The Irish outplayed the Wallabies. They won at the breakdown, they destroyed the Wallaby scrum, they won the line-outs, and they were better defensively.
Irish defensive coach, ex-Australian rugby league international Les Kiss, was prominent in the coaching box and post-match celebrations, and clearly played an important role in the win.
Its impossible to see the Wallabies winning this tournament after that performance.
The game has shown up the Wallabies Tri-Nations win for what it really was: a trophy gifted to them by two opponents that weren’t on the job.
But the loss has also focused attention on the coaching ability of Robbie Deans.
When the Wallaby RWC team was chosen, eyebrows were raised. Why did Deans go into the tournament with no back-up number 7 to Pocock?
Australia were totally dominated by the Irish at the breakdown and failed to win any turnover ball.
The absence of Pocock was a major blow which could not be overcome because Deans chose to leave Beau Robinson and other specialist fetchers in Australia. Instead he chose a host of players capable of covering 6 and 8 (Elsom, Higginbotham, Palu, McCalman, and Samo).
Surely the Wallabies could have done without one of these, making way for a back-up number 7?
Indeed, Pocock’s replacement, McCalman, who had had no experience at number 7, was not sighted during the game.
Furthermore, Deans failed to bring on potential game-breaking replacements such as Higginbotham until the 75th minute of the match.
By this time, the Wallabies had no chance of reigning in the deficit, indicating a paralysis in the coaching box.
Deans also chose a host of injured players in his squad (Mitchell, Barnes, Polota-Nau, Horne, Slipper and Palu) who are clearly still not fit to play at this level, leaving a dearth of able-bodied replacements that could be called on when he needed them.
The coach decided to leave Matt Giteau at home and instead gave his position in the team to Pat McCabe, who has never played in the inside backs, has no ball playing skills, no side-step, no creativity, and has failed to break the line in any of the games he has played in the position.
Indeed, Deans has revealed that he is no master coach, with his selection decisions making the the tag of ‘dunce’ more appropriate.
The recent decision to re-appoint him for another two years was premature.
He needs to move on after the RWC and allow Ewen McKenzie, his obvious successor, time to re-build the team.
The only positive to come out of a likely early Wallabies exit from the RWC is that perhaps administrators will be forced to go back and take a good hard look at the player development process in Australia, which for far too long has relied on a player base that is just too small.
Unless that is improved, it won’t matter which coach they appoint.
amband
Guest
exactly
KTinHK
Roar Pro
Robinson was the form number 7 of the season, so I am not sure why you don't think he would be a worthy back-up to Pocock. Polota-Nau, like half of the squad, is returning from injury and was obviously not fit to play at this level yet.
KTinHK
Roar Pro
Going once, going twice ........
KTinHK
Roar Pro
Exactly GD. O'Neill is part of the problem, but the ARU is an anachronistic organisation that is unable to kick off its private school old boy roots. They don't want to increase the player base, because that would mean including the working class.
kiwidave
Guest
He was terrible at the Blues, I don't know how he got to be a Wallaby selector.
KTinHK
Roar Pro
For someone that was booted out of the Brumbies becauase the players had no confidence in him, then didn't last long with the Auckland Blues either, Nucifora seems to be surprisingly popular with the ARU heirarchy. Methinks he should go back to his day job. An auctioneer, apparently.
KTinHK
Roar Pro
Indeed.
KTinHK
Roar Pro
Coaches don't usually play. But, presumably, they select the squad.
KTinHK
Roar Pro
Thanks Bokka!
manalien
Roar Pro
Touch harsh on Deans I reckon. . Agree he was very late in making any changes, and that the Aussie back row were anonymous, but is Beau Robinson a better option? I certainly don;t think he is worthy of filling Pocock's shoes. Ireland were the better side on the day. The wanted it more and showed that if you get the aussies on the back foot their game can unravel. Palota-Nau was awful, especially at lineout time. Try winning a test match when your scrum and line out are being dominated? Not happenng. While Deans should have made changes sooner, it is up to the boys on the park to perform, and in that respect Horwill and his men failed. badly.
amband
Guest
and who do we blame for that? Start with O'Neill
amband
Guest
Wallaby selectors have always been enemies of the State
Fernando
Guest
I´m sorry people, but I don´t know what game you saw in Australia, perhaps in Argentina we saw a different one. Do you remember what was the result WBs-Ireland in 2003? A month and a half ago, when all the Aussies fans said that Ireland was a very inferior team, and drew bills on the future, I said in one of my post, be carefull, Ireland have a good side, could be one of the Cinderellas of the tournament, they are a great team , they won the 6 nations, and that the only difference was that the WBS have 3 or more players at the same position, and Ireland don´t have an equal substitutes. I hope nobody is offended by what I am going to say, but often the WBS fans are too proud and need to be a little more humble. What happened?, Easy, Ireland made a perfect game, I saw no such supremacy in the scrum as you manifest, I'd say 60/40 in favor of Ireland. In addition, the Coach, not his fault that 2 of their best players, and Ioane Pockock have been injured, TPN with little acción in the past 6 month, the very poor job of Quade Coope (below 50% from what he is able to do). I´m pretty sure that if Ioane had been in the field of play, Australia had scored a couple of tries, because I believe Digby is the most explosive player in the world, the player who can mess up any defense and produce holes in every place of the field. Remember that I also said that in a short tournament like this injury were to play a role, and made mention of Larkham and Marshall in 2003, Carter in 2007. I still have a great confidence in the team and in the Coach, to be champion you can only lose one game in the first phase, than you have to win all the games, don´t matter who is in front, and the WBs showns they can do it. Regards Fernando - Córdoba - Argentina
GD
Guest
I think you have hit the nail on the head. The lack of a national club competition continues to hamstring Australian rugby. We will always have backs in abundance due to the skill overlap with league, but there is no such overlap for the skills needed up front. Currently there is no clear career pathway from local club rugby to super rugby so the lack of depth for the Wallabies up front is no surprise. The biggest surprise is that the Wallabies manage to be competitive at all!
Singsling
Guest
Deans may have signed for another 2 years but not sure where Nucifora stands, he has too much influence in the selection process and needs to be given to boot, the guy is a joke and should be cut.
Aussie in NZ
Guest
Have to admit that the decision not to make substitutions until it was too late was about as bizare as Dean's love affair with McCabe.
warrenexpatinnz
Roar Guru
Deans wasn't playing in the game last night and he certainly wasn't directing the forwards or part of the scrum last night. It was a loss to a more committed and better side on the night who are also not that far off the pace. Irony is the Wallabies are so similar to Ireland it was like two cousins fighting in the backyard for bragging rights, the little cousin won.
Blinky Bill of Bellingen
Guest
Just remind me again. What was our Plan A? :(
bokka
Guest
Great write up. Refreshingly realistic.
amband
Guest
Dingo has signed up for another term. Either that or intends to, so he said