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“We are not going to suck our thumbs and run home crying to Mummy,” was how Wallaby coach Michael Cheika described his side’s feelings yesterday, after their woeful and record-breaking 42-8 loss to the All Blacks on Saturday night.
That’s a very different attitude to Cheika taking full blame at the post-match media conference for not preparing the Wallabies properly for the crucial clash.
The blame bit was utter bollocks, there was nothing the Wallabies could feel good about – the majority of their rotten minutes were entirely their own fault.
The after match in the shed would have been the perfect time and place for Cheika to remind 19 of the 23 on duty at ANZ of their titanic Rugby World Cup clash with Wales at Twickenham last year.
The two games were chalk and cheese.
At Twickenham, the 15-6 win over Wales has been cemented in Wallaby folklore. At ANZ, the 42-8 loss has been rightfully ranked one of the Wallabies’ darkest defeats.
The victory over Wales was based on sheer courage, patience, pride, passion, and brutal defence, the likes of which have not been seen in living memory.
There were 19 of the 23 Wallabies from last Saturday night who were on duty at Twickenham – only Michael Hooper, Alan Ala’alatua, Rob Horne, and Dane Haylett-Petty missed the epic.
The four who did play at Twickenham, and not the ANZ, were Greg Holmes, Sean McMahon, Drew Mitchell, and Kurtley Beale.
How can so many who played as though their lives were on the line at Twickenham be so wimpy at ANZ?
By any standards, that doesn’t make any sense; quality footballers don’t lose their courage, pride and passion in a matter of months.
It’s worth recalling what happened in that classic.
Late in the game the Wallabies were hammered in their own quarter by the rampaging Welsh for 12 minutes straight, with Wales enjoying 93 per cent possession.
For most of that time, the Wallabies were minus Will Genia and Dean Mumm, who were both in the bin. Rock-solid defender David Pocock limped off and was replaced, so 13 Wallabies were unbelievably heroic to keep wave after wave of Welshmen at bay.
Four times the Welsh were over the Wallaby chalk, but were either held up, or rolled on their back – no try.
It was one of the most thrilling tryless games you’ll see, with Bernard Foley landing five Wallaby penalties to Dan Biggar’s two.
But it’s worth repeating how mightily impressive the courageous Wallabies were in defence. So it beggars belief the Wallabies missed 38 tackles against the men in black.
If the Wallabies were thoroughbreds they would have been immediately swabbed.
The equation is simple: whoever takes the Wellington field on Saturday must draw on that Twickenham experience. The Wallabies have done it before, and supporters rightfully expect nothing less.
Careers are on the line, let’s see how many care.