In case you missed it, things are not going well for rugby in Australia right now. At the top level, the Wallabies and Super Rugby teams have found themselves left wanting game after game when it really matters.
The past few weeks of poor performances have seen the Wallabies get white washed at home by the English, in disappointment that quickly turned darker at how badly we were beaten.
Australia’s Super Rugby teams have managed to get the minimum mandatory lone team in the Finals in the Brumbies, despite a season of being shown up.
Most feel comfortable enough that the Canberra side don’t need to be looking at hotel accommodation for the Semi Finals after their match against the Highlanders.
The past two weekends in Super Rugby have been hard for the Aussie teams and the 2016 Super Rugby championship so far has highlighted some worrying gaps. But let’s be specific – what are these gaps and what are the reasons behind them that could guide the ARU to some effective fixes.
Strategy and Execution
Many Roarers, including myself, have written recently about the lack of street smarts within Australian rugby teams currently. Throughout the Test series against England we saw the Wallabies unable to switch from Plan A to Plan B. In fact Plan B looked a lot like it was “let’s do Plan A faster.”
At the Super Rugby level the Australian mentality seems to be – “you may well score four tries but we’re going to score five”.
This is worrying for two reasons:
1. It is an acceptance that your defence is going to crack time and time again;
2. It relies hugely on the ability to attack effectively, no matter what the circumstance
There are many wonderful cliches in sport but one that seems to hold true in rugby is that attack wins games, defence wins championships.
There have been times throughout this rugby season where Aussie teams have carved the opposition apart with some wonderful tries scored. But you don’t get extra points for the style in which you score.
Just looking at the penultimate round of the Super Rugby, the Aussie sides conceded over 220 points across one weekend and five games. That’s worrying. Of course, teams have off days, but for all of them to have off days on the same day is not bad luck. It’s bad defence.
The English showed in the second Test the power of solid, well organised and fast rushing defence. They created very little in the game but were able to win the match and the series by kicking their goals and holding wave after wave of Australian attacks out. To compound this, the Aussies had no variety to their attack; no ability to think strategically and break their opponents down over 80 minutes.
There’s no real evolving strategy at play. Looking deeper, the ability to execute the strategy also seems to be missing in action which leads on to the next two points.
Focus on ball handling over kicking
Australian players seem unwilling or unable to kick well out of hand. I’m not sure if this is because they don’t have the skill set or whether it’s an agreed approach to not kick, but Aussie teams are making it hard for themselves by not having this weapon in their armoury.
Throughout the Test series we saw a number of poor kicks from the Wallabies and this past weekend we saw yet another example. With the Waratahs handed an opportunity to win the game by scoring a converted try in the last few minutes, a good kick off was needed by Foley.
It was expected to see a boot that put the ball high and hung in the air, giving his forwards time to get under it and compete for possession that would put them 40 metres out from the Blues try line.
What happened was kind of symptomatic of the Australian rugby season so far – poor execution at a time that mattered and any chance of a fight back fizzled out. Foley didn’t kick the 10 metres and the Blues got the scrum in the middle of the field.
Kicking in rugby is not boring. It is not the unskilled players’ way out of running and passing. It is a critical skill that can build pressure on your opponents and give you time and control in a game that is fast paced and chaotic.
What is then even more confusing is this – if the Aussie sides are going to heavily prefer keeping the ball in hand, then surely it would be fair to expect that they would be very, very good at it. Yet, we see dropped ball all too often.
Lack of ball handling skills
What is more concerning is that Australian teams not only seem to be focused on keeping the ball in hand and moving it around, but they aren’t actually very good at it.
If your number one game plan is going to be to run the ball and pass precisely, then you absolutely have to have the basic ball skills to do that.
Time and again, in both Super Rugby and the Test series we saw handling errors from backs and forwards alike. In stark contrast were teams like the Crusaders and Chiefs whose high quality ball handling allowed them to punish teams from almost anywhere on the pitch. These teams create space and then put men into that space with crisp passing, perfectly popped offloads, and good lines of running.
