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The Wallabies have started the year as losers. Four consecutive losses and all of them home games in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.
Where could it have all gone wrong? Just last year they were competing for the World Cup with the All Blacks, and now they can’t even beat the Poms – the team they knocked out the World Cup in their home.
So was beating the All Blacks last weekend a dream or could have it been a reality?
We all watched the game on the weekend, and in cased you missed it the score was 42 – 8 to guess who? Yep, the All Blacks. The game was ugly for Wallabies fans. There was no effort whatsoever or if there was, we just couldn’t see it.
There are only very few players who could hold their head high from the Wallabies, like Israel Folau. I know it’s easy to judge from behind a screen, but these guys are professional athletes this is what they do for a living and it is a hard environment to turn up every game.
So I am going to be honest here, the Rugby World Cup it was a spectacle. Beautiful moments, great turn out and some wonderful rugby were played. However, the Wallabies weren’t as good as we thought they were.
In fact, the teams they played just weren’t that good. England didn’t turn up, Wallabies always beat Wales and then they just scraped by Scotland, a game Scotland should have won.
Though they did beat Argentina, they play each other every year in the Rugby Championship they would know each other inside and out.
The Wallabies played All Blacks in the final. In our heads at the time Wallabies knew they had a chance if they could compete, they put the effort in and they lost. Mentally it has taken it’s toll on them, it has drained their confidence.
What do Wallabies have to do, to get their mojo back? They have to start again. They have to do what the Wallabies do best and play Wallabies-like rugby.
Another thing they have to do is get rid of the ‘Giteau law’ which basically means they have to use the players they have selected from over-seas. Wallabies have to trust the talent in their own country and develop them. If they are selecting players from overseas, the players here are going to say ‘What about us?’
What the ARU have to do is keep the talent in Australia and make the players want to wear the gold again. There is only one player who Australia should fight for, and that is James O’Connor. He has had his fair share of trouble on and off the field but he possesses many talents the Wallabies desperately need.
On the field, the forward pack needs a reshuffle. A huge clear out, majority of that team has been around for years with such little success.
I know you have to build a team bond, and chemistry but most of those blokes won’t be around for the next World Cup.
I would have started Nick Phipps and Quade Cooper to make the halves, Matt Toomua at inside centre, Folau at outside centre, Taqele Naiyaravoro and O’Connor on the wing and Dane Haylett Petty at fullback.
The pack is a huge mystery. There are not enough players stepping up and that is the question.
Can the Wallabies find a strong, physical pack to dominate other teams? Every World Class team has strong pack of forwards.
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.