After watching the All Blacks methodically dismantle the Wallabies on two recent occasions I have once again become fascinated by the knee-jerk response of Wallaby fans in their opinion about who should play in which position and the apparent readiness to move players out of position.
I doubt this debate would ever occur in New Zealand with regards to the All Blacks for the simple fact that the fans and the players seem to understand that they have been selected for a specific role in the team and for a specific position (or two in some rare occasions).
These players know their role, and they have probably played the same role since childhood.
Only in the Wallabies could a player be selected to play in the national team and then later have their position or role within the team decided upon.
Rarely in the All Black environment would they experiment by selecting a specialist fullback at first 5/8, or suggest that a winger should play second 5/8 (inside centre for you Aussies) just so he could touch the ball more often.
Sure, in New Zealand positional changes do occur such as fullbacks playing on the wing or second 5/8s playing at first five such as with Dan Carter graduating from 12 to 10 or some wingers such as Umaga moving to centre.
These moves however seem to be more organic in their occurrence rather than being experimental.
I have often wondered why there has been such difference between the approach by the two countries and the only explanation I have managed to come up with is from my own experience.
I grew up in rural NZ, in the King Country (Colin Meads land).
I attended a primary school with probably 200 kids and every Saturday morning we managed to field two teams for every grade.
Even at that age, we all roughly knew what position we wanted to play and what player we wanted to be – I was an outside back and wanted to be John Kirwan, other kids wanted to be props, 5/8s and No. 8s.
I then moved to Australia. What I immediately noticed that not only did it seem that no one played rugby, but kids my age did not know any players names, positions and barely had an opinion about the topic.
Only at high school age did this even slightly change and even then it was not at the state school level at which I attended but at club level due to the attendance of private school players.
We frequently had to scrounge and scrape to get enough players for games.
We often had to drag along non-playing friends to make up the numbers – if they were fast, they were hidden on the wing, if they were slow, they went in the forwards, if they were (dare I say) heavy, they were made props.
This in my opinion was the difference between New Zealand and Australian rugby.
Even at that level there was not enough “cattle”, and the “cattle” were positioned due to necessity rather than choice.
This I feel filters up into elite levels with players often having to play roles which they are not suited for.
It has taken Adam Ashley-Cooper until the twilight of his career to finally end up in his best position at 13, James O’Connor’s jersey could have any number on it from 10 to 15 and Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper could have 10-15 written on them.
This confusion of positional selection is then amplified by introducing code-hopping players who, in a sense queue-jump the selection process and then must be “fitted in”.
The far-too-simple approach would be to as players to nominate their preferred positions and stick to them.
The ARU and EM should encourage their respective clubs and super teams to play them in these positions and they should be selected for the WBs as per these positions.
Unfortunately, until this culture of chop-and-change positioning persists, the Wallabies will continue to fail to choose the best-suited player in each position, the fans will always debate who should play where and ultimately the Wallabies will continue to be on the losing side of the ledger against to the All Blacks.
Bakkies
Guest
Another thing is that the pack must get better at winning turnovers instead of relying on the 7. Robinson can do it but as for the others... The Saffies have Bismarck du Plessis, the All Blacks forwards and the NH teams are effective at. Look at how strong O'Connell is at the breakdown compared to Horwill and Simmons. Horwill got in to good positions to steal ball against the ABs but couldn't hold on to it.
Bakkies
Guest
The Wallabies haven't been picking balanced XVs lately. There are too many playmakers in the back line. The backline needs a balance of player makers, direct gain line runners (like a Mortlock, Grey, Herbert type) and strike runners that can finish in the back three. With O'Connor, Beale, Cooper, Leilifano and Genia in the back line there is a lot of play makers. Who is going to make the breaks in the inside channel, get over the gain line to suck in defenders or pop an offload? The timing of the pass and finishing (Folau aside) has been poor lately. Digby Ioane was first choice winger even though his try tally since the RWC has been really poor. Sure he breaks his tackles and looks for work but a winger has to finish off chances out wide. With O'Connor and Mitchell regularly injured there has been a lack of finishing ability out wide. All the other teams bar Italy have strong finishers. As for the pack with TPN, H'Bum and Palu out there needs to be another ball carrier. Even off the bench an Auelua type would punch a lot of holes and break a few opponents. There is a distinct lack of support running and offloading.
Bakkies
Guest
The problem that AAC had when he started out was that he played in the same provincial side as Stirling Mortlock. Sure Mortlock was injured a lot but anyone who covered from him was just minding the spot of a Brumbies legend. Mortlock also became the Wallabies captain. Due to the lack of depth of fullback there was a spot for him there so he could start.
Wardad
Guest
Why do people include soccer in the footy codes debate ? Very few soccer players have the temperament or body build for Rugby .Or the guts [ after watching the disgusting theatrics of some soccer players I feel justified ]
ScrumJunkie
Guest
There should be no ARU contracts, players should receive set match payments, and set compensation if they get injured. The contract system limits a selectors freedom. 1-23 should get paid the same when they wear the country's colours. Our most successful coaches backed their judgement to know a player's position, if he was injured they put the next best bloke in. Playing AAC or JOC all over the field and expecting them to perform is madness, and does neither the team or the player any good.
