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For more than forty years, I have watched with great expectation as Wallaby team after Wallaby team took on the All Blacks and lost.
We will all remember getting together for lunch and few beers at home, early on a Saturday afternoon, Sydney time, to watch a Bledisloe Cup game, full of misplaced expectation.
Sometimes it was by a large margin and sometimes, and even more painfully, by a small margin. The All Blacks invariably won the match. The smaller the margin, the more we were told that the Wallabies were getting closer.
It reminds me of my youngest son, Matt, saying to me on his third birthday, “And, I’m catching up to Nick!” Nick is his older brother, by a mere 16 months.
Sadly, Nick will always be 16 months older than Matt.
So too the Wallabies.
There is a flaw in the Wallabies psyche that is exposed when it comes up against the stronger All Blacks psyche. A coach can improve the skills, the player depth, the tactics and every other technical aspect of the game of rugby. It may narrow the gap, but the All Blacks will still have the edge, the extra gear.
Robbie Deans is an excellent coach and is in the process of addressing the technical and “skill” aspects of the Wallabies’ performance.
This will not bridge the gap on a consistent basis.
The answer is to draw conclusions from our life experience in similar situations, and also look back to the few successful Wallabies teams.
In all cases, the difference was that the winner wanted it more.
Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Jack Nicholas, Muhammad Ali, Herb Elliott, John Bertrand’s Australia II crew, Steffi Graf, the Australian Cricket team from 1989 until 2007. They were gifted performers, but what made them great was that they wanted it more.
While it sounds simple, and it is a simple concept, it is very difficult to implement. And it becomes harder to implement, or should I say carry out, as the point of victory or defeat gets nearer.
It’s only at the final moment that the real test occurs.
The ultimate contest is such a fundamental, primeval experience. It equates to the hunter and hunted contest of previous centuries. Now that it is almost completely removed from our society, it is harder to find people who demonstrate the necessary iron will and determination to win until it is too late to make a change.
In the case of a rugby team, selectors need 22 players in possession of the skill and the will.
These contests make for great and rare experiences for players and spectators alike. Today, players are paid handsomely to produce this determined unyielding will, often at the risk of personal injury. Too many professional sports people are not delivering their end of the bargain.
In the case of the Wallabies, they have failed to deliver for too long while the All Blacks have continued to deliver and in doing so, regularly expose the Wallabies’ lack of will.
Robbie Deans is ideally placed to examine and solve this lack of resolve. He is also a sufficiently good man manager to potentially change the psyche, unless it is a result of the different cultures and priorities of Australia and New Zealand.
I don’t believe it emanates from the wombs of the homeland.
Australian teams, some of them Wallabies teams, have triumphed over New Zealand and other countries against overwhelming odds on the world’s largest stages.
Unfortunately, I don’t hear Deans addressing the lack of will issue publicly. This is sensible. But nor do I see any change in the intensity or collective resolve of the Wallabies under his stewardship.
Despite the proud, exclusive and rich history of the Wallaby jersey, the excellent financial remuneration, the lifestyle, the adulation and the life long calling card, the Wallabies just don’t want it enough.
It is time for this to change. They owe everyone, not least of all themselves.
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.