The Wallabies don’t have to look far for World Cup inspiration

There’s no question that the rebuild of the Wallabies is a tougher job than what coach Michael Cheika realised when signing on the dotted line back in mid-October.

But when he sits down to plan what level of remedial action is needed for the stuttering national team – who lost three of the four Tests on the Spring Tour in November – Cheika perhaps doesn’t need to delve too deeply into the annals of history for inspiration.

Queensland and New South Wales have won Super Rugby titles within the last four years. The Brumbies lost a final in between those two successes.

All three teams went through periods of underperformance, installed new coaches who undertook significant overhauls of the respective rugby programs and the way each team played on the field.

All three teams saw dramatic changes in their immediate fortunes in a surprisingly short period.

Queensland had struggled through the final years of Super 12, and didn’t finish higher than 12th in the first four years of Super 14. Ewen McKenzie was appointed the Reds’ fourth coach in five years, leading into the 2010 season, and he was tasked with lifting the fortunes of a side who had disappointed for much of the previous decade.

Having not finished in the top half of the competition for the previous seven seasons, McKenzie’s Reds finished the 2010 season in fifth place, only for a late run of injuries to cost them a first semi-finals berth in 10 seasons.

McKenzie didn’t re-invent the wheel. He looked at the strengths of his playing squad and formulated a game plan to suit those strengths. Despite losing his main playmaker, Berrick Barnes, McKenzie saw enough in a young Quade Cooper to work with. Fellow young players like Will Genia and Digby Ioane were also thrust into key positions, while then 25-year-old James Horwill had already been captain for two seasons.

The Reds became the team everyone wanted to watch. The freedom with which they appeared to play was attractive for all fans. While the likes of Genia and Cooper were the creative on-field geniuses, the Reds’ played smart rugby on the back of a strong breakdown presence, a technically very good set piece, and a clever tactical kicking game.

It all clicked in 2011, where they finished the regular season in top spot, ensuring full hosting rights throughout the finals series. Come the final, Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane was packed, with more than 52,000 people cheering the Reds home, where they beat the Crusaders to become the inaugural Super Rugby champions.

It’s popular to think the Reds just threw the ball around for fun, but there was a definite plan and a pattern to how they played, and more importantly, it was a plan that McKenzie adapted accordingly for different opponents. It was clever rugby, with the added bonus of being bloody good to watch.

While the Brumbies weren’t able to pull off a title win during their rebuild – or not yet anyway; the rebuild is ongoing, to be fair – but they similarly made great strides in a relatively short period.

After a disastrous 2011 season, where they lost 11 games and finish 13th – their lowest ever season result. An acrimonious player culture saw both Andy Friend and Tony Rea removed as head coach within the same year. A complete overhaul was required.

South African Rugby World Cup-winning Jake White was inserted as head coach, and the overhaul was immediate, with up to a dozen players moved on or leaving of their own volition. Promising young players were recruited as White changed just about every aspect of the rugby program.

White’s four-year plan was to have an incremental focus, with breakdown, set piece, and attack the focus for the first three years. White believed by his third year, the Brumbies would be challenging for a title.

However, such was the immediate effect of the breakdown and set piece overhaul, the Brumbies missed the 2012 finals by a last-day-of-the-season loss, and then went all the way to the final in 2013, losing to a mighty Chiefs side.

In just two years, the Brumbies’ improvements had them just 20 minutes away from a third Super Rugby title.

The Waratahs provide perhaps the greatest inspiration for what the Wallabies might be capable of with the right people at the helm. The fact that the Wallabies have the same boss that guided the ‘Tahs to the top certainly means expectations are high.

The Waratahs had been the perennial underachievers in Australia. NSW and Sydney club rugby provided such a large portion of Wallabies over history, yet the closest they’d got to a Super Rugby title in 18 seasons was two losses in deciders in 2005 and 2008.

Michael Cheika came back from France to take the reins for the 2013 season, and promised to transform the Waratahs into New South Wales’ team again; playing a style of rugby that would make supporters and casual fans want to watch them again.

In the early stages of that first season, Cheika was regularly questioned about reviewing his methods, as the ‘Tahs transformation was seeing games lost when a little bit of pragmatism might’ve got them home. Cheika stuck to his guns – one of the things I find most fascinating about him – and promised that the good times would come.

And he was right. After a mid-table finish in 2013, with an eight and eight record, the Waratahs clicked into gear in 2014. They were five and four by the midpoint of the season, but then hoisted the wet sail to finish the regular season the dominant team of the competition and on top of the table.

With a gameplan based around power-carrying forwards, brutal defence, and an unrelenting ball-in-hand attack, the Waratahs of 2014 repeated the Reds’ success of 2011, both in terms of on-field success and off-field support. They were well and truly the Australian team to watch by season’s end, and a Super Rugby-record crowd of nearly 62,000 people saw them left their maiden title, courtesy of a 79th minute Bernard Foley penalty goal.

So the Wallabies may already have the ingredients they need for the overhaul that is so desperately needed. It’s certainly not going to be a quick fix though, and the stakes are much higher, but if the three major Australian rugby provinces can find success in such a short turnaround, there should be hope the national team is capable as well.

It’s certainly wasn’t easy to watch the Wallabies’ struggle in 2014, but if everyone is united – and I mean everyone: the provinces, all the coaches, and especially the players – then perhaps Australian rugby can achieve the rapid turnaround it so desperately needs.

Both teams were better and stronger than they thought, and maybe the professional game in this country is in better health than we think

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