourself a new arsehole now Fatso” or something along those lines. Baxter grins. This is a man made of stern stuff. He knows his game and he is proud of what he has done.
66th minute. Sheridan off. Jonkers asks the trainer, “Is he injured or is he off.” Trainers response not recorded. My suspicion is he wasn’t injured unless a hernia from going backwards quickly counts.
71st minute. Wallaby feed. England refuse to engage. Jonkers says “do not pull back, you must take the hit.” Robinson drives in on Vickery who then gets treatment. The coverage shows a very confused looking RWC 2003 winner. “That ain’t Bill Young” – no sir, its Benn with two nns Robinson who has to carry ID with him to get into pubs. Get to know him.
76th minute. Australia feed. England have nothing left. A scrum on our line was previously heart in mouth stuff, but it is like a training run here. Care can get nowhere near Burgess because Palu has the luxury of almost disengaging to put his trunk in Care’s way.
Final whistle. A redemption of shawshank like proportion for the scrum and big Al Baxter in particular. One swallow does not a summer make, but a scrum will make a spring tour.
Not that I’m getting carried away.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.