Ok, so it’s Sunday and that’s usually a day of rest, peace and calm.
So if you want to keep that serenity, then perhaps best to click off this article and read something else. If you choose to read on then please accept apologies now for any anger or frustration that creeps into your day of peace.
Strangely, in a game where there were only 15 points scored by both sides across 80 minutes there is quite a bit to talk about, so let’s crack on and let’s start with the positives…
Good patience shown
The Wallabies have been guilty of trying to go wide too early when they have the ball in hand. Organised defences just lap this up and are not stretched by it at all. Against the Pumas recently the Aussies showed that, perhaps, they had learned their lesson as in the second half they ran hard and straight in the midfield and tore the Argentinians to pieces.
Against Wales in the first half, the Aussies showed good patience and put together a number of passages of play with over trn phases. Of course, phases and possession don’t automatically mean points or wins but for a team that has struggled with these fundamentals, it was encouraging to see this resolve and commitment to earning the right to go wide.
Unfortunately, in this game, those many phases didn’t lead to points and the positives are pretty much over at this point. The rest is just bad, bad, bad.
Take the points!
This game was a bit of an anomaly in terms of the scoreboard but the principle is still the same. At the top levels of international rugby, the margins can be slim. In this game especially things were tight all over. So that it made it so much more infuriating when Hooper pointed to the corner instead of the posts.
It’s not ok to excuse this as a commitment to attacking rugby – it’s just bad leadership and game management and it cost the Wallabies today. No one in the dressing room, the pub, the office, the bus queue or on The Roar is congratulating the Wallabies for their attacking intent when they lose their eighth game of the year.
What’s perhaps more frustrating is that this isn’t a new issue. I’ve written this same point a few times in reviews of the Wallabies and am confused as to why Hooper insists on this flawed approach.
Old excuses are getting, well, old
Some people, including myself, pointed out ahead of this game that it is too easy to recite the stat that the Wallabies have lost seven out of ten matches this year. It’s absolutely true – well it’s eight from 11 now but it was right at the time – but five of those seven losses have come against the top two sides in the world.
But this excuse, along with the others used to justify the poor performances from the men in gold, are well past their use by date. The team today was as close as damn it to Cheika’s first choice team.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
They’ve had plenty of time together now over the past few months. They were not playing one of the top two sides in the world. And yet they played some poor, poor rugby.
When we remove these excuses it’s time to face the reality – the Wallabies are just a very average side who have some talented players but cannot live up to expectation. Or at least can’t live up to expectation under this coach.
Where are the game changers?
One of the things that highlights the difference between the good and the great is the ability for the great players to genuinely change a game. You can see it in sports around the world – the very, very best almost decide in a moment that they are going to make something happen and then they go on and do it.
It’s been thought that in Kurtley Beale, Israel Folau and Will Genia that the Wallabies have this exact type of player.
But where were they today? The game was begging for one of the Wallabies’ big names to step forward and make something happen. But as minute after minute drifted by with error after error causing the game to stumble along it seemed like they were all waiting for the others to make that impact.
Of course rugby is a team game and one player can’t do it all themselves. But one player can inspire and energise their team through their actions and today there was nothing from the Wallabies talent pool.
Stop kicking the ball away!
The Wallabies are meant to have some of the best ball players in rugby within their ranks. The roof was on in Cardiff so there was no rain or swirling wind. So why on earth did the Wallabies insist on kicking the ball away over and over?
Of course the kicking game is key, and good kicks can create pressure and opportunity. However today there were aimless kicks after aimless kicks and all it did was give Wales the ball. Now the Welsh kicked a fair amount too – there were over 70 kicks from the two sides in the game – but that doesn’t mean that the Wallabies had to return the favour.
The Aussies’ strength is their running with ball in hand – this is so much harder to do well when you don’t have the ball!
Awareness and street smarts
In such a tight game, any little slip up had the potential to change the game. Given that, you have to look at players like Ned Hanigan and Kerevi and ask what on earth were they doing?
