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.
Republican
Guest
....the Kangaroos aren't that crash hot these days either. They struggle to match it with NZ who are ranked 1in the world in that rugby as well. League is a smidgeon above being niche in NZ so no excuses really.
Republican
Guest
......concur. I believe this is indicative of Australian sport truth be told. We don't come together as one because we have evolved more a nation of disparate states. This is why the passion in the SOO is far greater than what you will ever harness when our Kangaroos don the green and gold. The passion which other nations display in spades and especially NZ, who are superior than us in League these days, despite that code being niche there, can be the difference between victory and defeat.
Republican
Guest
I reckon the Wallabies form is indicative of the status of the code in this country truth be told. We are a second tier Rugby nation that sometimes punches above its weight. Union here simply does not attract the grass roots talent required to go to the next level, while the status of the code here is unlikely to improve any time soon - in fact it is regressing in the sporting psyche of Australia. Unfortunately our benchmark has for too long been NZ because they are geographically close. We must cast our net further afield, pitting ourselves against more realistic opposition, to play fewer fixtures against the All Blacks because this only harms the code here, given the decades of ground hog day dominance they assume over the Wallas. Japan would offer a closer contest these days as they have improved out of sight as would the Pumas.
Zack
Roar Rookie
The England triumph in the June tests should be put in perspective: they scored 9 tries, as did Australia so it's not as if they dominated the Wallabies to the extent their supporters would believe. But for the odd brainfart on the field (and, dare I say it, in certain selections!!) and unkind bounce, Australia would have won. In this respect, Hansen was right in his observation that Cheika was bullied by EddieTheMouth. Whatever happens tonight, I think Cheika will review a lot of his selections for the match against South Africa, with a view to winning a minimum of 3 out of the 4 matches against SA and Argentina. With all the problems it faces and has faced, Australia actually punches significantly above its weight in Union....
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
The NRL clubs are not the same things as Shute shield clubs...
Squirrel
Guest
Agree with Johnno and cs would the kangaroos be any good without nrl clubs, this is what the ARU and TWAS believes that we don't need clubs to produce players they just fall from the skies
Stephen C
Guest
Fair assessment, Browny. Gill will be back and I actually think that Auelea has retired due to injury. I would love to see Timani at Eight and your comments about Thor are accurate - a bit more time needed, Slough the impact he had in the recent finals series for the Brisbane comp was very impressive. Houston for me is about giving him a crack. Big raves about his Bath form. But mainly I like the fact that he is big and fast with ball skills. I am reasonably happy,with the 9/10/12/13 combo that has been picked for this weekend's match. Mere I deserves a shot at 13 and who knows, maybe taking the pressure off Foley and allowing him to run a bit more might do him the world of good.
Browny
Roar Rookie
Slipper Hansen Kepu Douglas Coleman Fardy Gill/Pocock - scratch Gill as he isn't available. Still young so plenty of time after he gets back from Toulon I imagine. Auelea - Pretty sure he's left Aus? Genia Cooper Naiyavoro - currently unavailable, in Japan. Kerevi Folau - needs to defend at 13 before he can be considered there. Maybe next year... Morahan Hayley-Petty Smith P-Nau / Ready Tongan Thor – develop him - I'd argue we give him another year or so before introducing him. Get his set piece down before throwing him into the deep end. He's going to be a champ for years to come, no need to rush it. Timani/ Arnold - Arnold still injured? Timani isn't a lock, even though he packs there for the Rebels. Stick him at 8 or even 6. Houston - did he really show anything in his brief stint back at QLD? McMahon Frisby Godwin - Needs to show some form first. Still young, maybe next year if he can turn it around at the Brumbies. Speight - Let him play some XVs first. Think he'll be playing NRC for the vikings, he'll need a couple of games to get back into the swing of thigsg.
Bakkies
Guest
Were you living in a bubble?
Bakkies
Guest
'The junior gold cup at under-16 level has been scrapped and rightly so if you ask me, more money should go to creating elite junior comps.' Which is what the Junior Gold Cup is
stainlesssteve
Guest
TK, it has to be right from top to bottom. I watched a bit of Aussie club rugby in 2009, perhaps things have changed, but they played a relaxed style of footie then, approaching meditation. If you want to win, you have to play hard. Having said that, I like the style approaching meditation, i find it more enjoyable to watch. Having said that, last Saturday's first half was a stunning display. And yes, i think the Wallabies are there or thereabouts
Josef Stalin
Guest
We need a new coach. This coach maybe charming to the media, which seems to suck them in. But the team is woeful.
Trivette Kelekolio
Roar Rookie
Yes, the Wallabies lack of skill is very bad. Not only the forwards but the backs are becoming very one dimensional - Bernard Foley is one for instance. Basically, the Wallabies squad is made up of very average players who get their own job done. Only 2 players in the pack could be classed as 'X Factor' (Hooper, Pocock) yet they play the same position, and Folau in the backline who is probably playing in the wrong position.
Trivette Kelekolio
Roar Rookie
I actually have considered all of these points and I have been saying this for many years and now the Wallabies will suffer for it. It has been proven at 20's level (JWC) and now at the Wallabies. Australia has to make RU an attractive sport again, sadly it lost a lot of supporters due to how the ARU has been run, and the players who put it's look in jeopardy. So if you look at the international game of Rugby League, it is not as good as what Union has to offer and they have to use that to draw players in. If you can't fix from the bottom, you have to start at the top because something is not right with the ARU.
Trivette Kelekolio
Roar Rookie
You make very good points, that I have not thought about. But yes, South Africa are looking relatively weak also. Just scraping past Argentina who is improving every year since their introduction to the Rugby Championship. South Africa v Wallabies will come down to who wants it more and pride in their shirt. The way I see AS developing is how Lancaster took England in and tried to change their playing style. Though I do see Argentina finishing second, leaving Wallabies and the Springboks battling it out for last placed.
Trivette Kelekolio
Roar Rookie
Wallabies have great depth, but when majority of those players play for Wallabies they end up usually going off the radar etc Liam Gill? I do believe Wallabies are missing pace on the wings. That is the biggest weak point. Haylett Petty is no winger, Rob Horne is no winger, Ashley Cooper has majority played his career on the wing for Wallabies but he is no winger either as for Tomane, he was never good enough. Wallabies need proper wingers, Naiyaravoro and ]Koroibete (NRL - Melbourne Storm winger) should be the wingers. I am no, Wallabies nor All Blacks fan in fact I am a England supporter - but on the weekend I will be hoping Wallabies will put up a good fight against the All Blacks, maybe an upset.
CUW
Guest
" he 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. " my thinking is , a pack has to have 3 attribute - power , speed , skills. imo , auzzy do have the power, they did not get shoved off their ball at scrums , so they do have enuf strength collectively and individually. but they lack speed and the skills. the front rowers seem very slow compared to nz or england or saffers. and the entire team lack multi-dimensional skills. their aim shud be to have skills like the fijian 7S team :) seriously - look at someone like Leone nakrawa , a 2nd rower offloading , pilfering , stepping - its the new norm for forwards play. the game is moving in a new direction - either u catch the bus or miss forever!
TMurph
Guest
The NSW team are terrible in SOO
TMurph
Guest
I've never understood that. I can't remember as a child ever caring how Australia performed at any sport.
concerned supporter
Guest
@Johnno, Pretty accurate summation of schoolboy & junior Rugby in Australia particularly Sydney. With last Saturdays embarrassing defeat,less juniors would be wanting to play rugby.