The key to rugby success? It’s as simple as running up hills, apparently.
Cast your minds back four months to June, the Wallabies have just lost to Scotland but it is the manner of the defeat which has Australian rugby fans at wits end. The performance was dire.
A perfect storm of unforced errors, dropped balls and missed tackles. The Wallabies could barely kick a goal or win a lineout. The basic desire to win the 50-50 moments at the breakdown was seemingly absent.
The fallout was well publicised. Fans voiced their dissatisfaction with the players, coach Michael Cheika and just about everyone else involved with the professional game right now.
It seemed as though the Wallabies were broken, and it was going to take a hell of a lot of work to put them back together.
At the time, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to speak at length with Cheika about the situation we were in, and he was good enough to explain part of his plan to get us back to the top again.
And it all started with running up hills.
I suppose, when your team appears to be lacking in the basic fundamentals, it’s best to strip it back to basics, and there’s nothing more basic than making a footy team run hills.
There’s more to it than fitness, Cheika explained. The fitness is a beneficial, of course. A tired player is more likely to lose concentration. When you are not concentrating you are more likely to drop a ball or miss a tackle.
Cheika pointed to the Wallabies’ tackling and ball handling at the 2015 World Cup as an example. These were a lot of the same players, so they hadn’t lost the ability to catch, pass and tackle. They just weren’t anywhere near as fit as they were at the World Cup, when Cheika had enjoyed the luxury of an extended build up to prepare the side.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
But what Cheika really loves about flogging the troops is what it creates within the players. The desire to push yourself to your limits and not quit, because you can see the guy next to you pushing himself and he’s refusing to quit.
He explained how that builds respect for each other. How individually a player might not get to the top but damned if he’s going to give up while the guy next to him is somehow still going.
In a age of analytics, the NSW Waratahs coaching staff – take from this what you will – stress the importance of the ‘NTR’ quality. NTR stands for ‘No Talent Required’. Basically, hard work. How willing a player is to just get up and keep going.
Fast forward four months to October. The Wallabies have finished second in The Rugby Championship, losing only twice – to New Zealand, once by a lot, once by a whisker. And halfback Will Genia believes that the current Wallabies setup is the best he’s been involved in, at least culture-wise.
Genia has been the latest Wallaby to identify the intense fitness sessions the players were subject to following the June internationals as key to the team’s growing confidence.
Of course there is more to turning around a waning international rugby team in four months than grueling fitness sessions, but they embody the culture of hard work and respect that Cheika aims to build in this team.
For the first time in a long time, Wallabies fans have cause for optimism heading into a game against New Zealand. While next Saturday’s match will be a dead rubber from a Bledisloe Cup perspective, a win would prove a landmark victory for Cheika.
It would vindicate his back-to-basics methods and provide the perfect launchpad for the European assault to come in November.
Fox
Roar Guru
Except that that best form of inverted attack is great defence.
Kashmir Pete
Roar Guru
ouch
Crash Ball2
Guest
Never before have I heard so much brouhaha made about fitness sessions completed months ago. As if test rugby players fresh from a Super season were sitting around eating glazed donuts and sinking six packs the day before Michael Cheika invented the sandhill. Exhaustion from fitness training - apparently, conveniently - explains the singularly appalling efforts in June. And now a tepid 2 from 6 win record is being hailed as a triumph of Cheika's unprecedented foresight and selfless sacrifice mid-year in getting professional rugby players to do PT? Really? And the utterance of support from Cheika's incumbent Vice Captain is apparently cast iron evidence of cultural robustness? I've no doubt those within the Inner Sanctum of the national squad are loving the ride. Doubt Hanigan, Robertson, Phipps, Dempsey, Moore et al are aggressively agitating for change. Cheiks has actively cleared out any potential dissenters - and none with ambitions to somehow regain a Gold jersey are likely to disagree publically. Nothing like some apparently spontaneous consensus amongst the Entitled to galvanise a group. I wonder if Scott Fardy, Liam Gill, Scott Higginbotham, Lopeti Timani, RHP, Luke Jones, Quade Cooper, Tom Banks, Rory Arnold are similarly effusive?
PiratesRugby
Guest
Doesn't anyone remember how bad our scrum went against the ABs last time? It was on skates. Now Ledesma is leaving. The house is on fire and we're all arguing about what's on tv.
enoughisenough
Guest
Exactly. Cheika is reaping the rewards he deserves, 4 wins from 9 games, the wins coming against Argentina, Fiji and Italy. Go Cheika, you da man! I cannot believe how forgiving of this guys appalling record and selections some people are. And how forgiving they are of him having the majority of his side picked from the SR that came second last in the competition. At times there have been 9 Tahs on the field for the wallabies, 10, if you count Beale. I suppose given that, 4 wins out of 9 is an outstanding effort. But, but, but, we came second in the RC! Woohooo. Go Cheika, go Tahs!
