The Wallabies burst coach Michael Cheika’s bubble at Stade de France by handing France a 29-26 victory thanks to a litany of fundamental errors.
The men in gold only played rugby for the last 10 minutes of each half. The other 60 minutes were pure rubbish.
Cheika’s positive and aggressive coaching was a forgotten phase, as the Wallabies butchered all the basic fundamentals of passing, catching, support play, defence, and constantly failed to make the advantage line.
I’m going to leave dissecting the stats to Scott Allen. I’m only intersted in what was going on between the ears of 23 Wallabies, which ranged between nothing and very little.
I lost count of the number of times I said, “Bloody hell, what was that?”
But I did say “That’s more like it” three times – once in the first half, when reinstated lock James Horwill set up a rumble and a rolling maul that led to Adam Ashley-Cooper’s 30th Test try, and a halftime score of France 17-16.
The other two were applauding Ashley-Cooper’s bust late in the game down the right wing with no one in support, and Israel Folau’s midfield bust with no one in support, that eventually led to Rob Simmons’ first Test try in 49 appearances.
Three magic moments of rugby in 80 minutes. But despite the rarities, the Wallabies could, and should, have pinched the win in the last minute if bench prop Ben Alexander hadn’t dropped the ball within sniffing distance of the try line.
Those fundamental errors were so endemic, Cheika and defence coach Nathan Gray will surely spend the next few days ironing out the basics before they face Six Nation champions Ireland in Dublin next Saturday.
Up front, hooker James Hanson must replace Saia Fainga’a, and blindside flanker Matt Hodgson replace Sean McMahon.
In the backs, Will Genia to replace halfback Nick Phipps, who is concentrating more on telling the referee how to do his job than improving the speed and accuracy of his passing.
If Bernard Foley wasn’t a champion goal-kicker, either Quade Cooper or Matt Toomua would slot into the 10 jersey, but Cheika can’t possibly afford to drop Foley.
Now comes the most interesting, even explosive, selection of the tour – Kurtley Beale, or Christian Lealifano at 12?
The Brumby had a poor game against France, but Beale hasn’t played a game since September 27 against the Boks, missing the Pumas, All Blacks, and the first three games of this tour.
Obviously Cheika intends to play Beale, or he wouldn’t have recalled him to the squad.
So Beale will play against Ireland and England, and watch Foley, Tevita Kuridrani, and Folau relish Beale’s presence, while anti-Beale Roarers go into frenetic overdrive.
In the meantime, let’s see those fundamentals return so the Wallabies can play rugby, and stop retreating towards their own goal-line on a regular basis.
In short, no more, “Bloody hell, what was that?”
moniano
Guest
Let me tell you France at home against Wallabies is much harder than Wallabies against ABs at home. You would rather face ABs at home then in NZ. Cheika also came in without promising the world as EM did ... I know how to defeat the ABs only to end up with results knowing how to get beaten by ABs.
marilyn
Guest
don't see why sean McMahon should be dropped he did nothing wrong and if cheika let him play his natural game you would not be wanting him off the team also you are one sided just because he is a rookie, and if the rest of the team held the ball we would of won.
single malt
Guest
Wingers were hopeless throwing into lineouts. I know, I was one of them.
SandBox
Roar Guru
jeznez, where is Silver Sovereign when you need him?
Westie
Guest
Sack the second texter.
handles
Guest
At least the headline made sense this week. Thanks goodness for progress.
Westie
Guest
There is no universe where captain puncher forces Folau to the bench.
craigo
Guest
Beale has played fullback before and shown he his not safe under the high ball and is a turnstile in defence.
Quilpie
Guest
Wallabies have to look to themselves first and foremost for improvement as that's what is in their control. Folau dropped a high ball, Horwill, Alexander and others spilled ball in contact. Poor passes everywhere. First up tackles being missed. These are all fundamental basics that just can't happen at test level... what's going on and what causes this hideous virus to effect the wallabies too often? Additionally the French seemed to have no trouble putting the wallabies back 3 under a lot of pressure. The French tactical kicking was very good and conversely the wallabies was off the mark and our kick chase was generally poor never putting the French under any serious pressure. All that aside I am still surprised the wallabies did not clinch the victory. The class in the side was a clear step up from the the French and it was theirs to lose. Not wanting to moan about the referee I was particularly upset with one of the touch judges who seemed to have far too much influence on Nigel Owens. His shocker started when he got the call wrong when Thomas (the french No. 11) caught the ball and stepped out. It was the same toucie that again that missed the Fofana block on Horwill when Thomas ran behind him and scored that fairly impressive try. The same useless touchie again missed the 2nd row (I think) pull McMahon into the ruck when he was defending on the try line at guard which then allowed the french scrum half to go over unmarked. Our friend the touchie had great eyes though when McMahon legally tackled the french player about 0.5 seconds after the whistle following a knock on. the French broadcasters did not play the conversation between Owens and the touchie but it look as though the touchie was more concerned about the incident happening after the whistle than he was about the actual tackle... however to my complete surprise Owens awarded the penalty due to a dangerous tackle! I was incredulous! Finally after all of that we see that very nasty cheap shop on Faingaa which the broadcaster would not show on the big screen despite Nigel requesting it. Why not refer it to the TMO? Absolutely appalling. There was also something very odd about the time it was taking to set the final scrum and when the clock started ticking a good 20 seconds before Owens called "time on". The French played well. They did their homework on the wallabies and they played to their strengths. They were fierce in the contact and tackled fantastically but when they win a game to a backdrop of utter incompetence and cheap shots it makes it hard to be magnanimous in defeat. Dusautoir was outstanding however and I am happy to commend him on an utterly outstanding performance.
