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Bledisloe loss should not stop the search for Wallaby gold

26th August, 2014
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Let's go back to the golden years, where ticker tape parades were common celebrations. (Photo: Paul Barkley/LookPro)
Roar Guru
26th August, 2014
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1140 Reads

The Wallabies’ Bledisloe ambitions are shot. It’s over, and the Australian public must accept it.

The All Blacks delivered one of the best performances in the recent decade and thoroughly deserve the accolade.

But that doesn’t mean that the Wallabies’ 2014 season is over, and neither does it mean that the team itself is in shambles. The Rugby Championship title is still up for grabs and the Rugby World Cup is just around the corner. Now is the time to build momentum.

A lot has been said following the defeat to the All Blacks but I rather enjoyed fellow Roarer Phil Bird’s article in where he basically states that the Wallabies are not a lost cause after their disappointing result. I concur with this sentiment and as a South African I now throw in my two cents on the state of Wallaby rugby.

What I want to highlight first is that while no Wallaby fan can be satisfied with the hammering they received in Auckland, they must realise that this was just a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Eden Park is by far the most feared venue in world rugby. No quarter is given, no mercy is granted and no belief is left intact.

And they faced an All Black team with a lot to prove.

After last year’s epic Test at Ellis Park, the All Blacks then faced England, France and Ireland in three close tests. After this they faced England in a three-Test series where the Poms pushed them hard in the first two games. The All Blacks won, but not in classic All Black fashion.

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This led the rugby public to make statements like “The All Blacks aren’t that far ahead anymore, the gap is closing,” and the more popular, “The All Blacks can’t improve but we can.”

If the All Blacks were personified as Marvel’s Bruce Banner then the Hulk was certainly unleashed last weekend.

Statements like these are counter-productive to your cause. We know the All Blacks well enough to know that they take these types of sentiments as a challenge. And when the time comes, they release all this pent up frustration and obliterate the opponent. The Wallabies were the unfortunate punching bags.

Wrong place, wrong time.

Unfortunately this does not mean that we can beat around the bush. The All Blacks did play extremely well but they had help with a poor Wallaby performance.

The Wallabies were far too passive in the contact area. All Black runners crashed over the advantage line at will, their tackles stunned Wallaby momentum which often converted into turnovers.

But what also helped their fall was the lack of any real tactical kicking vision. In my very first article I highlighted the lack of a kicking game within the Wallaby setup. The Wallabies can match anyone in an open running game but sorely lack in the territory stakes. You cannot run everything from everywhere.

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Team selections did not help either. After the match former Wallaby legend David Campese spoke of the lack of any combinations within the squad. He continued to say that a combination of Phipps, Foley, Beale, Ashley-Cooper and Folau in the backline would have done much better.

But then you should also take into account the players who were not available for selection. Genia, Cooper, Tomane, Cummins and Speight might have added a whole different dynamic to the Wallaby game.

Regardless, the point is that while the Bledisloe is lost, the Wallabies still have the opportunity to make 2014 a year to remember and to stake their claim for the World Cup next year.

So the aim is simple. Win all their remaining Rugby Championship games and hope that the Springboks can get one over The Darkness. On current form it might be easy to suggest that the Wallabies could very well defeat the Springboks twice and survive the Argentine onslaught both home and away.

Then they’ll have their Springbok jerseys on when the ‘Boks meet the All Blacks. Wouldn’t that be a first?

The normal, sane individual will tell you that there is no way that the Springboks could possibly defeat the All Blacks based on current form. But if the situation plays out the way I mentioned then it might not be so insane after all.

History shows us that the Springboks are at their most dangerous when they are at their weakest. They have never been whitewashed in a Tri Nations series. Despite horrible form, they tend to find a day of reckoning within themselves.

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Should the Boks lose both games against the Wallabies and the first against the All Blacks, then you can expect them to unleash the beasts within like they always have.

Unlike Australia and New Zealand, the Springboks have 50 million harsh, critical fans waiting for them back home in a country that is racially divided with an ever growing rate of abandonment. Every year more and more Springbok fans abandon their team and enlist themselves in the All Black allegiance.

With their backs firmly against the walls you can expect the Springboks to be rampaging beasts in their last game against the old foe.

And then finally the Wallabies will have to make sure they conquer the north. It will be their last opportunity to face northern hemisphere teams in northern hemisphere conditions.

They must win all their games to ensure a psychological blow to the Six Nations giants. If they achieve this they will be feared in the World Cup.

Bouncing back from a loss like this can be hard, but it can also be easy when put into the right mindset. The worst thing the Wallabies, the management and the fans could do is mourn over their missed opportunity at winning the Bledisloe Cup.

As big a treasure as it is, there are two even bigger accolades looming over the golden horizon. Win the Rugby Championship, win the World Cup and no one will remember who holds the Bledisloe.

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The Wallabies might not become the world’s premier side but they can become the second ranked team in the world and that speaks of improvement.

Like a certain Springbok mentor said upon his appointment, “We aren’t concerned with the number one ranking as of yet. We are currently fourth and we want to change that.

“The only way that can happen is if we aim to win every single game we play. Obsessing over winning the All Blacks solely won’t get you anywhere, you need to take it one game at a time. Winning becomes a habit and when you win constantly you’ll find yourself in first spot sooner or later.”

This is not the end of your season. The battle rages on and you have the chance to seize the moment should it present itself.

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