Rookie Wallabies winger Andrew Kellaway will leave Auckland with three Bledisloe Cup tries and a stark lesson in when to keep your mouth shut.
There is no doubt Kellaway was hard done by in the reaction to his comments on Sydney radio after the first Bledisloe Cup match.
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Kellaway said: “You roll out to one of those places like Eden Park – it’s mercurial in its atmosphere and such a tough place to play even at Super Rugby level. We get to do it two weeks in a row.
“We’ve probably put out an unpolished performance on the weekend and you can almost look at it like a dress rehearsal. Now we’re ready to roll.
(Photo by Getty Images)
“I think the cobwebs are out, so to speak. A couple of those boys have played the All Blacks for the first time [now], myself included. Maybe the aura has worn off a little bit.”
Kellaway, and his coach Dave Rennie have argued that the headlines that followed the interview were blown out of context. They’re both right – but using the word ‘aura’ was always going to be seized upon, showed staggering naivety, and you assume Rennie has had a few stern words with his young player on the facts of life in the big time.
On Saturday, Kellaway scored two tries in the Wallabies’ devastating record 57-22 loss, having got one a week earlier, but former All Blacks player Sonny Bill Williams said the hosts would have likely been motivated by the Australians’ interview.
“There’s nothing more dangerous than a wounded All Blacks team and we hear all that noise,” Williams said on Stan Sport.
“There are newspaper clippings that have been posted on the team wall in the inner sanctum for motivation.
“That type of talk really plays its role and plays into the hands of the hungry All Blacks team.”
Rennie was listening in to Williams’ comments and was asked about them, of course, by Stan host Nick McArdle. His frustration was obvious, but he would have known it was coming.
“We never said that [the All Blacks had lost their aura],” said Rennie. “Kells was asked his opinion of playing the All Blacks first up. He was more implying that last week he was heading into the unknown and this week he’s experienced the All Blacks at Eden Park and he was up for the challenge.
“You get a reporter that cuts a few words out of a five minute interview and makes a big headline out of it.
“We certainly respect the All Blacks and we’re not going to give them ammunition during the week so it was disappointing.”
Kellaway’s inadvertent offering of ammunition wasn’t the only fatal mistakle the Wallabies made. They also shot themselves in the foot with ill disciplined play.
“We did a lot of good things with the ball in hand but you’ve got to treasure it,” said Rennie. “We turned it over. I thought we made some really poor defensive decisions, guys coming out of the system and getting exposed down the short side.
“The All Blacks are too good to give them that sort of space. We went pretty well first half, really physical and created opportunities but you can’t gift All Blacks intercepts and so on. A really disappointing night.
“It was a series of things, we had a five metre lineout they’re down one it’s 21-15 and we score from there we’ve got our nose in front. I didn’t think we managed that very well. Think they got more impact off the bench, finished over the top of us.
“We talked a lot about treasuring the ball. We knew we had to win collisions. We knew we had to be really accurate and find space in behind them and we missed some genuine opportunities and there and put ourselves under pressure, we have to be better.”
Matt To’omua, brought in as inside centre to add experince to the backline, threw one of the passes that the All Blacks ran in for a try.
e said “it’s embarrasing to be on the end of that scoreline,” before he was on the end of some withering punditry from Alanna Ferguson on Stan Sport.
“He was pretty underwhelming tonight,” said Ferguson.
“I was looking for his experience on the edge, the way he came off the bench in last week’s game was really impressive he came on and was running the footy, he straightened up the attack and he asked questions of the defence.
“I didn’t see much of that at all from him tonight.
“Some of his decisions were quite inexperienced – particularly the cut out pass.
“He threw a few of those wild passes in Super Rugby that played out the exact same way. The fact he’s doing it in a Test match and he’s there for his experience and to add as another ball player on the edge, I’m not too impressed with his game tonight.
“We know he can play good footy – we just didn’t see it.”
Guess
Roar Rookie
If everyone had his attitude wallabies would be unbeatable
Phil
Roar Rookie
And Emily Chancellor who I’ve heard commentating. She is really good!
Phil
Roar Rookie
Was hoping for the same from To’omua. Before the game I said his form had been bad but he still had lots of rugby IQ, more than Paisami. He proved me wrong. And can we all please stop kicking the ball away aimlessly on attack! And can we see more of Ikitau he is the goods. Great defence.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
There was a clip somewhere recently (either here or on SMH) where he was suggesting a way forward for Australian rugby and I listened to it fully twice and it was incoherent rubbish. Maybe that has coloured my view unfairly
piru
Roar Rookie
Well I have to disagree, I've found SBW to be alright He's not a great public speaker, but I wouldn't say he mumbles - his insight into the way the All Blacks train was pretty interesting
Joe Grant
Guest
The only difference btwn what you are saying and what SBW said is that he is speaking from experience so he knows what goes on in the inner sanctum of the ABs where as you dont - unless I missed your name ??
taylorman
Roar Guru
Think he’d have hit his mark better with the long wide passes, there’s no one better at those.
