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It’s 5am in the morning and I am alone in my TV room. All my friends have gone out, but I am glued to the TV watching what is without exaggeration the most emotionally tumultuous game in recent history for the Wallabies.
As Kurtley Beale lined up the kick, I couldn’t help but feel that this was one of “those” moments.
Any dedicated Wallabies fan over the last couple of years has become familiar with a trend in this “new generation” of Wallabies, and that has always been the inability to close games, win tight ones, or back up the week after.
One felt that if this kick didn’t go over, well, that might have been it. But it did, and it got me to thinking, have the Wallabies finally turned a corner as a unit, in that the last hurdle is beginning to be cleared?
Physically and talent wise, the likes of Beale, Cooper, Genia, Burgess, O’Connor, Hynes, Slipper, even Elsom, Moore have got easily enough skill to match it or better the All Blacks. But week in week out, they have been trumped by the superior mental acumen of the ABs and Bokke.
This is attributable to experience, it is fairly obvious that the Boks are hugely experienced (750 caps in that last team) and the criticism is often made of their inability to keep up with the whipper snipper Wallabies, a fact which was illustrated in the first half in Bloemfontein.
However, the All Blacks despite injuries, are also hugely experienced, and maybe just as old.
There are multiple veterans from the 2003 and 2007 World Cup Campaign; Carter, Mealamu, Muliaina, Rokocoko, Thorn to name a few, they are no spring chickens, and I believe susceptible to the similar game plan that the Wallbies executed on the Highveldt.
Here is how the Wallabies will beat the All Blacks in Sydney; treat them with no respect, be aggressive in defence, defeat them in the breakdown, and never let the hand off the throat.
The All Blacks prey on teams who don’t know how to finish games in the 60-80 minute mark, they are the perennial finishers, and the Wallabies need to regain the finishing that made them so strong through the 199-2003 golden era.
There is no doubt this team is growing both in experience and ability at the top level quicker than any other team, Graham Henry has recognised the ability of these backs, and South African officials have admired the style of play of the Wallabies.
The belief and experience is what will make them great however. When Kurtley Beale caught a ball just inside the touch line, tippy toed back into play and threw a 20 metre pass across his own 22 to release a raking left foot torpedo from Drew Mitchell, i was in literal awe of the man’s arrogance and confidence, the same can be said of Cooper’s audacious wide balls, or sneaky cross field kick (performed well inside his own half).
The belief, confidence and most importantly arrogance will get better and better the more wins they have against quality teams, this starts with the number one All Blacks.
The combinations look good, the depth in the forwards is developing, the squad looks tight, and unlike the Boks, in complete support of Robbie Deans and his vision for the future.
It has been a tumultuous time for the Wallabies – deposing Giteau as vice-captain, developing Elsom as a new leader, bringing on Genia, removing Smith (when he was still better than Pocock) for the future returns that Pocock is now providing, but I think they have finally ridden the wave of uncertainty, and will give the All Blacks a huge wake up call a little more than a year out from the real deal.
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.