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The Wrap: Bledisloe rout, does Cheika have any answers?

21st August, 2016
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Michael Cheika has welcome Curtis Rona into the Wallabies starting line-up. (AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BUREAU)
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21st August, 2016
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Losing press conferences after a hiding are always fascinating. On one hand a nervy but respectful clique of journalists wary of kicking a man while he’s down. On the other, a circling pack of hyenas, waiting for their cue to tear off the chunks of dead meat that will form their stories.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika fronts like the combative, proud man that he is, but his sombre face gives the true story away. Here is a man shell-shocked by what he has just witnessed. Who, in his own words, “didn’t see it coming.”

Cheika is adamant that the Wallabies sub-par performance wasn’t down to “rustiness”, which flies in the face of reasonable logic that the All Blacks, most of whom had been involved in intense Super Rugby finals, were clearly more match ready, and whose speed of thinking and ball movement were on a different plane.

No, according to Cheika it is attitude that is the problem; measurable, as always, by the tackle count. And this, of all of the horrible match statistics which are heavily skewed in the All Blacks favour, is the one that grates the most.

40 missed tackles is a number that is going to get any side in trouble.

It starts early, the All Blacks provided with space to work the tram lines, Keiran Read restored to the wide-running role which saw him named the IRB Player of the Year in 2013.

Bernard Foley is targeted in defence, isolated by Waisake Naholo and Malakai Fekitoa in the fifth minute, allowing Read to time his pass perfectly to send Ryan Crotty away for the opening try.

Foley’s night doesn’t get any better, the black wave keeps pounding at him until, in the second half, replacement flanker Ardie Savea runs right over the top of him like he is a mere irritation.

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Throw in a ponderous kick that Jerome Kaino charges down and then patiently and expertly re-gathers for his try, and it all adds up to a horrible night for Australia’s playmaker.

By contrast, South Africa’s nemesis, Beauden Barrett, becomes Australia’s nightmare as well, distributing cleanly and then burning through gaps in between forward defenders who seem like mere statues.

He fades out of the game in the second half, a by-product of injury related positional changes, but players of such impact don’t need a full 80 minutes to decisively shape a game.

As the first half unfolds, an air of disbelief hangs over the stadium. How can the Wallabies, after weeks of intense training, with a raft of experienced players reinstated to the team, be so inept in kicking, handling in contact, and in lineout execution?

Later, in the happy press conference, Read is asked the reason why his side is so able to dominate the Wallabies on their own throw. Read just smiles and says that there is no sophisticated plan at work, they just jumped and got lucky.

No-one believes him.

True, the Wallabies are cruelled by injury. Number 12 is their ‘devils number’ tonight, with Matt Giteau, Matt Toomua and Rob Horne all succumbing. But Cheika rightfully swats this away as an excuse; Test rugby is about dealing with situations as they arise and, anyway, New Zealand suffers similarly.

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The midfield is where the All Blacks gain dominance, unexpectedly through Crotty and Fekitoa, who, apart from switching off when given the opportunity to run in a gift try, enjoys by far his best Test match, full of sharp endeavor and straight line running.

More predictable is the midfield collision contest – well not a contest really. The Wallabies continually coughing up the ball upon contact, and failing to apply the same pressure to the soft hands of Brodie Retallick and Wyatt Crockett in return.

This was one area where Wallabies fans could reasonably have expected improvement after the England series, yet the absence of urgency and intent in their defensive line means that the midfield is conceded far too easily.

What stands out most is the gulf in pace. The Wallabies have lead in their boots, like amateur club runners taking on Usain Bolt in the 100 metres.

And the disparity in ball skills too; one phase early in the second half sees the All Blacks exchange half a dozen passes at close quarters, at rapid speed – breathtaking, and something this Wallabies side seems incapable of even attempting let alone pulling off.

The final try, to replacement winger Julian Savea is revealing; a classic ‘Sonny Bill Williams’ offload in midfield by Sam Whitelock to a hard running Kane Hames, in his debut Test no less, and, two crisp passes later, the Bus finishing it off in the corner, over the top of a gallant Will Genia.

Cheika accepts responsibility for his players being switched off – mental preparation is his piece of the pie and he pledges to reflect hard and honestly to work out how he can rectify this before next week.

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No-one in the room disbelieves his intent, but all are skeptical that this, in itself, will be enough to turn things around.

One thing that will change for Wellington is what some people call the ‘intangible motivator’, that edge factor which explains how sides, from week to week, go from world-beaters to hacks and back again.

The All Blacks had it in Sydney, arriving early and preparing with a clear intent to erase the memory of their last two muddling performances at ANZ Stadium.

No matter what Steve Hansen tells his side this week, and the obvious areas for improvement they have in them, there will not be this edge again in Wellington. Coming off a record margin win, with Barrett running the cutter in front of his home crowd, they will do well to avoid injury from all the slaps on the back they receive from well meaning locals.

This edge will be there for the Wallabies to claim. Cheika speaks of the opportunity that his players have over the next week, to show what they are made of. To come back from humiliating defeat and pay back the faith their fans have in them.

Which players those are remains to be seen. It is too early to assess the damaged bodies, but changes will have to be made.

David Pocock, despite another herculean pilfering effort, surely cannot be the answer at number eight – he provides no ‘go forward’, and watch how he is left loping and lumbering as Barrett gasses past him for his try.

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Besides, Cheika needs another genuine line-out option. It will be unthinkable to go into another Test match inviting the All Blacks to gang-tackle a deficient line-out. If not, then surely some variation in numbers and speed – quick ones, short ones, anything to at least keep the New Zealander’s guessing.

Cheika will also need to find a way to bring Israel Folau more into the play; either at centre, or by issuing an edict not to kick all of their hard won possession back to the All Blacks.

Good player that he is, it is hard to imagine Foley turning things around in a week, his confidence likely shattered. Only Quade Cooper and Cheika really know if he is equipped and ready to step out again in front of a New Zealand crowd, but there seems little option but to find out.

Other selection debates will rage on. At some stage Wallabies fans will demand all of the squad, with the exception of Folau, be dumped. Which mostly misses the point.

These are already, for the most part, Australia’s best players. How to deepen the talent pool is another, admittedly serious, topic for another day – seven days isn’t enough time for Cheika to solve that problem.

Almost as a relief, questions swing towards the bugging incident. Cheika is at first frustrated – “it’s nothing to do with us” – but then relaxes a little as it gives him breathing space to talk about something other than the shellacking he and his team just experienced.

And with that, Cheika is gone and it is all over. Although it felt like a funeral, at least most funerals provide a chance for mourners to recall the good aspects of the deceased’s life. Tonight however, there is nothing good.

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On the bright side, unlike most funerals, there is another chance at life.

Nobody believes that the Wallabies can win in Wellington. They just don’t have enough command of rugby’s basics.

But it is crucially important for the psyche and health of Australian rugby that Cheika injects enough life and spirit into his team, so that at least his Wallabies, if they are to go down, go down with honour.

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