“The Wallabies didn’t quite gel tonight,” was Rod Kafer’s understatement of the year on Fox last night as the men-in-gold wrapped up the three-Test series against France with a forgettable 6-0 win at Etihad Stadium.
After a scoreless first half when nothing happened, the Wallabies overcame a litany of elementary errors to fall over the line.
Let’s make one fact quite clear, Wallaby fans don’t really care how their side wins, so long as they win. But they would prefer to see them having a crack, and scoring tries.
That never happened last night in pristine conditions with the Etihad roof closed, while the Wallabies made one mistake after another.
Gone was the spontaneity of attack, the hallmark of Wallaby rugby under coach Ewen McKenzie, and the Waratahs under Michael Cheika which has the crowds returning to the game.
They tried, but every time they earned their way into French territory they either gave away senseless penalties, turned over possession, or passed poorly to supports in a position to score.
The “no-look” pass has started to creep in, and must be culled before it becomes endemic.
Full marks to the unpredictable French, so savaged in the first Test at Suncorp by 50 points to 23, scoring seven tries to two.
With 10 changes in their side last night, they French were in Wallaby faces for 80 minutes, and the Wallabies had no answer to the added and constant pressure.
That said volumes for the Wallabies’ inability to break free. The All Blacks and the Boks will have taken special notice as how to cut the Wallabies off at the pass.
And it goes without saying both the All Blacks and the Boks will be far more effective at stifling the Wallabies than the French.
McKenzie has Plan B within his squad and it means the Waratah contingent must take over from the Brumby backline for the third Test at Allianz Stadium next Saturday afternoon..
I would be a lot happier if forgotten half Will Genia was in the squad, but he’s not, so McKenzie is stuck with Brumby half Nic White
But White must be told to forget all about his box kick, he’s inept in that department, and a gift to the opposition.
White must get Bernard Foley on the move so he can ignite the Waratah backline with Kurtley Beale at inside centre and Adam Ashley-Cooper at outside replacing Matt Toomua and Tevita Kuridrani.
There’s an added bonus to Beale in the starting line-up with his ability to set Israel Folau free to do his renowned damage as only he can do.
Toomua hasn’t been able to do that in the two Tests against the French, so the Wallabies most attacking weapon has withered on the vine.
With Ashley-Cooper moving inside off the wing, Rob Horne would be his replacement setting up the Waratah backline that has been so successful in Super Rugby to top the Australian Conference and be second on the overall table..
So the Wallaby backline for next Saturday would be White (9) under sufferance, Foley (10), Nick Cummins (11), Beale (12), Ashley-Cooper (13), Horne (14), and Folau (15).
Up front, it will be captain Michael Hooper’s prime job to drive his troops into delivering quicker and more controlled ball, and stop giving away senseless penalties that hurt so much last night.
The pack doesn’t need major changes like the backs, but it does need more urgency to get the job done properly.
Last night was a wake-up call with the All Blacks, Boks, and Pumas, just around the corner in the Rugby Championship.
But more importantly the Bledisloe Cup.
Last night the All Blacks were outplayed by England in the first half to be behind 10-6 at the break.
But the men-in-black got their act together in the second half to score three tries, and sneak home 28-27.
That’s exactly what the Wallabies couldn’t do, and therein lies the difference between the two sides.
When push turned to shove in the two games, the All Blacks shoved and won, while the Wallabies pushed and went nowhere..
Mantis
Roar Guru
Blinky Bill of Bellingen NSW
Guest
Spot-on PeterK. Mind you all of this has been said about KB before and from what I saw little has changed. I wanted it to but nope! :( I agree he misses too many tackles to be a serious option at 12, runs sideways and often takes too much upon himself. It's tough because when he comes on he's probably trying to spark something out of not much. Not too sure what the answer is but with is D issue & his crabbing sideways, it's hard for his team mates to play their roles. Perhaps they need to run different lines when KB comes on? At one stage he was heading for the sideline with such pace that I was yelling at the wing to cut inside.
Batdad
Roar Rookie
Actually I think only Tamou and Merrin have tattoos. The others are more old school players I guess. Ten years ago you'd be hard pressed finding anyone in league with a tatt, and now every second player has one or more.
