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Where can Wallabies find some mongrel?

Roar Guru
11th September, 2013
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Roar Guru
11th September, 2013
38

There have been several good articles this week on the Roar that when boiled down to their most basic level, call the Wallabies soft little girls pretending to play rugby. I couldn’t agree more.

While blogging last weekend’s match against the Springboks for the Roar there was more than one occasion when I wanted to turn off the television and walk away in disgust.

Spiro Zavos likened the contrast between the Springboks and the Wallabies to men against boys, while Colin Kennedy talked about the importance of power in the engine room of the scrum (the second row).

In the last three matches the Wallabies have been dismantled at scrum time and smashed off the ball at the breakdown for all the same reasons – they are not strong enough, not fast enough, not fit enough and not mean enough.

The forwards have poor technique both in the scrum and over the ball in the breakdown (the backs are guilty of this too but I’m ignoring them), do not get low enough and do not have the power to withstand their opponents.

They don’t have the strength to hold strong in the face of the opposition pack’s push or cleanout and then counter with a shove of their own.

So the question for the Wallabies is a simple one – where are they going to find the power? How do they get some mongrel back in the pack?

Up front the question has to be boiled down to its most basic question, which props are the strongest and can be taught (not taught) the correct technique.

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The answer is simple – Scott Sio and Albert Anae are by far and away the strongest front rowers.

I have observed both in Super Rugby lose a scrum hit at loosehead, keep their shape and push back to dominate their opposite.

Can either play tighthead prop at international level? I think it is time to find out.

Both Andrew Blades and Ewen McKenzie are World Cup winning tighthead props, if they can’t teach the required technique and sort the situation out for the Wallabies then it can’t be done, or they are incompetent.

Until Dan Palmer returns injury-free to these shores, tighthead prop will be a problem for Australia. Right now though, neither Ben Alexander or Sekope Kepu seems to be coping well there, it is time to try James Slipper off the bench at tighthead and bring back Benn Robinson off the bench as a replacement loosehead behind the stronger, yet less experienced props.

Hookers primarily need to be able to hook and throw a lineout now. I rate James Hanson from the Reds and I would bring him in to the bench role. Stephen Moore has looked ineffective but I remain uncertain of who can replace him.

Tatafu Polota-Nau when he is fit must surely be a chance to come back to the starting side for the simple reason he is the strongest scrummaging hooker Australia has.

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Having not spent a lot of time observing locks’ body position in scrums in recent years, I cannot say for certain who is the strongest of them, however I would be calling them in and putting them through a power and technique test and simply picking the best.

My hunch is that James Horwill, Cadeyrn Neville and Sitaleki Timani would be the top three. I would also continue to work with Hugh Pyle and Rob Simmons to improve their strength and power because their lineout presence is important, but first the Wallabies have to stop the bleeding.

The first choice backrow is all injured but when they come back they need to be taught to push at scrum time and not meerkat, as the support of the loose trio is now essential to stabilising the scrum.

Scott Higginbotham, David Pocock and Wycliff Palu all offer more power, more speed, better support play and more presence at the breakdown than the current Wallaby loose forwards.

When they are all back it will be a very good time to blood a big young backrower off the bench like Lachie McCaffrey or Curtis Browning or even the returning Tala Gray (they are all 190cm and 108kgs and young enough to bulk up some more).

Until they are fit we are going to have to accept a disadvantage.

Fotu Aeulua might have been an option to add some power but it is my understanding he has had an operation recently so is not fit either.

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For now Michael Hooper and Liam Gill will have to do at no.7 (and Gill’s greater workrate at ruck time must surely see him start), while Ben Mowen, Scott Fardy, Dave Dennis, and Ben McCalman will have to cover no.6 and no.8.

None of these players has the presence to really make an impact at international level but if they are told to put their heads down and run non-stop all match supporting the ball carrier and hitting rucks then they may just hold parity with the opposition.

I know some comments will be critical of the fact I am shuffling deck chairs; but the fact is the Australian forwards situation is that desperate right now something must be tried.

The Wallabies cannot claim to be a top international rugby side if they cannot hold a stable scrum, and the key to doing that is going to be coupling strong forwards with good technique.

Right now we’re coupling soft forwards with crappy technique and getting hammered.

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