The scene was set on a wet and wild Sydney evening for the third instalment of the 2020 Bledisloe Cup to set international rugby alight.
Having fought out an epic draw in the desperately unlucky first Test and then gone on to be overwhelmed by a fairly motivated All Blacks side in the second at Eden Park, where international rugby dreams go to die, hopes were high that the young Wallabies side led by new coach Dave Rennie could kickstart a new era of achievement and excitement.
But instead of the third Test turning out to be awesome like the movie Die Hard with a Vengeance, this ended up being more like The Godfather Part III – a monumental let-down.
I use the word ‘let-down’ in an inclusive sense too, to cover not just Australian fans but also New Zealand rugby supporters as well as international rugby in general.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Obviously from the Wallabies side it’s easy to see why this 43-5 drubbing is less than ideal. They looked pretty poor given the amount of outstanding young talent in the squad. Sure, I know it’s been a year like no other and installing a whole new regime will take time, but there are basic skills that are sorely lacking right now, which benefits their opposition rather than helping themselves to compete.
Kiwis will be like, ‘What are you on about? We just won in a cakewalk and retained the Bledisloe, so we’re quite happy, thank you very much’. And while both of these points are valid, the reality is that this type of game is more like a cheeseburger – it feels good and gives instant gratification at the time but ultimately, if you get too many of them without balancing your diet, it’ll lead to health problems and potentially your own demise.
It all sounds a bit grim, but that’s really the point at which southern hemisphere rugby now finds itself.
With the SANZAAR alliance on shaky ground and the increasingly inevitable need for a trans-Tasman Super Rugby competition, the importance of a strong relationship between Australia and New Zealand has never been more important. Nor has there been a more crucial time for the Bledisloe Cup to become the showpiece event that it should be.
These games need to be big and exciting, with gripping encounters, dramatic twists and close scorelines. They need to become the jewel in the crown of world rugby (other than the World Cup). Yes, that means competing with the Six Nations as a spectacle, which it is currently trailing handsomely.
There is plenty of on-field talent and off-field expertise across both of these great rugby nations to reinstate this competition to its once lofty perch. It’s just a matter of making it happen.
Now, that’s infinitely easier said than done, so it comes down to the people at the top to get things turned around, which frankly could take a little while.
The best place to start is to recognise one key thing: we need each other.
For Super Rugby and internationals Rugby Australia and New Zealand Rugby need to move past the issues that have been played out in the media and start working together far more effectively.
Both countries have their own unique set of problems. New Zealand has a small market, while Australia’s viewership and fan engagement are sorely lagging in a very competitive football landscape.
In terms of how to go about overcoming these problems, that’s really up to the people in charge. However, recognition from both sides that ‘your problem is our problem’ would be a great place to start.
You know, rekindle that Anzac spirit?
Then they can go about addressing areas of need while playing to their respective strengths and work together on solving one hell of a rugby riddle.
Because one thing is for sure: the game isn’t where it needs to be and won’t get there without change.
In the meantime we can still hope that the dead rubber at Suncorp Stadium provides us with something special. Aussie fans won’t want to keep watching reruns of The Godfather Part III, and while too many cheeseburgers may seem delicious to the Kiwis, it won’t be good for the long-term health of our game.
GC Red
Roar Rookie
I wasn’t trying to be cynical. Just think we have a finite amount of talent in Australia, and it would be better to focus that talent rather than spread it thin.
BeastieBoy
Roar Rookie
Yes we didn't need it, but No we did.. If not to remind us AGAIN that this fix will take 8 years AND we have to do things so much more differently. All Australians including those playing overseas should be able to play for the Wallabies. Pick on Form, nothing Else. To do otherwise downgrades the Value of our Jersey. Get some wealthy guys to fund the transfer in of some Top League Centres too. 18 Years is 17 years TOO Long. We need a Australian Only Super Rugby competition so we control the rules and we need to change many. Reason .. the sport is dying off professionally in this country.. forget that we will get diminished money from broadcasters. It will be even less in the future as the viewer numbers keep dropping. Super Rugby lacks continuity and we need many rule changes to restore that. By doing so we will attract more viewers and young players. but also we will create a fitter and more athletic player.
