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2013 is shaping up to be an annus horribilis for the Wallabies, having played five Tests and lost four of them. They were third on the IRB World Rankings when Robbie Deans was terminated, and fell to fourth following consecutive losses to the All Blacks.
If the losses continue the Wallabies will soon be fifth on the table, and falling.
This situation was last endured by the Wallabies at the end of John Connelly’s stint as the national coach.
The rot has to stop, and it has to stop at Brisbane on Saturday night.
I believe the Wallabies can/will win this crucial Test and as winning, like losing, is a habit, the victory might set the team up for better things.
When you look at the Test season so far, the thought strikes you that it could have all been much better for the Wallabies.
The first Test against the British and Irish Lions, for instance, was rated by all the pundits as one of the best performances by the Wallabies, in terms of attack, skills and great plays, that the team has shown for some years.
The Wallabies lost their dead-eyed goal-kicker Christian Lealiifano in the opening seconds of the match.
James O’Connor and Kurtley Beale (especially the last kick to win the Test) duffed kicks at goal that Lealiifano (who didn’t miss a shot in the next two Tests) would have slotted.
Remember, too, the inspired play by Will Genia to take a tap kick near his 22 and then after a long, break-out run put a kick through to Israel Folau to capture and turn into a try.
Folau, later in the Test, made a fabulous break to complete what many have called the ‘greatest Test debut’ of any player.
The turning point of this Test was when Berrick Barnes went off injured and Michael Hooper was put in the centres and exposed by a slick back move that created the decisive try.
The Wallabies then won the second Test at Melbourne to set themselves up for the decider at Sydney.
The feature of this match is how well the Wallaby scrum held up and the general tenacity of the side which never gave up and recorded the victory they had to win.
It all fell apart in the third Test, right from the kick-off which Genia dropped and the Lions stormed their way to a tremendous victory.
This series was followed by two Tests against the All Blacks, both of which were lost.
Ironically, the Wallabies played better (but not good enough) at Wellington than they did in Sydney.
When a side is under pressure, on and off the field, the two teams you would not want to play back-to-back Tests against right now are the Lions and the All Blacks, the best teams in world rugby.
The Springboks come to Brisbane with a record of eight straight wins. Against the Pumas in Johannesburg, they were most impressive. But a week later at Mendoza, a fortress of Argentinian rugby, they were extremely lucky to win.
The turnaround is significant. The Achilles’ heel of the Springboks is away Tests. Admittedly, they won the RWC 2007 in France and they have had wins in Australia and New Zealand since then.
But the fact is that (in general) the Springboks play like Supermen at home and like Palookas out of South Africa.
And fortunately for the Wallabies, they play the Springboks at Brisbane. If there is a fortress in Australian rugby, it is Brisbane.
The Wallabies, which should have the Reds playmakers Genia and Quade Cooper running the team, invariably play well here (even when they lose as they did to the Lions).
The support for the Wallabies, too, is far more fanatical in Brisbane than it is in Sydney.
We know what the Springboks are going to bring to the Test. They will drive from the lineouts, smash through the middle of the field with their big forwards, they will be aggressive at the breakdown, they will be ruthless with intercepts, Morne Steyn will kick the plastic stickers off the ball and kick virtually all his shots at goal.
The Wallabies have to do several things to counter all this. First, don’t give Steyn the chance to kick the Springboks to victory. This means more discipline than the Wallabies have shown this season.
Against the All Blacks at Wellington, the Wallabies conceded 16 penalties, four of them from Stephen Moore.
I admire Moore as a player. He is tough and competitive. But he is, like James O’Connor, one of those players who feels incumbent to save every difficult situation directly.
O’Connor comes in off his wing all the time. Moore continually disrupts rucks and mauls, often illegally.
When he was penalised at Wellington for an obvious maul penalty he complained to Jaco Peyper, the South African referee, that he couldn’t extract himself from his off-side position.
“You shouldn’t have put yourself in the position in the first place,” Peyper told him. This was correct.
It is obvious that for most rucks and mauls, Moore comes in illegally. Coach Ewen McKenzie needs to get this out of Moore’s game, or hook him the first time he indulges in this nonsense in the Test.
You would hope, too, that someone like Kane Douglas locks the scrum, as he is the biggest Wallaby going around. Scott Sio should be a starter in the front row.
And Dave Dennis be considered for number eight, to add some bulk to the pack. Scott Fardy may have to go at number six to be replaced by Ben Mowen.
I would imagine that Genia and Cooper will be re-united. Genia has to be instructed to run a lot more. The big change in the All Blacks’ game this year has been the running of Aaron Smith.
The matter of where Israel Folau plays has been given a lot of discussion. I still believe his best position, right now while he is learning the intricacies of rugby is on the wing.
I’d like to see Nic Cummins brought into the side for his dash and enthusiasm and batter-down-a-brick-wall mentality.
That means James O’Connor or Ashley-Cooper at fullback or outside centre. Personally, I’d like to see O’Connor in the centres to give some real dash to the attack.
The key to the Wallabies ‘moving forward’ is whether they have learnt from their experiences against the Lions and the All Blacks. As readers of The Roar will know I was extremely critical of McKenzie’s whining about the referee after the Wellington Test.
But if this was a sort of smokescreen to hide what he’d identified as the real problems of the Wallabies, and then has taken selection and training decisions to put these matters right, then we should all be happy.
The point in all of this is that the Wallabies have played the two best teams in the world this year. At times they’ve been more than competitive.
The Springboks, on the other hand, have played Scotland and the Pumas, two teams that are not in the top rank.
The Wallabies know what is needed now to beat really strong sides. It has been the hardest of lessons. But if these lessons have been learnt they should carry this knowledge into the Test at Brisbane with strong hopes.
The motto of my old school was: ‘Keep The Faith!’
In life and in rugby, it a terrific principle. No matter how bleak the outlook is we have to stick to our ideals and goals if we want to be successful. Being staunch needs to be the attitude of the Wallabies on Saturday.