There are any number of reasons why the All Blacks are too good for the Wallabies at the moment. This includes fitness, skills, the coaching at national, Super and pathway level, basic skill errors and a lack of rugby smarts.
This is article will focus on the last two points.
A quick comment on fitness though. The Wallaby management will get a readout every game of how far each player ran, and how far they ran at say aerobic speed (up to 70%), and anaerobic speed (70-90%).
Only with the benefit of this information would we know if the ABs are fitter, or they are playing in a way to minimise running at these levels (and us the reverse). If the NZ players are running the same distances at the same intensities, then yes, they are fitter.
I re-watched the first half of Bledisloe 2 mainly focusing on a lack of game smarts and basic errors. Not only do we keep making silly and unnecessary mistakes, but we keep picking the guys making them.
We have to reward performance, at every level (playing, coaching, management). We need a management structure that has the best interests of the game in Australia and generally running the game, but that’s for a different article.
What I picked up was these issues at the following times in the game.
1. 1:40, Marika Koroibete, Reece Hodge – Will Genia picks up a knock on, hesitates initially, then Koroibete on a run manages to touch the touchline around their quarter and give possession away, without Kieran Read (the tackler) even doing much to cause it. Iz Rodda stole the lineout, but Hodge had a clean drop giving away attacking ball again;
2. 4:55, Lukhan Tui – we then get another chance 30m out after a forward pass from Jack Goodhue, but Tui doesn’t protect the ball and Brodie Retallick rips it. This is the only one of our lost attacking chances in the first half that involved even above average play by the ABs (Retallick);
3. 12:10, Hodge – turnover ball and we’re badly outnumbered, Hodge races up to shut it down, but he was never going to make it and it leaves a 3 on 1. ABs make 60m (then score);
4. 12:50, Tui, Bernard Foley – four phases later, after bouncing off a tackle a couple of phases earlier, Tui is too slow to re-load and Beauden Barret strolls through the huge gap for the first try. Foley was next to him and failed to sense the danger and cover the gap, or even make the effort;
Bernard Foley of the Wallabies (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
5. 15:04, Dane Haylett-Petty – he makes a good break to get near their quarter, then two phases later cleans out Aaron Smith well past the ball, under the touchie’s nose. Smith by contrast showed smarts by making enough noise and arm movement to draw their attention to it;
6. 17:02, Foley – ABs under pressure retrieving a kick on their own quarter, Foley prevents a pass from a man on the deck, relieving the pressure with a silly penalty. This means they kick it 35m downfield and have the lineout. ABs going backwards have about 5 players there, we (going forward) have 2 or 3;
7. 18:57, Adam Coleman – attacking on their quarter, Coleman clears out too far off the ball (like DHP did 4 minutes beforehand). It was the fifth good attacking chance squandered by lack of smarts or poor play;
8. 37:03, Genia/Kurtley Beale – attacking on their quarter, Genia throws it too hard, or Kurtley should have left it as it was meant for the guy next to him. Attacking chance (6th) gone again;
9. 37:15, most of the side – after that turnover, we end up with both loosies (we only played 2) and our 10, 12, 14 and 15 on the same side, and the front row defending the middle of the field. The ABs see this and go right. Only Kurtley senses danger early enough to do anything about it and puts in some effort.
Hodge makes another mistake trying to shut it down, only four or five Aussies are running at above 50 per cent speed to chase. Genia, Foley, DHP and Hodge all look out of gas;
10. Injury time, Koroibete – attacking on their quarter, Koroibete throws a no look flick pass that goes forward and finishes the half. We were building pressure nicely.
So, what’s the summary? In the first half alone, we:
• Squandered seven attacking chances around their quarter. One (Retallick rip) involved good play from NZ, and the other six were lack of smarts (four) or basic skill errors under little pressure (two);
• Let in two tries. One from a slow re-load (Tui and Hodge) and failure to sense danger and cover (Foley), and the other from getting caught out with front rowers and few backs defending the open side.