Kerevi was very lucky to avoid a penalty or more when he hit Leigh Halfpenny with a late tackle towards the end of the game. It could have cost his team a player in the bin at a crucial time and they would have not been given the penalty that Matt Toomua nailed under great pressure to make the score 6-6.
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Hanigan was guilty of lying all over the ball and giving away the penalty that gave the game to Wales. Yes, it can be hard to get away quickly once you’ve made a tackle, but Ned just laid there and didn’t even try and show the ref that he was making an attempt at rolling away.
Hannigan didn’t cost the Aussies the game but he certainly contributed to the loss with that one moment of poor play. If you’re going to go deep in a World Cup you need street smart players and there are just too few in the Wallabies’ ranks.
Pass marks missed
Raelene Castle commented earlier this week that she and Michael Cheika were in agreement that winning all the games on this spring tour was the pass mark they were all aiming for and expected. Well, that’s been missed at the first test.
So what now? Well you’d expect the Wallabies to bounce back and beat Italy pretty easily. So that then leaves their final game of the year against the old foe – England.
If you’ve seen the way that England have played against South Africa and New Zealand over the past seeven days then you should know that the Wallabies could be in real trouble when they head to Twickenham.
If England do beat them, then that’s nine losses from 13 games in 2018 and the Wallabies’ lowest world ranking ever.
Pass marks missed. Performances poor. Rankings low. Surely Cheika’s position in that situation is untenable.
Bluffboy
Roar Rookie
Oh forgot I never mention Retallick anywhere, not sure where you got that from, but hey the your opinion.
Bluffboy
Roar Rookie
I would think I'm probably not the typical guy when comes to the tight 5, but I see your Statistical point. 14 carries is a fair, yep pretty good, 19 - 20 Meters for those 14 carries, well there is not a lot of line bending there. I mean have look at Snyman who was a reserve, so with a lot less game time had 3 carries for 10 Meters and made 4 tackles or Barrett also a reserve and less game time had 3 runs for 12 meters and 6 tackles. Stats only fill in half the picture for me. I like to watch the context of the game and judge it and the players on its/their merits. Stat's can be misleading in the case of everyone around you are off. I do accept that everyone reads the game differently, do you, from your comments above it would seem that other guys comments must wrong because differ. I would like to say though I'm not bagging you or Mitch, you guys and probably plenty of other see something in him that I don't at present and I'm not saying he should be there either, I'm saying that I reserve praise until I think they deserve it. That's the good thing about an opinion, its yours.....
Objective
Guest
Fair questions Alister. My answers: 1. No, but he's responsible for their preparation. He has a victim mentality, and this infects the players - that is, failure is always someone else's fault. 2. No one obvious. 3. No one obvious. 4. Good point. Cheika is the selector. 5. Agree. Again, Cheika's flawed selections. Summary: we're in trouble. Cheika is proving almost daily that he's not up to it and should go. Trouble is, those that make decisions like that are his apologists so it's unlikely to change short term. That and there's no one else.
Objective
Guest
Dave, if Hanigan saw a funnel web next to him, you can bet he'd have been able to roll away.
Fraenkel
Roar Rookie
A starting calibre player should be able to tackle for a start mate.
MitchO
Guest
Importantly for me. Genia did put his body on the line with some big necessary tackles.
MitchO
Guest
Coleman is a tough guy. I have seen a lot of him making second and third efforts at tackles and really standing up defending the advantage line. He still drops too much ball and he's not quite the leader he wants to be but he has a lot of character and is a good test lock. But I think for the Wallabies leaving Simmons out is a luxury we don't have. Simmons should start and be partnered with a very physical lock. So Simmons and Coleman. Tell Coleman to go flat out for as long as he can and then sub him off for Rodda - or Tui or Arnold.
Smiggle Jiggle
Roar Guru
Did anyone else notice Genia pointing to the post for the 2nd penalty, only for Hooper to ignore and kick for touch?
Smiggle Jiggle
Roar Guru
It is really hard to rate Larkam when Grey has all the players defending out of position.
