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Michael Cheika was sure they didn’t when he was interviewed early in the second half of the recent Test in Canberra against Argentina.
When Greg Clark put forward some ideas on what it looked like the Wallabies needed to work on after a pretty poor first half of the match, Cheika was quick to say “No mate, it’s all about urgency. There wasn’t enough urgency – I’m not sure if we realize we’re playing in a Test match.”
Was that a bit harsh, said in the heat of the moment? No, Cheika was spot on!
Now, I must admit I didn’t watch this match live. I was too busy enjoying watching the Cowboys play Parramatta in that other code. Originally I’d planned to watch the start of that match and then switch over once the Wallabies started, but the NRL game was so entertaining that I stuck with it until the halftime break before switching over to catch the last ten minutes of the first half in Canberra.
I went from watching a fast, tough and skilful footy match to one where I was underwhelmed. To make it worse, the Wallabies were trailing 13-10 and were lucky not to go further behind in the last few minutes before the halftime break.
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
When play stopped, I switched channels and once again felt entertained. I didn’t come back to the Wallabies match until after fulltime in the NRL match.
As I went to switch channels late in the second half, I was dreading what the score might be. I almost expected it to be in Argentina’s advantage. So, it was a pleasant surprise when I saw the Wallabies had got a roll on in the second half.
I obviously went back and watched the match and heard Cheika’s comment before I sat down to write this article. By the time he made that comment, my notebook had copped a pounding as I jotted down point after point about where the Wallabies needed to improve.
In that first half, there were very few positive notes I made. Things improved in the second half and it was obvious Cheika’s halftime message about urgency had got through because the speed the Wallabies were doing things had improved noticeably.
Many of the notes I made watching that first half also revolved around the lack of urgency but there were also far too many times I wrote ‘Poor Skills’.
I know the Wallabies coaching staff continually work on skills, I’ve seen the programs Mick Byrne is running with them but there is still so much room for improvement!
Let me give you a few examples of things that happened in that first half involving the lack of urgency Cheika was talking about.
The first is from the 7th minute of play. Argentina put a little grubber kick through. Look at these Wallaby defenders on the far side of the ruck.
Now, look how quickly those same players have re-aligned to be ready to counter-attack. That’s really good urgency.
As the ball is moved wide, Michael Hooper takes a good option to accelerate through the line. You can see Israel Folau and Tevita Kuridrani outside him as support options.
Hooper makes a half break and sets up a really good opportunity. Folau has moved urgently into a supporting position and takes the pass from Hooper, but where’s Kuridrani?
Folau’s ready to pass at this point but Kuridrani didn’t show the urgency required. Reece Hodge is aligned correctly but Kuridrani needs to be 2-3 metres further forward here but was obviously on his heels when Hooper darted forward. As a result, Folau has to try and delay his pass and wait for Kuridrani to arrive.
There’s only so long Folau can wait and Kuridrani doesn’t get there in time. As a result, the pass goes across his body and he throws a hand at the ball which leads to a knock on.
It was a really good opportunity wasted because of a lack of urgency.
The second example is in the ninth minute at a defensive lineout.
Sekope Kepu is at the back of the lineout and without him, Adam Coleman is no chance of competing as he won’t have a rear lifter.
Kepu’s meant to be watching his opposite number at the back of the lineout and you can see he is. If Kepu sees him move forward, it should be obvious that he’s going forward to act as a lifter. When he sees that happen (as it already has here) Kepu needs to urgently move forward to lift Coleman.
Instead, he just watches it all happen without showing any urgency and even though Coleman gets off the ground to compete, he can’t do that without a rear lifter and it’s an uncontested win for Argentina.
Kepu clearly didn’t do his job here.
The third example comes in the 22nd minute when Argentina are on attack.
The Wallabies have their numbers right in defence here with players either side of the ruck but they also have to keep their eyes up to see what Nicolas Sanchez is doing sitting back behind the play.
Sanchez makes a decision to take the ball to the short side and moves to that side of the ruck. Look how far he’s moved from the previous image. Yet not a single Wallaby on the far side of the ruck has started moving to the near side of the ruck.
At this point, the ball has been passed by the halfback. Kuridrani needs to get moving and slide out to take Sanchez so that Hodge and Henry Speight can also slide out. If all three do that, it’s man-on-man defence and there should be no issue here. Take note of Ned Hanigan’s position in behind the ruck.
At this point, Sanchez has taken the ball to the line, Hodge and Speight have stayed on the line and don’t fill you with confidence that they’ve got this under control. Kuridrani hasn’t moved urgently enough so he’s left Hodge to deal with two attackers. By now, Hanigan needs to have started an urgent run to the area I’ve highlighted in case there’s a break made.
But with none of the Wallabies showing the urgency required, Sanchez is left to run and then with Speight stuck in no-man’s land, Sanchez beats him with a good pass to the outside. How’s the urgency from Hanigan to chase back here?
Here’s one final image before the footage cuts to a tight shot and there’s still no urgency from Hanigan. The lack of urgency from any of the defenders here made it far too easy for Argentina.
It must be very frustrating as a coach to have professional players who are playing for their country and still have to show them this sort of review of basic, basic errors and lack of urgency.
No wonder I preferred watching the Cowboys. Although then I watched a replay of the All Blacks’ performance against the Springboks and I fell back in love with rugby – what a great performance that was!