I’ve been struggling to put my finger on exactly what the Wallabies have been striving towards all throughout the Rugby Championship.
This was only compounded on Thursday when the team line up was released.
I read through the comments with a cathartic joy, others stating what I was thinking. Until half way through it finally clicked.
Michael Cheika has a very certain way he likes to play. He likes the bigger, dominating forwards, a settled, flat running back-line and finishers on the bench. Through his time at the Waratahs and the Rugby World Cup this was all ways his stated goal.
Sure, it suffered compromises along the way. For the Waratahs, the depth sometimes weakened the bench. At the international level the requirement to find two or three 60-minute players often weakened the forward pack. Against England injuries cruelled the new order, with Foley out of form.
Through the Rugby Championship, well, the less said the better – although every newly blooded player has stepped up.
But now with the selections for Bledisloe 3, we see a return to the Cheika selections I expect. There are big, abrasive, hard running forwards. A flat running backline – and a bench with some serious class in normal starters Dave Pocock, the serial pest, and Rob Simmons, to strengthen the set piece.
Looking at this, I only have two comments that stand out.
1) Tevita Kuridrani would be a better choice for backline balance, selected at outside centre with Henry Speight dropped. This provides more versatility in case of injury, and better defence.
2) If Beale was fit, Quade Cooper would be in the stands.
So why in heaven’s name have we not seen anything like this through the Rugby Championship? A 12 at 12, a winger on the wing and an 8 at 8.
In the engine room Cheika has been slow to bring in the new blood, in particular Rory Arnold and Lopeti Timani. The Wallabies have been shackled by the Pooper.
In the back line, with Foley out of form, Quade Cooper was brought in to buy a win. Moving Foley to 12 allowed him time and space to play back into form out of the spot light.
Cheika weakened the entire backline to give Foley the game time to find form. And if Beale was fit Quade would have been dropped completely for Bledisloe three despite getting the victories Australia (and Cheika) needed on the way.
Of course, after the game we can all see how it turned out. Bernard Foley had his best running game all year on the back of a dominant forward performance (casually not mentioning kicking from hand or tee), with decent distribution as well.
Where to from here? That is a discussion for another day.
Odds'n'sods
Guest
I really hope someone does a in-depth look at the Back-line set up and style, this used to be an Auz strength. Under Larken, at both the Brumbies and the Wallabies, there is little evidence of success. For this reason it is very hard to split Foley or Cooper - in fact the entire set-up is more favourable towards Foleys style. Still, no tries = no tries.
Gray-Hand
Guest
I just get the feeling that Cheika has hit the ceiling of what he can achieve with this team. In the past he has been able to convince his bosses to shell out the extra money to buy the player he needs (Elsom, Folau), but that's no longer an option. So it's not going to get any better.
Ruckin' Oaf
Guest
Hey Seriously, Funny BEFORE the England tests nobody was saying they were unbeatable. Most of the commentary was tipping 3-0 to Australia. Wasn't England ranked BELOW South Africa at the end of 2015? Re possession in Pretoria we had 55% possession and 60% territory. Considerably less than against the AB's on Saturday. Re taking it to the line - when the team manages to score 1 try and gets soundly thrashed who cares. It would be like picking a fly-half on the basis of how well he sings the national anthem. Sure he can't catch, tackle or pass but he has such a lovely tenor voice he must be in the side. Where were the line breaks off Foley - where were the players hitting the gaps and beating the man ? Typical Foley defence brigade - ignore the facts and trot out some guff like "run 10 metres sideways". But I suppose when you're defending Foley then facts aren't really your friend.
Seriously?
Guest
Are you serious with that win-ratio argument? - Foley's 5 matches were against England and New Zealand. - Cooper's 5 matches were against Argentina and a poor Springbok side. His one start against the ABs, we scored 0 (ZERO) tries and didn't even look threatening in attack. Re possession - In Pretoria we had loads of possession and time in Springbok territory, yet we only scored 1 try....against a team going through lots of their own troubles....hmmm Re taking it to the line - Better than Cooper who never takes it to the line but prefers to run 10 metres sideways rather than get tackled. Not claiming Foley is the best flyhalf, nor am I a Quade-hater, but your one-sidedness is ridiculous.
RubberLegs
Guest
Cheika reports only to the ARU. The ARU have given him a contract to 2019. No matter how badly the Wallabies perform, Coach Clown will be collecting his fat salary until after the next World Cup beacuse he meets the ARU's #1 KPI (select Tahs) and they cannot afford to pay out his contract. Maybe they will sack Larkham to save some $.
