Any way you look at it, the Wallabies were totally outclassed by a bigger, hungrier side.
They were scraped through the mincer a couple dozen times by the young yet certainly world class Boks forward pack and then what remained of the carcass was lumped onto the chopping board where 20 year old sensation, Johan Goosen and the ageless Bryan Habana ground the left overs into a fine dust for good measure.
60 points on the scoreboard wouldn’t have looked out of place. Luckily for the Wallabies, three near tries were denied along with the Bok kickers having another off day at the office.
I have been a Wallaby fan for 22 years and sure it would be easy for me to blame Robbie Deans for yet another thumping. However I have re-watched the game today and I searched for some positives. I searched long and hard and 15 minutes from time, I found it.
Brett Sheehan took to the field. We are always talking about mongrel in a player and how this Wallaby side has been missing that burning passion since the days of Finegan and Kefu. Well, mongrel and aggression comes in small packages as well, as I found out.
Brett, who took the place of Nick Phipps (another stand out for the Wallabies) got stuck in from the word go. You need a player who is willing to lay the marker down no matter the scoreline or time left on the clock.
Genia is out injured, okay. But in Phipps and Sheehan the Wallabies have two new halves who, if given the chance, are just as capable of opening up a game and with some game time and combination with Beale will only get better.
If Deans has learnt anything from this game, it would be to start the nuggety Sheehan against a now upset Argentina with the more wiry Phipps coming on in the final 20, when the legs are tired and the gaps are appearing.
Nick Cummins time
Guest
Its time for Deans to unleash Nick Cummins and give this powerhouse a go in the Wallabies backline.
RugbyRene
Roar Rookie
So who would you replace all the people with?
leftarc
Guest
Pat McCabe. Never gave up. If Habana fart arsed around for half a second, McCabe would have stopped a try (second one, I thinkl).
I suppose you could see that as a positive, can't you? ;)
chris
Guest
"Any way you look at it, the Wallabies were totally outclassed by a bigger, hungrier side." As a South African, I vote for this being the greatest positive. [smily face]
yelp
Guest
Sack deans and JON. Sack all the super 15 coaches if they don't bring us a super 15 title. I am sick of rugby in this country going down the pan. We have record numbers of kids playing rugby in QLD, SA and WA. So what? We have super rugby crowds up 7%. So what. We have unprecedented injuries, so what. I want results god dammit!! Sack them all that will fix everything. I would sack the entire team that played in South Africa on the weekend. I hated Cooper until he said something I liked, negative talk about the ARU. Now I like him. Sack the lot.
Johnno
Guest
For em the positive to take out of it is this. Losing can sometimes be a blessing in disguise. W heave become so bad and awful, that now those at the top of the ARU tree eg JON,Deans,Nucifora, no longer have the same power to hide. Fans and now other administrators in the games and now board rumblings are starting to slowly put the heat on them and the media. And another loss next will only had to that heat in the kitchen. Rugby in OZ is now at boiling point JON must be aware of it surely unless he is hiding under a rock, sam with deans and nucifora.