Since the birth of professional rugby union in 1995, the sport has suffered something of an identity crisis. With the professional era, players became employees and coaches became executives.
All you have to do is compare a Test from the golden era with one from recent times and it is clear that something had gone wrong. Coaches started employing tactics to produce clinical victories – the rugby equivalent of the Sabermetrics approach in baseball.
Over time, the conservative approach meant that exploiting the rulebook to gain penalties became commonplace and eventually preferred by many teams over running rugby which we know to be in the spirit of the game.
The referee whistle around the breakdown was incessant, the scrum had become a farce and the central goal of rugby, the try, became secondary. This style of play came to a head in 2003 when England, averaging less than one try per game in the finals, managed to capture the William Webb Ellis trophy.
The game was in crisis.
So the powers that be, namely the IRB along with a number of appointed experts scrambled to fix the game. Rules were changed and reinterpreted and in a process which took some three years, the Experimental Law Variations “ELVs” were trialled in 2008. Of the 13 new rules trialled, 10 were written into the rulebook in 2009.
And what the Waratahs have established with their victory over the Crusaders on Saturday night is that while the tactics of the pre-ELV game persist, the game that rewards those tactics has not.
If there is one thing that Cheika has demonstrated with his behaviour this season, including the outburst which saw SANZAR issue him a good behaviour bond lest he be banned from the Super Rugby tournament, is that he is not the typical politically motivated coach of the professional era, he is a passionate gamesman and that is exactly what the doctor ordered.
It has been established that goal this year was to put pride into the jersey and that he has issued a mandate to players play positive, no-regrets rugby – the kind which fans love to watch and players love to play.
The stage was set, the Waratahs who have never captured the title, and the seven-time champions the Crusaders. The same Crusaders who personally handed the Waratahs two grand final losses in 2005 and 2008 with a squad full of All Blacks and two of the greatest of all time in Carter and McCaw.
What ensued was one of the greatest 80-minute spectacles in memory, a back-and-forth affair characterised by bone-crunching contact, expansive rugby and clever tactical play.
Every facet of the game, scrum, lineout, breakdown and back play were fiercely contested and had either team been outmatched anywhere, the outcome would certainly have been different.
When the dust settled it was the Waratahs by way of a 45-metre field goal compliments of Bernard Foley who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the 80th minute to win by 33 points to 32.
It was the kind of creative and determined victory that was once the signature of Australian rugby which has been desperately absent since Stephen Larkham made a 48-metre drop goal to win the World Cup semi against South Africa in 1999.
And for the first time since that great team hoisted old Bill, we have not seen an Australian team exhibit that intangible element, the difference between feeling oh-so-close heartbreak and the ecstasy of victory.
The final was littered with clues as to where the difference between the 2005 and 2008 Waratahs, and those of today lies. The lump under McCaw’s eye after the first tackle, the bleeding ruck marks on Carter’s leg shortly before he was removed through injury, the aggression in the breakdown, the not-quite-late hits on key Crusaders players throughout the game and so on.
The ‘Tahs players were excited, they had belief and they were willing to do what it takes to win. See what Cheika knows, perhaps he learned it on the way to winning seven premierships as a player for Randwick, is that there is a priceless intangible factor that joins a team of calibre who is coached and encouraged to play physical, expansive, fun rugby.
Dare I say it? When a professional team is given permission to play like amateurs, it builds a culture within the team, between the players, where every player is willing to sacrifice safety and glory in the pursuit of victory.
It is in a team like this where Israel Folau, though he was never selfish, learns to play visibly selfless team-focused rugby, where leadership qualities like those of 22-year-old Michael Hooper can be recognised and the backing of a senior team given without question.
It is a team like this where the halves Phipps and Foley are able to redefine themselves from outside the Wallabies squad to key selections in the XV and where the defensive coach Nathan Grey can make use of his hard earned knowledge to have the team turn in the best defensive record in the tournament, without which a grand final berth have been but a pipe dream.
Then there is the man of the match Adam Ashley-Cooper, who put in an 80-minute effort which was absolutely sublime. And all of that is not enough to convince you that the Waratahs culture is something very special indeed, just look at Kurtley Beale.
Beale has not only found a new level of talent which places him as one of the best centres in the game today, but despite rumours of a cross to league, has changed his tune stating that he wants to stay with the Waratahs to defend their title.
The achievements of Cheika and his staff, even putting aside the end result, are nothing short of spectacular because when it comes right down to it, rugby is not a game which thrives on statistics, it does not reward conservative play and the “Cheika Factor” is key to a champion team.
At the highest level of the game, in Super Rugby and World Cup finals, indeed any Test between the top nations, where the teams’ skill is not vastly different, rugby is at its core, nothing more than a contest of will. Two teams of fifteen men where the team with the greatest willingness to compete in every possible way will come out on top.
Regardless of who hoists Bill in 2015, or whether McKenzie’s tenure continues or ends abruptly, one thing is certain – when he is done the Wallabies will be rock solid and there are any number of coaches who can deliver that.
What we, as Australian rugby, must do at this point is capture that flash in the pan and hand it carefully to someone who can add that final touch, the essential team culture which not only drives a team to succeed but surpasses any one player or team of players and lays the foundation of a sporting dynasty.
If we can do that, then just maybe the Wallabies can ascend from a strong team to one who can truly stand equal with the only other professional team who have always known what the 2014 Waratahs and their magnificent coach taught us this year – the All Blacks.
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.
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