The frustrations of being a Wallaby fan or coach

Some of you commented that the views I expressed in the article I posted from the ground after Saturday’s Test between the Wallabies and Pumas were too negative – after all the Wallabies had just won another Test and now have a record of only one loss in their last eleven Tests.

As I wrote that article I know I was feeling extremely frustrated at the inconsistent performance we’d just witnessed from the Wallabies. After a few days away from writing about rugby and a detailed review of the match I’m afraid my views haven’t changed much.

So if you want to read about the improving Wallabies and their record run of results, I’d suggest you stop reading this article now and instead find an ARU press release to read.

I said in my most recent article that something has to change with the Wallabies. But what is it?

I don’t think it’s the game plan, because the way the Wallabies started the match on Saturday using the game plan was very good. They clearly went into the match with a plan to play their brand of running rugby and it was actually uplifting watching them in the first five minutes.

In this example Rob Simmons received the ball from Bernard Foley after the decoy run of Tatafu Polota-Nau had attracted the inside defenders. Simmons then passed to Michael Hooper who made a half break which got the defence back peddling.

The pressure created by an up-tempo running game in the first few minutes helped to set up the first real opportunity of the match.

Again, the inside runners help to drag the defence in and although it was terrible defence from the Pumas to jam in and leave Hooper in space, he was in the right position, running on to the ball at pace and Foley found him with a good pass.

Hooper did very well to score from here and inside two minutes the Wallabies were threatening to tear the match apart.

From the kickoff the game plan was again evident.

Yes, the Wallabies used the width early in the match trying to get the backs into some space but the game plan is about more than just giving the ball to the backs. The running game plan involves the forwards and backs.

The Wallabies started very well but from this point on things got a little negative so once again now’s the time to stop reading if you only want to read positive comments.

I’m about to highlight mistakes by individual players but they were not on their own. I could show you really poor examples from all but three of the starting team. My point is not to target individuals because the fact that so many players made really poor decisions or skill errors tells me it’s actually a team issue, not just the individuals.

The Wallabies could only keep executing the plan for the first five minutes of the match. The first crack appeared when they were again in good position and the game plan was opening up space.

Unfortunately the pass from Simmons was a poor one and the ball went to ground forcing the Wallabies to scramble back and recover which took away the momentum they’d been building.

The Wallabies recovered this loose ball and a good side like the All Blacks would have shrugged this mishap off and settled straight back into their game plan. However, two phases later the Wallabies had a great opportunity to keep playing to the game plan, this time through the backs.

Rob Horne is out of the frame here but was outside Israel Folau. The Pumas aren’t using a rush defence and there’s time and space to move the ball wide but the way Matt Toomua and Tevita Kuridrani are running here tells me Foley called the kick early and the thought of passing the ball was never really entertained.

The Pumas recovered the ball and what I considered a good attacking opportunity from halfway was lost.

A few minutes later the Wallabies had another good attacking opportunity from a lineout only 30 metres out from the Pumas try line. The play called for Kuridrani to crash the ball up in mid-field and then for the Wallabies to look for an opportunity on the second phase.

However, they never got to the second phase because they were slow to the ruck and Horne sensing the danger of a turnover conceded an obvious penalty.

With the Wallabies squandering so many chances the match was tight and the Wallabies only led 8-7 after twenty minutes. When they received a penalty right in front of the posts and only ten metres out, captain Hooper knew the Wallabies should take the three points and can be seen in the following image calling out to Nick Phipps.

I asked Hooper about this after the match and he said he wanted to take the points but if players saw an opportunity that he’d back them. He was never going to answer the question any other way but it was a very poor decision from Phipps compounded when he did it a second time just two minutes later.

Then came the first of what I thought were critical moments in the match – more so than any others. A great break from Foley should have resulted in a try under the posts to Horne and that may have allowed the Wallabies to get a decent return from the massive amount of possession they’d had in the first half.

Of course it’s possible that you may draw the right card at the table one time in a lot and the odds were just about as poor for Foley here. He’d positioned Horne well – all it required was good decision making and a simple pass.

Brett McKay made the point in his article on Tuesday that it’s not often that a team blows the same try twice but that’s what happened here with Hooper being penalised at the ensuing ruck for taking out a defender which created a whole for Phipps to dart over and place the ball down.

If Hooper leaves the defender, Phipps would have passed the ball wide and I’d back Folau to score from here.

Just minutes later the Wallabies got another golden opportunity to take real control of the match.

If the Wallabies had scored either of these tries I suggest they would have gone on with the match and the mood of the Australian rugby public would have been very different to what I sense it is today so I see these as big moments for Australian rugby.

The pass from Phipps was so far out in front of Foley that it almost hit the Puma defender first. Foley stood no chance of catching it and the Wallabies had blown another massive opportunity when all they needed to do was execute basic catch pass skills that they practice all the time.

It wasn’t only errors with decision making and skills in attack. The Wallabies gave away far too many needless penalties that kept the Pumas in the match.

The decision making and execution with kicking was also poor at times. Here Folau has fielded a kick from the Pumas and has the ball in hand about forty metres out from his own line

Then Folau had to decide where to kick and execute the kick well.

He struck the ball well but he couldn’t have picked out the man any better than he did. As one of the other journalists in the box said on Saturday night when this happened ‘it was like he was back in AFL and saw an unmarked full forward in the goal square’.

How is it possible for a team to make so many poor decisions and be unable to consistently execute basic skills?

Unfortunately I don’t have an answer to that but I don’t think it’s necessarily a coaching issue. At the end of the day the coaches are ultimately responsible for the team’s performance but they are not the ones out on the field who are only following the game plan for a short time and making errors that schoolboys would be embarrassed to make.

They certainly wouldn’t be coaching a lack of communication between players like this example.

As I’ve said I sense the mood with the Australian rugby public is deteriorating and crowd numbers are starting to reflect this.

As a dedicated Wallaby supporter I find their performances so frustrating and my biggest concern is the inconsistency – we’re seeing far too much rocks or diamonds.

The game plan they’ve been given is simple and effective when it’s implemented, and I get the feeling that Ewen McKenzie is also very frustrated that his charges can’t get it together.