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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Charles Dickens, through his use of anaphora, suggests that good and evil, wisdom and folly, and light and darkness stand equally matched in their struggle.
Although talking about contrasting doubles – Paris and London, Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, and Miss Pross and Madame Defarge – in the tumultuous years leading up to the French Revolution, he could well have been foretelling this year’s Rugby Championship.
Certainly as a Springbok supporter this year has been a winter of despair. Sure there have been glimmers of hope. One week the selection of Morne Steyn looked like wisdom but then it sure seemed like folly the following week.
If you feel like getting your head around the baffling complexity that is rugby in South Africa at present, then I recommend watching a Supersport post-match roundup of South Africa’s games to get a sense of the Dickensian dichotomy that is ravaging Springbok rugby at the moment.
Ashwin Willemse is an unapologetic apologist for Allister Coetzee and his stance clearly grates with Nick Mallett. They are both entrenched in their positions and unwilling to concede any ground to the other. The palpable tension on air would be a dream scenario for Big Brother producers but sadly this double act is a symbol of the divide that afflicts South African rugby.
There is a sense that South Africa still has a way to fall before the two opposing camps are prepared to sit down and work through a compromise to quotas, tactics, coaching and selection. I am reminded of John Oliver commenting on Donald Trump: “Look up way into the sky. High above the clouds. That’s rock bottom.”
Heyneke Meyer appeared to hit rock bottom against Japan but the epoch of incredulity persisted and the hammering in Durban was arguably more humiliating.
My heart goes out to die-hard Springbok supporters because like New Zealand, rugby means so much to them. The talent is there but multiple forces are conspiring to place insurmountable obstacles in front of the players. What will it take to implement positive change? Can anyone agree on what positive change would entail?
Conversely, this Rugby Championship seems very much the best of times for New Zealand. Many greats laced up their boots for the final time in the 2015 Rugby World Cup final but this year the Darkness seems to have cast an even bigger shadow over the rugby world.
Aside from goal kicking, everything else seems to have gone swimmingly for New Zealand. Wales, Australia, South Africa and Argentina have all asked questions of New Zealand but eventually New Zealand was able to give an emphatic reply.
The key with the All Blacks this year is their self belief. Their set-piece solidity and resolute defence allow them to absorb the best of what their opponents throw at them but their versatility allows them to strike back in an infuriatingly (or delightfully) short space of time.
It must be devastating to be in the game only to have it slip from your grasp all too quickly. The All Blacks typically do that in the last quarter but against Argentina they closed out the game before half time.
Opponents have to increase their strike rate if they are to match New Zealand. You don’t need to score tries, especially when Beau Barrett’s goal kicking has been so poor. Take the last game for example. Three tries to one and if Henry Speight’s try had stood, the Wallabies had a chance to take the lead.
Scoreboard pressure exerts mental pressure on your opponent. That’s when mistakes happen and players’ judgements are affected. The great advantage New Zealand has at the moment isn’t their physical edge but their mental edge. Calmness under pressure comes from an undying faith in your ability to strike back when it counts.
The other two nations in the Rugby Championship have lacked this mental fortitude, albeit for different reasons.
The Jaguars were disappointing in this year’s Super tournament but arguably the Pumas were even more disappointing. They turned around the disappointment of losing to South Africa away when they should’ve closed out the game. They won at home and you could see the confidence and tactics were sound playing New Zealand away.
They identified the fringes and Aaron Smith as a point of attack and they made inroads. Yet they came away from arguably the best 50 minutes or so of rugby they could hope to play and let the remaining moments affect the rest of their tournament.
Admittedly injuries exposed the lack of depth but Argentina still showed they have added to their traditional strengths and become more versatile. They just lack game awareness with a wrong pass here or a bad decision there and then lose their composure.
I am confident they can improve on their ultimately disappointing showing this year provided they work on their weaknesses. Perhaps I am being overly harsh in my appraisal but given the devastating attack and defence they are capable of, I see their potential is not being realised at the moment.
Like Argentina, I am nevertheless confident that Australia is working in the right direction. Watching the evolution of the Waalabies this year has been like playing the arcade game Frogger.
For every positive step Cheika took in selections he seemed to go sideways or backwards in other areas. Imagine if the chopping and changing of his locks against England had started with his locking combination last Saturday, Arnold and Coleman.
Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing but all too often injury seemed to force Cheika’s hand instead of him taking a more proactive approach to team selection. I think we can all agree that the general thinking behind the selections in Bledisloe 3 was a lot sounder than Bledisloe 1.
It’s no coincidence that the Wallabies looked a lot more threatening with Foley standing flat in the line and genuine line out options throughout the pack to secure possession. I think the work of Mick Byrne this year stood out in that last game and the line speed of the Wallaby defence was infinitely better.
You could still make a few more tweaks. Just like it was pleasing to see Hodge end the Cooley experiment, I wouldn’t mind seeing a switch from Israel Folau to the wing and Dane Haylett-Petty to fullback or Sam Kerevi to 12 but there definitely is some optimism for the November Grand Slam merci Madame tour in November.
I still think the mental aspect of the Wallabies needs sharpening. I’m not sure Cheika’s us-against-them siege mentality works best for Australia if they come up against an opponent who can stand toe to toe with them. Fire and brimstone is definitely needed but calm, cool heads are required when things don’t go your way.
Continuity in team selections certainly helps with that but what pleased me last year about Cheika’s team was that they did their talking on the field. This year the media have seized upon a few heated remarks and blown them out of proportion. Look at the verbal spat that was played up in Bledisloe 1 and the post-match conference after Bledisloe 3. It’s all pretty inane stuff but you have to consider how things can be pulled out of context and be smart about what you say.
Cheika traditionally likes being fought into a corner and fighting his way out. His time with Leicester, the Waratahs and Wallabies have all started in varying degrees of adversity and he’s very adept at turning things around. But shrewd candidates like Eddie Jones and Steve Hansen are all too aware of this and know how to keep pushing him back in that corner.
I’d like to think Cheika will look back on what’s happened so far this year and recognise where things went well and where things didn’t go well. My fear is that he doesn’t have any fear of being up against the ropes and actually welcomes it. My hope is that he ducks out the way and comes back into the centre of the ring.
That would be “a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.”
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.