The Australian Super Rugby conference is sorted for 2017, with the Brumbies wrapping up an unassailable lead fairly convincingly on Saturday night. It gives the ACT-based side breathing room and immense satisfaction heading into the June Internationals.
And the June Tests represent the first chance we get to see if Waratahs and Wallabies backrower Michael Hooper’s great premonition from a few weeks ago is correct.
“The ability to separate [Super Rugby form and Test Match intensity] is something that the Wallabies have always been good at and something that the coaching staff will definitely look into,” he said at the Wallabies 2017 jersey launch last month.
“It’s actually a lot easier than you think.
“You’re coming in, a fresh environment, fresh faces, so there’s a lot of enthusiasm to, not leave that stuff behind, but take what you’ve learned and take it in and pool it in together to go forward.
“That’s the good thing about having all fresh faces; new people to bounce ideas off and a new challenge ahead.”
Oh, thank goodness for that, Michael!
It matters not that the Australian sides – and by definition, the players – have flittered between various guises of decent, average, and bloody ordinary over the last 15 weeks; just bring thirty-odd players into a fresh environment, give them some new training kit, and everything will be rosy. I mean, it worked so well this time last year, didn’t it?
And this is going to be Michael Cheika’s biggest challenge as Wallabies coach. Even bigger than what he managed to achieve with the 2015 playing group.
(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The form of the Australian professional rugby pool in 2017 isn’t as good as it was in 2015. And it wasn’t great in 2015 anyway. But this year, there’s no returning cavalry from Europe with big game experience in tough finals matches. No-one has a winner’s medal around their neck.
How Cheika turns the form of the 2017 group around – or doesn’t – could be his Wallabies coaching legacy.
More worrying for Cheika will be the Super Rugby output from the pillars of the Wallabies’ game plan this year, and in particular, from his assistant coaches implementing parts of those pillars at Super Rugby level.
Wallabies defence coach, Nathan Grey, carries that same clipboard at the Waratahs. And he’s even out on the field with them running the water and giving them the messages they need during games.
After 15 rounds, the Waratahs have conceded 442 points, and at an average of 34 points per game. Only the 15th-placed Cheetahs, the 17th-placed Rebels, and 18th-placed Sunwolves have worse defensive records.
Wallabies attack coach, Stephen Larkham, will have been employing parts of the Wallabies patterns with the Brumbies this year.
After 15 rounds, the Brumbies have scored just 290 points this season, an average of 22.3 points per game. Only five teams have scored fewer, and they’re all in the bottom six. (And three of them are Australian, but that’s for another day.)
Using New Zealand as a rugby benchmark rarely ends well these days, and nor will it right now. Against New Zealand sides this year, the Waratahs blow out to conceding 41.8 points per game; an extra converted try and a bit.
Similarly, the Brumbies’ already meagre scoring average plummets further to 14.8 points per game against the Kiwis. That’s an extra converted try – plus they don’t score.
This is what confronts Michael Cheika in Melbourne this week, as the Wallabies gear up for their first international on the year. A huge Fijian and Pacific Island rugby-loving contingent in Melbourne will greet both Australian and Fiji onto AAMI Park, and they’ll be expecting a high-quality game.
Somehow, Cheika needs to improve the players’ attitude toward defence. Grey, last year, infamously declared that fixing defensive lapses was ‘easy’, and he was talking almost solely about attitude. Too many Waratahs players this season have been lax in getting to where a tackle needs to be made, or leaving it for the guy next to them. That has to stop in a Waratahs jersey, but it cannot happen in a Wallabies jersey at all.
Cheika needs to ensure that. Grey will implement a defensive system that may or may not be the same as what the ‘Tahs have been using, but it will be up the Cheika to ensure the players buy in overwhelmingly.
What will be a bit harder is to fix all the very evident attacking skill error plaguing Australian players this season.
