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About 10 minutes into Sunday morning’s Wallabies Test, I relaxed and decided to watch the footy without bothering to analyse or urge our players on.
Why? Because, I realised we are a second rate side trying to compete with the big boys. No big deal.
Let’s accept that fact and get on with whatever it is that we need to do to change it.
Ewen McKenzie and the ARU have a lot of work to do, no doubt about it. But let’s not wail and gnash our teeth and carry on like a pack of sheilas.
Let’s get down to business and start building a squad that will go through to the next Rugby World Cup with a fighting chance.
Don’t criticise Nic White – he did exactly what he was told to do. About eight minutes out from half-time he was obviously told to lose the kick, which he did and we started to run it.
It was a complete no-brainer for ‘Link’ to bring Will Genia on in the second half and anyone with a rugby brain could see that that was going to happen.
Predictably, Will had a great game, because the circumstances called for running with the ball in hand, not kicking.
Nothing wrong with Nic White’s kicking, but the returns by the Boks were just too good for us and too intelligently executed.
When we had good running ball, we panicked and pushed passes, lost structure and forgot about flooding the breakdown.
James Horwill and Ben Mowen worked their butts off all night, but with not a lot of support.
When you are on the back foot, your scavenger will usually have a bad day at the office, and that is what happened to Michael Hooper.
Put simply, there is a lack of maturity in our team at the moment, and we need to work on that.
There is nothing wrong with the make-up of the squad – Link just needs to bring them on and get all the combinations working
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.