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Let’s be clear: the Wallabies played better in the second Bledisloe this weekend than they did in the first game.
Let’s also be clear: the Wallabies did not play well.
If I was Michael Cheika I would be considering reviewing my LinkedIn connections and seeing if there are any teams around the world looking for a new coach come about December 2016.
To lose against this All Blacks side in Wellington is no disgrace at all.
The last time anyone beat them at home, Reece Hodge was 15 years old, Kevin Rudd was Prime Minister (the first time!) and the first Masterchef Australia series was aired.
The judgement of fans and critics alike must all come down to performance rather than the result.
Let’s look at the performance and talk about the good, the bad and the ugly.
Some passion and fight
No one can deny that the Wallabies stepped the aggression up a gear in Wellington. Knowing that they had to take the battle to the All Blacks and restore some sort of pride, the Aussies ripped in from the outset.
Sometimes that ripping seemed to be taking place at the expense of intelligence but nonetheless, the Wallabies let their opponents know that they were going to come off the pitch battered and bruised.
Using Folau’s strength in the air
As I said in my article last week, the Wallabies had to use Folau’s ability to take the high ball as an attack weapon in game two.
Time and again he has shown great ability to leap above any opposition and retain possession from a well placed up and under. In the 10th minute Cooper put the ball on a six pence – a beautiful high ball that came down just metres from the All Black’s line.
Folau did what he does best beating all defenders to take the ball and get oh so close to opening the Wallabies’ try account. I’ve written before that I think Folau is an overrated fullback, but there is no doubting that he is one of if not the best in the world under the high ball.
At a time when the Wallabies are searching for sources of points, it was great to see them going to this play early in the game.
Bernard Foley and Quade Cooper’s First Date
This new partnership performed better than predicted. This was Foley’s first professional game at 12 and the combinations first game together – and what a baptism! – and they didn’t do too badly.
At a time when teams like England are showing the value of having two flyhalfs playing at 12 and 10. This Aussie combo could develop quite well and provide the type of attack and kicking that is much needed.
Adam Coleman
A memorable Test match start to be sure. Of course, the late tackle was idiotic and there were times when the aggression was very close to being a poor alternative for actual skill.
Given that the Wallabies have had plenty of issues in their second row, Coleman’s first start was promising.
If he can learn to use that aggression in the right way, at the right times then he’s got a future.
Only losing by 20
A week after a spanking that was so hard it would have made a masochist rethink their chosen fetish, to lose by only 20 points in Wellington is strangely a sign of improvement.
Don’t ask me to justify that too much more, but it is.
Or at least it could be if the Wallabies go on from here and perform well in the rest of the Championship. If the good points from this game can act as a positive foundation to build momentum from then this loss can serve some purpose. Only time will tell.
Sadly there’s a few too many points to list here so we’ll focus on some of the major ones.
Poor Decision Making
The Wallabies continued to make bad decisions at important times. It’s been said so many times before but it’s still true – you cannot beat the All Blacks by making silly mistakes.
In the second minute of the game, the Wallabies were able to turn the ball over just outside their own 22. The ball was spun out to Samu Kerevi whose got space in front of him and four teammates outside him with a potential overlap.
For some very bizarre reason, Kerevi – a hard running centre usually – chose to deny his natural instincts and kick off his wrong foot.
The ball promptly went out on the full and the All Blacks had a line out on the Wallabies 22m line. The pressure was on straight away.
Defence
While the reduced margin of losing is an improvement, the Aussie defence was shown up a few too many times to let the back slapping begin.
One event especially stood out. In the second half, the Wallabies had moved Cooper back to cover the touchline kick because they weren’t confident of him defending in the backs. Folau had been moved over to provide cover in the centres and right wing.
The All Blacks put up a kick as Folau drifted back towards the Wallabies left wing. Cooper did an impression of a turnstile as Israel Dagg takes the up and under from him.
From the next ruck, the Kiwis moved the ball from right to left and Folau can be seen covering across – but he’s not meant to be providing fullback cover behind the Aussies back line, he’s meant to be in the line.
As a result when the All Blacks get the ball out to Smith he is able to get on the outside of Dane Haylett-Petty and Folau is still five metres away – the best he can do is try and tackle Ben Smith who easily gives the pass to Savea who then scores.
Folau and Cooper continue to be a weakness for the Wallabies in defence. Teams will recognise this and try and take advantage of it time and time again. It must be fixed.
Control
This is closely connected to decision making and sadly it was missing in action. Two key moments sum this up – both immediately after restarts.
In the 13th minute, with the Wallabies having just put pressure on the All Blacks and got three points, they then conceded a penalty from the kick off and Beauden Barrett knocked over the kick to cancel out the Aussie good work.
Then eight minutes later, the Wallabies score a penalty and then look to control the restart. The catch is cleanly taken, the ball is moved back to Cooper and he’s got time and space for the clearance.
It goes an awful ten metres. The resulting line out is just outside the Wallabies 22. From there, Dagg ends up scoring a try.
Scoring against the All Blacks is hard enough. You simply cannot undo all the hard work within seconds with poor control of simple situations.
It’s something drummed into kids from their school rugby coaches – you must not concede points just after you’ve scored some.
Line Out
I try not to swear in case my mother or daughter read these articles so I’m just going to say this: Please, please, please fix the line out.
Attack
There’s two things that stood out about the Wallabies attack on Saturday.
Firstly, for the vast majority of the game it was really very poor. No continuity, little momentum and poor decision making plagued the Aussies.
Obviously part of the reason for this is the way in which the All Blacks defended and also the fact that the Aussies had to do so much more defending than attacking that meant they were arguably more tired when they did get ball in hand.
But it’s important to note that despite a good run by Will Genia and a couple of broken tackles by Folau, there really wasn’t anything to cheer about for the Aussie fan. This has to change.
Teams need to be able to score points and compete on the scoreboard and if Plan A doesn’t work then they need to go to Plan B. And if Plan B doesn’t work then they need to change again.
The Wallabies’ attack against England was so much more impressive than it was in these past two games. Don’t get me wrong – the Aussies still lacked a lot during those three games too – but at least Plan A produced tries.
Against the All Blacks, the Aussies have looked truly boring in attack.
Secondly, why oh why will the Aussies not use Folau’s power in the air? As has been mentioned, in the tenth minute he took a great catch just metres from the All Blacks’ line. It seems ludicrous that Cooper and Foley would not try that again!
Part of the issue is that the Wallabies hardly got into the All Blacks 22 again but this move can be used in lots of positions around the pitch.
To be fair, there wasn’t anything really ugly about this game. The aggression was sometimes foolish and both teams will look back at points of contact and agree among themselves that those moments should not be repeated.
So instead of the ugly let’s end with the beautiful.
Barrett again had a great game and it was summed up not by another slicing run but by his great effort in the 56th minute. He dabbed a little kick through into the Aussie 22, Cooper grabbed it and kicked long to get the Aussies out of defence – but who is back inside the All Blacks half to take the catch cleanly, over his head, and attack again? Barrett.
And at the ruck that comes from Barrett’s run the Wallabies give away a penalty and another chance for the opposition to pull further away. Dan who?
It was always going to be hard to start the Rugby Championship with two games against the best side in the world.
The Wallabies still have a lot to do to and the coming weeks will be critical for many involved in the Aussie set up.
Will this brutal start harden up the Wallabies and see them win the remaining games and come a face saving second? Or will they have broken the Aussie resolve and heart leaving them to fight for last place?
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.