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After the Wallabies dismal performances in their last three matches under Ewan McKenzie, everyone is baying for his blood.
The players are also being blamed. However I have not heard much criticism being directed towards the ARU.
I would contend that the weakness that we are witnessing in our play at the moment is a direct result of nothing being done to advance rugby at grassroots level.
South Africa and New Zealand have immense depth to choose their teams from.
A case in point is the recent problem at that the All Blacks had with injured fly halves.
They were able to choose a fifth ranked player who on the night, it could be argued outplayed one of our two best fly halves.
Without the requisite depth of players, the Wallabies will continue to struggle especially against their Southern Hemisphere counterparts New Zealand and South Africa where the game has a following akin to a religion.
The ARU needs to either implement a competition such as the ITM cup, or it needs to negotiate with New Zealand to have a few Australian teams to take part in that competition.
At grassroots the ARU needs to get youngsters playing union. In particular it needs to focus on teaching boys how to scrum from a young age. This is the only way to address the chronic weakness that has been a feature of the Australian game for nigh on a decade now.
Bill Pulver in particular should hang his head in shame for the comments that he made after the selection of McKenzie to the position of national coach.
How can the Wallabies play the traditional, free flowing Australian game if they are not getting quality ball for their forwards?
We all love running rugby, but we have to acknowledge that the scrum remains the basis of the game and when the scrum collapses, the backs cannot be expected to pick up the pieces.
I fear that the Australian rugby public face a long time on the doldrums as the problems that require rectification are endemic and will take years to remedy.
We can blame the coach and players for sloppy mistakes, but we must not allow the administrators to dodge criticism due to them because of their Teflon suits.
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.