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On the weekend, we saw our men in gold collapse again in the face of strong opposition.
No, I am not talking about the entertaining win by the Wallabies against the Barbarians, which the Australians won 40-36. I am talking about the Wallaby scrum.
Collapse after collapse after collapse until, of course, Ben Alexander left the field.
He is yet another nose plough in the strong tradition of Bill Young and Al Baxter.
Every time Alexander packs his head into the scrum, it is below the level of his hips. When the pressure is on he has only one way to go – and that is down. Invariably he stands up with a quizzical look on his face and his hands raised in supplication to the touch judge.
Feigning an air of bewilderment, he trudges back 10 metres, thinking as he goes, no doubt, that if he does the same thing all over again he might end up with a different result.
Even beginner props know the importance of the angle of your back. How does someone in the Wallabies make-up not notice this?
As soon as Sekope Kepu came on, there were no more collapsed scrums on the tighthead side. There rarely is when Kepu plays. Kepu knows the basics of scrimmaging and can be relied upon for the Wallabies.
There are always collapsed scrums when Alexander plays.
Should we drop him completely? He is normally on the reserves bench. He must therefore be an impact player. The only impact he makes is to weaken our scrum and put us on the back foot from penalties. He is not up to international standard and should be sent back to Super Rugby.
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.