Wallabies need to learn lessons from Steve Waugh
Roar Guru By Vinay Verma, 15 Aug 2010 Vinay Verma is a Roar Guru
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Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh (left), and Vice Captain Shane Warne (right) display the World Cup Cricket trophy. Australia's 1 Day Cricket World Cup winning team drove in a motorcade down Sydney's main street to celebrate in a ticket tape parade with over 100,000 well wishers attending. AAP Photo/ Pablo Ramire
The Wallabies are not the Bangladesh of rugby. The Wallabies are one of the top three teams in world rugby. It is but two short steps to the summit. There is no void there. The gulf is not insurmountable.
Let there be no recriminations. No witch hunt for the coach. No censuring of players that don the green and gold.
Let there be no belittling of the ardent fan who wants his team to win.
It is negative for us to accept a narrow defeat. Nothing less than victory will take away the pain. Nine straight and counting is a tale too morose to countenance.
These 15 young men dressed in a garb of black are not super-natural aliens from another galaxy. They only live across the ditch. Many kiwis call Australia home. But we should not allow them to camp on our front lawn and smile in that self-satisfied and smug manner.
The Wallabies need to take a leaf out of Mark Taylor’s 1995 West Indian odyssey. How did his team reach the summit? The Windies had not been beaten since the early eighties. The last time Australia beat them was in 1975-76. They came close in Adelaide on Australia Day in 1993, when McDermott was given out caught off his helmet.
Leading up to the first Test Australia lost their frontline pacers in McDermott and Damien Fleming. There is a message here for the Wallabies. Palu, Horwill and Ioane are injured but that is no excuse. It is an opportunity.
It hinged on one seminal moment. The instant when Glen McGrath bounced Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh in the first Test. At the team meeting the night before the team vowed: “Let’s treat their tailenders with no respect.
“Let’s bounce them upon their arrival at the crease. We’ll be the ones doing the intimidating, but we must never lose a grip on things. We must follow up this greeting with controlled aggression, to then get them out.” (From OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE, By Steve Waugh.)
Steve Waugh recalls: “Bad body language is a bit like smelly underarms in that you don’t really sense it, but those around you pick up on it in an instant.”
So what is the equivalent of bouncing tailenders in a Rugby Test against the All Blacks?
It would have to be not backing down at the Haka. This is a ritual where the AB’s throw down the gauntlet. The accepted response is one of respect by the opposition as they stand 10 metres away.
There is nothing disrespectful if the opponent chooses to pick up the gauntlet. There is nothing to stop the Wallabies from inching forward or even circling the All Blacks. It would send a message that they were not intimidated.
This response will acknowledge that the Wallabies also expected to be hit hard by an enraged AB’s team. But the clear message would be that they were up for the pain.
In the 2007 WC quarter final France eyeballed the AB’s: “We talked about it three days ago,” France captain Raphael Ibanez told a press conference.
“It was not a provocation but we wanted to show them that we are proud.”
I don’t recommend that we blow kisses to the AB’s a la Phil Kearns or do a Campese on your own try line but I am suggesting a confrontation that has aggression. This is the warrior’s response and there is no disrespect. Only affirmation of your own intent.
With this initial skirmish out of the way the next step would be to hit the All Black’s with everything the first time they have the ball. Hit them with more than one man. Hit them with support. And when the Wallabies have the ball they must get over the advantage line. This needs willing teammates.
I am not so naïve to suggest it will be easy. I am also not discounting that maybe there are structural deficiencies at the club and grassroots level. There is also the question of the inexperienced scrum and absence of a proven number 8.
O’Connor may be too small and Giteau may not be a number 10. We are missing Hynes and Palu. We lack a Daniel Herbert or Tim Horan. But these are matters the Wallabies cannot control.
They can control their own destiny with the players in the squad. They need to confront, commit and control. For eighty minutes. Nothing less will do. And it starts with the Haka.
The Wallabies can start by confronting the Springboks on the 28th of August and the 4th of September. They have not won on the high veldt since 1963. It is time to correct this. The first step.
