Ah, the Wallabies. They giveth, and they taketh away. Often in the same match.
So it was again, for the fourth time this year, that a chronic lack of a plan B proved their great undoing in the final match of the season. A little over a week ago, a 2016 record of eight wins-seven losses looked very possible, and there’s no doubting Wallabies fans would’ve been thrilled, after the way the year started.
The sporadic signs of improvement over the back-half of the year would’ve pointed in the right direction with an eight and seven record. Though the Cook and Bledisloe Cups were long gone, the season would’ve finished in much better health than it started.
Heck, even seven wins-eight losses probably would’ve have been swallowed in time, for much the same reason.
But six and nine doesn’t quite wash, does it?
Even with seven of those nine losses coming against England and New Zealand – comfortably the best two teams in the world now – the other two came against South Africa and Ireland, teams that the Wallabies really should be beating if they have designs on the pointy end of the rankings.
What’s worse, there were opportunities to win both of those games against South Africa and Ireland, and like we’ve seen so often from this current generation of Wallabies, they didn’t have the wits of the wherewithals to close the deal.
If you weren’t somewhat expecting it by now, you’d probably be more concerned.
The issues for the Wallabies are many and varied, and probably too numerous to try and fit into one column. Which is probably good, because I have an editor wanting to me to keep writing about rugby through the summer!
One constant throughout 2016 has been that the Wallabies can make ground and create scoring opportunities against any team in the world. They can even look as sharp as any team in the world as they do it, so long as – and this is the bloody big if – they can get good quality, front-foot ball.
The other constant is that the problems have always arisen when that front-foot ball doesn’t come.
All too many times this season, the lack of front-foot ball has led to the Wallabies looking at a deficit on the scoreboard, and from there, the panic has set in.
The Wallabies are okay as front-runners, but they’re hopeless when they have to chase a game.
The major issue in this scenario is that the Wallabies’ attacking breakdown presence has been lacking all year.
It only takes one lazy forward to hit a ruck half a second too slowly to highlight this deficiency, and at times in 2016, the Wallabies have had plenty of lazy forwards on the field.
Michael Hooper had an enormous game at Twickenham – he was arguably the best Australian player on the field – but there were too many times in which he was the only Wallaby following the carrier to clean out.
Early on in the game, Hooper followed Israel Folau in support, and it was Hooper’s clean-out that actually forced the ball free for George Ford to toe the ball ahead; Dane Haylett-Petty only just beat Marlon Yarde to force the ball in-goal.
But where are the other supporting forwards? Where were the trailing forwards to hit the ruck and at least keep the loose ball in Australian hands? And why was Hooper Folau’s only support?
This is compounded by a lack of go-forward, which until the inclusion of Adam Coleman and Lopeti Timani in the starting XV in the latter part of the year, has become an endemic issue.
Teams know that if you can knuckle down in defence and restrict the Wallabies’ ability to make ground, the risks will increase, the mistakes will come, and there will be scoring opportunities a-plenty.
There’s no doubt England won this game because they were the better team, but they were the better team because they could play according to their game plan for longer.
Despite a surprisingly lacklustre first half an hour, Eddie Jones would’ve drummed into his team all week that they only needed to get themselves into the lead to put the Wallabies under pressure.
And how did he know this? Because that’s exactly what they did for three weeks this year back in June.
Establish a lead, fall back into the default defence and breakdown dominance, and wait to capitalise on the inevitable Australian mistakes.
Hooper and David Pocock did their best, but the Wallabies’ back five forwards were clearly outpointed by their opposite numbers.
So while it’s true that the Wallabies have shown some very good signs of improvement in some aspects of their game, until they can overcome this complete inability to remain composed when behind on the scoreboard, nothing will change.
In the long run, maybe the Wallabies will learn this latest lesson handed down by England, but given that nothing was learnt from three consecutive lessons handed out back in June, I’m not holding my breath just yet.
Shane D
Roar Rookie
& very possibly vice versa Joey
mtiger
Guest
Just watched the last 20 minutes of the ENG game. 1) Frisby should have come in at 50. 2) Cooper should have come in at 50, for Foley. 64' Foley missed penalty. and then started the sequence for Joseph's intercept try. Cheika should be fired
ClarkeG
Guest
If you can't see whats wrong with a player behaving in that way Akari then I can't help you. Presumably if you condone this then you condone any behaviour that might make a referee think an infringement has been committed by another player - e.g. diving, feigning injury. Whether or not you think it is a penalty is irrelevant as is the view of Phipps in this instance. If the referee does not see it as a penalty then it's not a penalty. It is play on. Just because other players indulge in this sort of behaviour does not justify it I'm afraid. Rather it highlights an area of the game that should be treated more harshly by officials.
Shane D
Roar Rookie
I don't think that Peyper was very interested in penalising Vunipola & rewatching the incident I can see why. Vunipola has made the tackle, has moved out of the way of the ball coming back & is moving to lay flat, out of Phipps way (if you look at 2 breakdowns previously he did the same thing). Phipps comes into clear the ball & runs in between Vunipola & the breakdown so Vunipola is behind him. Vunipola stops his motion as if he continued to flatten down he would have impeded Phipps. If Phipps had made a show of falling over Vunipola then I suggest he would have been awarded a penalty but he had clear access to the ball & played on. I applaud him for that as I hate seeing halfbacks milk those penalties when they could clear the ball. I believe Peyper saw a defender moving to get out of the way of the ball & the halfback get to the ball. Vunipola had little to do with Phipps picking up the ball, running to his left (Vunipola was to his right) & throwing a brick at Kepu.
