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It’s been some kind of week in Australian rugby. If you squint hard and put the windscreen wipers on full bore, you’ll be able to see through the mudslinging to where the rugby was played.
We are a weird bunch in rugby, aren’t we?
It doesn’t take much for us to go into complete meltdown, then a couple of days later we’ve basically resumed our normal places as if nothing happened.
A week ago we were cruising into the normal prepare-for-a-thrashing week of the third Bledisloe Cup Test, then all hell broke loose.
Suddenly the game was falling apart, the grassroots had been uprooted, there were rogue leagues announced, Perth won a championship but was also trying not to get closed down, some Sydney rugby-types threw grenades at the ARU CEO, a referee robbed the Wallabies, our national coach was dressed up as a clown, and people shouted and ranted.
It wasn’t quite over by the new working week either, because everything was cranked back up to 11 to support or ridicule the decision to select Marika Koroibete for the Spring Tour without having played a professional game in Australia yet.
I don’t quite believe everyone’s hearts were into the Spring Tour squad bashing as much as the other stuff, but we were in an outrage groove and nothing was going to stop us.
Without starting a code war, I’d suggest football fans are the only other Australian sports group as ready to lose their collective minds.
Here are four takeaways to help you digest what has been a tumultuous week.
Was it worth blowing up the rugby and drawing new battle lines over a club funding argument?
I don’t know all the people involved in the fabled letter to ARU CEO Bill Pulver. I love rugby, but I’m not really an insider. Perhaps that hinders my understanding, but hopefully that allows me to see things more clearly, from a detached vantage point.
When the letter and accompanying dummy-spit erupted last week, I was concerned that it was hijacking an important week for rugby in Australia.
Sure, the Wallabies had already lost the Bledisloe Cup, so for the traditionalists it wasn’t the epic week you’d expect if the series was up for grabs. But for modern rugby fans that see what is coming down the pipeline it was important. The Wallaroos were playing a Test in Auckland against the women’s New Zealand side and the NRC was coming to a close.
In terms of the letter and email conversations themselves – what I saw of them – the concerning thing was a tone of anger without many constructive ideas about the future.
The ‘grassroots’ aren’t likely to be saved through a rogue, eight-team club championship. For a start: where does that leave room for representation from the state that just supplied the National Rugby Championship winner?
Yes, there needs to be more rugby on free-to-air television, we’ve all known that for a long time. But surely a solution to putting club rugby on television could be found without resorting to public recriminations and a ‘damn the torpedoes!’ approach?
If the ARU is being asked to pay another $500,000 to get club rugby on television after paying $300,000 last year it’s hard to blame them for thinking twice about it.
But you wouldn’t stage a stunt like this at this particular time only over putting one club game a week on television would you?
It wasn’t hard to see this outburst coming
When I wrote about the ARU’s release of their strategic plan in April, I said they were walking a tightrope. One of the concerns I raised was whether the traditional rugby base would be patient.
They aren’t.
The strategic plan heralded a new approach to growing ‘grassroots’ rugby in this country. It seems like the loud viewpoint of the traditional crowd is that premier club rugby in Sydney and Brisbane is the grassroots.
It’s clear by their strategic plan the ARU see things differently. Their grassroots view includes getting into public schools, women’s rugby, sevens rugby and VIVA7s as well.
The ARU is now walking a tightrope and club rugby seems determined to knock them off it.
The question is whether the broader community thinks rugby can and should broaden its appeal to new students, new formats and with women. Or would they rather rugby plunge all of its money back into traditional baskets?
Based on results, our women’s sevens team, the Pearls, are the best success we’ve had this year. Do we turn our back on that now?
I said in September rugby in Australia must balance a grassroots and professional path to growth in Australia. The letter hasn’t changed my mind.
Club rugby shouldn’t be left to die. But the ARU must also invest in new areas that will strengthen the game overall. Rugby doesn’t have the money or the cultural capital to blow it up and start again right now, so calmer heads must prevail.
Rugby has shifted its focus slightly away from its traditionally narrow gaze under the new strategic plan. I for one applaud that outlook on the world; rugby tends to naval gaze far too much. And, presumably, a lot of consultation and work went into that new direction. It would be a shame to call it all off now, if that is indeed what some hope or expect.
We actually saw some improvement from the Wallabies this weekend
Aside from being very poor at securing the attacking breakdown, the performance of the Wallabies was much improved on Saturday night – and it was a better contest than the 37-10 scoreline indicated.
One standout was the performance of Bernard Foley. He was being crowded by the sideways movement of Quade Cooper in recent Tests, and unleashing his straight running at 10 again was exactly what the team needed.
The Wallabies were able to control possession for large stretches of the match when they paid attention to their own ruck. They beat more defenders than the All Blacks did, gave more than their usual amount of offloads, weren’t physically beaten often, and won most of their set pieces. In fact, the overall tone of the Wallabies’ play had a new strength to it, especially in the forwards. New selections with larger frames are starting to do their job.
There was weakness in the back line defence, where Samu Kerevi still isn’t up to standard. And with new combinations on both sides, the backline was leaky all night. Bringing Henry Speight into 13 on some set pieces was a complete mess and shouldn’t be repeated.
Fixing that midfield is a top priority now. Reece Hodge is actually a 13, and will battle with Kerevi for years over that jersey. The real blank is at 12, where neither of those two quite fit. The selection of Kyle Godwin for the Spring Tour squad made me smile – he might be a long-term solution down the track if he returns to old form.
Without quite being back to his best, Israel Folau had a much better game. He was very threatening at times and was generally more involved. Dane Haylett-Petty was again solid and went looking for work.
There are signs the Wallabies are starting to find their feet again after a horror Southern Hemisphere season. On the Northern Hemisphere tour, the Grand Slam is the ultimate aim, but finding a consistent level of play, developing a plan A and B and then beating England should be the goal.
The All Blacks deserve their win streak record
‘Awesome’ is completely overused this century, but the All Blacks right now are awesome in the true sense of the word.
The Oxford dictionary defines awesome as “extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring awe.” And that about summarises New Zealand at the moment.
They’re truly inspiring the way they can farewell all-time greats of the game and roll out the next generation without a hiccup. You could argue that the form they’ve found at times this year is even better than what they displayed last year – without all the talent that said goodbye.
The power of the team is extremely impressive. The ferocity and fearlessness with which they twist the knife to make the opposition pay for any mistake is incredible. It’s hard to feel anything but awe when a hooker chases a break to knock the ball loose and not long later is the first man to support his own winger on the break in the corner to score a try.
Dane Coles is the embodiment of this All Blacks side, full of people the best in their position, but with enough extra to make you wonder if there is a position they couldn’t play.
Others such as Ben Smith bide their time on the wing and when finally given a chance at fullback unleash a display of elusive running and link play that leaves you with your jaw hanging open.
Players like Keiran Read have absorbed – apparently by osmosis? – the ability to read the game from Richie McCaw and combined it with an even more athletic body to have an impact on the game in new and fascinating ways that even McCaw himself wasn’t able to.
Truly awesome and extremely deserving.
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.