As part of the 43,000 strong crowd to witness the dismantling of the Wallabies by the Springboks on Saturday night, one could not help but feel more troubled than ever by our forward play.
The Wallabies have historically struggled against the world’s best forward packs, but have mostly been able to compete as a team when achieving near parity with the opposition.
Saturday night’s Wallaby forward play didn’t come close to matching it with the Boks, which puts massive pressure on our backs to do something extraordinary every time they find themselves with something approaching front-foot ball.
Watching both teams warm-up one couldn’t help but notice the heavy contact-oriented drills used by the Springboks.
Us adopting similar drills would provide no solution; rather it highlights the mindset and DNA of South African rugby.
Similarly, when our forwards were hitting up the ball, it always seemed to be the same sequence of catch, stop, change direction, then get into contact.
The All Blacks seem to employ the same method at times but back it up with strong support for the ballcarrier.
One can only be envious of the simple Springbok approach of catching the ball while strongly moving forward with no jinking, stepping or stopping before contact.
Again, us adopting the same approach would not work because we don’t seem to have the size and strength necessary.
Unfortunately it again highlights the fact that our player pool is predominantly drawn from the ranks of private schools compared to the broader base in South Africa and New Zealand.
Perhaps these private school boys are just a little bit too gentlemanly and lack the ruggedness sometimes brought about by a poorer and tougher upbringing.
A possible solution is difficult to find and luckily not part of my job description, but Ewen McKenzie’s Wallabies were definitely lacking an enforcer on Saturday night.
Even the occasional big hit from the likes of Tatafu Polota-Nau, Wycliff Palu and Sitaleki Timani were sorely missed and getting one of these guys back in the side would at least provide a little infectious lift in the physicality department.
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.
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