The September 11 clash against the AB’s at ANZ Stadium will define the Wallabies as either serious contenders or just the third ranked pretenders. The second step to the summit.
The World Cup is next year and can wait. The Wallabies have unfinished business and the next two and a half months, leading up to Tokyo, October 31s ,will be a litmus test for these current Wallabies.
The Australian fans have thrown down the gauntlet to their own team. How will they respond?
Can they come up smelling roses?
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August 15th 2010 @ 2:05pm
Moaman said | August 15th 2010 @ 2:05pm | Report comment
That was one of the responses i was alluding to above Brett; Try n face it by all means-but then the onus is on you to back it up! Stash,do you recall the haka in Perth when NZ Maori played a few years ago? Had hairs on my neck standing up!
August 15th 2010 @ 2:31pm
bernie said | August 15th 2010 @ 2:31pm | Report comment
Roy and HG once suggested that when the All Blacks do the haka, the Wallabies should look the All Blacks in the eye, and then take off their shorts and swap them with each other. That would play with the All Blacks minds. They wouldn’t know what to do.
But in more serious matters, I think Giteau is getting a bit like Phil Waugh – a terrific talent who is a drain on the team psychologically. They don’t need a negative influence like him – he has genuinely disappointed at flyhalf. I think he needs to go overseas and clear his head – he plays like a guy who is burdened by the knowledge he is the most talented of his generation, but never won anything, and the only money he earned was all in Firepower shares which turned out to be worthless.
O’Connor is not an international player. How long can one guy get selected because he scored 3 tries on debut? Did nobody remember they were against Italy, and he didn’t do anything in 2 of them other than fall over the line? He lacks pace; he lacks size; he’s too selfish to pass. He needs to learn some humility and I suggest the place to learn that is in Colts – preferably Colts 2 or 3. Many players tell you getting dropped is the greatest thing in their development.
But the big issues are in the forwards. Admittedly they’re missing TPN, Alexander, Horwill and Palu – the four most likely to make the advantage line. Still, beats the hell out of me what they see in Brown and Mumm. They must have some photos on their cell phones of Robbie Deans up to something. Frankly, I’m beginning to wish they’d show those photos, Deans could get sacked and we’d get a fresh approach under McKenzie – and we wouldn’t have to endure the pain of Brown or Mumm ever again!
August 15th 2010 @ 2:34pm
zhenry said | August 15th 2010 @ 2:34pm | Report comment
All the other Pacific Nations also do their haka. Lets face it the AB haka is a tradition that goes way back, and I guess teams were just mesmerized by something they were not used to seeing, but from what I understand the Maoris respect a response to their haka, for them that is part of their tradition, they like a response, as long as it is done in a similar mode. By that I mean as long as the challenge is recognized and the response is a genuine group confrontation in a roughly similar vein. The Australian team did ignore it at one stage, but no better way to fire up an AB side. What is the response that teams should conjure up? An Aboriginal war dance? I don’t think the Wallaby culture identifies with Aboriginal culture in the same way that NZ’ers do with Maori culture, partly to do with the high percentage of Maori population, but also Rugby is the national sport in NZ, it is more the domain of the elites in AU. An African war dance, to a sport that has been dominated by the Afrikaaners? The English could use the Henry V battle cry ‘Into the breach… Seriously I think the Welsh just stared at the AB’s after a haka and McCaw gave time for recognition then moved away, similar to the French; seems not a bad response to me. Vinay you certainly express the positive Australian response to being beaten in sport, which is the only way to go, but I still can’t get rid of the suggestion of an obsession to beat the AB’s. Sticking to Rugby, no other team or AU teams playing other nations seem to get carried away to quite the same degree?
August 15th 2010 @ 2:55pm
Vinay Verma said | August 15th 2010 @ 2:55pm | Report comment
zhenry, no obsession here…just passion and an unshakable belief that anything is possible in life and sport. Beating the best..whether the boks or AB’s. Be the best you can and play with aggression and believe you can win.
August 15th 2010 @ 3:13pm
zhenry said | August 15th 2010 @ 3:13pm | Report comment
And the Boks! Ah good its just not the AB’s that are camping on your front lawn. I am sure if you won you would smile, you don’t begrudge a smile for a winner do you?
