The Wallabies’ end of year tour results were as expected: three wins against the weaker opponents (Wales, France and Scotland) and two losses against the strongest opposition, right at the end.
One of the most positive indicators was the improvement in the slickness of the Stephen Larkham-designed offensive operation. When it worked, it worked with greater efficiency and smoothness than it had done in the earlier part of the year.
Much of the improvement appeared to stem from the creative combination of Larkham and skills coach Mick Byrne behind the scenes. Larkham has given Byrne a pattern to work with, and Byrne has added All Black know-how to much of the detail within that pattern.
In previous articles I have taken a look at how Larkham’s offence works, and how it succeeded in the first half against Wales.
The second of those articles examined how the Wallabies’ big ball-carriers – Adam Coleman and Rory Arnold from the second row, and Lopeti Timani from No.8 – were able to dominate the advantage line and produce consistently quick deliveries from the breakdown which enabled Australia to break down the Welsh defence in the opening period in Cardiff.
Perhaps even more impressive was the Wallabies’ ability to work good, usable, attacking ball out of their two forward pods, without any of those three players, in the second half against Ireland.
The fact that the structure is beginning to work without some of its first choice parts being available is both a tribute to a the preparatory work being done off the field by Larkham and Byrne, but also to the advances being made on it by the likes of Rob Simmons, Kane Douglas and Stephen Moore, relatively late in their Test careers.
Many of the nuances and little subtleties evident in the work done by the Australian tight five have an unmistakeable All Black imprint:
The first two examples come from lineout attacks where the backs have been ‘used up’ in the first two phases out towards the far side-line. This means that the burden of attack over the next couple of phases will have to be shouldered by the tight forwards in reverse field. Typically this is the kind of situation where a good defence will be looking to attack the slower targets hard, either grabbing the initiative with high line-speed or (preferably) forcing the turnover.
The snapshot at 41:56 is seminal:
As Bernard Foley prepares to make the second pass, the ‘jumbo pod’ of the two second rows (Rob Simmons and Kane Douglas) plus a back-rower (Michael Hooper) is closest to the ball, with a pod of front-rowers (Moore, Kepu and Sio) further out towards midfield. No.8 David Pocock (in the grey headgear) is already en route to his role as a linking forward on the near touch-line.
There are several small but important nuances in the set-up of the forward pod nearest to Foley.
Michael Hooper withdrawn
As the pass is made, Hooper is slightly withdrawn behind the two second rows. Instead of being a first-wave ball-carrier, the Wallabies want him to be available to receive an offload or clean out over the top of either Simmons or Douglas. This constitutes ‘best use’ of Australia’s outstanding number 7 by keeping him on his feet for longer.
The Douglas/Simmons option
The intended target of Foley’s pass remains uncertain until the very last moment. The inside option (Rob Simmons) cleverly bends his run in towards the Ireland second defender (Rory Best in the white headgear) to both check his rush and attract the man outside him (Jack McGrath).
Kane Douglas – finesse on the ball
It is the outside option, Douglas, who is the real target. As soon as McGrath ducks in towards Simmons, Douglas swerves underneath the defender marking him, Iain Henderson, to hit the gap that has temporarily been created. He does not crash up straight ahead and nor does he expire with the ball, head-down in contact. He transfers it into two hands and looks for the offload to the ‘withdrawn’ Hooper, who penetrates deep into the Irish secondary layer of defence.
This understanding of running lines and the desire to unload in contact is a new development in Douglas’ play.
We can see what the subtle pyrotechnics of Australia’s ‘jumbo pod’ have achieved at 42:04:
Although the Ireland have eight defenders available on the right side of the ball, six of them are standing inside the Australian first receiver, Foley, when he receives it from Will Genia. The Wallabies still have their front row pod intact and another three attackers outside them with Pocock now fully re-aligned.
With a potential three-to-one overlap on the left, the ‘king’ of the front row pod (captain Stephen Moore) makes an excellent decision to return the ball to Foley immediately rather take it into contact at 42:05. Only a marginal forward pass by Pocock to Henry Speight denies the Wallabies a try in the left corner.