Rouaan
Guest
Michael Hooper, despite his workrate has many flaws which in my view cost the Wallabies at the moment. Firstly, he cannot be captain at the moment. He struggles to manage the refs and galvanise his troops, especially when they are under fire. The top teams all have mature captains. Secondly, he is almost no threat at the breakdown, an area which is now deciding outcomes of test matches. Neither can he protect WBs ball with the authority of a Pocock. His role for me is somewhat unclear (as a very lightweight and fast openside flanker). All captains get their troops together to have clear messages when things are not working out for them. Hooper just plays on and it does not seem that their is timely analysis of what is going on and what need to be changed (both in attitude and tactics). The clear examples are the Argentina, Bledisloe 1, 2 and 3 and French losses. A captain MUST take charge under those circumstances and he clearly cannot.
Pickett
Guest
Took forever to throw at lineouts. I said he'll get penalized for taking too long. And alas, exactly what happened.
Nathan Sanders
Guest
The Wallabies have 4 terrible, terrible locks. Skeleton and his cinematic "just a big kid living the dream" smile every time he comes onto the field is not only irritating to me, but it also seems to be irritating Greg Clarke, who without a doubt always passes a snide comment. He's too heavy to ever get up to a decent amount of pace to cause the defensive line any troubles. It is pretty easy to tackle something that is so slow moving. It seems like rugby does have a cut off point for size.
TransTasman Diplomat
Guest
I like the idea of Kurtley at 15, Izzy to wing or bench
formerflanker
Guest
I had a similar thought - that while the incessant 2nd/3rd channel attack wasn't working, Cheika wanted the team to keep doing it. Practicing under match conditions until it gets perfect. Then the team will have several match toughened strategies to pull out when required at a later date.
Rugby Tragic
Guest
Well he is at least as good as what the All Blacks are throwing up as kickers at the moment
Big Horse
Guest
First time commentator on this mothers club style gossip chain.... the negativity and shortsightedness of this commentary is baffling.... The performance was sub par, no question....but for all we know Cheika may well be flogging the team during the week & having them playing under duress to breed resolve & toughness... testing the squad to see who sinks & who swims... the errors, whilst not uncommon, are too simple for an international team to be committing on such a regular level without extenuating circumstances... for everyone commenting that 'he is not the messiah'... the guy has won a Heineken Cup & Super rugby so he deserves some lee-way, at least more than 3 weeks at the helm before people call for his head.... I fear that the next two matches will be more of the same, but lets wait & see... in any event, the Wallabies will be better for the RWC after a torrid tour with the aim of finding the right combinations, than they will be after coasting to 3/4 victories as per last year.... I was also interested to read that Kurtley Beale was the reason for the loss against France, and has already lost the Wallabies the matches against Ireland & England...
Rex
Guest
Yes - sorry... wrong sport/ wrog state
All Bent Out of Shape
Guest
What a spledid bunch of supporters. I hope Beale gets a go at 12 and does well but Im not Australian and clearly for some Australians support means hoping for a player to fail. I think he will do well and I dont see why he would fail there. He did extremely well there at Super Rugby and hes a test player with some experience so I think he will go well if given the opportunity. He has incredible talent and it just needs to be used properly. I would be inclined to have him defend at fullback, being that he knows the position well and have AAC slide in to centre and Kuridrani at 12. Folau to defend on the wing. Also he needs to be given a little time. Not 20 mins. Matches not minutes.
niwdEyaJ
Roar Guru
Ummm.... No he's had them for two whole seasons at the Tah's... That's the basis for brining them together at test level as they were apparently a seasoned combo at super level so they shouldn't need much time to gel...
Chris Handy
Guest
niwdeyaj... play the ball not the man shall we? without mentioning the inaccuracies of your statements, I wonder whether you watched the first test against SA this year where KB came on and changed the game? Probably not, as that would nullify your claims of KB being a 'liability' on field.. You probably think James O'Connor can't play either?