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For a guy who apparently had a recent brain explosion, Daryl Gibson just spent Sunday doing a pretty good impression of a guy who knew exactly what he was doing.
The ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ comments were coming thick and fast when the Waratahs XV for the Rebels game was announced; despite the fact that selecting Israel Folau on the wing and Bryce Hegarty at fullback should have told everyone who stopped to think about it for two minutes exactly what the objective was.
Gibson needed to counter his lightweight pack (a selection issue admittedly of his own making) against the very impressive Rebels and to find a way to stop the rolling momentum that the Rebels have been able to generate, and take away the armchair ride Will Genia and Jack Debreczeni have been operating off to date.
A messy first half saw the Rebels take advantage of an unorganised Waratahs and run out to a comfortable lead, but within minutes of a beginning of the second half it was clear a very different Tah approach was being implemented.
Kicking deep into the corners, chasing hard, forcing errors from the Rebels both from return kicks and when taking ball into contact, began to make immediate profit, and it helps to have an aerial wizard like Folau on one of those wings to seriously ramp up the pressure on the defending Rebels.
The extended back division of Bernard Foley, Kurt Beale, Hegarty and even Curtis Rona kept kicking for distance deep into Rebel territory, they kept at it with real discipline and all the while the Rebels forwards were roving around in midfield staring at the sky like a bunch of lost penguins unable to find a way back into the match.
When the error was drawn the Waratahs attacked with clinical precision, and those concerned about the attack with Hegarty at 15 should have been delighted with his two assists and his own five pointer in short order.
What should be really concerning to the wider rugby community is that the head of the National Coaching Advisory Panel was in the commentary team, voicing his concerns that the Waratahs were kicking the ball way, while this was the very tactic that had turned the scoreboard into something resembling an odometer.
On the only occasion the Tahs made an error with ball in hand was when they had again forced a kicking error from Genia, but a spill from Rob Simmons got the ball back in front of the Rebel forwards and guess what, they rolled up the park to close the gap with a further try.
Had Simmons controlled the ball, look at the space wide down the Tahs left that has again been created by winning the kicking duel. The Rebels were very lucky not to concede another.
Gibson created a game plan that not only worked around the structural deficiencies of his own side but one which Wessels was not able to respond to as the Waratahs racked up points for fun in the second stanza.
Given the heat Coach Gibson has been catching of late, I hope he enjoyed a very nice cheeky pinot sometime Sunday evening safe in the knowledge that his game plan blew this one wide open
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.