The Wallabies’ performance against Ireland on Saturday evening has again left their supporters with that deep, hollow feeling that comes when genuine national passion is deceived by high pretence.
This is my 200th article for The Roar. It is disappointing that it is on such a disappointing topic.
As I left the busy pub after the game, there was a eerie, silence from the departing patrons.
The next morning, The Roar was bereft of articles on the game.
The Wallabies pretended to play rugby. We all knew that they only needed parity up front and the backs would do the rest.
The Irish came with passion and an effective strategy that they implemented brilliantly.
Congratulations to them.
The Wallaby forwards did not front up. How does a scrum get parity with South Africa, New Zealand and Italy and then struggle against Ireland?
But the greater concern was the breakdown. It is unforgivable for the team currently ranked second in the world to be so comprehensively beaten at the rugby union’s crucial point.
In rugby, the breakdown measures the players’ bravery and brains and rewards them with both quantity and quality of possession.
Crucially, the Wallabies forwards were unable to convert a maul to a ruck on three occasions in the first 28 minutes and lost possession as a result.
They compounded this with six scrum wins to eight, just 55 rucks and mauls to 71, conceded 18 turnovers to 12, and 12 penalties to eight.
The game took a subtle turn from the 28th to 36th minute. With the score at 6-6, and the Wallabies having just dodged a bullet from a missed scrum penalty, Cooper dropped out short, they knocked on, and gave the Irish scrum another, immediate chance at possession and an ideal attacking position.
In the next passage of play, with an Australian lineout 35 metres from the try line and on the attack, Tatafu Polota-Nau’s throw was not straight. The Irish chose a scrum, then rather than use the quick ball, held it in the scrum until the Wallaby scrum collapsed.
From the ensuing penalty, Ireland ended up with a lineout 35 metres out. The net result was a 30 metre gain, possession of the Gilbert, and another nail in the already teetering Wallaby scrum’s coffin.
These four self-inflicted scrums effectively killed the Australian scrum for the rest of the game.
Even the Wallabies’ 53 percent possession, ten line out wins to five and 13 kicks to 21 together with approximate parity on tackles and runs were not enough to save them.
Everyone knew that the Irish would bring a frustrating, vigorous, high energy style, with rat cunning at the breakdown and set piece. They have been doing it for as long as I can remember. Most of it is on video for all to see.
It stopped the Wallabies’ attacking supremacy in its tracks by keeping the ball off the ground at the breakdown and taking every opportunity to destroy the Wallaby scrum.
This frustrated the Wallabies into errors and backed up by a decent goal kicker, it began to work well before the Irish ran out of puff.
In a variation on a MMA theme, “Don’t leave it in the hands of the judges!” the Wallabies left it in the hands of the referee and the Irish.
When the reality of an upset was dawning at about the 60th minute, where was the self belief, the determination, the gear change and the clarity of thought from the leaders?
The Australian Rugby Union and particularly the youth development team of Hugh Carpenter and Manu Sutherland will have to reassess the players coming into the system and the processes that they are using to develop the next era of players.
Australian players are just not tough enough to play consistently with high intensity and high physicality.
The Wallabies are like a teenager who is blessed with copious natural gifts but is incapable of achieving the full potential. Wallaby supporters are the teenager’s frustrated, but ultimately powerless, parents.
As the parents of any such a teenager will tell you, only the teenager can do anything about it. The chances are that they won’t, even if they might tell you and even seem to genuinely want to.
While not desirable, the result of the game itself is not of great importance. Whether it is Wales/Samoa or South Africa, we have seen that there are no easy games in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Get an outsider to read the riot act and the reality check. After all, the Wallabies only need to muster three wins (forgetting USA and Russia for the moment) to win the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
They are likely to be against South Africa, New Zealand and England.
This passage of games will define this era of Wallabies.
Given their consistent lack of consistency, don’t expect silverware.
Bob McGregor
Guest
Hi Stillmatic1. I see things differently. The backline is VERY young and only been playing significant Test Rugby for about 2 years during a time of continual change and injury. During that time our best performance was the demolition of les Blues in the second half at the Stade de France last year. This was followed by a loss to Samoa with a second string combination then 3 strong performances out of 4 against world ranked sides. Young heads started believing our media pundits and acted accordingly as their heads swelled with self importance. This was manifested by the dreadful mistake of OÇonnor failing to show at the team launch. He was penalised for the next 2 games - failing to make the run on side.So why did Deans etc not replace earlier against the Irish? Deans is written off by many and it will be to their peril as I believe his actions are deliberate to make the players OWN their performance on the paddock. It should make them far more accountable hereon and make them engage their brains. The humiliation in Auckland will cause much introspection in the playing group and prompt a much better attitude hereon. On a different note - what about the Azzuri performance against the Russians [scored 9 tries]? On that performance they will be in with a show against Ireland. Perhaps we can still dare to dream?