peterj
Roar Rookie
Outside of the Crusaders, who are quite frankly freakish with their ability to stay competitive, no one in super rugby has managed to stay on top for any period of time. It’s the nature of sport. It is cyclical unless you’re the Crusaders or Storm in the NRL
Purdo
Roar Rookie
SMI: You might be right there, but it would be primary, not secondary schools where that introduction and sifting is done.
robel
Roar Pro
A few years ago I argued that shrinking to success was a blind alley to walk up. There might be a small light or two at the start of the journey, but they soon disappear as the "concentrated talent" start to leave for e.g. France, Japan, England etc. That reduction in available depth manifests itself further down the track when one or two key players get injured and suddenly you only have rank 1st years to fill the gap. This situation will not be fixed for 2-3years and only if we have at least 5 fully functioning, fully enfranchised member states with a team in a national comp with a genuine say in how the game is governed in this country. It hasn't happened yet, looks unlikely to happen in the near future and as a Waussie can't happen unless the strangle hold of NSW/Qld on RA is broken and RA starts governing for all of Australian rugby. The downgrading and loss of the NRC as well as the shameful axing of the Force a few years earlier has lead us here.
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Rusty: A mate of mine used to run such a comp for western sydney schools around 10 years ago and it was excellent with around 20-30? schools playing. Met him in the super market a couple of years ago and he said it was abandoned when they went down to 5? schools. Can't remember actual numbers but it was of this order.
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Purdo: fine read and agree with much you say but in my and many others cases I would not have played rugby had the school not played it. So I suspect it is the schools who sift the groups and then the keen join a junior club. Without the schools fertilisation I suspect that there might not be any players to join junior clubs.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Nice article and to the point. And yea, I think a close game would have kept interest in the game this week, especially with it being so close. One of the people who work for me said she watched the game, now she is an AFL fan and wasn’t sure if it was the ‘rugby’ I watch, but said they had “the thing when they all hug together and the balls on the ground...” a scrum. So she got the right game at least. This type of fan might have been brought back next week if the Wallabies has done them selves proud, instead there is no hope of getting her to watch again. Yes, that point is just an anecdote, but highlights why a game like this can turn off the casual fan. What RA need to do is take these casuals and turn them into fanatics. Losing is not the way. Winning... this is the way.
Fonga
Roar Rookie
I would argue the Bledisloe is the series none of us need. It has long past it’s utility and value for either side. Time to consign it to history. Super rugby too. Rugby in Australia needs a reality check. It has been diminished to the point it is no longer able to be competitive at international level for all the reasons that have been explored elsewhere. No amount of coaching or TV money or Andrew Forrest will change that. We are Tier 2 and needs to adjust our ambitions accordingly.
soapit
Roar Guru
with only 3 teams unlikely we have harrison and lolesio both starting at all
ME
Guest
Except the NZ rugby public has spoken. They dont want a TT comp with five mediocre Aussie teams. A big part of the Aritapu report was asking fans, they said that an uncompetitive comp was the biggest turnoff. Your point about the NRL and AFL is Moot. AFL will never succeed in NZ and the NRL will never put a second team in NZ while there are plenty of places in Aus to put one. Plus they have many more teams and a greater area to cover with that revenue. Both countries need to go alone until RA realise that 3 competitive teams in a TT comp is the way to go.
GC Red
Roar Rookie
I agree with everything in your post. Imagine if the 3 teams you mentioned had the depth developed over time to turn those 1 or 2 good seasons into more. We may have come close as we still have talent, but close does not bring home international silverware. I want the bledisloe and the WC
Mitcher
Guest
The 80s?! When NZ won the trophy 7 times to Australia’s 2...
