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I don’t buy the argument that the Wallabies “don’t have the cattle” to compete with the All Blacks. Nor do I accept the premise that the NRL ‘steals’ all the good footy players and that the Wallabies can’t compete without Greg Inglis and co.
As I said yesterday, what is missing from the Wallabies is not quality players but some someone to harness the talent of the players available and combine them into an effective rugby team.
A team has to be greater than the sum of its parts and at the moment, the Wallabies are less than the sum of their parts and those in charge need to accept responsibility for that.
In this second part of the article I take a look at the backs and, as with the forwards, there are very few areas of genuine, hand-wringing concern.
Halves
In the halves it is no surprise that the two best provincial teams boast the two best halves combinations. Genia-Cooper and White-Lealiifano are both top-shelf options.
Ben Lucas offers Matt Giteau-like versatility in playing both 9 and 10 but that would only really be a consideration in a touring party.
Barnes and Harris both (in my opinion) play better at 12 than at 10, because they are too limited as playmakers, yet despite their goal kicking, I would not start either for the Wallabies. They don’t offer enough.
No-one really knows what is happening in Waratah-land and the Force have imported both their first-choice halves.
In Rebel territory, Beale and O’Connor need to settle on backline spots, the likely scenario being that Beale will play 15 and O’Connor 12 as their preferred positions, hence neither is mentioned as a halves option.
Centres
It is in the centres that Australia’s problems really arise, not because we lack players, but that we lack any sort of established pairing due to the lack of communication and cooperation between the national and Super franchise coaches.
Tapuai is currently Australia’s most gifted natural centre (great defender, lovely offload ability, good running lines and with a left-foot boot) and should be playing at 12.
McCabe has improved significantly since being blooded at inside centre in round 17 of the 2011 season, but is more suited to 13 – with his intelligence and great defence he might be as close as the Wallabies can come to a Conrad Smith.
The next combination to consider is Tomane (who is listed as a centre in the Brumbies squad sheet and looks more like a centre than a winger to me) and F’Sautia (who played at outside centre for the U20s).
Both are young, both are big and powerful, both however need development but do look promising.
In the centres, as with the props, the ARU and the Wallaby coach need to approach the provinces and ask for the Reds to play Tapuai-F’Sautia instead of Harris-Fainga’a, and for the Brumbies to play Tomane-McCabe rather than McCabe-Smith (or Rathbone next year).
James O’Connor and Adam Ashley-Cooper are the Wallabies two ‘Mr Fix Its’. With their versatility, they can cover almost every backline position (JOC from 10 to 15 and Adam Ashley-Cooper from 11 to 15). Despite their gifts, they are both, in my opinion, bench players or injury cover starters.
Back three
Here Australia has genuine talent. Digby Ioane is capable of playing on either wing, although he is far better coming from the blindside – it matters not if he is the left or right wing given that he doesn’t kick anyway.
Two years ago, Beale and Mitchell were in superb form and Australia’s back three were one of the most potent in the world.
Since then they have fallen away, with Beale out of form and Mitchell never recovering from his ankle injury (and may never play internationally again).
There are two very promising wing talents in Henry Speight (not currently eligible for the Wallabies but should be sometime in 2013) and Dom Shipperley.
Both are good finishers, with Speight offering more in attack and Shipperley being a better defensive and aerial winger in the mould of Cory Jane.
‘The Honey Badger’ Nick Cummins is also undergoing a resurgence of form and is worthy of a spot on the wing for the Wallabies.
At fullback there is a lack of depth, as Morahan and Mogg both look to be in the ‘not quite ready/not quite good enough’ basket – although both are worth watching.
Had Gerrard not left Australian rugby, his boot would have been the perfect weapon from the back. As it stands, Ashley-Cooper is the next best option with Beale out of form.
Although Adam Ashley-Cooper and JOC are needed to ‘plug the gaps’ in quality, there are two international standard backlines there.
Just as there were two international standard forward packs in the part one article.
Is convincing the franchises to assist by trading and playing players in certain positions going to be easy? No. Is training the team going to be a fast or simple task? No.
But the cattle is there to beat the All Blacks. It just has to be managed and used correctly.
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.