There is something quite unnerving about an Australian rugby side that can’t pass and catch perfectly. It’s just not right – like seeing your Prime Minister in a pair of budgie smugglers. You recognise all the elements that are in front of you, but their broader context just doesn’t make sense and makes you feel something is very wrong.
This might be making a few too many connections but for me this makes me think that the coaching at more junior levels is just not where it needs to be. It’s almost like the Under 20s in the Holden Cup in the NRL – they just don’t seem to learn the defensive skills that you’d assume they would.
In Australian rugby the basic core skills just aren’t good enough to compete with the top clubs and nations at the moment.
Defence
I’ve already touched on the importance of defence in rugby and championships, but it’s worth reiterating with one more frustrating point.
This past weekend, the Waratahs had a real chance to put themselves beyond reach of the Brumbies and secure Finals rugby. They had to play well, but they had shown during the season that on their day they can beat most if not any team.
Yet, when concentration, focus and good simple rugby was required the Tahs were found wanting. With almost every single ‘Tahs try against the Blues, they then allowed the Blues to score within three minutes.
This is something that is drilled into school boy teams – do not give away points just after you’ve scored.
Play simple rugby that secures possession, takes the sting out of any opposition revenge attack and control the ball and the game.
On the flip side, when the final whistle was ten minutes away and the game was still up for grabs, the Blues played cleverly with kicks in behind, forcing the Tahs to run from deep or take 22m drop outs that could then be contested.
Conclusion
It’s clear that these really aren’t individual points – they are all very closely connected and the better teams understand that a strong defence is part of a strong strategy, and that concentration is key to executing both game plans and ball skills alike.
But in a way that’s more worrying – it’s not just a case of getting the players tackling better or for the number 10s to practice their kicking from hand. There are fundamental, critical flaws with the way that Australian teams are playing at the moment both at club and country level.
Is it a life cycle thing? It could be. Sports absolutely go through peaks and troughs for individual clubs and nations alike.
In way we should probably hope that it is a life cycle situation because if its not then it could well point to other, harder to solve issues like under investment in junior rugby, weak development paths for coaches at all levels and a weakening player pool thanks to the attraction of overseas offers and the rise of other sports.
It hasn’t been all doom and gloom, to be fair. There have been some promising performances from a number of younger players such as Tom English at the Rebels. With so many top tier players heading overseas, the Aussie Super Rugby sides will need as many Tom Englishes as possible. And the Wallabies will want to see better coaching from the State coaches so that Cheika and his team have smarter, wiser players for the Rugby Championship.
The Rugby Championship and Bledisloe within is going to be so important for Australian rugby. The Super Rugby season and Test Series has thrown up a disappointing set of results. The coming Tests against the annual foes is an opportunity to show that those results were just an anomaly and that normal service is being resumed.
The very real alternative is that the Australians find themselves in a dog fight to avoid the wooden spoon against the South Africans and Argentinians.
Akari
Roar Rookie
It is also not too late to identify AFL and league players that may not have made the grade and getting them into our game and developing them as well. I am sure that there are lot of gems within that needs to be discovered and nurtured.
Akari
Roar Rookie
That would require a cultural change across the board then and I think that the Rebels should be in a good position to make the changes given the youthfulness and uncorrupted nature and possible enthusiasm of their young players. Let's hope that Rebels' coach Tony McGahan has the wherewithal to plan and make the changes required as he has to work with what he has got at the mo.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Yeah it's done all the time Hoy. Same with Pocock at 8 where he doesn't provide lineout ball. Hooper at Seven where he doesn't scavenge and turn over well enough. Folau has his shortcomings, AAC wasn't a great passer etc etc. It's just a matter of coping with the players they have...encourage what they do best, cope with the rest. NZ has more options- they can look at four or five tens or Fullbacks and choose which ticks the most boxes. Oz don't have that luxury. And some stuff you just can't train. Pocock will never dominate lineouts, Beale cover his opposite adequately. There's no reason he can't tackle, he just won't in some situations.
