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A familiar funk descended over Allianz Stadium on Sunday. Waratahs fans who recall recent nadirs of the pre-Michael Cheika era are acquainted with the feeling: kick, kick, groan, repeat.
A 41-22 scoreline might not suggest it, but the men in blue gave the undefeated Crusaders a genuine scare. With 25 minutes left, the Tahs clawed their way back to 22-26 and had the visitors briefly rattled.
Ultimately, they only ever got that close despite themselves.
Without Bernard Foley steering the ship the Waratahs always look a different team, but the kicking game of young halves pairing Jake Gordon and Mack Mason was catastrophic.
Mason, on debut, gets a pass because his chip kicking at least showed attacking intent, albeit misguided. Gordon’s repeated box-kicking, however, was so contemptible it almost looked like match fixing. To do so against slick Kiwi opposition is criminal.
Let’s settle this. There are only two acceptable scenarios for a box kick:
A) If it finds touch, giving your forwards a rest.
B) If the opponents’ back three are out of position, forcing a hurried clearance, penalty, or potentially regaining possession.
Yet the box kick has become the tic du jour for modern halfbacks, symptomatic of a non-existent gameplan.
In just 172 minutes of playing time this season, Gordon has kicked in open play 18 times ‒ once every nine-and-a-half minutes. On Sunday, he kicked possession away ten times in an hour. No Crusader kicked more than three times throughout.
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Halfback is a role that begs to be underplayed. Distribute efficiently and snipe around the ruck if gaps start to open. That’s the brief.
If Daryl Gibson is encouraging Gordon’s kicking game, then he’s unfit for purpose. If he didn’t deliver a strict moratorium on kicking at halftime against the Crusaders, likewise. That he didn’t immediately hook Gordon for more wastefulness in the second half, see above.
To meekly surrender possession to a grateful Crusaders back three was only ever going to end one way. The Waratahs defence, staggered and staggering, was promptly cut to ribbons ‒ 47 missed tackles (for those keeping count).
The thing is, when they hold onto the ball, they look dangerous. You build pressure by building phases, pulling the defensive line out of shape. It’s the blueprint for any successful season ‒ see the 2014 Waratahs and 2011 Reds for reference. Or any New Zealand team, really.
If the home crowd had hoped for respite with the introduction of Nick Phipps, they were out of luck. Phipps’ first order of business was to slice a box kick almost directly vertical. Allianz Stadium groaned a collective groan that suggested ticket sales will take a dive for upcoming fixtures.
The Waratahs are not without signs of life. Michael Hooper continues to do the work of two men. Tolu Latu grows in stature every week. And Ned Hanigan is a model of efficiency at the lineout. There’s a platform aching to be built on.
“We got close but we know exactly what we need to improve,” said Gibson after the loss. If that’s true, he needs to get a hell of a lot better at getting his message across. On recent evidence, Gibson’s gameplan is either flawed, non-existent, or poorly communicated.
At a time when Australian rugby is under intense scrutiny, any one of those could be a bootable offence.
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.