Ian Harty
Guest
Let me give you guys a view from the Irish perspective...listening to the aussie media in general and Phil Kearns in particular dimiss the irish as a speedbump...we didnt need any more motivation than that...ALWAYS respect your opponent ALWAYS...the whole rugby playing world is still delighting in the Wallabys humiliation at Eden Pk.. its like at school when someone finally rams the bullys teeth down his throat, the entire school is very happy indeed... The Wallabys will be going home after the 1/4 final battering by the Boks..how sweet it is Next time keep your mouths shut and play rugby
stillmatic1
Guest
bob, this is just another game in the long list of poor performances under robbie deans. they continue to make the same mistakes (as do the fans) and this is why they continue to be so inconsistant. how many chances to learn from mistakes does one get? until they finally do learn?! is 4 years of learning and 30 or more tests not enough?
Bob McGregor
Guest
K of Noosa, The game was already lost so there must have been a reason for the brains trust not replacing.I belive Deans et al were making the whole team take responsibility for what transpired on the field. What better way to learn and progress - both as a player and a person. I doubt they will make the same mistakes again under the same brains trust.Accoutability is required.
Nicol'arse
Guest
I agree that the bandwagon of criticism (for whomever happens to be in the firing line at the time) is often superfluous on this site. And indeed a balanced view is much appreciated. Thanks for the clarity.
LeftArmSpinner
Roar Guru
Bob, thanks for the compliments. I enjoy your commentary very much. I think it is too late to change too much now at this late stage. The Reds had a very helpful draw in 2011. But you still need to get the job done. it will be tougher in 2012 for them. other than Deans selecting Barnes as VC, I have not seen much clear thinking or leadership from Barnes. no one will constrain cooper, and nor should they just as the same went for campo!! Barnes has at least had some game time but Horne has had very little, just a few SS games. The straight crouched running is more about stature than running style. But SBW is tall too.
Krasnoff of Noosa
Guest
Another woeful demonstration against a dedicated but mediocre Ireland and a measure of our young, brittle side, but here’s a serve for the coaching staff. What’s the point of bringing on fresh legs in the last two minutes of the match when the game is lost? After ten minutes into the second half it was patently obvious that Kepu was struggling and Elsom was absent without leave for most of the game. Where were Higginbotham, Simmons and Palu? sitting on the bench with stunned expressions not unlike those of the coaching staff. By now it must be obvious that Deans is unable to curb the WOW kids desire to throw away possession by kicking uselessly. The Wallabies will never be champions until the team gets an intelligent but brutal motivator.
Cap'n China
Guest
LAS - excellent post. Keep 'em coming throughout the tourney. One thing you might comment on is the mysterious factor of team collapse that can happen to anybody. No way were the Wallabies feeling uneasy in the sheds before the game. They had to be full of confidence. But when they failed to score in the opening of the first half, and had to settle for a penalty, that seemed to be a blow they normally would have shaken off. Then a few more negatives came in, like being pinged in the scrum, and the front row constantly being bested, plus an inability to run the ball effectively - no Digby to get over the GN - and a collective doom began to set in. Their belief shrank, Ireland's correspondingly increased, and the Ws never recovered. How do they guard against that when they play the Boks? Got any suggestions?
Damo
Guest
Meant to read 'multi plan' approach not 'muck plan approach (which is what we had/have) BTW we have some things to be grateful for. 1 it wasn't England 2 it was not a knock out game 3 it wasn't England 4 NZers are showing the humility and fair-mindedness that exists below their self image of humility and fairmindness. 5 it was Ireland They have shown over many years that they are more polite than any team in the world. Zero booing at Landsdowne Rd in 91. Kiwis are commenting and criticising more about this game than anyone playing. 6 it wasnt NZ 7 Ireland beat us fair and square, well they beat us solidly, because nothing's fair, not even Dickinson apparently. Seriously, Ireland deserved that win and have had it coming over many years of world cups. Defence tactic was one thing but has anyone else noted - for the first WC Ireland have turned up looking like they've had a decent feed. They always were tough but I reckon they have some world class players now, and a nutritionist. As many Aussies with Celtic heritage may feel - part of me wanted to have a guiness and laugh about the game. They're a nice country to lose to. Enjoy it boys. You deserve to laugh. 9 it wasn't England
Damo
Guest
Agree with warren way above (and mr spinner) it is in he head or rather not in this wallaby squad's head. The will to win with a murk plan approach. There is now three weeks and two trial games to become a champion squad. These 3 weeks will become the way many will be remembered. Robbie won't be remembered for his Super 14 record. Nor will ONiell get credit for 99. this 3 weeks may be too little time for the brain to be put in to the brain's trust. But it is more time than none. And another thing can everyone stop telling the brats in the pack that they are geniuses. To quote Brian's mum "They are not geniuses, they are very naughty boys.'