Lara
Guest
Record lost, inexperienced players, new coach ....what a mess. DR knows it . The players know it . RA better know it. The Oz rugby public has endured this for years. Every nation goes through a rebuilding period, even NZ. NZ can actually help, if RA n their counterparts across the ditch can work something out . The Wallabies should do a tour of NZ this year. 10 games , no test, maybe play a North n a South team to cap the tour off. Play all the SR teams n 3 top provincial team. The Wallaby youngest get to tour, 5 weeks of solid rugby. An opportunity to rebuild.
peterj
Roar Rookie
What about the Reds winning in 2011 and the Tahs being the dominant team in super rugby and winning in 2014? The brumbies made the final in 2013 and very nearly won it against a top shelf Chiefs team coached by one D. Rennie. We then came third at RWC 2011 and made the final of RWC 2015. The issue in my view was a lot of our talent got enticed overseas due to cheika’s dogmatic approach and player’s saw the writing on the wall. We also have poor coaching structures throughout rugby and I know as I’m a junior coach! Australia is the most competitive sporting market in the world and like it or not most people are fair weather fans. If the teams start winning the crowds come back. Look at the bandwagon for the Reds this year!
Purdo
Roar Rookie
SMI: I would like to see more emphasis on junior clubs than on schools. Schools that have compulsory activities (eg sports and scouts) like the one I taught at for a few years in Melbourne, tend to get unwilling conscripts (especially in less popular sports like rugby in Victoria, where my team list sometimes read like the Saturday detention list). I’m sure this is not true of 1st fifteens in big Sydney schools. Kids in the community who voluntarily join clubs are keener, and so are the adult club leaders and officials. The school team I coached could beat most of the other schools, but got trounced by clubs. When I was growing up in Qld playing League for my school, I knew that the really keen and ambitious players were the ones playing in junior clubs. When my son (who grew up in country Victoria) played Aussie Rules for a club, he and his mates were conscripted into school teams which would have been very poor without them. Few school teachers are paid to coach sport – it’s really an extra/co-curricular activity. I think RA should be doing all it can to get junior clubs started and firing in the community, especially in poorer areas, rather than laying such emphasis on school sport as the foundation for national teams. As every village in Victoria has a footy field with four posts at each end, and every village in NZ has a field with tall goalposts, so it needs to be in Australia with Rugby fields, if we want to be successful at international Rugby.
GC Red
Roar Rookie
It’s 3. It’s always been 3. Since adopting additional teams we have seen a weakening of provincial teams that strangely coincide with the start of the national teams decline. We were in a World Cup final in 2003 and the world at our feet. In 2005 we introduce the western force and the rest is history. The expansion came at a cost and we have been paying for it ever since. Like it or not, in Australia it’s 3. In NZ it’s 5
Tim
Guest
Forget the Wallabies as they are a sinking ship. Seriously this current group of players, try as they might are not going to achieve any now or in 4 years time. It is time these paid professionals resigned and found other means of work. Forge ahead with the Wallaroos and divert all current Wallabies expenditure to them. ARU should now realise the men's rugby team is a wasted exercise. Elevate the women's game and give them the executive billing they deserve as the Wallabies are finished.
Rob9
Roar Guru
I agree to a degree. I think we are stronger together. If a model can be struck that can effectively balance the needs of each union, then that’s certainly the way to go. But that doesn’t mean we should compromise those unique and individual needs to create a fit. That was our approach with Super Rugby and it failed us badly. I very much agree with RA that we need a professional platform represented by at least 5 teams. Obviously that’s not the NZR’s desired model- hence the impasse. If I were RA; I wouldn’t make OUR number of teams a negotiating point. It’s an area that directly impacts our fortunes as opposed to the minor influence it has on the NZR. If the NZR want to make it one- we’re better taking the risk of going it alone as opposed to taking the far more damaging line of folding our needs to appease external stakeholders.
Sydneysider
Guest
Put it this way, the AFL generates 6 times the revenue of NZRU per annum, the NRL generates 4 times the revenue of NZRU. You put those 2 together (AFL and NRL) and they are generating 10 times the revenue that NZRU is. They are also both looking to expand and grow. NZRU can go the isolation route if it likes and sell their product overseas (which is possible) but a 6-8 team comp (3-4 games per week) is too small and repetitive. Also there is no player signing/trading narrative like other sports have. NZRU and RA need to work it out together, otherwise RA will only have Shute Shield and QLD Premier rugby as their 2 domestic comps, and both aren't professional. There are no winners in this. NZRU and RA are going to have make up and work it out together.