Akari
Guest
Vunipola had intentionally infringed and a clear-cut penalty. So, what is wrong with Phippsy making it clear to the ref about that infringement as the ref had chosen to ignore it? Aaron Smith does it all the time given an inkling of opportunity.
marto
Guest
hehe
Perthstayer
Roar Rookie
PeterK - I read elsewhere he had not attended. If you're correct then I can give Cheika one of my few ticks!
Harry
Guest
Just returning to this after a day and yes RL Phipps was not to blame for the English half's well taken try. The fault was the other players (eg. Michael Hooper's turned back) and also the ref who in the play before let go a blatant forward pass. I actually think Phipps has many good attributes, but is a long way behind Genia, as we saw to our cost.
Red Kev
Guest
"Almost always borderline forward" HAHAHAHA. What a lucky guy that constantly throws forward passes and they don't get called? Why's Cheika sooking about the refs? Swings and roundabouts! Think of all Cooper's forward passes he got away with this year! HAHAHA! Foley makes more errors than Cooper! Fact! Missed kicks for touch. Knock ons. Charge downs. Intercepts. Nothing kicks. Get real buddy!!!
Sam Taulelei
Roar Guru
Jeremy Snape is part of Eddie Jones coaching team, as far as I know the Wallabies haven't recruited a mental skills coach or psychologist.
Verisimilitude
Guest
Totally agree on the benefit of having a firing Cooper and Foley. I am unabashed fan of Cooper but I'm going to be honest and say Foley has demonstrated some honest to God talent this year and I think also both their games are rubbing off on eachother in a really positive manner. I think one area that still needs some finesse is the link between the forwards and the backs, as you say we need a bit more at 9. Best demonstrated during the first half against the English when at times for reasons I can't put my finger on it was like we were not thinking 2/3 phases ahead and as a consequence a few too many times we opted for the short pass to a waiting forward or another pick an drive. Someone the 9 or the 10 should have been checking the play an pushing for us to mix it up and put the defensive line into a bit of uncertainty. The numerous held up drives over the line are symptomatic of a few to many punches right into the saturated defensive line which is unlikely to have to many gaps in that tight. In summary a lot to like but a little bit more game awareness an leadership especially at those pivotal link positions and the results will come.
Faith
Guest
Cooper's strengths when he was great (back when the Reds won SR) were his long pass done with great timing, his deception and quick turn of speed, and he almost never made basic mistakes i.e catching the ball. His only weakness at the time was his defence. Now he only has a long pass whose timing is poor and almost always borderline forward. Against better teams like the ABs he's capable of at least 3 errors a game, he'll either knock on, miss a major tackle, or makes a bad judgment call i.e high tackle. Foley might go missing half the time but he's relatively error-free compared to Cooper. It's a pity that WBs don't have other real options ... maybe Beale should come back and play 10.
ClarkeG
Guest
Well actually Red it's debatable if he was offside. I doubt there was a ruck formed at any point, however that is not that relevant really. We can debate as much as we like whether or not Vunipola committed an infringement (not rolling away? - obstruction?) but if the referee does not rule an infringement then its play on. It is not fact that the presence of Vunipola led to the try. What led to the try was poor play by Phipps, Kepu and I would add Folau's lack of commitment in attempting to prevent it. So if the referee dd not see the presence of Vunipola as an infringement why would you expect him to disallow the try. There is no reason.
ClarkeG
Guest
We are not talking about intentional forward passes so not sure why that gets a mention. We are talking about intentionally throwing the ball at an opponent to gain a penalty. It is covered under unfair play (foul play) and I can't see why it would not fall under unsportsmanlike conduct as well. And I'll take my cue from Referee Raynal as well who warned Conor Murray for doing exactly that at Chicago. I would be somewhat surprised if he doesn't know his law.
Redsback
Guest
It's offside. It is an infringement and it's not like he was trying to get himself remotely out of the way. He was literally sitting up. On a related point, I have seen Genia win penalties by throwing forward passes into those players. Obviously that is a situation where the ref gets it wrong. In thia case, even though Phipps handled it very poorly, the fact that it immediately led to a try should have seen it called back.
ClarkeG
Guest
Yeah you're right. The issue is that the referees should treat it more harshly. It's really not that different to players taking dives - something many rugby followers find detestable. Referees often issue warnings for this behaviour as well but hardly ever penalise it. Both actions are attempts to lead the officials to believe an opponent has committed an infringement.
AJ
Guest
Well said. Throw in some blatant hypocrisy around selections eg. Slipper and Simmons get dropped (deservedly so), cop a verbal and public kick up the axrse. Phipps just keeps making game losing blunders mixed with nasty and stupid antics and there's only encouragement from the Coach. It's so obvious it is sickening.
PeterK
Roar Guru
it is NOT an offence to intentionally pass a ball into an opponent, if so show me the law. It may be penalised for an intentional forward pass but you have never qualified your statement.
Red Kev
Guest
You guys don't realise. This is like the USA! We are the silent majority. Like the good open minded people we are, we let Cheika have a chance to prove himself, but now he's had one of the Wallabies worst years ever, there's no defending it and he needs to be held accountable for his failure! We sat by quietly but now we've been woken!
Red Kev
Guest
Tell us again how your messiah Foley is the "ice man"