PiratesRugby
Guest
Cheika' wallabies were rubbish last year, they're rubbish this year and they'll be rubbish every year that he is coach. We are seriously off the pace set by NZ and England. Our brave losses to the ABs were on par with Italy's near win against us. That is, we are the AB's Italy. It's embarrassing. The Wallabies will never win anything with Foley at 10 or Cheika as coach.
Rebellion
Guest
But Chieka called up Jack Q so it’s “Chieka..I love you ? “
zubrick
Guest
cheika has lost me...since 2015 wallabies have been poor we win against weaker opponents as expected but fail to win the hard ones evidenced by 2 recent draws vs the boks and the loss to scotland people banging on about improvement shown vs the pumas are misguided currently in the world rankings they are no 10 below fiji so we should flog them cant see the wallas troubling the all blacks or england another loss to scotland at home would reinforce my view those in control of the whole setup need to hear what mark ella and nick farrjones are saying on our current trajectory the aussies will struggle into the 2019 rwc semi final and be eliminated cheika will finally be replaced
Tooly
Roar Rookie
Alan Jones has selected well let's see if Chekko has the bottle to front up with Robertson , Rodda , Hannigan , Uelese , Dempsey , Simmons , Hunt , Phipps , Koriebete , Foley , Hodge and Hooper at seven against a real man .
BOGGLES THE MIND
Guest
Two draws against SA are not acceptable. Both Bledisloe games were not acceptable. At 17 nil up, no other aussie team in history has ever lost against the ABS. Argentina wins were expected, so nothing special. That is 5 games of consistent Rubbish
Cliff (Bishkek)
Guest
Sorry Jack - the man is going nowhere as he is clueless. No. 2 in the RC - a joke. Two games against a poor team of Bokkies and we could not put them away. Two very poor games against Argentina - we won by nothing to write home about. If we met the Bokkies that played the ABs last weekend - we would have been monstered and rolled - very well beaten. We are clueless on winning. When Moore is in the mix, and our back row are not picked on their "job description", then the Coach is clueless. And as in another Roar Article this morning - our kick return and security of kick off are bad and have been for years, our scrum is not fixed, our lineouts are not fixed and our rucks and mauls are like "men at a ladies handbag fight" - to scared to get in there and do something. Coach is clueless - but maybe he is all we have and while that remains - we will go nowhere - still downhill, not in freefall but going down!! Cheers Cheers
Snapsterino
Guest
In Brief - thanks for bringing some perspective. A lot of negativity on this site that's based in a very short-sighted analysis. Sure it's an unproven work in progress, and the Spring Tour will provide some answers, but even that will just be part of the story. Squad development, culture improvement, the first green shoots of belief - this season has been a big step up from the last, and the future could be very bright indeed. Some of us are pumped.
Bob Wire
Guest
A week to go before the All blacks. Let the rugby do the talking.
Dwards
Roar Rookie
I know it's been said, but its very disturbing that professional rugby players weren't fit enough. That's just unacceptable and surely the first order of business when they coaches have their chin wag.
BOGGLES THE MIND
Guest
and Robertson
BOGGLES THE MIND
Guest
In Briefs, " Coming off the worst ever super rugby season June was an expected dip " So why did Cheika pick most players from the second worst oz super team ?? the team that came 16th out of 18th in SUPER 18 RUGBY.Surely you pick most of your players from the best performed teams-Right ??
ethan
Guest
So glad we finally have the explanation for Hanigan selection - NTR! OK that may be a bit harsh on the guy, but comparatively to international standard..
Tooly
Roar Rookie
Where is the base for the turn around and what is the evidence of one . You can only look at what Chekko has done since Ewan did a Leichhardt on us . Ewan had at last settled on a team and was looking good so the early success Chekko had was mostly due to McKenzie since then it's been steadily down hill . A turn around can be from one poor half or a poor game but to be of any substance it must be prolonged over the coaches tenure . Wins over Fiji , Japan and Argentina are expected not exceptional and its far easier to look good in these games than it is in games against any NZ side . I expect the ABs to give us a real touch up in Brisbane .
In Brief
Guest
You say below that June was the lowest you have ever seen the Wallabies? I take it you only started watching rugby in May? Seriously there have been plenty more lows in the past. Coming off the worst ever super rugby season June was an expected dip (also due to the fitness regime Cheika was required to implement). Things were plenty lower under Deans when the Wallabies played turgid rugby, they were lower under knuckles when we got smashed by England in Marseille, they were lower under Macca when the team drowned under the coach's corporate dribble and hubris. This is a team which according to Genia has the best culture of any wallaby team he has been associated with. And it shows - these are exciting times for Australian Wallaby supporters. Drop the gripes and get on board or you may miss the ride.
PeterK
Roar Guru
the teams that have improved the most, as shown in rankings, are the ones that have improved their defence rather than their attack. England, Ireland and Scotland last 2 years since the rwc and Boksthis year compared to last year. Scotland beat Aust this year because of its defence not because of its attack.