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The Wallabies loss to the All Blacks hurt. It would be very easy to convince the average Wallabies punter that after a loss like that more change to the team, rather than less, would be a good thing.
I am not convinced by this logic. As a matter of fact, I can only see two changes to the Wallabies side that really demand attention.
Firstly, we come to everybody’s favourite player: James O’Connor. After watching the game a second time, I came to the conclusion that he actually had a reasonable game on the weekend, covering a good portion of the field and trying to hold a weak Wallaby defensive effort together.
On attack he came into his own with a beautiful and incisive run off a peach of a ball from Cooper to score a consolation try to make the blow-out look a little less humiliating.
All things considered, it was not one of his worst performances.
It is just a pity that nobody informed him that he was meant to be playing on the left wing instead of fullback.
Much to my displeasure, Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie acquiesced with public opinion and selected Jesse Mogg at back of the field. I suppose it is ironic that McKenzie picked Mogg for the job when Mogg’s provincial coach Jake White would probably not have done the same.
Although I defended his performance on the Roar’s live blog after the game from some overblown criticisms it is true that Mogg quite predictably played the rushed, conservative, and disappointing game of an undercooked Super Rugby fullback with power thrust upon him.
It often seemed as though Mogg and O’Connor were confused about who was supposed to be defending in the fullback position. The end result is that they were both caught out of position at key moments.
To add insult to injury, Jesse Mogg’s most disappointing miss of the game on Conrad Smith (which came about from a surprising and most unbecoming defensive misread at the ruck from skipper James Horwill) was one of the few moments where Mogg was stationed where he should have been.
But as he is wont to do, Mogg came in too high on the tackle and got left behind like Christian Cullen on Matt Burke.
I have said it before and I will say it again: Jesse Mogg is not ready to be a Test fullback. He is probably not ready for Test rugby at all.
We may yet see him on the end of year tour but I suspect his Rugby Championship – and certainly his starting spot – is over before it really began.
I think it is likely that we will see James O’Connor move to fullback for the foreseeable future. He has done enough to retain his spot, but he is too slow and too small to be playing on the wing. In my opinion, it should be Nick Cummins replacing him on the left wing.
There were other positions that caused some consternation among Wallaby fans, but the only other one that I think demanded desperate attention was in the backrow.
With respect to Hugh McMeniman – and without wishing to judge him too harshly for one bad performance – the Wallabies pack looked much better when the Wallabies best player of this season, Ben Mowen, was packing in at number six.
Mowen just cannot make as much of a nuisance of himself at number eight. He’s the kind of guy who loves to break off early and get in the face of the opposition halfback like an overgrown terrier joyfully attacking a stray kitten.
On Saturday night Mowen may as well have been sending Aaron Smith postcards. It came as no surprise that Smith turned in an exceptional performance for the All Blacks.
But what does this mean for the Wallabies? Two words: Ben McCalman.
Ouch. That hurt to say.
Anyway, moving on to less interesting but apparently more demanding exigencies, there are plenty of calls for Matt Toomua to be dropped for Quade Cooper.
I hope McKenzie resists the temptation. Not out of a lack of respect for Cooper, but out of a need to provide some sense of stability for the Wallabies.
I do not like to admit it, but it is true; Cooper is on track to return to the number 10 jersey. His performance in the later stages of the match was much flatter and more threatening than any of his other games at international level in recent memory.
If the Bledisloe were Test cricket, Cooper’s arrival at the crease might have been a turning point in the session after Tea following another dismal batting collapse on the first day.
As it was it remained a brief cameo that provided a flash of hope for the onlookers who are hoping for an improved Wallabies performance in the months to come.
Nevertheless, I think it is too early to return Cooper to the starting role. The Cake Tin in windy Wellington would be the worst possible place outside of Auckland and Christchurch to return him the reins of command.
We all know what kind of treatment awaits Cooper in New Zealand. He will be booed and jeered and generally abused from the kickoff until well after the presentation at the end of the match. Some among you may consider it unsporting, but I just call it gamesmanship.
Unfortunately it seems to work.
So rather than risking all of the improvement that Cooper has made towards coming back to Test rugby, I hope McKenzie postpones Cooper’s starting role comeback for at least another week.
There is plenty more rugby left to be played this year, so there really is no need to put his new lease on life at risk by sending him straight back into the dragon’s lair before he is mentally prepared.
It would also be good for Toomua’s confidence to hold onto the 10 jersey for a little while longer. Not to wear out my cricketing similes, but to drop Toomua after one average performance against the toughest opposition in the world would be to treat him more unfairly than cricket selectors do Usman Khawaja.
I do not like to encourage the view that players should be chopped and changed with alarming regularity based entirely on their most recent game, as this kind of treatment inevitably gives them a defensive mindset.
That may sound hypocritical given what I have said about McMeniman and Mogg, but in those cases I never really felt that they were the best players for their position anyway.
Toomua is different. All talk of Quade’s form to be put to the side for a moment; I am convinced that Matt Toomua is our long-term starting flyhalf. He has the game for it, and I believe that by the time the next World Cup rolls around he will have the confidence for it too.
That doesn’t mean that I believe that he should be gifted a free ride. I would give him one more match against each of our Rugby Championship opponents to nail down the spot for the rest of the tournament (just as Cooper was given last year), and I would be prepared to drop him entirely if by the end of that period he had not done so.
But for the moment, I hope it is patience that prevails.
To be frank, I think the Wallabies all just need a little patience. They might not beat the All Blacks this weekend. They might even lose at home to the Springboks who have just shown that they are determined not to let 2013 be like 2012.
This should not throw the Wallabies. I am confident that the results will come in time so long as the hand on the tiller remains steady. Rough waters may lie ahead for Australian rugby, but at the end of the storm there’s a golden sky.
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.