Smiggle Jiggle
Roar Guru
It not up to the attacking player to wait for the defending player to move. If he is in the way, then it is fair game to keep him there
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
You must love working more than I do. I could only dream of having the means to step back from my career at 45 to do roles with less commitment and remuneration.
Number12
Roar Rookie
It would appear that perhaps the culture was indeed a TOXIC!
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Bluffboy: Yes he dropped a sitter, you admit you love to see a big man run. Mate, you are typical of guys who have limited idea of what a lock should do. Coleman made 14 carries - more than any Australian player – for 20 metres to go with seven tackles. He was strong in the lineout and did his job at the BD. I would take that every day compared to Simmonds. I think Rodda and Arnold are OK and Rodda is improving. None of them is a Retallick but nobody else is either.
George
Guest
Cheika rubbish Hooper rubbish Beale kick away all day Front three keep away from Macdonald’s get fit play rugby Rest of squad unfit no skills All in all total waste of space from top down Except Pocock shame it wasn’t one man rugby maybe then
Bluffboy
Roar Rookie
Yep, had fair bit to do with the tight 5 over the years. Probably miss understood what you meant about stood up. I normally wouldn't mention players in that sense other than if they were stand outs. For me Coleman did nothing other than what he is employed to do and pretty much all the rest of your lisYep, had fair bit to do with the tight 5 over the years. Probably miss understood what you meant about stood up. I normally wouldn't mention players in that sense other than if they were stand outs. For me Coleman did nothing other than what he is employed to do and pretty much all the rest of your list. As for Coleman who I mentioned has been over rated IMO, ever since he's gone to Melbourne. In my view he was only sitting around average in Perth, but showing potential as he was and is still young and needing maturity. He has been talked about being a hardman, an enforcer of you will, which I'm yet to see how someone has made that assumption. For me calling out people that are really doing their job and not much more, is part of the reason we see the squad as it is. Let’s not forget the dropped ball on attack after a view phases. As for Latu, yep played ok, standout, well he didn't give away crucial penalties. The locks have been part of the Wallabies scrumming problems this year. Cheika has building around Coleman and is the common denominator through this period. As for what I want, yep, nothing like a big bopper on a charge, 10 meters is fine for me, which normally becomes 50 meters in the sheds. But to make or bend the advantage is not worthy of mention for me. In this era, if you put your hand to carry, it is expected. t. As for Coleman who I mentioned has been over rated IMO, ever since he's gone to Melbourne. In my view he was only sitting around average in Perth, but showing potential as he was and is still young and needing maturity. He has been talked about being a hardman, an enforcer of you will, which I'm yet to see how someone has made that assumption. For me calling out people that are really doing there job and not much more, is part of the reason we see the squad as it is. Lets not forget the dropped ball on attack after a view phases. As for Latu, yep played ok, standout, well he didn't give away crucial penalty's. The locks have been part off the Wallabies scrumming problems this year. Cheika has building around Coleman and is the common denominator through this period. As for what I want, yep, nothing like a big bopper on a charge, 10 meters is fine for me, which normally becomes 50 meters in the sheds. But to make or bend the advantage is not worthy of mention for me. In this era, if you put your hand to carry, it is expected.
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Markie: if you had read Cliffs post you would realise that we were talking about Australia. Cullen was a great FB a smarter version of Latham.
Realist
Guest
Beale played with some consistency for 2015-18 but has fallen back to being the flaky player this season he has been for a large part of his career. The musical chairs defensive system built around hiding Foley and Beale has also shown to be a fail much in the same way accomodating Hooper at all costs has damaged our line out etc
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Bluffboy: If you don't know, a key part of being in the row is to take the ball up and over the AD line. he did that all day, plus he got stuck in at the BD and did a fair amount of catching in the lineout. What more do you want? A 50m run and score in the corner?
Markie362
Guest
Burke and gould best fullbacks ever.what about cullen.andy irvine.jpr williams.and wingers what about habana.lomu.williams from wales and lots more in front of them.great players all 4 even world class but best ever.doubt it
moaman
Roar Guru
I agree.