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.
richard
Guest
So,get rid of them.You will find a lot of kiwis wouldn't lose any sleep if you did.
Hopperdoggy
Guest
Is this the same leaguies who go in for butthole thumbing and genital biting? Tee hee. Talk about pot n well, something that's a lot bigger n blacker than a kettle.
Hopperdoggy
Guest
Pat Howard left the ARU in disgust several years ago. Don't know what he'd been up to before that photo was taken but he probably doesn't deserve to be the ARU pinup for this article!
Red Kev
Guest
White supporters and Deans' apologists don't need facts. He has been peddling that line for a couple of weeks now and it has been smacked down emphatically every time; he just crawls away into his hole waits a while and brings it back up again.
Jeff
Guest
Where do you live Ra.
Magic Sponge
Roar Rookie
Curious nickname you've got there.
amateur
Guest
hey, stillmissit, you wouldn't happen to have a link on your friend's private school ? i'm writing a dissertation on children and outdoor education for an M.A. degree on developmental psychology which explores precisely these kinds of issues. I believe these early experiences are formative, too. I believe also that a child's gradual outward movement away from the body of the mother toward the external world, and eventual self-autonomy, happens through these kinds of experiences. In short, kids are hardwired to explore and play through situations that they perceive to be risky. Thank You and cheers !
Boomeranga
Roar Rookie
No. Warriors and Pheonix were straight charity cases. The sports in NZ had no where to go, so we took pity. . . . . I don't know if that's the case or not, but it's no less evidence based than what you are saying to diminish the fact that without us offering your teams a place in our leagues, you wouldn't have a team at all.
Raa
Guest
-- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Raa
Guest
Great article. It's all well and good wanting to play attacking rugby through the backs but we have to have a strong platform to go forward on. We have to go as far down as school boy rugby teaching them how to scrum properly we have no one who can. It's a props bread and butter it doesn't matter how good you are in broken play a forwards 1st and for most job is the set piece -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
jeznez
Roar Guru
There are things I like in the zoned idea and it could be the solution long term. The current hurdles are that the Shute Shield sides won't dilute - today they are the premier club comp in Sydney. They are stronger in the sense of prestige but also in real quality. Even with the Wallabies away Sydney Uni had three Super Rugby players on their bench during their semi-final against South’s last weekend. There are less Uni players in the Wallabies this season than there has been in a long time but what they have built as a playing roster is ridiculously out of whack compared to the comp as a whole. The amateur push from the ARU won't necessarily control Uni giving out scholarships to control the top talent in Sydney but even if they don’t currently if Uni played Petersham under a zone competition or East’s played Colleagues we would see some seriously lopsided scores. The overall standard of club rugby would decrease over time if we moved to a zonal model. That may be ok as long as there is sufficient scope to identify talent and bring it to the next representative level but that is something we need to be aware of.
Magic sponge
Guest
Just promote the Shute shield and qld comp. breaking up players and promoting the force and rebels is destroying these two compa
Kevin du randt
Guest
Yes, I would blame Bill Pulver too if I were a Wallaby fan. He isn't paying the refs off like good old John O'neill and this means you get results like 38-12.
Ra
Guest
Sorry mate you stretched the truth a bit. AFL seems to weaken the two rugby codes at the age group level. Kids like the Wallaby back line seem hell bent on kicking away possession. I was stunned to see that, and people who have been around the Aussie grassroots games longer than me, verified it was the pat and kick of AFL. Yes certainly a game to offer good skills n drills, but that's about it at kids level
Short-Blind
Guest
JB didn't Robbie sack John Muggleton as defence coach and pick Jim Williams as his forward coach in his first year? Nucifora was forced on him after RWC 2011 and I agree that was stupid.
Ra
Guest
The Persians had a bigger Army than the Spartans Jeff. Your short glimpse at a few games in depressed Otautahi (Christchurch) should not be regarded as an experts opinion of a spirituality. But I would see it as a tourists view
Ra
Guest
That's good planning jez. I think my idea of zonal teams at club level is another way of strengthening the quality of rugby at club level
Aaron
Guest
This!!! Robbie was given a charmed run by the fans and the ARU for at least the first 3 years. As an AB fan, I couldn't believe how easy the Aussies were on him.
AndyS
Guest
Yeah, point 4 is problematic for me too, especially when it is short form, fudged laws and played as a curtain-raiser: seems very little return for flying and accommodating a whole second team. All cost, no possibility of a return. If they are going to transport a second team around, I'd rather it was played as full 15s and played when the Super team is away to give the SR fans something to attend in the absence of the first team. It should be played at the training ground or a club ground that does not represent a massive financial drain. It should be played at kid friendly times, they should be able to access the ground like they do at club level, and each of the clubs should be highly visible at the game (e.g they could each have a food outlet, able to compete with each other in what they sell, keep the revenue and maybe generate a brand identity/loyalty in the process). The primary objective on the player side should be exposure, but the same should be true for the clubs with the opportunity for exposure to the thousands of SR fans that don't curently follow anything else. The comp will be the equivalent of a club select team; it should be used to bridge the gap between the clubs and the professional levels. It should only average out at every second week anyway (only played opposite derby matches), so most of the players will still spend half their time playng club anyway.
Charlie Drayton
Roar Guru
ARU is in the process of cutting the Shute Shield of it's player funding and making sure Super Rugby players can not return to their clubs for finals.