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The capitulation by the Wallabies on Saturday night was nothing more than embarrassing.
Again the men in gold entered an arena (a hostile one at that) with the plan to kick away possession and hope for Springbok mistakes. This tried and tested game plan was only going to end one way, just like the past 4 tests – horribly!
The tone was set when Mr. Versatile (Berrick Barnes) thought a chip come grubber from his own 22 in the first 5 minutes, was the way to open the game up. The aimless kicking continued and it wasn’t just Barnes to blame.
After another mindless hoof downfield, a noteworthy front-row specialist in commentary commented ‘you can’t beat South Africa in a kicking duel on the high-veldt.’ Now if a prop who has experienced all the rough and tumble that international rugby dishes up can identify this, why can’t the current crop of Wallaby players and staff?
A majority of the pre-match media hype (if you could call an article here, a page there that) was all in support of another Mr. Versatile (Kurtley Beale) moving to 10 therefore creating the notion we’ll be playing an expansive game.
To an extent this occurred as most times Beale had the ball in hand the game came alive. But didn’t Quade ‘Toxic” Cooper bring this to the table before succumbing to injury?
And just to rub salt into the wounds of all who witnessed Saturday’s game, unfortunately the Wallaby staff on the sideline are unable to count. Or for that matter concentrate on the simple idea of ‘substitutions.’
In my 20 years of watching rugby live or on the box, I have never witnessed a more farcical scene as the one that played out on the sidelines in Pretoria.
I felt sorry for Saia Fainga’a who lost out on a Wallaby cap due to poor organisation on the part of his team’s coaching staff.
With all of this on the table, surely the problem lies with the Wallaby coaching staff and administration. And if I may delve deeper into the wound, the problem is becoming ‘toxic’ for rugby at state and club level.
Don’t get me wrong, John O’Neil has been a revelation for Australian Rugby otherwise we wouldn’t have grasped him back from the FFA. But I think there needs to be a massive spotlight shone on what is happening below him that’s contributing to the ongoing problems of NSW Rugby and our national set up.
The way in which Michael Foley was able to commit to an unstable franchise then swan out as an even worse-off organisation came looking, was a debacle.
However as a Waratah fan, I was pleased to see ‘the worst kept secret in Super rugby’ come true when Michael Cheika arrived. Although his success was purely based in Europe, the guy knows NSW rugby after successful playing and coaching roles at Randwick.
There are forever rumours and stories that circulate rugby circles in and out of Sydney relating to poor decisions from our games administrators. I’m of the opinion that to succeed on the field, decisions off it need to be improved.
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.