The scenario at 44:17 is very similar – once again it occurs on third phase from lineout – with the difference that Pocock/Hooper and Simmons/Douglas have swapped roles. Pocock is now in the jumbo pod off Foley and Hooper is already standing in the left five-metre channel, while Simmons is the outside option in pod.
On this occasion, Douglas is not quite as effective at persuading the Ireland tight forward defence that he is a potential receiver, which means in turn that Simmons has a smaller ‘seam’ to penetrate. He still makes a quick one-second placement of the ball however to sustain momentum.
With no obvious overlap, the ‘king’ of the far pod takes contact and produces another quick ruck-ball, which twists the tourniquet ever tighter on the Ireland D. At 44:38 the outside option pass to Simmons in the jumbo pod again catches Ireland narrow, with the end defender Simon Zebo only standing level with the far post.
The attacking intelligence in the first clip is repeated by the front row pod on next phase, with Scott Sio delivering the pull-back pass to Foley and the outside-half in an excellent position to exploit another three-to-one overlap at 44:45. Although his pass drifts too high for the score to be made immediately, Australia went on to score a deserved try three phases later.
This intelligence was there for most of the second half against Ireland. After a Pocock interception, Simmons senses the potential to find an overlap without any prep phases at all at 50:17. He delivers an excellent roll-pass to Reece Hodge off his right hand and only a poor piece of judgment by Israel Folau denies Australia another ‘phantom’ try in that damned left-hand corner!
Simmons excelled in his decision-making and passing all game in that jumbo pod. At 58:18 another good pass off his left hand enabled the Wallabies to execute an overlap play direct from the kick-off receipt, and at the finish of the break it was he who was the first up in support of Hooper, 70 metres downfield:
The accurate passing and decision-making of the people in the two Wallaby forward pods in the middle of the field were a chief contributing factor to Australia’s ability to find space out wide consistently against probably the sternest defensive side in the northern hemisphere.
At 55:58 Stephen Moore uses a miss-pass to Folau to drag in the Ireland wide D and generate another three-to-man overlap next phase, converted on this occasion by Sefa Naivalu. At 68:14 right at the end of the reel, a similar overlap situation develops off his quick penetration and long placement of the ball.
With the new input of Byrne within the Wallaby coaching group, it is becoming clear that his creative interaction with attack coach Larkham is producing some impressive results, not least in the decision-making, handling and running lines of the Wallaby tight forwards.
Without any of arguably their first-choice ‘heavy mob’ of Coleman, Arnold and Timani in the jumbo pod, Australia were still able to overwhelm Ireland for much of the second half in Dublin. The unexpected running line finesse and passing range of the likes of Rob Simmons and Kane Douglas, and the outstanding decision-making of Moore – the ‘king’ of the far pod – generated a succession of scoring chances out wide.
If Byrne’s influence can extend upwards to Michael Cheika as far as it does sideways to Larkham, Australia will become a real threat to beat perennial rivals New Zealand and their current bogey team, England.
The Wallaby tight forwards are already beginning to show up-skilled capacity in contact, now they just need a balanced game-plan to get them playing in the right areas of the field more often. When that comes right, it will indeed be a happy New Year for Cheika and his coaching group.
Nicholas Bishop
Expert
I'm sure Brad Thorn will have a big impact as a coach this year, as will SM 'coaching' Andrew Ready!
Fin
Guest
Hi Nick, Thought you might be interested in this article from a couple of weeks ago. RETURNING hooker Stephen Moore intends to set the standard on and off the field at the Queensland Reds. Not due back at training until January 9 following his Wallabies commitments, the Australian skipper trained by himself at Ballymore on Thursday to ensure he’s not too far behind his new Reds teammates next month. “They’ve been training pretty hard so I want to make sure when I come back in January I’m somewhere near where they are,” said 33-year-old Moore, who after seven years of Super Rugby in Canberra with the Brumbies is back at Ballymore. “At my age as well, I want to come back and contribute straight away, particularly coming to a new club. “I know I’ve been here before but it’s very much a new environment for me and new players.” Moore said part of his role at the Reds was to ensure the culture was right and assist in the development of the squad’s emerging players. “It’s exciting having a lot of young players as well that have come through the Queensland system and I guess part of my job will be helping those guys to reach their potential,” he said, before adding his praise for the work done by Reds forward coach Brad Thorn. “Brad Thorn with the young forwards, doing a lot of stuff around work ethic and standards, and that’s important because it’s a long season. This is where you build those habits.” Among those younger players is Andrew Ready, who will challenge Moore for the Reds hooker’s spot. “There’s been a lot said about that. I haven’t really thought about it like that to be honest,” Moore said. “My goal is to help Andrew become the best hooker he can be. “I want to help him with all the different areas of playing hooker at this level. He’s already done a lot of it. He had a great season this year. “I’m sure over the course of the season, every player in the squad will be involved a lot.” “With this club, we just need to start well. Start well in the competition, and you start to build your confidence in the way you want to play.”
