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Let’s cut the Aussies some slack, and give the Kiwis some credit

Israel Folau. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Roar Guru
4th April, 2017
29
1639 Reads

In Round 6 of Super Rugby, four Aussie teams lost to four Kiwi teams. The only exception to the rather depressing result was the Brumbies, who had a bye.

As such, the weekend continued the trend that we have become accustomed to, particularly over the last two seasons, of Australian teams getting battered by their New Zealand counterparts.

But while things aren’t going great for Australian rugby, neither are they as bad we think.

In 2016, despite what felt like continual losses, the Wallabies beat South Africa, Argentina, a decent Scotland side, Wales and France.

It’s a bit saddening that we did not beat any of the form teams, but we certainly had no losses poor as Samoa, Scotland or an average Ireland in 2011.

We actually finished the year as the third-ranked team.

As horrible as we all felt about the losses to England, perhaps England were better than we realised? Likewise, Ireland, despite some poor losses in the Six Nations, can play some truly fantastic rugby on their day.

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Over the past four years, New Zealand rugby teams have gone to another level. Since 2015, the All Blacks have only lost twice, once to Ireland, who put on a great performance in Chicago, and once to Australia.

This All Blacks team, despite their hiccup against Ireland, can certainly lay claim to being one of the best teams since professionalism, if not all time.

I wish that the Wallabies made the matches a bit closer, but can we consider the fact that the reason we got so annihilated by the All Blacks every time isn’t because we have regressed so far, but because the All Blacks have improved so much?

It’s no exaggeration to say that New Zealand teams have pioneered a new way of playing rugby – the way in which they raise their intensity and consistently put 20-plus points on at the end of every match is stunning to behold.

And this is really the – all their bench players can lay legitimate claims to being the second or third best in their position in the world. They would probably end up all-time greats for any other country.

We can’t be expected to win when we are bringing on Nick Phipps when they are bringing on TJ Perenara.

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In regards to Super Rugby, Australian teams are definitely struggling. It’s odd to think only a few years ago the Brumbies and Waratahs were consistently beating New Zealand sides.

The ‘brain drain’ to France, England and Japan has hit us harder than New Zealand or South Africa, due to our smaller player pool.

Additionally, we are holding onto gameplans that are far too conservative, and are employing sub-standard coaches for many sides.

Week after week, we are getting annihilated by Kiwi teams that have better plays, are much better coached, and who bring an intensity that our teams simply cannot match.

Despite this though, there are still reasons to remain positive.

Firstly, if you’re willing to watch non-Australian teams, then the standard of Super Rugby has never been higher. Some of the New Zealand and even South African sides would, I am sure, place fairly highly in the World Cup. I can hardly wait to see more Kiwi derbies, or to see the top South African teams face off against the Kiwis.

Secondly, South African sides struggled for many years because they held onto out-dated strategies. They seemed to have turned a corner, however, and are playing some fantastic rugby. As Geoff Parkes mentioned, the Sharks-Lions game was one of the all-time great Super Rugby matches. Perhaps the night is darkest before the dawn, and our teams begin to do the same?

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Thirdly, because the Australian teams are all so poor, the contests they produce between each other are thrilling, because any team could win and top the conference.

Finally, if we are going to be thrashed weekly by the Kiwis, at least they are doing it to everyone else too.

At the end of the day, if Australian rugby really is the Titanic and we’ve already begun sinking, there’s nothing we can do. We should at least sit back and enjoy the spectacle going on around us.

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