Locking in the best Wallabies set piece

I have few memories playing No.5 as a kid.

One was fracturing my foot when the scrum collapsed and a big prop fell on it and the other was never getting lifted in the lineouts.

As a terrible ball handler, I was in the team to tackle and push while my lock partner was the lineout star.

The problem was that I never improved in the lineout because our coach new taught me the technical skills required to excel – how to jump higher, how to time jumps to be in the air when the ball arrived, how to watch the ball float into my hands and how to protect it until the offload.

On the odd occasion my partner didn’t show up to a match and I was the one lifted, but I got more vertigo than ball. Our lineouts suffered.

Eventually I was shifted around many different positions, No.8, flanker on boths sides, I even made a memorable try-saving tackle in my one match playing on the wing. My childhood rugby career was a sham because I was the jack of all trades but the master of none.

So with that experience I watch with interest what happens when some of the Wallabies are put in new positions or play themselves out of position, as many have been recently.

A lot of commentators talk about the Wallabies’ one-dimensional attack strategy, their lack of polish and rugby smarts, but it can be argued some of the team’s woes are related to a failure to support and fine-tune specialisation in positions.

Taniela Tupou of the Wallabies (second right) celebrates winning a penalty. (Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)

Notice that the Wallabies’ most solid performers on Saturday night all played in their specialist positions – Scott Sio (loosehead prop), Folau Fainga’a (hooker), Taniela Tupou (tighthead prop), Michael Hooper (Openside flanker), Will Genia (scrumhalf), Reece Hodge (outside centre), Dane Haylett-Petty (fullback).

In fact there was only player who made a memorable contribution in the Test despite playing out of position, and that, of course, was David Pocock as No.8.

It’s been argued by some that Kurtley Beale and Matt Toomua could swap positions, while it remains to be seen whether Folau’s switch to the wing is the right one, or if Marika Koroibete can consistently convert his scintillating speed into points or if Jack Maddox or Tom Banks should be given a run on the blindside wing. But focusing on the Wallabies backline makes us forget that there are two packs of players in a rugby team.

And while much has been made of Australia’s front row movements – “Tongan Thor” Taniela Tupou’s first Test start and Sekope Kepu’s ability to switch from loosehead prop to tighthead and back to loosehead again – there are two positions that are being overlooked: the locks.

In the Rugby Championship, the Wallabies have come up against some of the world’s best lock partnerships in New Zealand’s Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock and South Africa’s Eben Etzbeth and Franco Mostert.

But coach Michael Cheika has clearly not made his mind up on Australia’s best No.4 and No.5 and continuing to experiment with this crucial pairing shows that he isn’t convinced with what he has seen or he just doesn’t know what he’s doing anymore.

Since taking over the Wallabies, Cheika has handed caps to seven locks including Rory Arnold, Adam Coleman, Jack Dempsey, Izack Rodda, Lukhan Tui, Matt Philip and Blake Enever. Other specialist locks who have been available during his six-year tenure and remain eligible are Rob Simmons, Sam Carter and Kane Douglas.

Wallabies player Rory Arnold looks on during the First Test between the Australia Wallabies and the England Roses at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Saturday, June 11, 2016. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

Judging by his first choice locks this year, it appears that Rodda and Coleman are favoured as loosehead and tighthead locks, respectively.

Before we go forward I just want explain the difference in the roles of both locks in set pieces, an area the Wallabies are struggling.

The loosehead lock (No.4) is a lineout specialist. He is usually tall and flexible because he is the one who is lifted to retain or pilfer possession. In the scrum, he combines with the blindside flanker (No.6) to drive the loosehead prop (No.1) forward into the opposing tighthead prop.

The tighthead lock (No.5) is not a lineout specialist. He is a middle jumper who only very occasionally or never gets lifted because he is heavier and bulkier. The No.5 can also play the role of lifter. The reason he is usually bigger than his partner is that the tighthead lock is a scrum specialist. It’s his job to combine with the openside flanker (No.7) to anchor and reinforce the tighthead prop (No.3), with that tripod bearing the brunt of the opposition scrum.

Now that we know the roles of the locks, we can look at Cheika’s pairings.

Izack Rodda started with partner Adam Coleman on the weekend in Port Elizabeth, but in the two previous matches Rodda partnered Rory Arnold against Argentina and the Boks at home. Before that it was Rodda-Coleman in both Bledisloe tests. That’s interesting because Rodda is being played as both a No.4 and a No.5, two different roles that require two different body shapes and specialisations.

Comparing the set piece statistics of Rodda-Coleman to Arnold-Rodda over the Rugby Championship is interesting as well.

With the former partnership the Wallabies have won 27/40 (67%) of their own lineouts and pilfered 5/35 (14%) of opposition lineouts. But when Arnold-Rodda are on the paddock Australia have won 22/27 (81%) of their own lineouts and snatched 3/20 (15%) of the opposition’s lineouts.

In scrummaging, the Arnold-Rodda second row helped the Wallabies win 16/19 (84%) of their own scrums and 2/14 (14%) of their opposition’s scrums. In contrast, the Rodda-Coleman second row helped the Wallabies win 43/45 (95%) of their own scums but they didn’t get the better of any of the oppositions’ 19 scrums.

In other words, when Arnold-Rodda were partnered the Wallabies performed better in the lineout, but Australia were more consistent in the scrum with the Rodda-Coleman second row.

That brings me to the point of this article, is Cheika playing Australia’s best available lock pairing? And who is Australia’s best available lock pairing?

By the statistics and on form, it is Arnold at No.4 and Coleman at No.5. That pair combine at 242kg, with both being strong pushers.

Coleman is much more reliable anchor for a tighthead prop than the athletic Rodda, while Rory Arnold is the best loosehead lock in Australia right now. He is 6cm taller than Rodda and one kilo heavier – he is also 4cm taller than Coleman, the next tallest Wallaby lock.

There is no better lineout winner in Australian rugby than the Brumbies second rower. In the 2018 Super Rugby season Arnold snatched 62 lineouts in 14 matches, only South Africa’s Mostert won more (87) for the Lions.

The 28-year-old’s ability to dominate the lineout is why he was recalled for his first Wallabies cap in 12 months when he ran on against the Boks in Brisbane last month. The reason Australia’s lineout is yet to improve is because Cheika has played Arnold in the wrong position (at No.5) so he has not had a good opportunity to demonstrate his air power at Test level.

And while much will be made of Arnold’s poor showing off the bench and his knock-on in Port Elizabeth, again he was played out of position and the mistake was an anomaly for the Brumbies lock, who made less handling errors than any of his fellow locks in Super Rugby this season

The statistics show who Australia’s best starting No.4 and No.5 are right now – Arnold and Coleman. That’s not to say that Rodda, Carter, Philip, Douglas, Simms and even young Hannigan – could not have roles to play off the bench at Test level.

Hannigan in particular should certainly not be playing as blindside flanker as he needs time to develop specialist technical game of a lock (not to mention to add a bit of weight to his frame). The youngster must also temper his ill discipline – he conceded 15 penalties in 15 Super Rugby matches for the Waratahs in 2018.

With so much uncertain as the Wallabies head to their final Rugby Championship match in Salta hoping to avoid a wooden spoon, the commentary will likely focus on the musical chairs going on in the backline, the front row and rest of the paddock.

But part of solution to Australia’s set piece woes must be playing our best specialised lock pairing together.