- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
First, the good news. David Pocock’s decision to take a one-year sabbatical from Australian rugby next year will likely extend the champion flanker’s career.
But here’s the bad news for Wallabies fans: we may have just lost our chance of regaining the Bledisloe Cup in the near future.
Losing Pocock would be an enormous blow in any year. He is perhaps the finest forward in the world and currently would be the only Australian guaranteed to be selected in the All Blacks’ run-on side.
However, there are a couple of reasons why Pocock’s absence may cruel the Wallabies’ chance of regaining that coveted trophy in 2017.
The All Blacks are vulnerable for the next two or three years. A slew of champion players have now retired or are playing overseas. While Australia have also lost some vital cattle such as Sekope Kepu and Adam Ashley-Cooper, none are of the same calibre as Dan Carter, Richie McCaw and Ma’a Nonu.
All three were critical in last year’s World Cup final, and the All Blacks will be significantly weakened by losing these magnificent players. The players that will replace them will not immediately be as good as their predecessors.
However, the brutal reality is it’s hard to see the Wallabies winning the Bledisloe this year when two out of the three games are played in New Zealand. In 2016, even a fully-fit team with an in-form Pocock is going to struggle to win the series.
The Wallabies take on the All Blacks in Sydney during the first weekend in the Rugby Championship. It would be within the home side’s grasp to overcome a team that is traditionally a little slow to start tournaments. That said, Australia haven’t won in New Zealand since 2001 in Dunedin, so the Wallabies will make history if they win in Wellington on August 27. If they force a decider, then the Wallabies will have to face the All Blacks in their fortress, Eden Park.
Game over.
In 2017, two matches will be played in Australia and the Wallabies perform better against the All Blacks at home, but to beat them the Australians need to dominate the All Blacks’ forwards and this is where Pocock’s absence will be clearly felt.
Pocock is the complete footballer. He’s the best pilferer in the world, fantastic at organising the rolling maul and a tough defender who never seems to tire. He is a leader who can galvanise his team and plays with ferocious intensity for the full 80 minutes. His running skills, thought to be a relative weakness, have improved exponentially under Steven Larkham’s tutelage at the Brumbies.
The glowing praise Pocock earned from the New Zealand press on the eve of last year’s World Cup shows that he is one of the few Australian players our Kiwi friends covet.
With Liam Gill leaving for Europe next year, Michael Hooper, Sean McMahon and Matt Hodgson will be expected to step in. With respect to Hodgson’s combative skills, he is deployed as a bench player for the Wallabies, so I would expect McMahon and Hooper to be the men pushing for run-on spots, either in the same position or as part of a No.7-8 combination.
As individual players, neither bring the whole package of skills that Pocock does. And if their appearance against Scotland at the World Cup is any indication, they are not as effective as the current Pocock-Hooper combination.
If the Wallabies are to bring the Bledisloe back, a lot of things need to go right. Even with Pocock, the Wallabies go into any trans-Tasman contest as the underdogs. The statistics bear this out – in 179 matches, the All Blacks lead Australia by 124 wins to 48 with seven draws.
But playing at home is an advantage. Being able to play the third and deciding Bledisloe clash in front of a packed house in Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne instead of Auckland is critical. Now the Wallabies have lost their best weapon for that critical home clash and it has made the challenge of winning back the Bledisloe even harder.
Pocock is a special player and he may be the very man we need to help lead Australia to World Cup glory in 2019. He also has a laudable social conscience and a fierce intellect so I doubt many Wallabies fans will begrudge him leaving for 12 months. However, his unavailability will be keenly felt in a year the Wallabies have a great chance to regain a trophy all fans are desperate to get back.
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.