- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Oh no, here we go again. The umpteenth writer writing the umpteenth article about the glaring problem with Australian rugby – the lack of a second tier competition!
The reality of our recent World Cup campaign was that we were just not good enough. Our lack of depth of talent saw three positional changes to the Wallabies when injury forced Beale out of the semi-final against the All Blacks.
We went into the campaign with just one specialist No. 10 – all our eggs in just one basket for the most important position on the field, and we had to hide him in defence forcing more positional changes mid-game. A winger/fullback was converted into a No. 12 just months before the campaign.
Contrast this with the All Backs and the Boks, who have back up specialist players lining up for each position. Aaron Cruden – the AB’s third choice No. 10 – played all over the Wallabies first choice No. 10. Whilst the Wallabies have a number of world class players, we are sadly lacking players capable – like Cruden – to step into breach when injuries hit the team.
There is a sharp drop away in talent from the Wallabies’ first XV – and no league import will change this!
Should New Zealand win the World Cup – which is most likely – they will have done so on the back of their NPC production line, which churns out quality rugby player after player, season after season.
John O’Neill, by his own admission, will not seek an extension of his contract in two years time. Whilst there is much to admire about O’Neill, his decision to can the ARC has killed off an NPC-style production line, which would have made a difference to this World Cup.
We live in a world of lobbying and fortunately for old diehards like me we have opportunities via The Roar to keep making our point.
My points are:
– Top down driven growth through Super Rugby is not working.
– Sevens rugby will only produce a certain type of player – certainly not a tight five forward, where games are won or lost in scrums and lineouts!
– Every other tier one rugby nation has a tier two production line. So should Australia!
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.