Ruckin Oaf'
Guest
"Foley has patches of individual flair and breaks the line at times" Yeah it's funny but playing at 10 he played like a good 12 should. Playing at 12 he's been hopeless.
Xiedazhou
Guest
Foley is in the side unless he gets injured. That much is obvious. Strange how before the game, Foley had to be in the side because "he was needed for his goal kicking". So he misses two from in front, but has a reasonable running game and a few good passes, behind a forward pack giving him front-foot ball, and now the narrative is "Foley has to be in, he ignites the back line". Mention of his atrocious place kicking is studiously avoided. Foley had a reasonable game on the weekend. It was by far his best game for the year, but was hardly outstanding. The first AB try came from the return of a very poor Foley kick, his kicking for touch was atrocious, he abrogated the responsibility for clearance from the goal line to Hodge (because he simply is no good at this), and the young guy got burnt, his place kicking was poor, his restarts were not good (even though he had plenty of practice, they were generally too deep to contest, but not deep enough to control field position), and he didn't convert a mountain of possession and field position into many points. He did however have some nice moments, running and distributing. For all the plaudits for Foley's game, by what matrix was Foley's performance better than that of Cooper's against the Boks in Brisbane this year (a game that we won, coincidentally)? But no doubt, one satisfactory game in every ten or more will be enough to build back line around this "must-have" pivot. Cheika acts as though he owes Foley for his successes and his position, and in a way he does. Foley misses the kick in the SR Final, and Cheika likely does not become Wallabies coach. Sad for the national team however that we will under-perform, as long as Cheika allows emotion, not logic, to determine the make-up of his teams.
Bert
Guest
Toats agree here, Foley has patches of individual flair and breaks the line at times, but, does not steer the team around the park. Doesn't read the game. Cant kick etc, etc. One of the last trys was scored after a long passage of play interrupts by a great WBs steal, only for the Foley kick to miss touch and give the ABs another great chance to counter-attack. OMG!! We needed a 'settler' and instead got an enema. As stated, the reason Foley looked ok, was because of the fine work the forwards were doing to break the line. And, once we subbed out reserves on that drive ended. This is where the discussion needs to focus. How do we replicate that style of play for 80 mins!!!
PeterK
Roar Guru
Foley was not retained at 12 to be played back into form. Cheika is wedded to the 2nd playmaker at 12 concept and all the playmakers for no 12 have been injured. He did realise he could not have both Cooper and Foley against NZ so finally tried Hodge. Hodge was poor, missed 4 tackles, poor positioning at 12, not effective at attack etc. With Kerevi out injured either Foley will be moved back to 12 or Folau may be played at 12 and TK at 13. Folau in attack from set piece was at 12 against NZ.
PeterK
Roar Guru
Skelton multiple times this year The only one though. Others have been due to injury. Only relegation to a bench too has been Mumm and Phipps. Foley and Mumm have been a protected species. Hooper too should have been on the bench last test.
Westie
Guest
I've been trying not to mention it because there are plenty of tah fans here that just can't see it. When was the last time you saw Cheika drop a tah?
Doubles
Guest
Building Towards??? mmm... Let me see...I have it..........Chieka is only interested in getting as many Waratahs in his test team as possible ..The problem will be next year when Horne and Beale are fit .Those two will be automatic selections in Chiekas backline with Foley and Folau. Add Mumm Hooper Kepu TPN Phipps and you can see his plan moving forward.. I`d say Cooper and 1 of Hodge, Kerevi ,TK and DHP will be in the stands with QUADE..
insomniac
Guest
He does take it to the line ... the halfway line ... to kick off once again.
Ruckin' Oaf
Guest
Foley had his best game all year. He had a dominant forward pack. He had nearly 70% of possession. He had the most potent backline outside him that the Wallabies have fielded all year. The Wallabies scored 1 try, 10 points and were soundly thrashed. So far this year the Wallabies have played 10 with Foley the starting fly-half in 5 of those matches and Cooper the starter for 5. With Foley starting fly-half the Wallabies have 5 matches for 0 wins. With Cooper starting the Wallabies have 5 matches for 3 wins. Hey let's keep Foley :) Quick Foley defence brigade - excuses to the ready - leap into action. (try "he takes it to the line" that's always a good un )