Chan Wee
Guest
Positional changes is not Deans' invention, the MIB do it all the time. the only difference is they do it better than everyone else in the World. the point is NZ have very high skilled players who can play in several positions. in the current team the franks brothers can pack on either side of the scrum. mccaw can play 6,7, 8 so can read and messam and luatua and any backrow who comes into th squad like luke whitelock carter cruden barrett taylor can play 10, 12 or wing if necessasry conrad & nonu can play 12, 13 or wing ben smith can play 12 1 14 or 15 dagg can play wing or full back, even 10 in the worst case ranger plays 12 13 14 piutau plays wing full back cane plays 6 & 7 vito plays 6 7 8 weepu if i remember played 9 & 10 in the RWC !!! in fact both GH SH are on record saying versatility is one aspect for all black selection. may be that is why some ery good players are either not selected or get littlegame time like horsea gear, frank halai tamati ellison braid & todd ..... problem for OZ is their front like players are not good enough at world stage. in the crrent lot only genia and horwill can sneak into a composite side but that would be on the bench. OZ media and fans build up their players. sane voices are drowned by the nationalistic masses. found one article here that shows hooper is blown out of proportion and not such a good player. but very few would listen to suc constructive criticism. look at the aussy coach, blaming the ref for the scrum woes. did any one of the other 3 teams say a word?? surely the argies had a better case to complain,but they took it on the chin and came up better prepared. this is nothing new in oz. look at the cricketers blaming drs because they cant bat !!! great teams adapt and overcome. others winge. or decades and scores, winging was essentially an englih tradition. now oz r better at it :)
PM
Guest
I completely agree with this article particularly the fifth last and last paragraphs. It's something I've been banging on about for years. From a player perspective I sense that they just quietly accept being shuffled around positionally because as far as their concerned they are more concerned about being selected in the 1st XV at super or international level, quietly I'm sure they're getting pissed off.
BBA
Guest
Not disagreeing with you Mike, wasnt saying Deans invented this, just that Deans has made some big positional switches which havent worked. O'Connor as a first five, MacDonald as a centre in RWC 2003, for example.
Hoy
Roar Guru
Ashley Coopers best role was always 13. Everyone knew it a long time ago. It is just that noone gave him consistent time there. I think Australia sees young talent, and is so keen to see it in national colours, because we need a saviour, who is "World Class", whatever that means, that we slot them in anywhere. This then means players have no opportunity to learn their role, learn their position. I have hated, absolutely hated, the culture of utility players that seems to have popped up with Australian rugby at the moment. Even in some Super teams now. Pick a young bloke, if he has talent, fine, but don't slot him in just to get him in the team. Let him learn a bit of humilty, learning off established players. JOC should have been learning 12, as that was his spot when he started. AAC should have been left at 13. If a player can't cut it in one spot, let them figure it out. Just because we have two good 5/8s, there is no need to change one to a fullback/centre/winger. Why can't we just have two good 5/8s. End rant.
ibika
Guest
i think it did start with John connelly(sic)... this chop and change all the time. part of why the ABS are so great is that they have settled players in settled positions... that are very used to the combinations and playing together.. For a start id like to see either JOC or IF selected as the starting FB and then one as back up..(sorry but forget Mogg for now). Then get them playing FB in every game for the national and regional teams..IE both should be playing FB for respective regional clubs..Ie IF for the Tahs and JOC hopefully for the REDs...
Mike
Guest
Really? I can remember Conolly switching players around between games in the same test series in 2007. Rocky Elsom went from 6 to 8, Wyclif Palu also played both 6 and 8, Drew Mitchell shifted between 11 and 14, and Adam Ashley Cooper shifted between 14 and 15. I wager if we go back to earlier periods we will find the same. The only reason we think this started with Deans is because time and age tend to blur the memory a bit!
BBA
Guest
Finding a persons best position can take time, the problem is that this should be done at lower levels and not at the Wallabies level, unless you have injuries etc. I suppose Aus can blame Deans a fair bit for this as he has been guilty of it (so I dont think it is a cultural thing between NZ and Aus). And it has been something that has plagued the AB's with full backs being dumped into the centres in World Cup games. The focus needs to be on getting the best team out there and not the best individuals. In some ways more Super XV teams has helped Aussies depth (to an extent) but has come with a price of spreading the talent round, players being drawn and moving to secure the playmaker roles.
ms.esther
Guest
MOC - we don't have the luxury of staying in one spot. We're so short of talented players that we have to get them into the side any place we can fit them in. Does it work? Nope. But that's what happens in a country where rugby is a distant third in the football codes. If Oz were able to grab off guys before they discovered Rules or league or soccer, we'd have a squad of world beaters like the ABs.