Derm
Roar Guru
Deans and others have been quoted as saying that they were completely aware of how Ireland would play. It was a pretty simple gameplan executed effectively said Deans. He said they knew about the choke tackle, particularly because Ireland had been talking about all last week, apparently. So, if this is the case, then you've three/four possible scenarios: 1. Australia failed to prepare sufficiently. 2. They prepared sufficiently, but were undone by the removal of Pocock and Moore. 2. They prepared but still weren't good enough to combat the tactics and or set their own gameplan 4. They underestimated how good Ireland might be at scrum, tackle and breakdown time - O'Brien has not played well as an opensider as was evident in the game against SA in Nov 2010 and against Northampton in the H Cup final 2011. So, on paper, McCalman and O'Brien were like for like in both playing out of their favoured backrow position. The warm-ups and some of the 6N more set the expectation. Deans travelled to Europe to watch Ireland and Italy play as part of a fact-finding exercise. It was the first match, and Italy nearly won. I recall that Spiro wrote at the time, Deans probably didn't see much to worry about for the Wallabies.
Intotouch
Guest
I think that you are being far too hard on your players. What strikes me about this Australian side is how young they all are and yet how Australian fans still expect them to adapt and act with shrewd decisions. This usually comes with experience/maturity. Yes this is coming from an Irish woman who is used to half the national team being over 30. That has it's own problems. But i think that your guys are still very much learning about playing at international level and their best years are ahead of them. Maybe i'm being too generous here but i don't think that it's fair to expect so many young inexperienced players to take authority, change tactics or stay focused and calm in the face of a potential disaster. One thing that i love about O'Gara is how quickly he realizes if something isn't working and changes strategy. This is why i prefer to see him play than Sexton, who is almost ten years younger and although maybe a better player physically is far more predictable.
Bob McGregor
Guest
Very thoughtful article LAS! As usual you are spot on about most things, which is evidenced by the respectful responses herein. I've not posted much over the past few months as the usual one liner crap that is served up in responses is not worth reading and one spends far too much time deleting them from the inbox. Consequently I tend to scan/read the more thoughtful articles such as yours and if I do respond tend to do so after many others - so as to synthesize pertinent responses. Personally I think your 200th post is one of your best - is it really 200? No doubt I have missed the odd one but the current is up there with your very best. I was in Maiselle for the 1/4 final match with England and I had the errie feeling I was watching a rerun of that match on Saturday evening. There were obvious differences of course: bright sunlight on a hot afternoon [we all thought they would favour OZ] Versus a wet slippery pitch at night. Both crowds were hostile to the Wallabies. So what did Ireland do? Employed identical tactics that England used in 2007. The only time we saw England running flat out was when they ran onto the field. Both teams had been instructed by the IRB they were to walk onto the pitch. Not England - they ran on with much enthusiasm our team was shell shocked and thereafter retreated into their shell.Having used up most of their energy running onto the pitch, England slowed the match down by feigning injury, walking to scrums and lineouts - much like Ireland did in Auckland.They added insult to shock by conning the referee for the remainder of the match. Both referees fell for it so both matches were played at a snails pace hoping OZ would become so bored they would make stupid mistakes. And we did. Ad nauseum!Which begs the question: why are the referees getting worse? We have been lulled into a false sense of security by the results of the prior 3 Tests in concert with the Reds win in the Super 15. I really believe the Reds were very lucky winners, the final could have gone either way. In fact I even question whether they were the best OZ team playing Aussie teams. For example the Tahs thrashed the Reds in the first round and should have won the return encounter in Brisbane. A disallowed try and Mitchells broken leg changed it all in the Reds favour. They were indeed lucky to scrape a win at Suncorp. The failure in their final match against the Brumbies highlighted this fact.Injuries plagued the Tahs and ruined their potential over the full season. The Reds success was instrumental for many to laud McKenzie and denigrate Deans. But Super 15 Rugby will not win RWC - a lesson the ABs learnt to their dismay at Suncorp. They won't make that mistake again. This is currently haunting the Wallabies. Ideally the flightyness of Cooper needs to be restrained by the steadiness of Barnes at IC and now that he is fit again Horne should be OC. I would only leave AAC on the wing until Digby returns then put him on the bench. AAC is a hog and rarely looks for his supports as was seen on Saturday night. By the way it's interesting to note that the most destructive runners at this RWC are those who run in a crouched postion - ala Digby and Nonu. With two new centres in place we have a chance of turning it around but without Pocock and Moore and a switched on pack from hereon we have little chance. It's now time for the Wallabies to prove to us that they are more than flighty pretenders with big mouths.
