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Opinion
It is a stretch to say that Australia narrowly defeated France’s third XV; it was more like its seconds.
Some may point to the fact that the Wallabies were missing James O’Connor and Nic White as justification for such a poor performance, but that argument falls flat when you consider who France were missing: Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont and most of the stars from their best provincial sides.
The fact is that the Wallabies almost came unstuck before a ball was kicked, at the selection table.
The selection of Jake Gordon ahead of Tate McDermott was absolutely mystifying. Everyone witnessed the change in the Wallabies when McDermott came on, and to say it was a change for the best would be an understatement,
Way too much has been said about Gordon being the next Mike Philips or Joost van der Westhuizen. I have seen nothing yet to suggest Gordon is more than a good halfback and perhaps the third or fourth-best in Australia. The recent Dave Rennie comments centred on his ‘core skills’ are reminiscent of certain discussions about the ‘perfect technique’ of batsman who didn’t go on to score runs.
More than that, selecting Gordon at all, let alone to start, was unfair on him. He’d just come off an MCL injury and had experienced a disrupted season playing for a provincial team that didn’t win inside a No. 10 who wasn’t playing. What hope?
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Similarly, picking Lachlan Lonergan ahead of Feleti Kaitu’u was a selection not based on form or set-piece strength but on looking ahead to the future. That’s all well and good until you come close to losing to a second-string French side at Suncorp Stadium in what is meant to be yet another new dawn for Australian rugby.
Why could Lonergan not have cooled his heels as a squad member and practised his lineout throwing until at least the second or third Test?
Admittedly, some of the team picks were thrust upon Dave Rennie and his fellow selectors by injury. James O’Connor’s absence was the most glaring and destabilising given that Noah Lolesio continues to show how unready he is for Test rugby. It is a real concern that there are no Test-calibre flyhalves in Australia other than JOC.
And yes, I know Lolesio is young, but that is now at least two disastrous Test starts from five appearances.
Other selections were just bad selections thrust on the team by public opinion. The most obvious is Rob Valentini, who was bullied and cowed by a French pack full of enthusiastic youngsters.
Valentini did not rise to the occasion or even fight to enter the fray; he went missing, which is less forgivable. Forget Sebastian Chabal of yesteryear; can you imagine what the big boys of today from Toulouse would have done to him?
Whether people like it or not, sometimes you need a mongrel in a Test against the French or Irish or English or South Africans. You need a mongrel in Test rugby full stop, and the guy for it is Swinton. He should start the second Test and be told to prove to fans and the team why he should start the third. Simple as that.
Speaking of big boys from Toulouse and mongrel, get Rory Arnold back now and ask him to pick up Skelton on the way. If we are to stand any chance against full-strength Test sides later this year, we need them.
Dave Rennie is a good coach and a good man, but he needs to get a grip on this side at the selection table. Otherwise things will get pretty ugly pretty quickly.
A win like this is a loss in the next Test unless you learn from it, and Dave Rennie needs to learn fast.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.