Fin
Guest
Nick, Here is another reason SH is coming back to Brisbane. Looking to grow his hospitality business empire! The coffee-loving dream team behind Tarragindi’s Leaf Espresso Bar and Woolloongabba’s Moose & Gibson has expanded its local offering to include a sleek new restaurant and bar in West End. As the third Brisbane baby for rugby legend Scott Higginbotham and business partner Malcolm Watts, Habitat Restaurant & Bar has taken the pair’s knack for crafting striking interiors and combined it with executive chef Luke Tye’s accessible menu to offer a warm and welcoming retreat from morning to night seven days a week.
Nicholas Bishop
Expert
Of the two, Higgers would have the greater talent level - but Elsom had a hard mental edge and made the most out of himself... Higgers is now 30 years old so it's now or never for him to become a Test regular. Last chance saloon sometimes concentrates the mind :)
Fin
Guest
When Ewen McKenzie first took over the Reds he challenged Higgers to replace Rocky Elsom in the Wallabies. He told him that he is not fulfilling his athleticism and talents being a super 14 reserve and that he should be as good as Elsom.
Nicholas Bishop
Expert
No doubt he's always had the talent Fin. I think being captain at the Rebs helped progress him a lot, so hopefully he'll come back from Japan with that new maturity confirmed, and be the player everyone saw in him a few years ago!
Fin
Guest
Hi Nick, Toutai Kefu recently said that higgers cops a lot of criticism for being to loose but he beleives that higgers' output/contribution is more than what his was when he played in the late 90's/early 2000's. Kefu beleives the difference is he played with a more dominant forward pack and the coach allowed him to make his own decisions about when and whether to inject himself into the game. Higgers doesn't have that same luxury from both the quality of his fellow forwards or his coaches blessing.
Nicholas Bishop
Expert
I'll certainly be keeping an eye on his early season form, that's for sure. He was also developing into a team leader before he left Australia, so that may also offer added value :)
Boz the Younger
Guest
Hello, In 2012 Higgers played 6 alongside Palu and Hooper with a reasonable degree of success, it is virtually the same setup as Hooper, Higgers and Timani. There is no reason why it can't happen again. As I said and the point that people are ignoring is that Higgers should be selected based on his 2017 form, not his 2015 or earlier. One would hope that since he has chosen to come back to Australia, he will commit to improving his work rate, breakdown skills and discipline to be the all round tall looser he is capable of being. It is silly to write him off before even seeing how he is going.
Hello
Roar Rookie
Ho Boz I don't think it is only about turnovers. It is also about slowing their ball down in defensive rucks. This is to me very important. I think that with hooper we also need to have someone more domanent in protecting our own ball. Timani may be able to cover that but pocock gets through a huge amount of ruck work in offence. With this in mind I am not sure you could play hooper and higgers or holaway in the same back row unless they can play a lot tighter. All 3 are great ball runners but are not rest at ruck work
Nicholas Bishop
Expert
I'd agree that Hopper is worth keeping in the side, but it's reasonable to start the season McMahon-Timani-Hooper and let SH try to force his way in...
Boz the Younger
Guest
If he doesn't prioritise other ways of achieving turnovers, like the lineout, Wallabies will have a lousy season again and Cheika will go back to being Australia's most multi-lingual jeans salesman. We have done alright in the past with Hooper and no Pocock, the two draws against the All Backs in 2012 and 2014 with severely depleted teams are examples of that. It isn't just about winning ball, it is what you do with it, and Hooper is a point of difference in attack that outweighs his weaknesses at the breakdown compared to Pocock.