The Brumbies have looked to hold more possession and play with more attacking intent since their Round 11 bye, but they’ve been let down repeatedly by poor skills, terrible decision-making, or worse, sometimes both.
Larkham will be similarly be looking to implement a gameplan with this attacking intent, but unlike defence, you can’t lift skill levels with an attitude shift.
It’s going to require high standards at training over this next month, and something – anything – that will assist the players in not panicking under pressure and making poor decisions.
How Cheika makes all this will be quite interesting to watch over the next three weeks.
He’s absolutely done the right thing bringing in the new faces and exciting talent for these Tests, but he cannot allow, nor accept them bringing their inconsistent Super Rugby form with them.
John R
Roar Guru
The Wallabies should only be selected from the Waratahs, if we need injury cover from one of the lesser Super Rugby teams, then we can select one of them. But only if they were born in NSW. Otherwise they shouldn't even be allowed to be allowed to watch the Wallabies.
Link
Guest
How do so many underperforming Waratahs get a game? Robertson Gordon Dempsey Mason Hanigan and Horne. Smacks of total bias. James Tuttle, Ben Alexander, Billy Meakes, Cuirtis Rona, Jake Mcintyre,,Taniela Tupou ,Jack Debreczeni and Bryce Hegarty are all in front of them.
Marto
Guest
Machooka @ You should be re-named " Alleycatt " Why, ? because when it comes to Horrendous selections from Chieks you always " Sit On The Fence "
FARMER
Guest
John R @ You don't know what you are talking about, you must have attended the same school as Cheika..DOUBLES MARTO ?? haha No mate.. Anyway it`s cute to see you deflecting the heat away from your mate Cheiks though ..haha.. Like the boyz on Kick n Chase do...One program Kearns and Hoiles called for Skelton to be the third lock.. All nodding in unison.. Andrew Mehrtens looked on non plussed..haha
Dirk K
Guest
We think the bigger problem will be to generate interest and n these test and the team.
MitchO
Guest
Like I said above. I think Gitteau made a huge defensive difference at 12. I don't think he was in the team for the attack as such. Most people say you put him in the backline and he runs it sideways. It was actually Tim Horan's D which won us that last world cup. Not his attack which was still pretty good at that time. Not surprised the Boks and England scored points. Both had the potential to be very good in 2015. Scotland's attack was opportunist and Wales could not break the line. Surely Grey's moving chairs system is most exposed when the opposition like NZ can move the attacking pieces so fast. Moving D and moving Attack = points. NSW second half D has been okay. Just not the first halves. Their attack has been crap in the first half too. Immature team.
MitchO
Guest
Brett, In my view a key to the defence in the last World Cup was Matt Giteau. I remember some amazing scrambling from him. Despite not being big Giteau could tackle and he was/is an experienced and smart rugby player. Certainly in terms of rugby experience/intelligence he is ahead of anyone who played 12 last year or will play 12 this year. The D wasn't as good with Toomua in it even though he is more physically capable than Matt G. If you really want to improve the D and in particular at midfield then you do need to pick someone like Meakes or Godwin at 12 neither of whom is as exciting on attack as a Kerevi or a Hodge. Personally I would like to see what happens with Meakes at 12. See if he can attack with a good backline around him.
MitchO
Guest
Hi Cassandra, I reckon the defence was great but also assisted by the Canes being offside for most of the game and being allowed to enter rucks from the side. I am prepared to concede that since Mr Hoffman did not penalise for it as much as I thought he should that the Canes were in fact playing within the rules but brilliantly close to the offside line - where all good D's should play. But gee another ref may have decided they were offside and hammered them on the day. Even so the Force should have been able to burrow over close to the line and couldn't. That was great D right on the line.
Markus
Guest
He coached the Lions previously. Accounts suggest that he had very similar problems with player unrest as during his time at the Force.