August 15th 2010 @ 4:02pm
gurudoright said | August 15th 2010 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
The best response I’ve every seen and to me the best response is what Wales did here
obviously the effect would not be the same as it has been done before. The Haka is a challenge, it is time that the Wallabies show the All Blacks they are up for the challenge
August 15th 2010 @ 4:06pm
SamSport said | August 15th 2010 @ 4:06pm | Report comment
If people honestly believe that Australia hasn’t won the Bledisloe since 2002 because of the haka then it’ll be a long time before they win it back. Look at Wales and how they have responded to the haka – hasn’t worked out too well for them. Obsessing over the haka will not help the wallabies.
August 15th 2010 @ 5:45pm
stillmissit said | August 15th 2010 @ 5:45pm | Report comment
Hi SAM
I don’t know anyone who believes we have lost a Bledisloe due to the Haka.
I do believe we have lost TN’s/BLoe games against the AB’s due to not showing enough ticker and go forward, supporting your mates. We have also lost games due to not showing good enough ball handling skills, not getting over the try line when we should have ie falling 1m short. Sharpe used to be a specialist at this move.
August 15th 2010 @ 7:06pm
damo said | August 15th 2010 @ 7:06pm | Report comment
Not enough arms around NZ ankles too means too many NZ tries.
BUT the preparation starts before the whistle. Decisions are made, actions begun and attitudes hardened BEFORE the whistle. I think this is the point of the article.
There is nothing more intimidating for a rugby player than an opponent that has made up his mind. This mind set which expresses itself as willingness to do whatever it takes is what I think the article is about.
Ray Price once said of the ‘unbeatable” team from New Zealand “As far as I was concerned they were just 15 Nobodies”. Which is all any rugby team is before they make the tackles and score the points.
August 15th 2010 @ 7:58pm
ThelmaWrites said | August 15th 2010 @ 7:58pm | Report comment
Back to Steve Waugh lessons:
Bridgetown was just the beginning of the Waugh intimidation. It is a scene seared in my memory, at Port of Spain, of Curtley Ambrose glaring down at Steve, as Richie Richardson tugged at his (Curtley’s) arm to pull him away from Steve. And the finale at Sabina Park, with Mark scoring 126 and Steve 200. Robert Craddock described Mark as “sweet-faced” and Steve, he said, “had the face of a Russian soldier”. Steve took at lot of blows to his body, having been accused of being a batting bunny. I remember Carl Hooper pacing round and round, eyes disconsolately staring at the ground, flapping the bottom of his shirt.
The thing is, the Aussie cricket team kept it up – the intimidation. I’ll never forget Robert Craddocks’ words, that Steve “had the face of a Russian soldier.”
August 15th 2010 @ 8:06pm
Stash said | August 15th 2010 @ 8:06pm | Report comment
I must say the beer tasted particularly cold and the heart felt warm on that day the ABs took back the Bledsloie.
I do sympathize with the Wallaby followers – and in fact I tend to place the Wallabies, ABs and the Boks on the same level plane. I do think the ABs were lucky on a couple of occasions to sneak the wins, making this current streak seem perhaps enlarged. I would be beside myself if it was the other way around. Those years of Bledsloie wilderness provided the bitter taste of that kool aid.
When the Wallabies do eventually win – that beer is gonna taste pretty damn good (hopefully that won’t be until 2012)
August 15th 2010 @ 9:22pm
Vinay Verma said | August 15th 2010 @ 9:22pm | Report comment
thelma,damo,stillmissit, belief is not a magic potion that steve and his team were given. They worked their guts out. My first coach beelieved practice was meant to be harder than anything you would experience in a game. But you have to believe even before you start training. It starts,I believe,as an individual thing,or maybe two or three individuals. The rest of the team feeds of that and developes their own self belief. And when you have 22 players with that combined belief the coach can sit back and know it is then out of his hands.
So not for a moment am I suggesting it is easy. But it is achievable and the Wallabies have it in their hands. What they do with it is upto them.
And ,Stash,keep that beer cold,mate, May the better team win.