JC
Roar Rookie
Suspect the ABs were responding more to their own critics after Bled 1 than some off-the-cuff remark from a newbie Wallaby. Not sure why Rennie went on about it at the presser instead of laughing it off. Anyway, another strong performance from Kellaway — well done!
Pinetree
Roar Rookie
Grumpy Old Men tickled my funny bone as well…classic whinging comedy gold!
Tony Harper
Editor
I loved that show too! Cheers and appreciate your reply.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
I’d bet any money he’s an interesting guy to talk to with loads of insight. That, for me, doesn’t come through when he’s commentating. He stumbles over words and mumbles. He’s been at it a fair while now and it should be better
Solomon
Guest
Lack of impact players like Naisarani, and Salakau who came in late in the 2nd half.. Suliasi Vunivalu should be recruited to play wing, have more impact in the Wallaby team.. Before they face South Africa, the team that is more physical than the All Blacks right now..
Pinetree
Roar Rookie
I appreciate your response, you are trying new things that may perhaps not be everybody’s cup of tea, and it is possible I am now like one of those characters on that British show that was on TV years ago, “Grumpy Old Men” :laughing: . I feel that since I took a pot shot at you, and that you replied with grace, you deserve the courtesy of a reply from me to say that my initial post was perhaps a little too blunt and harsh, and it is to your credit that you have taken the criticism well :thumbup:
Coker
Roar Rookie
I agree there's far too much preciousness about the haka, but I don't know anybody on this side of the Tasman who feels "disrespected" about the "aura" issue. Rather it's a long-running joke (as in "I say old chap, our aura's apparently gone missing again") due to the number of times the ABs have lost it without ever seeming to find it again in between losses. Maybe there are people like those you describe, but they must be few in number — it's really just a media wind-up.
Coker
Roar Rookie
Agree. The only mistake Kellaway made was to use the word 'aura' (given how much it's been bandied around over the years), or at least provide some context of the kind you suggest. But these are rugby players, not Literature Nobel Prize winners, so there's always going to be some incoherence and clangers.
MaxP
Roar Rookie
The reason why is we have a mixture of miserable Wallabies fans who find it hard to accept that we are successful in other sports but off the pace in rugby, South Africans who are sustained by the laager mentality when it comes to rugby, and Kiwis, who in other respects are reasonable and modest people, lose their heads when it comes to their dominance in rugby, all hiding behind computers. We all sometimes forget it’s just a game
Hoges
Roar Rookie
The Roar unfortunately has not been a rugby positive space for quite some time now. Every single article regardless of what it’s about has negative comment after negative about the players, the coaches, the selections, the game plan, the players and coaches ability or lack there of or the coverage of the game and the commentators and few of those regular commenters have offered anything in the way of an understanding, an explanation or a solution. Take this very article that does not mention Quade Cooper and makes no suggestion of bringing him in to fix the wallabies woes someone feels the need to mention in the comments bringing him back into the side will only make things worse. I would love for the negativity to disappear but unfortunately that’s not the world we live in. I used to enjoy reading through the comments on each article now I’m finding it harder and harder to stomach. Im not sure why people are so bent out of shape over an article that was basically trying to clear up the fact that something one of the players had said was taken so badly out of context.
TJ-Go Force!
Roar Rookie
Thanks mate. Appreciate your response. To be honest; this site smashes the competition for rugby content hence why I am on here every other day. But I’ll probably avoid these types of articles as they’re not my cup of tea. Not to say others won’t.
Puff
Roar Rookie
Regardless, of all the after match dialog the result is what it is, we were out played and out classed, very simple. The Wallabies are made up from a very different player demographic to the AB’s but we can learn from their team performance and flair. Not how to execute or engage better but how to nullify their dexterity and their speed of delivery. The fact remains, Rennie can’t teach these skills, visualizing space and opportunity is home grown at an earlier age. I understand our issue but not the answer, but instilling belief in the team fundamentals is probably a productive start.
Old Bugger
Guest
I thought AF has played Union before - perhaps not to the same heights as league but, she's been there, done that...what have you done?? Although I agree with your lineup comment....Stan would save some $$$$ if they let both SBW and JH go.