Batdad
Roar Rookie
Good looking side soapit. Yeah I think Gallen would be more suited as a prop, whereas the more mobile forwards like Bird and Lewis could play in the backrow. I think if Fifita was in form he would make a good No8. Brent Tate is a bit like Conrad Smith. Quick no nonsense centres with good defence. Ever reliable. I reckon our chances at the world cup would be far better with a few of these fellows running out in gold.
Batdad
Roar Rookie
I guess their tactics would fit in quite well then, based on the Wallabies last performance.
Batdad
Roar Rookie
A bit of an unfair assesment there. I've seen him score plenty of tries from dummy half when he's right on the opposing team's defensive line. I think he's quick enough, definitely was a few years ago. I agree on Thurston though in part. His defence is poor but is it any worse than Quade Coopers? With some better forwards to protect him he'd go alright. I guess we're going to get bogged down in semantics though. We'll never know how these players would have fared in the 15 man game.
soapit
Guest
i also think his running style doesnt really suit the demands of 12 where you've just got to truck it up straght, hard and fast fairly regularly (even nonu does a fair bit of this). similar to how you miss out on that when you have beale there and it shifts resposbility for the hard yards out when its needed at 12. hayne more of s kipper and stepper to then use his power to get through the half break. anyway i just think he's better suited to fullback and has a good boot on him as well.
soapit
Guest
true, myles turns out to be a bit shorter than i thought he was at 1.87. quick check shows thorn was only 1.95 so not impossible to find someone in there to help tamou but not keen enough to go trawling thtough the stats again. looking wider than the origin squads you'd be able to find someone for sure. lewis probably could make a go of 12 same as sbw, i'd say he'd need a bit of a transition though same as sbw did. for me though he's the perfect hard running, agile skillful but hard tackling type you want in your six. i guess you could use guys like that in a few positions.
Stray Gator
Roar Rookie
More ink in that little lot than a school of calamari
Hopperdoggy
Guest
Accountable for winning test matches? I'd say that so far he's pretty much following his brief. I'll take a hard fought, tryless, defensive win over a relentless French team any day over an expansive loss to Samoa A!
Hopperdoggy
Guest
Good luck in the lineouts and scrums! You'd have to completely rely on penalties or restarts to get any ball!
Jono
Guest
McKenzie definitely noticed. He had to send out a message for the team to stop fluffing about and play with tempo because they were wasting their one man advantage.
linz22
Guest
With all due respect, this is the stupidest article I have ever read on The Roar.
Boz
Guest
The point about the goal kicking is a major one. If it had been at the 75% standard that we have come to expect from both those kickers, the wallabies would have had a more comfortable score of 9 or 12.
Boz
Guest
I hate this sort of partisan nonsense in Aussie rugby, where everybody barracks for their own states. We are working to beat the All Blacks, not fight the State of Origin. Remember? Aside from a couple of kicking mistakes, Toomua has played very well in both tests. He is a considerably more solid defender than Beale is and at number 12 that counts for a lot. If Beale is to come on I would rather see him replace Foley, to pose a more dynamic attacking threat from the inside backs which is absent with the solid but unimaginative combination of White and Foley. I don't know what this problem is that everybody has with Kuridrani, in the first test he was both an attacking and defensive legend. Yeah, AAC is probably a better centre but he is also a great utility and with all of our specialised wingers either injured or in England receiving an attitude adjustment with the London Irish, that is where he is needed.
Tane Mahutu
Guest
A hot vege
Tane Mahutu
Guest
Absolutely ben. The All Whites would have better than the Socceroos. The Socceroos were a joke. Chile isn't that a hot spicy vege. Love your work ben. Why aren't the All Whites at the cup.
Jack
Guest
How about giving the test match to Rugby fans in Canberra. Heartland fans. Perth gets two a year. Melbourne, where people couldn't name the Oz skipper, get two. Typical short term thinking to continually chase new fans while ignoring those that are already tickets buying diehard fans.
Max Power
Guest
Probably not enough height in the line-out either aside from Tamou. I reckon Lewis would be a good option at 12 too.
Max Power
Guest
I agree with that soap but he definitely has every quality you could ever desire in a 12: size, speed, footwork, long and short passing game, a huge kick and excellent tackler. Picking and choosing wouldn't be such an issue because he wouldn't stuck on one side of the field like he was at 6 and I'm sure given his size he would handle the added defensive workload just fine.