Zero Gain
Guest
That is all he does Brett, he is an absolute expert of talking down any Wallaby success. Posting as 'Frontrow' (or something similar) he predicted ahead of every game that the Wallabies would lose every match they played in 2015. They actually won every game they played that year, except against the ABs and including the WC final, the only team they lost to in 2015. He focuses on bringing in irrelevant opinions posing as facts to discredit the Wallabies and Cheika at every opportunity. The Boks were weak, Scotland were robbed, England (the WC favourites behind the ABs) were disorganised, etc, etc. Why? Simple, he is a Kiwi.
Vic rugby
Guest
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Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
Cuw, You have re-enforced my point. Cane, Todd and Savia are all great number 7's, each bringing different skills to the table. Sam Cane is Ritchie-Lite playing in close in dark places more suited to the grind of an international. Ardie Savia is more Hooper like playing wide and creating havoc with line breaks. Matt Todd is somewhere in between. Sure the All Black faithful will be having debates on Phwoar Bru (The NZ equivalent of The Roar) over who is better. The debates don't include whether it is OK for their players not to be able to do their core duties. Dixon, Luatua, Brad Shields, Kaino, Squire - What an awful predicament he faces. Not a wrong choice among them. It is an exercise in fine tuning. Nice quote reference.
Fox
Roar Guru
Yeah I would 100% agree Brett that the revolving positional changes in defense and attack is not helping players I have not been a fan of Grey and Cheika's constant reworking of the D within the game itself - by that I mean players moving from their regular positions because of perceived defensive flaws or whatever. Sure, every side does a bit of this, but I think for me Grey and Cheika need to put more trust in their players or pick players who know how to defend their channel well as well as have a very good attacking sense and game- that is to say, a real threat in the carry. Rob Horne is a great defender and solid player, but he lacks the consistent attacking nous of even a player like Crotty who like Conrad Smith, is master of spotting a small hole, and then setting his outside players which makes him a real threat near the line. He is also a lot quicker of the mark than he gets credit for too I think. But Horne is not the world's most threatening attacking centre by any stretch of the imagination, and with Kerevi and Kuridrani at test level, you have the opposite problem, though they are both improving but they still have some very bad defensive reads in games that are costly and I am sure will again this season and it will probably be against SA or the AB's I imagine. This is an issue for Grey and Cheika that is not much talked about as much as it should be except on Fox Sports by Rod Kafer.
John R
Roar Guru
That and the random use of '....' linking up sentences.
Rhys Bosley
Guest
I agree entirely on attack, with better attacking players available than he has had at 10 and 12 for the Brumbies, Larkham will be able to do a better job of having the Wallabies score tries.
Gavin Fernie
Guest
Good piece, Brett. You could have been writing about our dismal Springbok squad of 2016. Mind you, any national team saddled with a coach as terrible as 'Toetie' Coetzee, equally inept Stick, and nobbled and hobbled by political interference and appalling selections, is bound to flounder, and almost sink to the bottom of the international rugby pool. As an admirer of Australian rugby for more than 60 years, I hope that things improve rapidly. Is Cheika the right man for the job ?
John
Guest
Brett, The Wallabies conceded 1 try in the 1999 tournament. One! So let's not celebrate Grey for 2015
Neil
Guest
I don't think so, PeterK. Maybe club rugby, but we (hopefully) wont see Simmons in test or SR again. Always the passenger.
Daveski
Guest
Totally agree - Horwitz is probably the best 10 behind Foley and Cooper. It's just he hasn't played there for two full seasons. Even for the odd appearance with Randwick. I'm not sure how voluntarily he's gone into the 12 and 13 shirts for the Tahs and Country Eagles but the fact he's gone OK in positions he'd never played in speaks of his ability. I actually think he's too skilful inside Horne and Folau, they aren't on the same page. He's prone to a few errors and missed tackles against the big boys but I'd like to see him play 10 in the NRC this year.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
It was John F. Kennedy who said that CUW. Dr. Goebbles most famous quote is probably: A lie told once remains a lie but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.