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The difference in the quality of the respective wins of the All Blacks and the Wallabies on the weekend was striking. Whereas New Zealand were confident and looked happy to be on the field, the Wallabies played like they were completely lost for ideas.
Quite clearly, and by a large margin, the All Blacks have been the dominant side in this Rugby Championship.
Throughout, they’ve played with enthusiasm, passion, and most notably, enjoyment.
The Wallabies have been the absolute opposite with what seems like no game plan and – not that I blame them at this point – no enjoyment for the game. You would never look at these guys on the field and say that they look like they are loving doing what they do.
Compare that to the All Blacks and Israel Dagg in particular.
He’s a great player, always plays well under pressure, and you can see in his face how much fun he is having out there.
This makes fans pay money to turn up the next week and see what he will do next. That’s exactly what you want as a rugby supporter.
In fact, you can see that look in all the All Blacks’ faces.
And there is no surprise as to why. The team is winning, the spirits are high, and they are encouraged to play exciting, attacking rugby.
The All Blacks backline – Carter, Smith, and Dagg – are all creators. They move the ball wonderfully into space and let it effortlessly do the work.
This backline combination is priceless.
You can see the trust and confidence between them which, under pressure, allows them to remain cool and focused on their roles.
What’s more, their substitutes have contributed a lot whenever they’ve come onto the field.
The coaches should be commended. They have created a great team environment and it really shines through.
The Wallabies, on the other hand, looked scrappy and directionless against the Pumas. Sure they won, but they won ugly. They scored one try against a side they should have flogged.
The Wallabies’ players run sideways; they’ve got two centers who are defenders not attackers; and they all play like individuals, not a team. The crucial back combination is weak and is the Achilles heal for the team.
Let’s not indulge all this talk around injuries and what impact they’re having on Australian performances.
It just raises the questions: why are so many Wallabies getting hurt? Why isn’t it happening to the New Zealand players? What is happening to these guys during preparation?
Berrick Barnes goes down with cramp virtually every match, but what are they doing about it?
The other clear difference between the All Blacks and the Wallabies is competition for places.
New Zealand players are always fighting to hold onto their spot in the side, and the depth of available talent is promising. Whereas, the Australians have no competition for places.
The depth of Australian Rugby is alarming. What are we doing to breed future Wallabies?
So this means that players who can’t even get the basics right, like catching balls, throwing clever passes, somehow manage to retain their Australian jumpers.
In my day, you were on the bench if you did this. There were no second chances as there were so many players who could replace you if you slacked.
Again, this brings me to the skill factor of this team.
What’s happened with the Australian backline? It used to be unpredictable and exciting to watch. These days it’s lacking any sort of flair or creativity.
Thank goodness for Kurtley Beale, who is at least adding a few more attacking options into the mix. But he needs players around him who understand what he’s trying to do and work with him.
The gap between club rugby and Super Rugby, then between Super Rugby and Test rugby is obviously too large for many of the current Wallabies.
Robbie Deans has destroyed backline play in Australia. He’s virtually destroying Australian rugby in general.
What pattern of play is there?
The players have been coached to run at players and not into spaces.They can’t play what’s in front of them in same way we were always taught to do. We tried to do things together and supported each other.
We need someone at the helm who can get this side (and its fans) passionate and motivated again.
Note to self: Get hold of Richie McCaw’s new book and check out the interesting remarks about Deans.
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.