Both Micheal Cheika and Michael Hooper expressed frustrations during the week at the seemingly defeatist attitude which existed in the public towards the Wallabies and their ambitions to end the All Blacks’ Bledisloe supremacy.
All the wash-up from Wallabies vs All Blacks Bledisloe 1:
» LORD: Rugby is an 80-minute game
» Match report: All Blacks wallop Wallabies
» What changes should Australia make for Bledisloe 2?
» Vote in our DIY Wallabies player ratings
» WATCH: Highlights from Bledisloe 1
» WATCH: Michael Cheika’s post game comments
» Re-live the match with our live blog
Saturday night showed that the public’s scepticism was more than warranted. This is a bad rugby team. And the All Blacks are a good rugby team.
I wrote a piece on Friday which highlighted five key areas that the Wallabies needed to nail if they were to stand any chance against the All Blacks. The number one point among those was defensive organisation. The Wallabies flunked that test. Badly.
As expected, the Wallabies began the game with the defensive strategy employed by the Waratahs this season under the tutelage of now Wallabies’ defence coach Nathan Grey – with nominated ball rushers pressuring the first and second receivers with the defensive line behind sliding laterally to cover.
Much like the Waratahs this season, that strategy was picked apart at will by the All Blacks as the Wallabies’ nominated rushers continually slipped off tackles.
For all the criticism of Michael Cheika and his selections and tactics – much of it warranted – the fact that he can’t rely on seasoned professional rugby players to make basic tackles tells you everything about where this team and rugby in this country is at.
Let’s be clear, many of these ‘professionals’ are so in name only. The Wallabies made 57 tackles in the first half and missed 35.
‘Professional’ rugby players don’t fall off 60 per cent of tackles. That is an embarrassing statistic and the All Blacks looked almost embarrassed at the ease with which they were strolling to their 40-6 half time lead.
Whatever line speed the Wallabies defenders had displayed in the first half had well and truly disappeared by the 25th minute, and from that point the All Blacks were free to do as they pleased.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
The British and Irish Lions had success against the All Blacks by wrapping up the ball in contact, which cuts down their ability to offload and play up-tempo.
The All Blacks hardly needed to offload against the retreating Wallabies defensive line, as offloads are only required when a tackle is actually being made.
The Wallabies saved some face in the second half, but make no mistake, those were ‘garbage time’ scores; the All Blacks had long since checked out of the game and were mentally boarding the plane home. The job was done.
The other key area in which the Wallabies fluffed their lines was ball security. The All Blacks will destroy you if you turn the ball over unexpectedly, and the Wallabies gave them plenty of opportunities to show off their prowess at the counter-attacking game.
Both Rieko Ioane and Damian McKenzie scored tries immediately on the back of basic handling errors from the Wallabies.
The fact that the best fifteen players that Australia can muster contain half a dozen who can’t accurately throw or successfully catch a pass in the face of pressure is another damning indictment on the state of the game here.
Cheika cannot remain free of scrutiny, despite his players’ failings, as his selection of Samu Kerevi at outside centre proved to be the defensive disaster many had predicted it to be, while the ‘mobile’ Ned Hannigan looked decidedly lightweight at Bledisloe Cup level.
Hannigan tried hard, but simply providing an effective lineout jumper option is not sufficient grounds for international selection. You cannot carry passengers at this level.
Those questioning the retiring Stephen Moore’s selection in a side supposedly in the process of building for the 2019 World Cup will not have been placated by a performance which saw him contribute next to nothing in either attack or defence. In fact the only tackle of note he made resulted in a penalty for not releasing the tackled player.
One shining light for the Wallabies was the performance of Kurtley Beale, who looked sharp with ball in hand. Bernard Foley has enjoyed a long run in the 10 jersey for Australia in recent years, partly due to the fact that nobody has been able to mount a solid enough case to replace him. Beale will now offer a genuine alternative should Cheika lose faith with the misfiring Foley.
The Wallabies will head to Dunedin next weekend for mission impossible and will no doubt be on the end of another drubbing, and it is becoming harder and harder to even visualise what the end product of Cheika’s plan looks like.
Whatever that plan may be, rest assured that it will never reach fruition while the Wallabies continue to defend like turnstiles.
Mike Huber
Roar Pro
The kid should be on the set of Home and Away , not an All Black Cathedral !