Hoy
Roar Guru
They should not be Wallabies without the required skills. That is the issue here... These blokes get to the international game with limited skills... We put up with Beale and Cooper's ordinary defense for some reason. Over the last 10 years, you would reckon they would have worked on it themselves day in, day out prior to being selected to play for their country?
Brisbane Boys
Guest
Wrll Said
RubberLegs
Guest
How true. Big Aussie kids don't aren't coached to develop the Charlie Ngatai skill set. They just barge through opponents at junior levels. At some point they meet opponents who have more skills and can tackle, Then big, one dimensional players are stymied. Australia used AAC and McCabe in the 2011 WC - big crash-ballers with limited skills - Like Toulon in the Top 14 final. Required skills cannot be learnt in a month long Wallaby camp.
Squirrel
Guest
Until you improve the domestic comps you won't get better players or coaches. You need pathways for schoolboys to become wallabies. Wake up you journalists and forget the NRC. Develop country , Sydney and Brissy as this is where you get your players and supporters. By neglecting your base you are destroying the game. It's that simple. Do you think league would be strong without the nrl competion.
Vesi Tagoiaega
Guest
We all know who should name coach of the year in2015 not Cheika so he wasn't the best coach last year because we all know there was a better coach than him
Oliver Matthews
Expert
I would agree with you accept that the poor performances over the past couple of months seem to be as a result of key underlying issues - not just poor form. And the performances have been across all Aussie Super Rugby sides and the Wallabies.
Marius Ciliers
Roar Guru
"There’s no real evolving strategy at play." This I believe is the Key issue. New Zeeland were forced to restructure and up their game fast. They have always had a nack for elevating their game every year,but this year stood out as a we must step up and bring it year. With the loss of so many stars. Auz and SA as well lost many guys. But neither moved on. New level - Game on. Auz hasn't stepped it up. The Brumbies showed good form. Then chaos for months due to internal bs. That bs seemed to spread like a virus through out the other Auz teams and culminated in giant emotional messy chaos when the poms arrived. So yes. It's a case of the Auzies to step up. From supporter all the way to Coach ,players and personel and more so the ARU. SA has political bs to deal with with splintered unions doing their own things plsying lord of the island. Auz dont have these issues. Therefore no excuse. Shut up,take a moment,get your bearings,assess the situation,do your homework,stand together and create a difinitive Auz Rugby Strategy from School level all the way up to the Wallabies. You can't play wgen you are broke. Simple math. Get the finances sorted. Get decent leadership in all areas. Setup a decent accountability department. No fringe splinter unions. And get it done. Move on to the Game. Get a decent coaching program on the go,again frombschool lvl to the wallabies. And stop second guesing yourselves. Your Ausies and are awsum. Stop the excuses and do what needs to be done.
Brendan
Guest
Theres issues at Super Rugby level, but the wallabies will remain strong atleast another year or two. The Hungrier side which bought their game plan won the test series (England) just as the hungrier side executed their game plan better in the world cup equivalent (Australia). England stayed calm when it matered and Australia reacted like a michael hooper bad hair day. With Pocock included i still think they can beat anyone on their day. He might have settled then down a bit too. The issues with Australian rugby remain and have been there a long time, but they do usually manage to find enough quality to fill 15 jerseys ok. the decision to select overseas players is going to be very bad for their super rugby teams in the next 5 years (inexperienced youth depreived the chance to play alongside and be in same squad as experience). Time will tell, i think it was a decision made out of panic: The world cup was just around the corner, and the australian public are now used to watching their football squad with players from germany, holland, belgium in it. If they didnt do it and ended with a quarter final loss or worse couldnt get out of that pool they would have faced an inquisition. Now its probably best to readdress that balance and think of whts best for the next 10 years, or though australian rugby have never been great at looking forward
Pete
Guest
Eddie hasn't even completed a year yet. Good motivators will get easy quick results, look at Chieka compared with his predecessor, and now look. You're way too ahead of yourself. Give a bit of time to see what Jones really does with England. And Chieka too for that matter. Last year his great success was the RC, in its shortened format. You think he'd have that trophy if the Wobblies had to play away games in NZ and SAF. Unlikely. You seem pretty young so you can be forgiven for lack of context and understanding the history of the teams you talk about.
