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The great question mark of Salta

7th October, 2018
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Roar Guru
7th October, 2018
21
1818 Reads

The duality of the Wallaby performance in Salta invites more questions than it answers.

Watching the post-match press conference, under siege Wallabies coach Michael Cheika and his captain Michael Hooper could not articulate how their team could simply be so fundamentally awful in the first half of the match, yet produce their best rugby of the Rugby Championship in the second.

It was simply a perplexing performance that inherently demands further inquiry in an effort to understand it.

Nobel Memorial Prize winner for his work in scientific analysis in economic theory Paul Samuleson is quoted as saying ‘Good questions outrank easy answers’ and in reference to Salta the questions that burn are readily in supply and are demanding: where has a performance like this been?

Why has it taken till the second half of the last match of the Rugby Championship for the Wallabies to truly play the game with any credible resemblance of composure and sustained competence?

What did Michael Cheika actually say to the players at half-time and whose decision was it to change the game plan?

Why did it take such a spray from Cheika to get the players to re-act and why had not his on-field leadership group managed to motivate the team accordingly prior to the half time whistle?

Michael Cheika

These are difficult times for Wallabies coach Michael Cheika. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

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An emotionally drained Cheika at the post-match press conference, the straight-talking coach spoke about implementing some meaning and to take things personally as sources to his sides dramatic turn of form on the night.

These sentiments attract as much adoration as they do frustration as we the Australian rugby public have been told ad nauseam how this Wallaby side has pride in its jersey, history and wants the fans to be proud of the way the Wallabies play the game.

Yet a logical conclusion is that prior to the second half the Wallabies have played without that meaning and combativeness and why has it taken to long for this to be identified and addressed?

What intrigues me is clearly the game plan changed for the second half. The Wallabies literally went back to ageless wisdom in defence of lifting the tempo, making first up tackles, limiting the time and space the Pumas had with the ball.

This had the desired effect of frustrating the Argentinians that also permeated into their own defensive game as the Wallabies attack also found clarity and moved the ball forward forcefully, supported the ball runner and reaped the just reward of basic attack play. But under whose command was the call made?

When asked in the press conference on the subject of the second half, Michael Cheika responded “They looked like they wanted to do it.”

Clearly how they were going to do ‘it’ had changed. Was it attack coach Stephen Larkham’s call to cull the lust for width and be more direct or was it a joint decision between he and Cheika?

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Or was it Cheika who assumed complete control of the team and reverted to a style of rugby not too dissimilar to that of the 2014 Waratahs who were a far more direct and flatter running side that the Wallabies of 2018?

There is speculation that Rugby Australia may bring in further assistance for the coaching staff of Wallabies, but at a time they appear to have found some meaning and clarity to their game is it wise to bring in further influences that may confuse the situation?

After his rousing performance I would suggest Cheika has secured his own future yet has the experience of the series loss to Ireland and the fundamentally flawed Rugby Championship campaign changed him as a coach?

Notoriously loyal, Cheika surely must be asking himself is that loyalty being reciprocated at a level that is both consistent and compelling and that will bring the success both the Wallabies and the Australian rugby public yearn for?

Michael Cheika Wallabies

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika (Photo by Jason O’Brien/Getty Images)

The experience of Salta should enliven Cheika’s own quest for answers as there clearly are so many issues in the Wallaby game that need addressing, but meaning and combativeness should be a given every time that jersey is worn.

The Wallabies face the All Blacks, England, Wales and Italy in the coming weeks and a Rugby World Cup in 12 months’ time. Cheika and the Wallabies’ task does not get any easier but it could be somewhat less daunting if some honest questions were asked.

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Do I have the right game-plan? Do I have the right support-staff? Do I have the right selections? Do I have the right leadership group? The answer might be ‘yes’ to all questions but at least ask them Michael because to the Australian rugby public those questions and your answers have meaning to us and we ride those wins and losses quite personally.

Salta has been an illuminating experience for all and light had been shone into some dark spaces of the Wallaby cupboard but the Wallabies coach should not retreat from or be fearful of honest reflection. Tough questions must be asked and as Voltaire the great French writer on freedoms said ‘Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers’.

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