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Wallaby strategy leading into the 2015 Rugby World Cup

12th September, 2014
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What will prove to be the difference between the Wallabies and All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup final? (Photo: Paul Barkley/LookPro)
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12th September, 2014
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It is a very exciting time in world rugby, with a number of big events on the horizon.

We have the rest of the Rugby Championship to be played out, the upcoming spring tour of Europe and the Six Nations tournament before we hit the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England next September.

While many Australians would be more excited about winning back the Bledisloe than anything else, the Rugby World Cup is the pinnacle of rugby and is therefore the biggest goal on the Wallabies’ radar for the foreseeable future.

After the All Blacks gave the Wallabies a flogging at Eden Park in August there were a lot of questions being asked about coaching decisions, including team line-ups right through to game tactics. These issues have been thoroughly discussed and I raised the issue of too much focus on tactics in my previous article.

The next step is to look at things from a higher level, take a more strategic overview and highlight some of the key milestones on our way to the Rugby World Cup. IThis is not about chest beating or making bold statements about what the Wallabies are going to do. It is about recognising that we need to have goals or milestones that we should aim for along the way to give us a better chance of victory when we get there.

Objective 1: Move up to second place in the IRB Rankings
Michael Hooper recently stated this objective and it is obviously on the radar for the Wallabies. Despite many people knocking him for speaking out, I don’t see any issue with the captain of the Wallabies coming out and stating that the team wants to improve. So what is required to get there?

The Rugby Championship can affect the outcome for the Wallabies. If the Springboks can upset the All Blacks this weekend it will do a lot for their rankings. If this happened, the Wallabies would need to win this weekend against Argentina, and back it up with a win in South Africa by 16 points or more.

This would be a tough ask.

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A loss for South Africa this weekend would see them give up a maximum of 0.28 points. Not enough to give the number two spot to the Wallabies. The Wallabies have nothing to gain (points wise) from the match against Argentina, who are more than 10 ranking points behind the Wallabies.

So Argentina has nothing to lose and everything to gain, including a full two points if they were to win in the Gold Coast. This would see them leapfrog Fiji and Japan and land inside the top 10. If the Wallabies win this weekend, they can claim second place with only a draw in South Africa. A loss this weekend against Argentina would require an outright win in South Africa to achieve the same thing.

Beating South Africa on September 27 is the most fitting way to achieve the second place spot. But the Wallabies will be underdogs. According to ESPN, South Africa and Australia have played 82 times (since 1921) of which the Wallabies have won 34, or 42 per cent.

Objective 2: Building and maintaining momentum
It is important that we consider the journey of the Wallabies leading in to the Rugby World Cup, and not look at every match as if it is boom or bust. We are not failures if we lose one or two along the way, and we are not heroes because we jag a win out of the dying minutes of a game.

There are eight Tests left for this calendar year (not including the match against the Barbarians in November). We should look to complete 2014 with an undefeated record at home. This would require a win against Argentina this weekend and a win against the All Blacks in Brisbane on the October 18. Not only does this help the Wallabies build some confidence, but it is essential that we prove to ourselves that we can beat New Zealand. This milestone would go a long way to help build momentum into the Spring Tour.

The Spring Tour will also bring its fair share of challenges as we face Wales, France, Ireland and England (in that order). Obviously we will want to win every match and the Wallabies will need to be extremely fit and well drilled to achieve this. But a win against England at Twickenham would give a huge confidence boost coming into the Rugby World Cup, and it would also help make up for last year’s controversial loss. Wales at Millennium Stadium will also be great preparation.

Objective 3: Developing our players
We must take a multi-pronged approach to developing our players in preparation for the Rugby World Cup.
Structurally the ARU has taken some big steps by launching the National Rugby Championship (NRC). This helps by providing more game time for players across the code, but is unlikely to have a material impact on the Rugby World Cup.

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So what are the priorities for the Wallabies prior to the World Cup?

There are many management theories that suggest that greater success will come from focusing on your strengths than your weaknesses. The theory is that it will take a lot less time to take your strengths from good to great, than it will to take your weaknesses from below par to average. While this analogy cannot be completely transferred to rugby, there is some merit in the concept.

During the Wallabies’ game against South Africa on the weekend, I heard John Eales and Phil Kearns making similar comments about the Wallabies needing to ‘decide what they wanted to be good at, and known for’. I am paraphrasing a little, but in essence I think they are saying to work out our strengths and look for ways to exploit them.

As for the weaknesses, I don’t think we can completely ignore them. Scrums and lineouts come to mind, but generally the Wallaby forwards have been under a lot of pressure. So we clearly need to put some additional systems and processes in place to improve in these areas.

Given it is probably too late to draft new players to the game (prior to the Rugby World Cup), we need to look at what stocks we have and then drill them to the point where they are masters of their domain. I am not saying that we will have the world’s greatest or most feared scrum but it should not be a glaring weakness.

But this is not just scrums, we need to hold own in all areas, and excel in some areas where we have a clear strength or advantage. This lifts the odds in our favour, and we can start to ‘play our own game’.

We need to get more people involved in the playing group. Players like Luke Jones and Cadeyrn Neville come to mind, but there are many more. On top of this it would be good to see the Wallabies group have more time together. One of the key benefits Michael Cheika had with the Waratahs is an extended period of time to build the culture, work on the key areas of improvement and evolve as a team. The Wallabies can learn from this.

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Objective 4: Maintain the focus
Mind games. Media tactics. Over-the-top positional changes. All of these are distractions, and things that sap our momentum and our ability to build consistency. This is not so much a milestone but it is so important it is worth mentioning.

Positional changes can be tactical, but I would prefer to see consistency and the development of individual players. Help them grow from good to great. That’s what it will take to beat the All Blacks. Let’s stop trying to be the smartest people around and start to build a platform for our team.

Consistency builds confidence. Confidence helps teams to relax, and when they are relaxed they will take care of the basics instinctively, leaving room for the x-factor to come out more naturally. To try and manufacture an x-factor by chopping and changing people and positions only puts them under pressure and will create more mistakes.

What do you think should be the key goals or milestones for the Wallabies leading to the 2015 Rugby World Cup Roarers?

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