By Darren Walton
November 13th 2009 @ 2:50am
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Paranoid Wallabies in Code Yellow operation
The edgy Wallabies have closed ranks as tensions rise ahead of Sunday’s pivotal grand slam tour engagement with Ireland in Dublin.
Displaying All Blacks-type paranoia, Wallabies management anxiously shooed journalists away from training despite giving no prior warning that it was supposed to be a closed session at the suburban Wanderers FC ground.
Even if it was, touring Australian reporters are rarely denied access and not since the Eddie Jones era, when he hid his squad away at Coffs Harbour between Tests in an expensive and extravagant attempt to fly under the radar before the 2003 World Cup.
Presumably, Robbie Deans and assistant coach Jim Williams wanted to correct some worrying lineout issues and work on new calls without the presence of prying eyes.
After malfunctioning in the tour-opening loss to New Zealand in Tokyo, the Australian lineout again struggled in last Saturday’s win over England, with three throws lost in the opening quarter of an hour.
However former Ireland A hooker Mark McDermott – now the Wanderers coach – casually observed the Wallabies’ training from the clubhouse balcony.
And if anyone was capable of cracking a side’s lineout code it would be a former representative hooker.
The media shut out is a sign of the anxiety levels within the Wallabies camp in the countdown to their boom-or-bust encounter with the European champions.
Victory would edge the Wallabies tantalisingly close to completing a grand slam sweep of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, a feat not even attempted, let alone achieved, since Alan Jones’s 1984 tourists etched their names in Australian rugby folklore.
Deans is well aware of the enormity of the immediate task, acknowledging that Ireland represent Australia’s greatest challenge, and clearly has no desire to offer the hosts any unnecessary help.
He knows the Irish will be inspired enough to kick-start their autumn campaign in style in skipper Brian O’Driscoll’s 100th Test.
“All the elements are there for a pretty passionate Irish performance – Croke Park, his 100th Test, grand slam champions … we’ve got no doubt we’ll meet them at their best,” Deans said.
“You look at their grand slam achievement, you look at the fact that their franchises have won the last two Heineken (European) Cups – they’re a side that has a lot of belief, a lot of experience and that’s a pretty potent mix.”
Ireland second rower Donncha O’Callaghan said Australia’s training habits were their own business, but suspected the lockdown may have been unnecessary.
He said Ireland have their own issues to worry about.
“In the first week back together the emphasis is really on yourself, like knowing your own lineout calls,” O’Callaghan said.
“You’re spending all that extra time looking at yourself, more so than looking at the Aussies.
“There’s no point knowing them inside out and not being able to win your own ball.
“And I wouldn’t agree that the Australian lineout is any weakness.
“I know that every time we play against them they always come up with new lineouts and new plays, so all your video work that you’ve done throughout the week is out the window after two minutes.”
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