About a week ago I wrote and article hypothesising the possible positive outcomes if the Wallabies had managed to clinch the Bledisloe from their trans-Tasman cousins.
I included the caveat that it all started at the weekend. Many commenters, understandably, questioned what I had been drinking, with some even wanting to give it a try.
Well. It’s safe to say now that the hope that had been built up from Super Rugby AU and the fixtures in New Zealand has firmly been extinguished.
The record defeat to New Zealand sealed their retention of the Bledisloe Cup since reclaiming it back in 2003. Former Wallabies have tried to take positives out of the fixture, such as the fact that Rennie blooded a number of younger players – and that said players will learn more from this defeat than they would have from victory.
But what did they learn? That to beat the All Blacks you need to be at your best and hope they have an off day? That not tackling will inevitably lead to tries conceded?
Ian Foster as come out and claimed that the score reflected how seriously the All Blacks take the Cup and with it, the respect that they have for the Wallabies.
The inclination being that the New Zealand would have let up, not scored so many tries and conceded a couple more if they considered the Wallabies an easy beat.
There may be some truth in that, but that does nothing to quell the angst felt by the rugby union loving public in Australia who have seen the pinnacle of their national talent be roundly beaten. Again.
Dane Haylett-Petty (Photo by Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Having watched the match a couple of times and having no skin in it (being a Pom), the performances were not good.
Unfortunately, Lolesio didn’t have the opportunity to show what he could do. He was working on the backfoot throughout – and was hidden in defence.
I suppose, what did we expect? On debut, against New Zealand, it would have had to have been a world-class performance to be able to outplay both Richie Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett as a first receiver, without the option of leaning on experience outside.
Irae Simone will have better games, but you can’t help but feel that in hindsight the backline selection was questionable.
If this had been a New Zealand, England, Ireland or South Africa, then these players would have been drip fed in, one-by-one, garnering experience, integrating in to an already experienced team. Clearly, this isn’t necessarily an option for Dave Rennie given the player pool available; but still why not look to be solid defensively and try to provide as much experience as possible?
I’m not the biggest fan of Reece Hodge, but surely sticking him in at 12 to provide some experience, a relieving boot and physicality outside of Lolesio would have been good; and including Jack Maddocks on the wing in place of Filipo Daugunu provides further experience to try to help those still in their international infancy.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing; and these players may not have made a real difference but now the Wallabies are left with two players who have played one lost one – and by a record score I might add.
I’m an advocate of blooding youngsters.
I was thoroughly impressed by last year’s U20s; and many of those players showed their potential in both Super Rugby (what we had of it) and Super Rugby AU.
But the realities are that you can’t just throw them in to international rugby collectively and expect them to swim. With Bledisloe 4 on the horizon and nothing to lose, in an odd way, now is the time for Rennie to go for broke.
Charge the boys up. Tell them to go out there and hit anyone in a black shirt as hard as they can. Get under their skin, a la Italy did versus England at the weekend.
Instruct them to keep hold of the ball. No unnecessary offloads, aimless Gary Owens or shovelling bad ball. Stand up, take responsibility for trying to get the team moving forward and do the dog. Show some grit.
Rennie has said that they are four weeks in to a four year program. But the false start needs addressing and unless the Wallabies can show the fight that the Australian public deserve, then the worry is that the end target will be reconsidered and the bar will continue to be set lower.
BrewsterBandit
Roar Rookie
12 is his preferred position, but never had a proper shot at it. Versatility has worked against him. I'm not his hugest fan, but suspect he might do well if given a few runs there. Another option would be to bring Paisami in at 12. His straight running and heavy shoulders could held shore up the 10-12 channel. Did well off the bench last week. Seems to do well up against Goodhue, whose defense has been shown up a number of times since last year. So maybe start Hodge and bring Paisami of the bench...
P2R2
Roar Rookie
very droll Corne...but humour is good...
P2R2
Roar Rookie
coming close isnt a WIN....beating them is a WIN....2012 and 2019 have been the only times ENG have beaten the ABs.....for the record
P2R2
Roar Rookie
what Teams 'REGULARLY' beat the ABs???
