- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Okay, a moment of honesty here to kick things off. At halftime in this game I was sketching out this article and putting together some headlines to focus on – and as you can imagine, they were all pretty negative.
Surely this would be the last article I would write about the Wallabies while Michael Cheika was in charge.
And then it happened. The biggest come back in the history of the Rugby Championship, 38 points scored in the second half alone and a key away win for the Wallabies.
So without further ado, let’s start to pick apart the main talking points from that incredible and bizarre game of rugby.
There’s lots that we could focus on, from how impressive David Pocock was again, to how the second row functioned well for a change, or how the entire front row needed changing very early. So where shall we start…
Will the real Wallabies please stand up?
In 80 minutes of rugby we got to see the best and the worst of the Wallabies and it is causing fans all sorts of confusion and frustration.
If the men in gold had played throughout in the same terrible way they played in the first half then at least we would know where we stand and our Sunday could be focused on that line of debate.
Instead we don’t know what on earth is going on. In the first half the Aussies missed 20 tackles, made seven handling errors and conceded six penalties.
In the second half they missed just three tackles, made just two handling errors and gave away only four penalties.
And here is one of the challenges that Michael Cheika faces – the gap between the Wallabies at their best and at their worst is still far too big.
No one really doubts that the Aussies have it in them to play good rugby and win important games, but we know also that they’re capable of playing like an NRC side whose best players are out injured.
(Photo by Daniel Jayo/Getty Images)
Run straight and hold the ball
In the second half, as the Wallabies pulled in the Pumas point by point, it was interesting to see that it wasn’t outrageous skill or flashy rugby that was making the difference. It was good old-fashioned tactics including running straight and retaining possession.
Two of the Wallabies tries came at the end of 11 and 9 phases of attack respectively and looked relatively straightforward – not because they were, but because by that point the Pumas had been properly stretched and the space was there for the Wallabies to take advantage of.
On the flip side we also got to see one of the most frustrating things the Wallabies do…..
Going early too soon
Right from the off the Wallabies seemed desperate to spin the ball out wide to their wings as quickly as possible.
No one was hitting the line in the midfield or looking to run straight and pin their man before passing. It was all about getting the ball out wide, fast.
Funnily enough it didn’t work. Time and again the Aussie wingers were taking the ball with no space to play with and a Puma already wrapping them up.
If the Aussies are going to get better then they have to remember that age-old cliche – you have to earn the right to go wide.
When the Aussies tried to punch holes in the midfield first and keep the ball for a few phases there was, unsurprisingly, space out wide for the Wallabies to exploit.
The Wallabies’ biggest foe is……themselves!
Too many times the Wallabies made a bad situation worse for themselves. In the first half they were struggling to find rhythm and for long passages were being forced to make tackle after tackle as the Pumas monopolised possession.
This made it all the more frustrating to then see some of the choices that the Wallabies made when they did have the ball briefly.
In 29th minute Kurtley Beale took a great high ball and defused a potentially dangerous situation. The Pumas had their tails up and looked like they could run up a cricket score against the visitors so Beale’s take was important.
But even before he landed he decided to try and get the ball away – he popped a pass out which Reece Hodge was understandably not expecting and failed to regather properly meaning he was easy to tackle into touch.
Also in the first half the Wallabies were able to steal the ball back in a tackle and a chance to relieve some pressure was theirs.
But instead of holding onto the ball and starting to run through some phases, Will Genia kicked ahead and the ball ran out over the dead ball line.
Perhaps even more worrying is that those two mistakes came from two of the most experienced players in the Wallabies set up – the types of players who others look to when things are going wrong for some control and game management.
Speaking of Beale…
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
What’s going on with Kurtley?
The guy has not looked comfortable for a few games now. He is making far too many poor choices and far too many handling errors for someone who is meant to be one of the best players in the world.
He is running sideways time and time again and he’s really not posing any threat to opposition sides.
At a very simple level, when you’re attacking with ball in hand, you want to force the defence in to having to make decisions and making it tricky for them because they are confronted with variables and options. They make a decision and then you exploit it.
But with Beale this just isn’t happening – he isn’t forcing the defence to make a decision at all or to worry about which option he might pick.
He’s not creating anything, his lateral movement is cramping the players outside him and his handling errors are gifting possession back to the opposition without them having to work for it.
If the Wallabies are going to threaten on the Spring Tour or in 2019 then Kurtley has got to find his mojo again.
Is this a turning point?
While blogging about this match I commented at halftime that we’ll learn a lot about the Wallabies in the second half and in particular about the culture that the Michaels, Cheika and Hooper, have created.
After a first half performance like the one we saw it takes more than just a tactical change to come back and compete, let alone win.
Based on the second half performance there really is something that could be a core foundation for the Wallabies to build on.
Perhaps the 40-minute mark in this game will be looked on in the future as this team’s low and turning point.
The Wallabies have a hard few weeks ahead of them – another match against the All Blacks and then a Northern Hemisphere tour at the end of a hard season.
But this could be the point where the Wallabies launch their attack on the 2019 World Cup.
They’ve been to some very dark places together this season and today they fought back together and won together.
Let’s see if they can keep this up.
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.