Brendan
Guest
Some good points ollie. Most Australians in the know will say the issues have not changed for 20 years+ kids play rugby up to 10 or 12, maybe 15 or 16. As soon as some talent is shown league clubs offer opportunities through academies and well estabished juniors squads that rugby cant compete with. If you scratch below the surface of the super rugby franchises australian rugby has very little else to offer, there is an attempt to get a new competition up and running, though i havent heard how that is going. Unfortunately it is likely to be loss making for several years. In my opinion the ARU showed gross negligence during the good times. World Cup winners twice, this was the moment to put the infrastructure and grass roots into the sport. Ever since then there has been a land grab for talent and tv rights in australia, with the biggest growth area coming from some forward thinking Australian football administrators. The least growth in rugby. League and A Rules have also realy upped their game at youth level. While Rugbys strategy became to attempt to take the best league player, i honestly think the ARU at that time mustve believed "we are the world champions, league cant compete with us now they will have a slow death". The same administration remember changed the bledisloe cup from 3 tests to 2 in an attempt to keep it at home for longer, and fine that is a strategy theyre entitled too, but again its a negative step - its not embracing and encouraging growth in the sport in australia, quite the opposite. It served its effect, and as with politics and every other facet you always get away with negligence during the good moments. The culture that has lead to in modern times is a belief that you dont need to develop rugby players, you can just sign a league player who looks fast and has quick hands. This mentality is proving a poison to Australian rugby, even the most talented athletes have taken a full 3 years to fully change into Rugby thinking and reading the game, it is that different. And most of that is learnt in the 17-22 age group.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Bingo, the combination of the two meant a disaster for the Wallabies. That and just not developing any new players to test level recently.
Oliver Matthews
Expert
Maybe that's one of the things that Jones has been able to help them with - find their own style and then execute it well enough to beat some of the best teams in the world. Meanwhile the Aussies are struggling to define their style AND to then execute on the style that they pick.
taylorman
Roar Guru
England rarely out score the SH sides in terms of tries. Even when they did their magical twelve straight running 2003 they were just as much behind on the try count as ahead in each of the tests. Like then, the presence of dominant kicking...goals and field position, and tight defence has seen them home. They're still the same as they've always been, only now they're much tighter, more organised, more focussed.
Akari
Roar Rookie
Agree BBA and they must start at some point and I would have expected the starting point to be the preparation two weeks before the June tests against England and continuing at their respective super rugby clubs.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Geez I dunno. Think you've gotta wonder how someone like Owen Farrell can be responsible for winning a series against you. He's not that great a player, has been around for years, doesn't have a great nose for running an attack or backline. Think it's more a sign your rugby has slipped than anything Farrell has done if he's seen as a critical figure. Sure he kicked some goals and played the corners well. If that's enough to see you out the door then it's not a good sign.
Ruckin' Oaf
Guest
Yeah I was wondering that myself. The win against England was good. But then England was horribly out of form at the time. The wins against Wales and Scotland seemed to have a big element of luck to them.
puff
Guest
Sorry concerned Support, but we all have reasons to be concerned. As an OZ rugby fan, why candy coat our short comings at this time. If you desire to discuss history we were extremely lucky to make the final and in all honesty never looked like toppling the Kiwi’s. For Cheika to be awarded coach of the year in 2015, is an interesting choice. As the world rugby pundits felt Hanson was far the best coach at that time, will a winning percentage exceeding 90%, significantly more than any other coach at the WRC, with Eddie, Cheika, Danial Hourcade and Vern Cotter in the mix for their team’s contribution. We don’t expect miracles from the wallabies but not an English white wash either, to be fair. Regardless of the tries we scored there were numerous other areas which highlighted we made frequent poor judgments, use the incorrect strategy and allowed the English to dominate all three tests. All the above is the coach’s responsibility, as all three tests were winnable. With that said, to have success moving forward would be great, starting with the Bledisloe.