My apologies, I just had to throw that out there, :silly:
Ross
Guest
Game was lost in the first five minutes. Wet, miserable, windy conditions and what do Australia do first lineout on the halfway....secure possession than try to drive up the field. Absolutely no movement, same possession after failing with there attempted drive they deliver static ball to a flat footed first receiver with an All Black defensive line well set. Six phases later with no yardage gained, in fact a loss of approximately 10 yards Lolesio is forced to put ball to boot with an aimless kickand turnover possession. A lot of effort for no reward in challenging conditions. Why not secure ball at first lineout (done) and drill possession deep into the corner. Enthusiastic kick chase, tackle execution and apply territorial pressure on the Blacks. Still a helluva lot of factors from that moment on that demonstrated a huge divide between the two sides and perhaps the score may not have been too different at the end. But winning the territory battle early and putting the Blacks on the backfoot particularly in wet conditions may have given the Wallabies some reward. Who devised the game plan? Who made the on field decisions?
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Saying and doing are very different things.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Bloody Suzie... I try not to talk about that though. I don’t think there was anything untoward for the record. I think the boys were sick, but they still took the field so no excuses. Maybe they ate so bad biltong or something...
And yet with all that info out there very few teams manage it...
Stu
Roar Rookie
Well, of those new guys, only Noah had a pure shocker, which screwed the entire backline really.. the others were alright considering, and Tate was very good immediately he came on. It was the regular older guys who were awful. They just don't compete against NZ and haven't done for 15+ years. Tate looks to be an astounding player in the making.
jcmasher
Roar Rookie
fair enough and we're allowed to differ. I thought he was merely pedestrian at best and pretty crap there myself. I don't think he has the distribution skills needed for a 13 or the defensive mindset and being able to organise the 12 and the back 3 properly
Homer Gain
Guest
You can play any number of tunes with the back line. The fundamental problem for the Aussies is a bang average front five. Play that All Black back line behind the Aussie pack and I doubt they would have fared much better. The problem with Super Rugby AU (as has been pointed out before) is that in the absence of serious competition from NZ and SA a whole class of Aussie forwards looked much better than they are. In particular, the tendency to lionise some younger forwards raises expectations and does them few favours. Aussie commentators have made great play of the likes of Harry Wilson (an admittedly big lump, but one who makes precious little yardage in contact), Liam Wright ("a great leader" apparently, but no Liam Gill) and Matt Phillip (who is no better now than he has been for several years). Step them up to this level and you see just how different is the requirement in comparison with club rugby, let alone U20. In contrast, I think Aus retains a huge amount of instinctive talent in the backs.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
It’s one of the strengths the ABs have, the new players belief in the team and themselves. Spot on!
Or Suzie :stoked:
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Wings would help you beat the ABs too...
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Yea, the French (at least in the past) have always been so hot and cold, they can beat anyone on the day depending on what team turns up. It’s purely mental. It’s one of the strengths the ABs have, the new players belief in the team and themselves. Something Rennie will need to make sure stays with his rookies and not this sense of impending loss that must follow the senior players against the ABs.
FunBus
Roar Rookie
Spot on. The BS about 'what it takes to beat the ABs' piles up so fast you need wings to stay above it.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Agree, Paulo. And to build on your argument, the common factor for every French win (or at least very competitive) over the AB's has been belief.
Puff
Guest
NP, We happened to be in NZ and attended a Dave Rennie motivational speech, the man was not verbose and appeared very personable, we departed impressed. Unfortunately we have this blind philosophy concerning the Wallabies that positive results should be forthcoming immediately when a new coach is appointed. Some T/V pundits believe a bewitching transformation materializes when there is a changing of the guard. Sadly the Wallaby brand is frayed at the edges and BR will endure more uncomfortable matches before enthusiastic results are tabled. Further, we have a history of denigrating a senior rugby coach and making assertions regarding his abilities. However, we fail to identify that the code is struggling for depth at a test level. The code has failed to invest in its next generation and have wasted funds supporting the past not the future. Administrators failed to realize, painting lipstick on a pig will not reduce the challenges, before them. Rennie is a breath of fresh air, he doesn’t need detractors, he needs Wallaby supporters to keep the faith.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Yea, I agree with you too Jacko. I didn’t mean to imply England has consistently beaten the ABs, they haven’t. However they came damn close in Europe and then did it in Japan. I referenced them only to point out the belief they had in the semi-final. It’s something the Boks consistently have and it shows in their results too. I also said belief isn’t enough, you need to get good. Believing isn’t enough on its own.