As much as we say the ABs are a lot better (and they are), we stop the silly errors and show a bit of game smarts and urgency, and we’re two to three tries up at half time, instead of 1 down.
What do we do as a result? We keep picking the same guys who make the errors and fail to show urgency or smarts.
Geoff B
Guest
Been A.B.s fan since 1956 and this Cheika guy is playing the footie we were playing back in the 1970s, that is the reason he blows up every penalty because he is miles behind the modern version of the game. Bad for the game when every second word your coach says starts with f, needs his balls sandpaperd.
brian
Guest
Excellent summation of the problem. Chasing the ball around like headless chooks. The missed tackles count is likely a function of poor positioning rather than commitment. Taping your mouth shut is a yoga thing meant to increase the CO2 levels in your blood stream. It is increased because you are bring in a lower volume of air as only the nostrils are pathways. The increased CO2 is, rather counter-intuitively, meant to assist the flow of oxygen to the blood. It is related to Buteyko breathing. The insult term 'mouth breather' explained. Taping you mouth shut is the best way to stop snoring by the way.
JohnnyOnTheSpot
Roar Rookie
Or lack of ball in play time.... All the Wallabies need is a true 80 minute contest and they will finish all over the top of everybody... it's clearly what MC needs to restore his W/L percentage.... just give him more time!
Buk
Guest
Some good observations and interesting conclusions, James, thanks for the read.
piru
Roar Rookie
I think it's a lack of experience, these guys go right from club, to Super to Wallabies, some of them within a season or two. Fine for a winger but a 10 needs years of dealing with different situations and reading opponents to make the right decisions. Daniel Carter, who I think we can just about all agree is the best 10 at least of the modern era if not all time, spent a year or two at the top level at 12 as understudy to both Andrew Mehrtens and Carlos Spencer. As a result, he became a kind of hybrid of the best of both. Mehrtens' tactical nous and ability to read opponents, but more instinctive and less constrained. Spencer's instinct and nose for the gaps but less mercurial and more refined. Sorry where was I? Oh yes, 10s aren't born, they are made - but Aussie rugby seems intent on finding the finished product and making it a Wallaby. The result being the product they find is not actually finished, there are very few complete skillsets in the Wallaby side, but neither is it developed once it arrives. Foley's game has changed very little in the past 5 years, despite it being generally acknowledged his kicking has poor range, his passes tend to go a bit wild when he's excited. Beale's defence has been suspect for how many years now? And despite that one game where he really stepped up, no real improvement. Ironically one player who has developed a bit, become less of a liability is Cooper after his time O/S and for whatever reason he's now out of the picture.
Old Bugger
Guest
But where does the buck stop Tman....?? I'm sure the beating-up would stop if the team showed improvement from 2015. But for the 3rd test last year and a draw in the wet, I think a lot of WB fans must feel absolute dejection not for the fact their side loses again and again but for the manner, in which they lose and of course, the scoreboard result. I certainly would want my team that suffers so many losses to show an improvement from the last loss but at the end of the day, the score-board and the game played, shows otherwise.....hence the queries of "why??" Where does the buck eventually stop.....?? The way things are going, it hasn't and by chance it won't, until October 2019 not unless, some major catastrophe occurs and the losses continue to mount up, in the remaining matches.
Old Bugger
Guest
Ralph haha, that's funny because with the bonus of time, the new feature seems to amend itself and disappear but with time, will it amend and make your new wrinkle, disappear.....?? It must be the age of "refreshment" that inspires this latest web-page design to self amend. A pity it doesn't apply to the likes of a couple of old pages, like us.....
Die hard
Roar Rookie
Nice work getting your swearing through the censors Moa!
