I settled down to watch Bledisloe II with little to no expectations of a Wallabies win.
Perhaps each season since the 2015 World Cup has left me feeling more and more jaded. Perhaps it was simply a defensive mechanism, given that I was watching the match in a veritable Land of the Philistines – the lounge room of a zealous Kiwi.
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» Match report: Wallabies blow big chance
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» What changes should the Wallabies make?
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To my mind victory in New Zealand was the unlikeliest of outcomes, and I was uncertain as to what the next best result would be. Surely having another 50 points put on us would be absolutely deplorable. And yet during the week I read and heard many wise rugby minds state unequivocally that a close loss would be the worst possible outcome for Australian rugby.
The theory is that as fans, coaches, and players, in tight losses we can look back and pick out key moments to hang the loss on. If only that moment had gone our way, the match would have been ours. The risk being that such an attitude can distract us from the deficiencies which led to defeat.
Certainly there were many moments to choose from in this match. Bernard Foley leaving nine points out on the field certainly didn’t help. The Wallabies failing to capitalise on their first half attacking pressure. Sean McMahon being denied a penalty over the ball late in the second half.
(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
Truthfully I’m not sure any of those moments were central to the loss. Despite a vastly improved, and quite admirable, defensive effort the Wallabies still conceded 34 missed tackles for the match.
They were misses which even an uncharacteristically rusty New Zealand side were able to exploit in their counterattacks and off the set piece.
The scrum was not pretty, and consistently facing another attacking phase after losing these only exacerbated the tackling issues. These are areas where the Wallabies cannot allow the closeness of the result to distract them from the need for even more improvement over the week to come.
As the match ended and I headed home, I’m not sure I felt either pride or disappointment. Though I was as into the match as ever, even as Kurtley Beale leapt over for the Wallabies to take the lead in the 76th minute, I didn’t allow myself to believe they might actually pull it off.
So when the All Black counter came, it felt so inevitable that instead of disappointment came dispassion, almost emptiness. That disturbs me.
The challenge for the Wallabies is to not fall into a similar attitude. They must strive this week to get over the gap of emotions that exists between a tight loss and the possibility of a famous victory.
By all means, appreciate and applaud the improved handling skills, the admirable defensive efforts, and the knowledge that you pushed the world champions right to the final whistle. You should rightly be proud of the guts you showed in this contest. But I hope that you do not allow yourselves to fall into a contentment that says a valiant defeat is enough in the face of an opponent whose win was inevitable.
Fionn
Guest
Timbo, you must be loving that the opinion of some is starting to turn a little against Hooper :P. Think Hardwick will be a prospect next year?
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
A better job was needed but anything outside the tram tracks is difficult. In some A missed tackle is worth 7 points but we forget to pile one those players.
Fionn
Guest
They were makable kicks, and he missed all of them. The kicker has to take the blame for missing kickable kicks, and if those kickable kicks would have won the match then he owns it and has to bear the blame. It isn't good enough. Not just his fault, however, the scrum, restarts and Hooper need to share the blame.
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
Riddler, Spot on. Who can tell me how the kick position is chosen? What could his players have done to make it easier? What if they were faster? Could they have put it between the posts?
Shop
Guest
Totally agree. Can't stand huge celebrations before the final whistle, as you say it breeds complacency.
RobC
Roar Guru
Congrats on your 1st article CS. I share your sentiments, but its clear from their approach that they have finally caught onto post RWC "rules" just as SA teams have earlier this year.
Phantom
Roar Rookie
The ABs had a very bad half. The second half was better but 3 TMO calls made the result a lot closer than it should have been. The better team won.
CS Knott
Roar Rookie
Dally, definitely felt more pride this morning - perhaps I just needed the night to recover. Time will tell if the discipline is there for the Wallabies to bring that same effort and even more from here. You're absolutely right that this must be the only way forward.
richard
Guest
BB,so you don't think the SB are good enough to beat the AB's? I have had a look at the games v France and Argentina,and seen enough improvement to think they will really push the AB's.From what I have seen this year,either other teams have caught up,or the AB's have stagnated,or even gone backwards.Probably somewhere in between. Regardless of last night's result,NZ are not playing well,and I won't be the least surprised if the Boks roll us in at least one test this year.
