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Australia's Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom, cenre, along with his teammates. AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama
Last week’s column on the role space is set to play in this year’s Tri-Nations went over really well, and it was abundantly clear from the responses that rugby fans on this bottom side of the equator want to see more of it through the rest of the tournament.
Most agreed that it was indeed in the Wallabies’ best interests to follow the lead of the All Blacks and run the big Springbok defenders around the paddock, and to then cash in on the opportunities and space as it appears.
Roar regular and Melbourne-based All Black fan, Sam Taulelei, left the comment that really hit the mark, for mine, when amongst other very valid observations, he said, “Rugby has always been about 14 players working to put the 15th into space.”
This line – and it’s such a simple and obvious line – has stayed with me all this last week.
So given that on-field combinations has been a bit of a running theme of mine this year, I thought it would be worthwhile viewing the second New Zealand-South Africa Test while keeping a close eye on how the All Black and Springbok combinations work, and which 14 players work best to put the 15th away.
Unfortunately, for South African fans, the answer became evident reasonably early, and there’s little doubt the All Blacks played the best 15-man rugby.
That said, New Zealand did score two tries early on while the ‘Boks again lost a forward to the sin bin. It’s arguable what Danie Roussouw was trying to do when he appeared to give Richie McCaw’s eyebrows a bit of a slap, but referee Alain Roland saw McCaw reacting and quickly assumed the South African No.4 was responsible. Perhaps he forgot Bakkies Botha wasn’t wearing it.
Putting the 15th man into space becomes significantly easier when the defensive line only runs to 14. Either way, the All Blacks played the better combinations game for the second week running.
On the kick reception and return, Mils Muliaina was always in the company of wingers Cory Jane and Rene Ranger. Muliaina and Jane, particularly, were in each other’s pocket constantly, and it didn’t seem to matter where one of them popped up in the attack, the other one was generally nearby.
At the breakdown, No.8 Kieran Read and Blindside flanker Jerome Kaino seemed to be working in tandem quite effectively, and that makes sense, because it’s hard to imagine a day when Richie McCaw ever needs a hand in the ruck contest.
And as it did last week too, the Dan Carter-Ma’a Nonu combination again proved rather lethal.
For South Africa though, it was rare to see such combinations in action.
Their backrow of Francois Louw, Schalk Burger, and Pierre Spies was rarely seen in combination, and Spies had a quiet game as he did in Auckland the week before. Louw and Burger looked to be doing the same job in alternate rucks, but were often without support.
The same applied to the back three too. Fullback Zane Kirchner must be wondering if he has an odour problem, for the way his wingers seemed to be actively avoiding him in attack. Late in the game Kirchner made a clear line break, but when it came to passing to his support, the only green jersey in view belonged to reserve no.8 Ryan Kankowski, and it was being held onto by a covering All Black. Bryan Habana was surprisingly off the pace in the background.
Flyhalf Morne Steyn stuck with his preferred game plan of kick in the first instance, and again, didn’t look to use his centres in attack. On the rare occasions when Wynand Oliver and Jaque Fourie did see attacking ball, it would only be as a ‘crash runner’. I can’t really recall the two of them combining for anything other than defence.
So again, and at the risk of repeating myself, what does this mean for the Wallabies?
Well let me start with an ‘I told you so’. This time last week, I mentioned that the Wallabies were in danger of facing a wounded South African side and a worryingly red-hot New Zealand in consecutive weeks, starting this weekend in Brisbane. This coming week is going to require a Wallaby preparation of the highest order.
While it’s vital that the Wallabies are able to match and better the Springboks across the park from fullback to front row, the three areas that really need to be in harmony on Saturday are the backrow, the midfield, and the back three. And that’s not to ignore the importance of the scrum in its entirety, either.
It’s going to mean the Wallabies need a strong breakdown performance from the backrow a la the first Test against England. South Africa’s loose trio aren’t mugs, but they are vulnerable currently, and the Wallabies need to take advantage of this.
Likewise, the midfield could do worse than watch the same England Test, and for good measure, catch a replay of the equivalent Tri-Nations game in Brisbane from last year. Adam Ashley-Cooper’s corker try from a scrum set-play is not too far removed from the sort of thing the All Blacks have been terrifying the Springboks with over the last two weeks.
The back three need only look at how Muliaina, Jane and Ranger (and Joe Rokocoko the week before) returned the constant Steyn aerial raids with numbers, and compare that with how they’ve been going previously playing as two wingers and James O’Connor. Support in numbers, run the ball back at pace, and don’t forget to use the space.
These combinations have less than a week to be fortified, refined, and perfected. The importance of winning this first game cannot be stressed enough, both in terms of starting the Tri-Nations on the front foot, and of taking advantage of a wounded opponent.
If the Wallabies can out-combine the Springboks from number 1 to number 15, they should maintain the unhappy Brisbane record for South Africa.