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Do the Wallabies deserve praise after Bledisloe 2?

27th August, 2017
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Kurtley Beale of the Wallabies watches on. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
27th August, 2017
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After the nail-biting Bledisloe 2, Paul Cully in the Sydney Morning Herald wrote the following.

Do we pat the Wallabies on the back for an improved effort or lament the errors in selection, tactics and skill that has kept the Bledisloe Cup away for another year? I am inclined to the do the latter.

Indeed, I am somewhat baffled by all of the praise. Have our standards really shrunk so low that we are willing to praise an error-riddled performance and incredible choke that cost the Wallabies what would have been their first win against the All Blacks in New Zealand since 2001?

The Wallabies started brilliantly and raced out to a 17-0 lead, but then many of the same old issues that have been obvious for the fans and journalists to see began to reappear.

1. Defence
The Wallabies missed 38 of 140 tackles. 23 per cent missed tackles is not good enough, you will not win many Tests with that statistic.

2. Kurtley Beale’s defence
Kurtley Beale had a fantastic match, and could have been the best player on the field but for a vintage Will Genia performance. He ran beautiful lines and was always dangerous with the ball.

However, despite the praise he has received for his improved defence, his poor defensive read resulted in the All Blacks’ winning try. Tatafu Polota-Nau had Brodie Retallick covered and yet despite his Beale came off his man, Kieran Read, allowing for Retallick to pop a simple pass to Read who strolled through the mile-wide gap, and the rest is history.

He also missed three of ten tackles. A 70 per cent tackle completion rate is not good enough for an international inside centre, but it is good enough for a fullback.

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Beale still needs to be shifted to the back three, ideally to fullback. The All Blacks shifted the best fullback in the world, Ben Smith, onto the wing because they believed it suited their strategy.

Even if Isreal Folau is a superior fullback to Beale – of which I am sceptical of – it is better for the team for Folau to be on the wing and Beale at fullback.

Folau spends the majority of his time attacking on the wing, and him being on the wing both defuses the box kick and brings in his intercept more.

Samu Kerevi, Reece Hodge or Bill Meakes are stronger defenders at 12 – despite Kerevi’s efforts in Bledisloe 1 – and straighten the attack more. Beale is more effective attacking in space.

3. Scrum woes
The Wallabies’ scrum was horrific. Stephen Moore, despite his great history, has to go. When Moore departed and Tatafu Polota-Nau came on the scrum improved from embarrassing to poor.

Sean McMahon also is not an international number 8. He does not provide enough power and weight at the back of the scrum. Would dropping Ned Hanigan for MaMahon weaken the scrum too much? If so, Dempsey should be brought on at 6 and McMahon to the bench of out of the 23. Lopeti Timani must start at number 8.

4. Underpowered forward pack
Quite simply, some of the Wallabies’ forward pack should not be starting or should not be in the 23. Their lack of impact is leading the team down.

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According to ESPN stats
Stephen Moore 2 runs for 0 metres; 2 passes; completed 3 of 4 tackles
Ned Hanigan 1 run for 1 metre; 0 passes; 9 of 10 tackles
Alan Ala’alatoa 2 runs for 6 metres; 1 pass; completed 2 of 3 tackles
Rob Simmons 5 runs for 6 metres; 0 passes; 6 of 6 tackles completed

Of these players, both Moore and Hanigan should be out of the 23.

Hanigan tries extremely hard, but he is currently too young and light. He is not strong enough and does not have the impact the Wallabies need. Perhaps he will be a future Wallaby mainstay, but he should currently go back to Super Rugby.

Moore has been a great servant of Australian rugby, but the time has come for him to say goodbye. His scrummaging is poor, he has a low workrate and he lacks impact. Jordan Uelese should be brought in until Tolu Latu has recovered.

Wallabies captain Stephen Moore

(Photo: AFP)

Allan Ala’alatoa is failing to reproduce his Super Rugby form at international level. He is still quality, but he should switch with Sekope Kepu off of the bench.

Rob Simmons has never been as poor as some of his critics have alleged, but on current form he needs dropped to the bench or out of the 23 when Adam Coleman has recovered.

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5. Goal-kicking
Bernard Foley’s goal-kicking on Saturday was disgraceful. He is a very streaky kicker and too often he wilts under pressure. The fact that he got 6/6 in Bledisloe 1 when it did not matter is irrelevant, making 2/6 in Blediloe 2 did matter.

If Bernard Foley is retained as fly-half he should be competing with Beale and Reece Hodge for the kicking.

6. Exits
Foley’s exits continued to be poor. Too often his clearances barely make it outside the 22, which means that either (a) the Wallabies try and run the ball and risk a turnover or (b) the other team gets an attacking line-out around the 22 and the pressure is straight back on the Wallabies.

Beale and Hodge/Haylett-Petty need to clear.

Conclusion
Was the performance by the Wallabies an improvement?

Yes it was. However, the team will need to sustain this improvement if this is not to bet yet another false dawn.

Many problems with Cheika’s Wallabies that have been identified for a long period of time continued to plague the team in Bledisloe 2, and likely cost the team what would have been a famous win.

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All that being said, it was an instantly classic Test match. The Wallabies played some wonderful rugby and there were some beautiful tries. If the Wallabies can build on that performance and improve then 2017 looks bright for the team.

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