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Following last weekend’s 18-18 draw with New Zealand, a few grizzled old heads will have cast their minds back to another significant draw with the All Blacks in 1988.
An unheralded Wallaby side with several new combinations ran the 1987 World Champions to a 19-19 draw at Ballymore.
There are more than a few parallels between the two matches.
In 1988 and 2012, the All Blacks had won the World Cup the previous year. Both times also, Australia had lost the semi-final and eventually played Wales in the third place World Cup playoff.
In the previous game between the two sides, the Wallabies had lost by over 20 points both times – 22 points in 2012, and 25 points in 1988.
And on both occasions, the Wallabies were to face the Lions at home the following season.
In both Tests, the flyhalf was an indigenous player from the Randwick club – in 1988 it was Lloyd Walker, who was selected for his debut. In 2012, Kurtley Beale was returning to the flyhalf shirt after a long stint at fullback.
In both matches, an unfashionable but highly effective second-choice player was playing fullback.
In 1988, Andrew Leeds was brought in to cover the goalkicking, sending Campese back to the wing.
In 2012, Mike Harris was shifted to fullback and handed goalkicking duties. Both fullbacks kicked crucial goals in the drawn games – Harris five penalties, and Leeds three penalties and a conversion.
The 1988 result was a memorable one for Australia, but it was a rare positive blip on an undistinguished path through to the end of 1990, less than a year from the World Cup win. Not unlike the undistinguished path the Wallabies have found themselves on recently.
Between 1988 and 1990, under Bob Dwyer’s tutelage, the Wallabies won just 11 out of 21 Tests, a success rate only slightly better than 50%. The 1988-90 Wallabies lost Tests to New Zealand, the Lions, England and France. They beat New Zealand only once, in the last Test of the 1990 Bledisloe series and the final Test of that year.
Despite this, lots of pundits wouldn’t be too disappointed if history repeated itself. That means the Wallabies would lose the Lions series next year 2-1, blood several rookies in the subsequent 12 months who’d become Wallaby greats, and then win the World Cup in 2015. Many would be happy with that.
But what the Dwyer record reinforces is the same belief many have about Deans – that winning is a lot less about the coach and a lot more about the talent he has on hand at the time. Certainly Dwyer had an undistinguished record until he managed to get the right talent together.
And this is the key similarity between the two eras. At the moment we are seeing an unbelievable number of players making their debut for the Wallabies.
It’s easy to think that this is unheard of but, in fact, in the two seasons prior to the 1991 World Cup win, an amazing 22 players played their first Test for Australia.
Among these names were Horan, Little, Kearns, Daly, McCall, McKenzie, Roebuck, Egerton, Eales and Ofahengaue – 10 players who would start in the 1991 Rugby World Cup final, and yet, just one or two years before the tournament, most had not yet played a single Test.
Incredibly, Roebuck, Egerton and Eales made their debut together on July 21st, 1991, just three months and four Tests before the beginning of the World Cup tournament.
On that basis, we shouldn’t be surprised if the Wallabies are very competitive with the Lions next year.
The lead-up to the 1991 World Cup also proved that great new talent is always just around the corner and so our current Wallabies are in good shape for 2015.
There will be very few retirements and with new caps still to arrive on the scene, there will be 40-plus players with Test, World Cup and Lions Tour experience under their belts by the time the 2015 World Cup squad is chosen.
As happens every year, we’ll unearth at least one boom rookie who will be a legitimate star in three years’ time. History would suggest that we’ll see at least one truly great player against the Lions who hasn’t played a Test at all yet.
Michael Hooper is a great example of a player coming from nowhere to be the one of the best opensides in the world in a few short months and it could happen again next year.
The question of course remains whether Robbie Deans is the right coach, even if he has a great squad.
The biggest problem for Robbie is that he has often been forced to play with players who are excellent talents, but only average people. For a New Zealander who has always had the depth at hand to enforce a no-dickheads policy, it must be excruciating to have to choose players who you’d leave out if they weren’t so much better than the alternatives.
Can anyone imagine an All Black sleeping through the team announcement for the Rugby World Cup and still making it to the tournament? I can’t.
And this is perhaps why we’re seeing a mini-resurgence in the Wallabies over their last two Tests. Injury has self-selected out some of the problem-children and the team appears, on balance, to be better for it.
The stand-in captain has respect from the entire squad and plays like he loves it and means it. The rookies are grateful for the opportunity and are working like they want to keep the jersey. Deans is able to direct play his way without the input of a few self-important rockstars. The whole operation moves in the one direction.
And having been forced by injury to hand jerseys to a multitude of players, only some of whom were ready, he will reap the benefits of a deeper pool of talent in the next few years.
One swallow doesn’t make a summer, and certainly a fortunate draw with New Zealand doesn’t make a season. But it does show that we appear to have pulled together a team with determination, heart and not a small amount of potential.
And if the mass blooding of rookies in the lead-up to 1991 is any guide, a golden era is not far off.