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This week’s Bledisloe Cup wrap comes in two parts – ‘The Emotional’, and ‘The Rational’.
The Emotional
A commonly understood definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. On that count Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, in making six changes to a winning side, can’t possibly be considered insane.
Or can he? What other explanation can there be for giving Quade Cooper playmaking responsibility at a ground and against an opponent where he had crashed and burned previously?
Forget how Bernard Foley was found wanting in Sydney, it’s all as simple as ‘ABC’. Anyone But Cooper.
What was Cheika thinking picking Will Skelton to start in the middle row, despite him being a set piece liability? Or Wycliff Palu, woefully short of match fitness, at No.8?
And David Pocock, Australia’s best player, relegated to a bench spot? That’s taking respect for Richie McCaw way too far. Why not let him remember his world record Test match for a loss, not a gift-wrapped romp?
And what about Nic White, after teasing us last week with 17 minutes of finishing glory, this week reverting to hesitancy at the base of the breakdown, choosing to hammer the Eden Park turf when hammering Ma’a Nonu instead was what his team required?
Maybe Matt Toomua can explain why, when everyone who knows rugby knows you don’t give the All Blacks free possession from aimless kicks, he did exactly that, triggering a second half demolition?
At least we now know why the ARU moved heaven and earth to bring Kane Douglas home from Ireland, his swan dive over the top of a second half ruck was a thing of beauty. Worth 9.5 from the Russian judge.
Shame that same judge wasn’t on the field to rule on Aaron Smith ducking into Quade Cooper’s tackle when he had a free run to the goal-line. Nigel Owens is a show pony referee who isn’t happy unless there is drama – recall his allowing Aaron Cruden to re-take a conversion after the siren to sink Ireland.
Cooper exiting with a yellow card cruelly confused the Kiwi crowd, who didn’t know whether to keep booing, or cheer.
What is most mystifying, however, is why the Wallabies, after working so hard last week in Sydney to destroy the All Black’s aura, ruining their confidence heading into the World Cup, would choose to give them another sniff?
Surely it can’t be a crafty Cheika plan to claim underdog status; South Africa already has this. Besides, this Wallabies side is too good for that. We know it because we saw it last week.
The Rational
In these times of instant gratification and 24-hour news cycles, for many people whatever happens in a given moment becomes their permanent reality. This lasts for as long as it takes for a missed tackle or fluffed kick to create a new reality. In this case, a week.
Roosters become feather dusters in an instant. And vice-versa. Take Dan Carter, last week an ageing, tentative has-been, well past his prime, in danger of missing World Cup selection.
The truth is, things are never as good or as bad as they seem. Or as fleeting; class is permanent. Passion and partisan blindness on the part of fans are understandable, but in the cold light of day, they make not for good analysis.
Sydney was never a change in the world order, it was simply a good win by a tenacious side who is developing nicely under a new coach. Against the world number one who were off their best, but who hadn’t forgotten how to play all of a sudden, and who were never going to meekly surrender ‘their’ Bledisloe Cup at their home fortress.
Carter isn’t the same player he was in 2005, but he hadn’t lost his mojo. He just needed a forward pack to steel up and provide a decent platform.
Likewise, nor should Wales and England get too comfortable. The Wallabies weren’t as bad as the score indicated, in fact they were extremely physical and combative during a tight first half, off the back of another solid scrum.
They also have, in Israel Folau, an outstanding fullback who swallows any kick in his vicinity and who makes beating the first tackle an art form.
Those who finger Cooper for the loss might better consider that his was merely an, albeit clumsy, last-ditch attempt to save a try, for which the real damage had already happened up-field, Nehe Milner-Skudder being allowed a yard of space – way more than what he needs.
Referee Owens made the right call, instinctively and instantly, without troubling the TMO. His clear communication and feel for the game remain unmatched.
Tails up, the All Blacks sniffed blood in the water and ruthlessly iced the game within minutes. But Cooper or no Cooper, there was already a sense that they were about to bust the dam open anyway.
Two players were particularly influential. Keiran Read, another criticised for a below par effort in Sydney, gave away his signature wide-ranging running game for the good of the collective loose forward effort, which was notably more urgent and physical.
Read still ran plenty, but in a more central and narrower channel, punching holes across the advantage line, where last week too many tight forwards were masquerading as mid-field ball players.
No-one denies Sonny Bill Williams’ athletic prowess, but the difference between what he and Nonu offers at No.12 was starkly illustrated. Nonu always asks questions of the defence, this time too many for the Wallabies to answer, and his spiraling pass off the left hand for Conrad Smith’s try was all class.
If there are questions for the All Blacks, their kicking game still needs a tweak. Their plan to kick out of defence in the first half and not be caught out again fiddling in midfield was understandable, but too many low percentage miracle kicks in the attacking half showed a lack of respect for the ball.
Aaron Smith and TJ Perenara starred in this year’s Super Rugby because they kept their discipline and focus on fast service to the backline. When both overplay their hand they are poorer players for it, and Steve Hansen will hope that Folau’s late try will serve as a lesson to both to pull their heads in and keep hard-won attacking ball in hand.
At the end of it all a relieved Scotty Stevenson controlled proceedings on the dias, eternally thankful that he didn’t have to interview Nonu again, nor anticlimactically mark McCaw’s contribution to New Zealand rugby in the context of a loss.
The roll call of All Black stars who have now played their last Test in New Zealand is long. A week ago, for many pundits, the World Cup had come around a season too late for these tired legs.
Another week on, however, normal transmission is resumed. The All Blacks are beatable, yes, but when they turn up to compete at the collision, while retaining the flair and instinct to transform a turnover near their own line into a rampaging Dane Coles try 90 metres away, then they are still – last week, this week, next week – the benchmark.
Footnote: Was it just my fading eyesight or did anyone else sitting down to watch South Africa versus Argentine give it away in frustration, unable to comfortably distinguish the teams from each other?
Given the bright Buenos Aires sunlight, the decision for the Springboks to wear all-white, against the Puma’s sky blue and white made no sense at all. In the twisted, tweeted words of the NFL’s latest star turn Jarryd Hayne, ‘Houstan’ we have a problem.