In two weeks on the High Veldt, Robbie Deans and his young Wallabies have shown their plan for the future of Australian rugby. Be prepared Wallaby fans for a rollercoaster ride.
In fact, it really only took ten minutes at Loftus when, after expecting a South African onslaught charged on Matfield emotion, the Wallabies had scored three tries in the most blistering start to a Wallabies Test in recent history.
Coupled with victory in Bloemfontein, the public’s growing frustration has instantly subsided and an air of excitement surrounds the Wallabies as they finally give hope to our World Cup chances.
Since Deans’ appointment as Wallaby coach in 2008, he has seemingly blindly followed an aggressive youth policy pushing aside Wallaby stalwarts such as Baxter, Dunning, Waugh, and Tuqiri. Questions regarding the incapability of the new players as well as selecting a number of players out of position saw a rapid loss of confidence in the Wallabies throughout 2008 and 2009, exemplified by the record 53-8 loss to the Boks in Johannesburg.
With the World Cup looming it seemed the greatest problem was a lack of direction, a lack of leadership, and a complete lack of a game plan. Could these young’ens fulfill their potential?
Could Robbie Deans save the day? What is the plan?
Suddenly, in just two Tests, the plan for the future was on show; the good, the bad, and of course the head-buttingly ugly. Rain, hail or shine the plan is to attack.
The unbelievable talent running within the veins of Genia, Cooper, O’Conner and Beale is unarguably the future of Australian rugby but it may also be the future of rugby full stop. These young men have the potential to change the way rugby is played.
The legendary 1984 Wallabies, who won our first Grand Slam led by the incredible Mark Ella, shocked the British rugby public with an attacking, intuitive, running-based style of rugby, and it seems the young Wallabies will be embracing this exciting and nerve-racking style. The past decade of rugby is personified by an English fly-half who dropped a last minute field goal in 2003.
This safety first style of rugby has coincided with a decline in interest and has threatened the financial viability of rugby in Australia. As we begin a new decade the new generation of Wallabies seem prepared excite the crowd and have fun doing it.
At the same time they may just change the way rugby is played around the world.
This decade will be full of the highest highs as well as the lowest lows. The youthful exuberance, coupled with high-risk strategy, will also bring unbelievable inconsistency exemplified in the Bloemfontein Test which saw an incredible start, an incredible demise, and an unbelievable escape proving that rugby will always be “a game of two halves.”
The new Wallabies will win and exhilarate, unfortunately they will also lose and disappoint.
Whether Deans’ strategy can win the 2011 World Cup only time will tell, but it will be a whole lot of fun to watch.
Stash
Guest
The strike runners of the Wallabies backline ran in a stupendous amounts of tries early in both games against the Boks. Broken play seemed to open these opportunities up. The previous game against the all blacks and there was a real struggle to get past the All Black defence which was particularly solid after the all blacks chose to commit next to no numbers at the breakdown. The Bok defence patterns were a mess in broken play and there seemed to be gaping holes on the wings during general play. This tightened up in the second halves of both games. In game 1 Australia leaked a huge lead and found three points in the second half. In game 2 the Boks piled on more points than Australia. I think it is difficult to hail a new playing style until it has been fleshed out against more competition. At the moment it looks distinctly like Deans has had someone take photos of the All Blacks playbook... but kind of a camcorder version of the latest blockbuster... Saying that...great games the last two...as has been this entire 3N
mattamkII
Guest
no mate...get rid of the coach, sack the players and the CEO... Lets get back to the old days where its all about Sydney Club Rugby ...tooooo rah...come on ol boys... I am being sarcastic, good team with a big future. Nice to see some people here see it.
darwin stubby
Guest
from the same school of thought that prior to this years Reds no other team was playing running rugby ... stupid thinking
Ben S
Roar Guru
Where has this talk of 'attack' come from? Two matches versus SA who have been shipping tries left, right and centre?
CizzyRascal
Roar Guru
I think crediting Australia's new boys with the dawn of a new rugbying era is unfair on New Zealand who are paving the way in my opinion. The Wallabies are very exciting to watch and I think nearly every other Test nation watching on would wish to have their attacking game, but if asked which all round game they'd want, I bet they'd pluck for the All Black one every single time.