Die hard
Roar Rookie
Great article James thank you. There are many types of fitness and many types of smart. I am sure the wallabies are just as fit. However they end the game burnt out. Probably because they expend their energy covering unnecessary ground as they shuffle through phases. Because unless rucks are slowed they play off the backdoor a lot. Because they don't know what's coming next in attack they end up sprinting up and down chasing the ball rather than being in the right places. Smart play and players would use less and have more. A weak bench never helps but Faiinga certainly was good last week for it. Did we ever find out if taping their mouths actually worked.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Dont really get the continual beating up on oz rugby. For me its a simple matter of Oz not kicking on since 2015 at either Super rugby or test level. The key players are still the same from three years ago. Beale, Folau, Foley, Pocock, Genia. Not one single player is currently an automatic first pick ahead of any of those names. Same old, same players. Oz should have found a new 9, 10, a couple of wingers, and should have a settled tight five by now. No one has stepped up to fill those positions and those that have have not nailed down a position. Much of it will be Cheikas selections but in all honesty, none of the suggested replacements are world beaters. Its simply a matter of the standard of oz rugby remaining at levels of at least three years ago, where other sides have progressed. At the same time ABs relied on Carter, Nonu, Thorn, C Smith, McCaw.
jameswm
Roar Guru
I re-watched the first half very closely, and from what I saw Hodge and Foley weren't bothering to chase at times, but Beale was.
jameswm
Roar Guru
So the humility angle has been going longer than we acknowledge. You just wouldn't see that wit the Aussies.
Ralph
Roar Guru
I'll give you an example of values. When Grant Fox got his first starting game (replacing Wayne Smith as the incumbent 1st five) in Fiji, Smith went to Fox’s room and cleaned Grant Fox's boots before the game. Because he wanted his replacement to have the very best preparation for the game and because someone had done it for him.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Sure that’s what inferior teams and inferior players do. Make more errors than the better ones, particularly when under pressure, which is all the time vs the ABs. But it would be nice if Wallabies could play one match against them to their full potential. But rather than getting into continual crisis mode over losing to ABs, surely the focus should be on beating the next best teams. And never losing home series to the likes of England, Ireland and (bloody hell!) Scotland as they have in recent years.
OZ Rugby Fan
Guest
Good article. Although It's funny to me, whatever you say about Foley and people say a lot, I don't think he can be accused of a lack of effort. For example, seeing him run from cross field when others gave up (including a very poor tackle from Maddocks from memory) to save that certain J.Barrett try and then quickly back it up with a clever run to set up Hodges try suggests to me he puts no less effort in than Beale even if he is much less popular. If any other player did that they would get a lot of respect but I think there's too many "experts" invested in putting Foley down for that to happen. I also find it hard to put down Hodge, he was asked a lot to play two straight test against NZ having never played for Australia as an outside centre (one of the most difficult defensive positions as well). I thought it was a reasonable effort, I feared much worse. Despite injuries I think he deserves a shot at 13 against a team that is not the ABs but others may disagree.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Like Wessels said - we need to celebrate the successes of other teams, not their failures.
Ralph
Roar Guru
I have to fundamentally agree with Stu. The foundation is always of values and it's on this foundation that performance is built. When a guy doesn't stand up from a tackle it is a values issue. When they say the mental game is the top 2% they are talking about values. Not that these players reflect anything that wider rugby in Australia doesn't have as values. Until rugby as a whole starts putting the game before it's own self interests - why should the players? People can smell hypocrisy from a mile away.
Ralph
Roar Guru
Appears to be a new ‘feature’ That's what I tell myself every time I find a new wrinkle.
jameswm
Roar Guru
The problems with Aussie rugby can be summed up ion one word. Accountability. Or lack thereof. For players, coaches, administrators and everyone. How do they pick the NSW schoolboy coaches for examples, when some ordinary ones get selected? For every Simon Cron, there's probably 5 grade or schoolboy coaches living on reputation or who they know.
jameswm
Roar Guru
I'll give Tui a chance or two to learn. But in your first para, I look at the moneyball comparison. We want guys who have an overall net positive influence. select guys who win post-contact metres in attack and defence, based on stats not whether they look like Will Skelton. Pick forwards who have frequent positive ruck contributions, rather than bigger guys who fall of cleanouts or don't get there in time. How we keep picking guys like Simmons and Hanigan who can't clean a player out escapes me.