Student
Guest
Excellent article and congrats on your milestone. The topic of changing tactics in-game really needs a looking into. Take for example Heinrich Brussow. In 2009, he cleaned up all and sundry (including Richie Mcaw, Phil Waugh and George Smith). New rules were implemented requiring daylight between tackler/tackler-assist and the ball and Brussow adapted and cleaned up again in Super 15/Currie cup when fit to play. Start of RWC, refs (inexplicably) time warp back to the 2009 interpretation and Brussow is suddenly only capable of making 1 steal a game. How difficult is it to realise that the ref is not blowing the daylight rule and adjust back to a technique you were a master of? On the other side of the coin, during the Super 15 the Reds seemed to switch between a running game they've become synonymous with and an astute kicking game (which surprised the pants off the Bulls/Stormers if I remember correctly). This in my mind was an example of a clever switch between tactics, in-game, that worked. If the Genia-Cooper axis could do it for the Reds, why can't they do it for the Wallabies? My personal theory is that Deans (unlike Link) hasn't implemented a plan B, C, D for the players to practice and switch between. So when "playing what's in front of them" (read: running-avoid-contact game) does not work, the Wallabies come unstuck as they haven't practiced an alternate mode of play.
GPC
Guest
yep. he signs the anthem, which i love, but can he really have passion for the jersey?
S T Rine
Guest
Do the Wallabies have a coach or not? 1st half showed Irish game plan so where were half-time instructions to kick deep (as Cooper et al can do), & have Irish defending, or something different? 2nd half was same futile tactics. Disgraceful management S T Rine.
stillmatic1
Guest
so does that mean you like lying to each other tristan? is that what the australian rugby follower needs to keep going? just like stellenbosched says, "all huff and no puff".
Stu
Guest
Mark Carrol, Les Davidson, Ian Roberts, Mark Geyer, Greg Dowling, Gorden Tallis, Shane Webcke, Paul Gallen, et al If the talent pool in Australian rugby comprised of forwards like the above, we would never have to endure another post match press conference of players and coaches expressing their "disappointment" at yet another piss weak performance. And if the Wallabies showed the same level of passion to the jersey as the their counterparts do for their State of Origin jersey then one could only imagine. Clearly being a Wallaby is not enough of a motivation for these blokes. I'm not a league fan but you got be impressed by their intensity to their game.
Green Lantern
Roar Pro
I certaintly hope for a Wallaby/Springbok quarters. No use wanting to win the World Cup by playing easy games. You have to be able to beat anyone, anytime, anywhere. I hate it when people say South Africa only won in 2007 because we didnt get to play Australia and New Zealand. Well if they were any good enough, they would have been right there in the semi's with us. Fact is, we defeated Argentina who defeated France who defeated New Zealand. It may be indirect, but we still won. We also defeated England (twice) who defeated Australia. The Boks fully deserved to win that World Cup, and rightfully so we did. But now, I really wish we could face the Aussies in the last 8, sothat we could give them a warm klap. And then the following weekend, moer the All Blacks. And then whatever pampoen we get in the final. Is ja. Go Bokke!!!
sheek
Guest
Well, there you go Nicol'arse, I have never exonerated Deans form some of the Wallabies' poor performances. Why? Because I've never had to. The bandwagon of criticism has been so full to overflowing, that what I've tried to do, is offer balance. If everyone else laid off, I would probably wade in myself! Ironic, isn't it? So no, I don't exonerate Deans at all., merely trying to offer balance. In any case, as I've probably said many times before, the coach is the least of the Wallabies' problems. There are far more pertinent issues that are being missed &/or ignored as many fans unleash their infective & prejudice (yes, prejudice) on the coach.....