How do the Wallabies regain the composure of times past?

That's very similar to the Qld Maroons in League in their dominant decade. Even if they lost a match they would be very often the last to score - still trying to finish on top (I am a NSWelshman by the way) so that's not a parochial view.

Or did they only become highly regarded professionals after as a result from their rugby careers?

We've never had the depth of players. And yet, up until recently, that's never stopped the Wallabies from fielding exceptional teams.

Very interesting point TCFB and interesting to note that the one Wallaby we have who plays out of his skin week in week out and who shows the greatest leadership qualities on and off the field is David Pocock, a man who has sought to further his education and has keenly pursued his interests off the field. After receiving his John Eales Medal he credited his charity work last year in Africa as helping inspire his enthusiasm on the rugby field this year. As you say RS the “Better people make better players” philosophy?

There were many secrets to the "golden era wallabies". They played club rugby first and foremost, and most took years to be considered for test duty. A LOT of them had tertiary educations - not in itself a guarantee of smarts, but a surety that life outside rugby DID exist. A LOT of them had jobs - real jobs - and ergo some contact with real people in the real world. Those that didn't have jobs weren't driving around in fancy European cars given to them by sponsors. Not a single one of them took daily photographs of themselves, and posted their thoughts to an adoring global audience. They all had mates who would tell them to pull their heads in if they started getting too uppity in the public bar. And enough of them - most of them - were surprised and grateful for everything that came their way, rather than expecting it all.

A tick for everyone above! and amen.

There are No quick Fixes. We don't have the depth of players. With dedication we can fix it in 8 years and 2 world cups. We can be the best again. How do we do it? The Board who have created this downward spiral must resign now in mass. We must allow the grassroots to elect the Board so they represent us. They don't now and we can see the results. We must invest in the public schools and reconstitute their pathway. We must remove the RA tax on junior kids playing rugby. It locks out many families who cant afford it. We need to schedule our junior games so they don't conflict with junior AFL or League. We want to give those boys a taste of playing Rugby. We should schedule junior sevens rugby for juniors and schools as a summer sport played every week. This keeps the ball in their hands and gets them closer to the magic 10,000 hours under their belt. it also brings in smaller schools who cant field a team of 15. I believe Pod Rugby which has been introduced to many private schools is detrimental to the kids developing their skills. We want a total rugby philosophy like the All Blacks of enterprise and backing up in attack and defence. There will be more but I leave it to others to kick in. However, nothing will improve until the Board goes. We are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic otherwise.

Word Cup or World Cup, it could be international ‘pull the top off a frothy’ and we would still Rank 7th under this yokel of a admin! But don’t worry Cameron, Raelene......nothing to see here. Keep the players doing those Swisse vitamin and Landrover ads. Its been working wonders so far!

Next Wallabies v All Blacks have a look when the camera hits the coaching boxes. You'll see Hansen calm and methodical, sometimes with a clipboard in front of him ticking things off. Or you'll see Cheika ranting and raving swearing and waving his arms about like he's been stung. Of the two coaches and methodologies I wonder which is more likely to lead to a more composed team ?

Well said!

That Cliff I feel is a massive part of the problem here. This all goes back to the players having too much power. Player coups have happened a couple of times now, and I feel this sorry mess will not be fixed until there is a complete clean out of those involved from 2014/15 the players, coaches and administrators, and we start again with humility, less money, shorter contracts and greater simplicity. If some dont like it, good, go overseas, might take a few years but do a Brad Thorn and build a culture not based on entitlement. Also for crying out loud......get the product on free to air. The Big Bash was also written off at first but channe ten did it well and now look at it!

I feel sorry for some of the players (playing out of position), but can we just get this word cup over and done with already. New coaches, new ceo and board and move on!

These two with Hooper n Folau are Cheika's go to players. Change the coach , you have a chance to change the players selected. Beale appears untouchable at the moment n yet he is the weakest link. Cheika won't change until he is forced too.

Spot on Olly. Beale and Foley overated and underperforming. Weak links. I would start by moulding Jordan Patea into a 10 and select Toomua as the 12.

Composure or maturity is such a glaring problem with the Wallabies and teams like England, AB and Ireland are very aware of this. You can see that these three teams just apply pressure and wait for the cracks. Personally I think the Composure issue is a selection issue. I have commented before on this site that Australia needs to stop this X factor requirement. Foley (AKA the Iceman who has missed more pressure kicks then he has made) and Beale are not composed players. Don't get me wrong, they have their moments. Beale is that guy who can win you great games but he can loose you more then he wins. Foley is a full back pretending to be a 10. And I am sick of hearing, he is so great when he squares up and attacks the line......it is so rare that when he does this the commentary actually have to highlight it as amazing... Also not to mention the gigantic holes in their game like Defense, loopy passes and kicking. These guys a bench impact players. To me we need to start picking the calmer players who can work as a team to build pressure. We have x factor players out wide who if the guys inside do the simple things well will finish. To me Toomua is our 10. He has no weakness in his game, reads the game well and just does the simple things well. He does not try and score of every play but likes to build the momentum. Also he has the Def to turn a game on it's head. Back to direct Centers to stop sliding def. Kerevi and TK in the centers....get us over the advantage line, offloads and can tackle. We all can agree that offloads at the advantage line win games in the modern era, not cutout passes. Plus no back-line in the world will slide to the wings with these guys running at them. Will they run 100m to score you a try..not likely. But they will dent the line and offload to the guys who will. We can't play composed Rugby with inside backs with such clear weakness in their game. It is just not good enough for Test level rugby. On a side note. The extreme D line shuffling of players has got to be impacting the fitness of the player. As players get tired, composure starts to fail.....

Simply put our players aren't as good as other teams. Plus Australia is always facing the best team in the world. Getting smashed by the All Blacks on a regular basis isn't good for morale nor building confidence or getting any sort of roll on. "Was it simply that we were quicker to professionalise while other countries were slower to transition from the amateur era?" Yes, its no coincidence Australia had their best period immediately after rugby went officially professional. As much as I hate to admit it but rugby had League to draw upon when it came to professionalism.

No one cared that Randwick or Sydney Uni would win club rugby but diehard North Shore/Eastern Suburbs rugby fans.

StuM - all that AAC delivered in terms of coaching and discipline was backstabbing and Player Power. As a No. 13 or winger - excellent with limitations. But as a person who backed a coach, sorry his character was diminished due to his "support and leadership of Player Power.

Rugby Stu, I do not think that the last part of this sentence is correct; "Our lads today lose games that they really should win on paper and repeatedly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory". It has been a very, very long time since the Wallabies have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The results state clearly that this Wallaby Team for a number of years is failing. Also this statement, "The Wallabies today have incredible professional skills, athleticism and talent but that mental fragility is clear". But the Wallabies of today have very poor basic "Rugby Skills" and as such when panicked, they can not execute. This then increases the mental fragility.