mzilikazi
Guest
Was not able to watch the game...only saw first 6 mins...will watch today. So will only comment on the first scrum...I gather from reports NZ always dominated . With the props we have, this hould not be happening, IMO. They are all big, strong guys. Poor technique must be the problem....and thus the scrum coach surely bears the bulk of the blame. But we have Ledesma as our scrum coach ? And we had Noriega before him. They were both world class front rowers in their day. What I observe, as one who played in the 2nd row on the tighhead side, and very occasionally had to play tighthead, is that the props just don't seem to get set properly at the outset. The tighthead is the mian stabiliser of the scrum on his own put in. He must have a stable stance, feet about 1 m apart, and critically his inside leg angled back so that the 2 nd row can lock in just below the hip ie where the femur joins the pelvic bones. If he and the second row both "snap" their legs to the locked position on the put in, or when pressure comes on, it is virtually impossible to shift them backwards. The other key factor for the tighthead is to hit with his outside shoulder the back of the neck of his opposite loosehead, and at all costs stop the guy getting his head in onto the breastbone, and thus gaining a significant destabilising advantage. Finally the tighthead must stay straight, and transfer the power of the scrum along the line of his spine. If his hips angle out, then the scrum becomes a shambles. On the loosehead side, the same foot positioning and leg angles apply, but now the loosehead will attempt to get his head in on his opposite tight heads breastbone, and give some lift, to help his hooker strike the ball back. Finally, the hooker needs to lie accros to his left side . with the right foot ready"like a snakes tongue", to strike fast.....his first task is to strike beyond the ball and potect it, then sweep back...ideally all in one movement. This did not happen in the first scrum for the Wallabies, and it was a shambles....the All Blacks got the ball so fast, and I would think that Moore did not strike at all. Without certain and stable scrum ball, it becomes a much more difficult game. So a lot of work needs to be done there by the WB's.
Springboks vs Argentina is a poor quality match
Dally
Guest
CS Knott - I think it's all subjective how you emotionally respond to a game in the end. Personally I was gutted we didn't close it out when we should have, but damn proud and excited to see how hard we went at it for the entire match until then. Foley leaving nine points on the field is huge. The poor restarts were also. The scrum we got shoved around mostly, but the passion and intensity was there, as were better skills and belief. As an Australian defeat never tends to sit well but considering what we were looking at last week, it is a vast improvement. The ref favoured us too with the likes of disallowed tries. To have the likes of Coleman and Naivalu coming back into the fray also encouraging, although depth in other positions 2, 9, 10 for example, is concerning. That AB side on paper is phenomenal when you look at the starting 15, just freak after freak and then more on the bench and beyond. Our boys played out of their skins last night to take it to them. They need to bottle that effort and find it every time they put that jersey on here on out, because that is what it means to be playing for your country. That is the standard.
mace22
Guest
I am very upbeat about the future of this wallaby team and have been all week. I saw enough in the second half of last weeks game to suggest this team has a backbone. Even the first half, it was mostly beeing rusty from 4 weeks of not playing that lead to their defensive fraities. Every other aspect of their game was impressive. I think the main difference between this wallaby team and teams over the last 10 or so years, is this team is taking nearly every try scoring opportunity that comes their way.
kiwi4lyfe
Guest
Your team switched off after Beal kicked the ball away thinking they had it in the bag, they switched off thinking with only 3 minutes left the All Blacks had lost this game, they switched off thinking rugby was only a 77 minute game. Unfortunately for your team they will never learn that rugby is an 80min game and to celebrate like they have won is premature. They should stop celebrating when they score like they have won the game and they should always play for 80min and not swtich off like they always do. Cheika blames the ref? I mean come on, foley missed two kicks and that would have won you the game, blaming the ref? Cheika should teach his team how to play for 80 min and not 77 min. Other than that, the game itself was one heck of a game and I personally think you should have won and this was your game to lose.
Harry Jones
Expert
To me, it still came down to rugby fundamentals: - NZ scrum dominated - make your kicks - exit well The rest of it was pretty even, bc ABs had bad handling day
If I may add my two cents to the pot. Currently when I watch the Springboks I worry little about the result but more about the processes. I know in my heart of hearts we arenot good enough to beat the All Blacks, we are currently not good enough to mount a sustainable challenge to be number one, probably not even number 2. So for me the it isabout the execution, energy, intensity, physicality, skills en cohesion rather thn realistically beating the All Blacks. Maybe Australia are in a similar situation where supporters should rather look at the processes than the result. Those experts that suggest a close loss is the worst possible outcome is wrong.
adastra32
Guest
You are correct that there are multiple factors in any game. But the issue is that the F/H is the fulcrum of most teams. Playmaker/tactical lead, points kicker, attacker, defender. If the forwards or other backs don't perform, (s)he can be nullified. If not (as today), the fulcrum has to be able to perform well in all those roles. It's not just another position. Foley demonstrates, again and again, that he does not have the full skill-set required. In a tight game, that means losing, not winning.
Riddler
Guest
Ben I can see the loss falling two ways on the roar.. Those who solely blame foley and those who realise rugby is a 15 man, 80 min game against 15 others.. The.rational and sin hyperbole and who have played long enough and wide enough won't blame Foley.. So I guess on the roar 90%_ will blame foley!!
Ben
Guest
Well I certainly felt Pride......it is really poor of Foley.....he left 2 conversations and a penalty kick oust there.....that's 7 points. He also created an opportunity but not clearing the ball far enough....this is another huge issue. Defense was wearing the ABs. Not sure about some selections especially in the front row. Backline played well.....Beale looking awesome. We really miss Pocock.