Matt
Guest
Why do these so call expert commentators tend to offer criticism of the wallabies or their players after the game has finished. I wonder if they would sing a different tune if the wallabies won. Oh yes, after (not before) the winning game by wallabies.
Dave Knox
Guest
The stink in Australian rugby should be fixed at the board room first and foremost with their out of date repugnant we own it attitude. How dare you claim ownership to a game that should be freely open for all people to play access Australia. The rot will continue until this is fixed for good. I can't believe John Eales has sat on a board with members with no idea..no clues, and definitely no vision or ability. Let Andrew Forrest take over please.
Link
Guest
Morsie, And our No6 led the missed tackle count as well as having zero run meters.
piru
Roar Rookie
For the first ten minutes or so I thought the Wallabies had actually shown up. They seemed to be holding onto the ball and recycling it well, nothing spectacular, but they were right on the AB's line, and when the penalty was given, low and behold they elected to kick a goal! Then the All Blacks got the ball....
Link
Guest
54/6 10 minutes into in the second half.The ABS relaaaaaxed.
taylorman
Guest
No I dont think that will happen. I think the money will dry up first. Suddenly there will be all these unpaid souls all wondering where their pay packet is. Its a simple matter of supply and demand and the appreciation for rugby cannot just keep going on an ever increasing upward trend. If an economic crisis of even medium proportions were to hit Europe Rugby players will be amongst the first to get the chop. People like Bouj wont be able to sustain the huge sums hes payiong when the average persons entertainment dollar gets squeezed. Thats why it good for our boys to milk the gravy train while they can.
Breno
Guest
"Bait! We have bait here! 3 for a dollar!... Anyone? Takers? Great deal! Anyone?"
Olly
Guest
Beale, Hodge, Penny seem to have the kicking game and all round skills to do the job. Any NZ team would pick them if selecting an Oz team. Oz rugby is stuck thinking about the 1% of brilliance not the 80 minutes of getting the job done.
Olly
Guest
Why not Beale to 10. He is playing the role of the 10 as it is. Beale to 10, kerevi 12 and kurin 13. Wings folou and Henry with penny at 15. I would love to see Beale linking from a offload from Kerevi with those guys running outside him. Kerevi can tackle just out of sort at 13. If they insist on Foley at 10 then Beale at 15. Hodge on the bench but pushing for a run on spot.
Olly
Guest
It was a one on one and he got made to look the fool. Simple in and out running line did the job.
PiratesRugby
Guest
Phipps can tackle, run, chase and back up as well as anyone in the team. It wasn't always so but he worked on it tirelessly. It's just that he's never been a good passer or kicker.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
soapit Yes, this is hypothetical, both your views and mine. The thing I think you are overlooking is that you don't consider what Hitler overall aim was. I think it is pretty clear that his ambitions were not fulfilled by 1940. Not even close. And since he most likely had world domination on his mind I think it fair to say that other would have interfered with his plans.
Fionn
Guest
Piru, it looked like he had brought Ned Flanders to work.
Beautifully said!
Guest
Exactly! Do you see Hanson reward the Auckland Blues defensive coach? Nope Do you see Hanson selecting rookie players out of position? Nope Do you see Hanson starting half a Super Rugby team of underperforming players? Nope Do you see Hanson reward players after a horrendous game, or even players looking lost, or with a lack of interest at the best of times? Do you see....ah, I could go on but you get the point. Well said!
Woeful Waratah Grey
Guest
That's what happens when you give an old Waratah mate the defensive gig. He failed at Super Rugby level so what made Cheika think he'll succeed at Test? Waratah conspiracy continues
Grassroots
Guest
Look at the way they pick the U18 schoolboys teams, has nothing to do with the National Championship Has a lot to do with the colour of your tie, and making sure you keep certain entities happy A large number of boys given opportunities to play rugby and get a great ed at great institutions via scholarships or bursary Then set adrift when year 12 finishes , back to where they mostly were found, rugby league. Pick National teams on form,nothing else Give these young stars a true reason to keep in rugby, don't show them the good life then cast aside Have a look at the talent playing NRL from rugby schools
Lesley Kelly
Guest
Yes but the AB's had stopped playing.
NickoM1960
Guest
I loved the way Hodge just took the ball out of Foley's hands when he came on and kicked for touch! 40m+ metre gain and the ball well out of play so no quick line out.
ClarkeG
Guest
Tanner may have played in that 1976 game - he was on the tour - however the try scorer was Terry Mitchell and here it is.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA83Ky2uQyY