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The Wallabies are a disgrace

Michael Hooper of Australia. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Roar Rookie
20th August, 2017
22
2084 Reads

The Wallabies are a disgrace to their country and the coveted gold jersey that those before them have worn with pride.

Skipper Michael Hooper should be asked to explain how his side missed a staggering 48 tackles. For he, too, slipped off crucial tackles.

The inability of any Australian Super Rugby teams to topple New Zealand sides in this year’s competition was a portend of things to come in the Bledisloe Cup.

Remember 2011, when the then-brilliant Will Genia and Quade Cooper orchestrated the Reds’ triumph in the Super Rugby final against the Crusaders, the Wallabies clinched the then Tri-Nations series.

These days, you’d have more luck discovering a cure for cancer than turning the Wallabies’ fortunes around.

While the All Blacks’ off-field dramas in the lead up to Saturday’s Test steeled their resolve, the opposite was true for Australia –even with the noise following the Western Force’s axing.

This was a game between a freakishly good and a relentlessly bad side.

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If the Wallabies were talking about adopting the British and Irish Lions’ style heading into Saturday’s match, none of it was remotely visible.

In fact, it was the complete opposite.

The Lions drew the series on the back of excellent line speed and brilliant counter attacks. They had one hell of a halfback in Connor Murray, and world-class No 10s Owen Farrell, Dan Biggar and Jonathan Sexton.

The Wallabies need to develop a world-class 9-10 axis. Genia has become too predictable, while Bernard Foley is a one-trick pony.

It’s also time to let go the likes of Stephen Moore and Tatafa Polota-Nau. The former has signalled his retirement from international rugby, but they can’t carry him on the basis of having been a wonderful servant of Australian rugby.

Across the Tasman, the likes of Julian Savea, Malakai Fekitoa, and Patrick Tuipulotu are playing in the domestic competition. Such is the gulf between the two countries’ talents.

Wallaby legends John Eales, Michael Lynagh and George Gregan must be crying blood watching how far the Wallabies have regressed since the last World Cup final.

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More preparation time, a tough training regime, and acquiring the services of ex-All Blacks skills coach Mick Byrne counts for nought when the players are devoid of ideas and unable to execute the basics.

Last weekend it was poor tackling, this weekend they will leave something else on the training pitch on the way to Dunedin.

The All Blacks won on the back of their ambition, relentless desire to keep the ball moving, and hunting for space. And they found plenty, not least because of the worse-than-schoolboy defence from a side that less than two years ago nearly knocked the All Blacks off their perch in London.

The more confidence the visitors gained in the first half, the more the Aussies drifted out of the game, and their accuracy and cohesion slipped.

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