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If I have to watch another game that the Wallabies are expected to win comfortably and they blow it, I may give up completely.
How arrogant can you get? You get it into your mind that all you have to do is do some flashy stuff and you will win the game.
Nothing gets given to you in rugby. What goes through the mind of Wallaby players that they are so ‘up’ for it and confident that they can sleep through 80 mins and expect to come out the end with a win?
Over 30 years of watching the Wallabies I have seen some shockers, but the lack of commitment in tonight’s game against a very plucky Irish team – that had nothing in the bag apart from guts – showed the Wallabies how to win in a tight, messy, referee dominated game.
Robbie Deans has his burden to carry in this loss as well. His control of his bench was as close to useless as it could possibly be.
His inability to lift this team from the start for a crucial game cost us dearly.
The rest is down to the players themselves.
Sepoke Kepu should have been pulled off after 30 mins. He played gutless football and committed to almost no breakdowns (although he won one turnover) in one of the worst prop performances I have seen in a while.
The other forwards put two players into the breakdown and although they were being murdered there, the rest apart from Vickerman and Tatafu did littl, apart from hang back waiting for a note from God about how much they were going to win by.
The referee got suckered into penalties by an Irish front row that pulled down our bunch of pretenders then played the Irish fiddle which Bryce Lawrence danced to.
This was not the worst refereeing performance I have seen and we we gave Bryce Lawrence many opportunities to exercise his whistle.
In the final analysis we did our self in in this game, our exaggerated belief in being able to win without a plan got us again. Is it arrogance? Or just poor coaching and leadership.
I am wondering when we will learn some level of humility? Maybe tonight during the misery of an after game beer – or we will convince our selves we just had an off night and all will be well?
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.