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Like an IRB referee trying to figure out what goes on at the front of the scrum, having watched Round 4 of The Rugby Championship I am confused.
Mainly, I am confused as to what I want from a game of rugby.
On one hand, we have the 14-10 victory the All Blacks claimed over the Springboks. Damp conditions aside, at the end of 80 minutes the top two sides in the world had managed only one try apiece.
On the other, the Wallabies and Los Pumas (not Dos, as a critical spell-check error in my last article suggests) managed to cross the chalk six times, in an affair the Australians claimed 32-25.
I know which one I would watch again. It is not the one you might think.
The New Zealand and South Africa game, low scoring though it may have been, was a sensational spectacle.
The first try for the ‘Boks was a sliver of brilliance, made possible by a near-perfect inside ball from Handre Pollard to speedster Cornal Hendricks, who scored by burning three defenders up the middle, placing the ball down beneath the posts.
The reply from the All-Blacks was better again, a contender for try of the tournament. Started by a pinpoint cross-field kick from Aaron Cruden, caught midair by Kieran Reid who held his feet long enough to sneak an offload past the defence to Richie McCaw who scored in the corner. A friend who I watched the game with summed it up best; “how the hell do you beat a team who can do that?”
Both sides of the ball produced some brilliant individual play, backed by a continuous team effort and coupled with a throw everything at it including the kitchen sink mentality. The contest was alive. Five-star rugby.
By contrast, Australia’s win over Argentina will be remembered as the better team shooting to an early lead (29-13 at one point) only to make their best attempt at botching it. Disappointing.
Over the past decade, the Wallabies have developed a split personality. Of course, any international team has good and bad days, but seldom do you see both sides of a team in one match with such consistency. You could say we are consistently inconsistent.
We could sit here all day and discuss selections, whether the halves are right or if what is (confusingly) being referred to as the ‘middle row’ (4, 5 and 6) is up to scratch, it would make little difference. Unfortunately, what we are now faced with is far more basic. It’s a matter of mental maturity and discipline.
Here, the All Blacks are the benchmark. Once they take the lead, they tend to tweak the game plan slightly then use it to dismantle their opponent with a kind of effortless ruthlessness.
It reminds me of the way an eldest son might show his brother who’s boss at the dinner table, waiving the last sausage above the younger child, mocking him for being so insolent as to attempt to take it.
The Wallabies on the other hand, behave like the younger brother. Had the older brother come from South Africa or New Zealand this week, the young Australians may not have been so lucky.
This stems from a lack of experience, a lack of leadership within the team.
To illustrate how dramatic the leadership gap is, Spiro Zavos wrote recently that a disciplinary hearing for off-field misconduct at camp All-Black includes going before a panel of senior players. In last weekend’s team, this would presumably include Ritchie McCaw, Kieran Read and Conrad Smith, each a titan of the game and over 250 Test caps between them.
Who would be their counterparts in Camp Wallaby? Apparently James Slipper was our most capped on the weekend, and the spearhead of a questionable scrum. The rest of the forward pack is under selection pressure save for the captain who with all respect (sincerely) is 22-years-old. The backline from 9 to 15 inclusive have less Test caps than Ritchie McCaw alone, by a margin about equal to the number of caps earned by our captain. See my point?
The long and the short of it is the Wallabies’ are in desperate need of leadership.
Round 4 of the Rugby Championship is in the books and the Wallabies are the odd man out. Every other team played to win and did themselves proud. The Wallabies, did not.
It is not beyond Australian rugby players, experienced or not, to ascend to the required level of match maturity. The Waratahs did. But, with the 2015 Rugby World Cup looming, we must hope that the coaching staff are able to recognise and address the Wallabies’ mental game soon lest we be left behind. Again.
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.