Nicholas Bishop
Expert
Yet to see any evidence that Cheika will prioritize the lineout Boz! I don't think you can get by without a portion of players who can compete at the defensive breakdown, especially without Pocock in situ. I did an analysis a while back showing how much less effective Oz are in that area when Hooper doesn't have Pocock working alongside him. Australia's turnover percentage drops from 8.5% down to 3.2% when DP isn't around to help out. Just over 3% is not acceptable, so with Hooper at 7 you have also to accept he needs that assistance. The assistance can come from other positions - giving Andrew Ready some game time in 2017 would be a great idea - but overall I think the cold hard facts will keep Sean McMahon in the starting side with either Timani or SH competing for number 8.
Boz the Younger
Guest
There is more than one way to skin a cat and while Higgenbotham, Timani and Hooper don't get over the ball as well as Pocock or McMahon do, they achieve turnovers in other ways. Hooper has excellent reflexes and handling skills and often picks up loose ball or strips it in the tackle. I have seen Timani just bash opposition players off the ball and hand the loose ball back. And as you have alluded to anything that you lose at the breakdown by running Higgers instead of McMahon you gain in terms of lineout steals. In addition I suspect with his World Cup exclusion still burning him, Higgers will be working hard on his breakdown work under the tutelage of George Smith this season. I reckon Quade Cooper won't be the only remaking going on at the Reds this year and it will be interesting to watch how Higgers goes. On the breakdown, in my opinion Australia tends to focus far to much on pilfering to the exclusion of winning ball in other ways. Think about how teams like Ireland win just as much ball as we do through Pocock, by teaching their big forwards to choke tackle, that is what we could be doing so that we don't have the single point of failure that we currently have if our pilferer gets injured. It also prevents these compromises that we have had to make on versatility and size, i.e. the Pooper or from what you appear to be advocating the McHooper. So who we select other than Hooper really is just horses for courses, I just hope all four of those players get a good run.
Bring Back...?
Guest
Don't disagree with any of that. Only thing to add is that if we had competitive super rugby teams, I'm confident our national team would be better. Our super rugby this year was rubbish. On the other hand, the NZ teams were superb. As an Aussie, I look forward to watching NZ derbies more than any other match. In fact, I'd struggle to watch the Tahs v Force.
Goldie
Guest
Mick byrne is a hopeful man. More chance of france stealing them before that happens.
Jumbo
Guest
I was leaning more towards game plan and mental preparation, the abs this year left for Sydney much earlier in the week to prepare and get settled and it payed off.Yes analogies are dangerous, imo rugby league is played to a patern that is same throughout with subtle differences in the way you can play, but ultimately the same in any team you play in. Union has to have a balance of players you want to apply your gameplan, aswel as getting them to gel making the task much more difficult.Eg ardie savea was the best openside in nz super rugby this year,but was not chosen because he didn't fit the mould hansen required. Chek needs to figure out what type of game he wants to play and select the players to execute it, you mite have to drop your star or favourite players but hey, all is forgotten when you start stringing wins together.
Nicholas Bishop
Expert
I have a feeling Scott Fardy will be on his way to Europe Ethan... Timani/Higginbotham/McMahon might work, although I don't see a snowball's chance in hell of it ever happening!
ethan
Guest
Thanks Nick. Then how about a McMahon, Timani, Higgers/Holloway/Fardy backrow? Holloway is still raw having only one full season of SR under his belt and may not be ready yet, though I like him as prospect if he can improve his involvements as you suggest. Higgers will need to cut the brain snaps out, he has frustrated plenty of times before, but with all that talent its nice to have him back in contention. And to clarify, I really like McMahon as a player. I just don't like Hooper & McMahon as a combination. Fin, I would have loved to see Hodgson the understudy to Pocock the last few years, replacing him through those injuries. He's my type of 7, but the legs are probably too old now.
Nicholas Bishop
Expert
With SM's help Andrew Ready has the ability to turn into a top-notch international performer IMO. I don't see why Latu is ahead of him either.