Wallaby scrum shunts them towards greatness

Mario Ledesma, take a bow. You have earned it.

Last week I wrote the Wallabies had not fielded a world-class scrum in 12 plus years, and pointed to the inclusion of Scott Sio in the starting XV as our best short-term option for changing this.

What I could not have predicted is just how transformative the inclusion of the Brumbies stalwart would turn out to be.

With the correct prop pairing of Sio and Sekope ‘Twinkle Toes’ Kepu finally in place from kick-off, the much-maligned Australian pack was able to show their backbone against the very best team in the world.

The importance of the revelation that was the Australian scrum in Sydney on Saturday absolutely cannot be overstated.

I had the pleasure of having a yarn with Wallaby captain Stephen Moore on Monday night. He could not have been more complimentary of Ledesma. It was clear from Moore’s comments that the Argentinian scrum coach was key to Australia’s performance on Saturday night, and Moore made specific mention of how much Ledesma had, as a fellow international hooker, helped him in his own role.

Several key moments were defined by Australia’s dominance in this facet of the game.

An abysmal clearing pass by Nick Phipps left Waratahs teammate Bernard Foley pinned inside Australia’s try line. Foley was left without option but to ground the ball, giving the most dangerous team in world rugby a five-metre scrum for their attacking platform.

Last season in that situation a betting man would have put his money on the visitors turning that crucial opportunity into points, in all likelihood seven of them. Instead, the home side dug deep and found the horsepower to pressure New Zealand on their own feed. This robbed the men in black of crucial forward momentum and allowed the Wallabies to drive them out of the red zone without reward.

Two critical scrum penalties won by the Wallabies (no, that’s not a typo – I checked it twice!) were key to them having license to play the kind of assertive and positive rugby that we all hope to see every week.

The first of those two scrum penalties also saw the Wallabies chalk three on the scoreboard at a time in the match that points were fairly scarce.

If I extrapolate all of that to the furthest possible extent permitted by hindsight-enlightened, bollocks-based, know-it-all sports opinion writing, those examples swung the score of the game by 10 points – more than the final winning margin.

Of course, Saturday was just one step on a long and difficult road to recovery for the Australian set-piece. The All Black scrum, while unquestionably top shelf, is relatively small in comparison to the outfits we can expect some of our foes from up north to field in the World Cup.

Maintaining parity and seeking dominance is a very different monster against a physically larger pack with more specialist scrummagers. Australia will need to find another gear if they are to upset either the English or Welsh juggernauts in the pool rounds, but you get the feeling with that under the current regime that is achievable.

All in all though, this unexpected area of advantage allowed Australian to take home a W against the best team in the world. In truth, they were pretty scrappy in places but perhaps the greatest positive from the weekend is that it appears to have left Michael Cheika with clear list of adjustments to make before Bledisloe 2.

Matt Toomua has screamed his case for selection as Australia’s starting flyhalf so loudly that it cannot be ignored any longer. Compared to the patchy performance by the incumbent Foley, Toomua ran straighter, tackled harder and passed better, all the while asking questions of the defence that gave the Wallabies chances to strike.

Nick Phipps too must be on very thin ice. We have all come to expect Phipps to run hot and cold and as fans tend to hide his poor moments in the shadow of his utterly brilliant ones. But the brain-explosion of adding a wholly unnecessary yellow card to his worst performance in recent memory, I’m sad to say, may have sealed his fate.

At the risk of going against my own policy of sensible selections, Phipps would still start in my team against New Zealand, with the coaches ready and willing to deploy ‘the hook’ and Nic White in the event that the lesser of the two versions of Nick Phipps shows up. Based on White’s stellar performance though, I would not be surprised or unhappy if that call was made in advance.

Finally and most pleasingly, the Michael Hooper-David Pocock hybrid has graduated from its ‘experiment’ tag and is fast looking like a necessity. The two specialist numbers 7s playing in tandem looked spectacular, with none of the issues other similar trials have created (see: George Smith/Phil Waugh or Richie McCaw/Sam Cane).

A number of my peers on this site have pointed to the vastly different interpretation that each, both world class in their own right nonetheless, bring to the position. I believe this to be true.

If the two opensides’ tandem performance against South Africa and Argentina forced coach Cheika’s hand, their showing against the All Blacks must have warmed his heart. He can go forward with the knowledge that he no longer needs to decide which of his two best forwards must start from the bench as once appeared necessary.

With the knowledge he has gleaned from this key victory, Cheika will head to Eden Park, the last serious hit out before the World Cup, with a fair idea of what his best 15 and 23 looks like for the first time.

Win or lose, Australia has made a statement of intent regarding that most coveted of trophies, which is up for grabs later this year. But, to Cheika, every game is important. That too was clear in my discussions with Moore – it has been made clear to the Wallabies that if they lose this weekend they are, in many ways, back to square one.

Nontheless, with Cheika in command of the ship Australia now holds the Puma Trophy, the Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate and most importantly the Rugby Championship. It will not be lost on the coach that the truncated international schedule has given his men an opportunity to add another coveted trophy, perhaps second in value only to the World Cup, the Bledisloe to the cabinet, snapping a 12-year losing streak and a 28-year hoodoo in the heartland of All Black rugby.

The implications of this potential achievement are almost unfathomable. Having started the year at their lowest ever world ranking of sixth, the Wallabies are on the precipice of cementing their place as a top-tier side. They could enter the eighth Rugby World Cup with a cabinet full of southern-hemisphere silverware (the best kind) and a claim, if not an official ranking, of being the best in the world based on form.

Will it happen? Only time will tell. But I for one could not be more excited to watch a new chapter of Australian rugby unfold under Michael Cheika and his marvellous Wallabies.