Wallabies coach Dave Rennie defended the team’s game plan and his use of backline replacements but once again bemoaned a lack of a clinical edge after losing the series 2-1 to England at the SCG.
While Rennie replaced halfback Nic White on the hour and made changes to his pack, he kept faith with a backline that found it hard to bust through some dogged England defence.
NRL convert Suliasi Vunivalu, on debut, saw just three minutes of action, with the Wallabies needing behind 21-17 and needing a try to win the game.
Here’s everything Dave Rennie and Michael Hooper had to say afterwards
Rennie’s overall assessment
“We created a lot of opportunities. I think we went in with the right plan, we just weren’t enough clinical enough,” said Rennie.
“If we turn a couple of those opportunities early on in the game, we start applying pressure to them. It’s disappointing because at this level you have you got to take your chances and we left a lot out there.”
Join The Roar experts Brett McKay, Harry Jones and Jim Tucker for their verdict on the third Test
On the significance of Marcus Smith’s try
“It was significant because they got seven points out of it,” said Rennie.
“It gave them a bit of a break and probably gave them a bit of belief. We got back in the contest and had plenty of time to nail it but you’ve got to give credit to their defence.
“They barred up and created enough turnovers to keep us at bay.”
On his tactics
Rennie was asked if the team had tried to play “too much rugby”.
“What we know of England you kick them a lot of ball they’ve got Steward at the back who kicks it longer. We wanted to move the ball and kick from wider channels, but we found a lot of space there and carried on attacking.
“We just needed to turn some of that field position into more points.
“We gave up some soft points, obviously Marcus Smith’s try. We had possession with about 30 seconds left in the first half and turned it over. And they ended up scoring off that as well. Big moments in the game, but we’ve got to look at ourselves. We had plenty of chances, and so it hurts.”
On the impact injuries had in the series
The Wallabies were battered by injuries but Rennie said “we don’t want to use it as an excuse.
“We had a good enough side on the field to win tonight. What it highlights is we’re creating really good depth and I think a lot of guys who’ve got an opportunity have really stood up.
“You look at a guy like Nick Frost tonight. You’ve just got to find a way don’t you? Injury is part of the game and we did enough tonight, but you got to be clinical and take opportunities.
Samu Kerevi of the Wallabies is tackled during game three of the International Test match series between the Australia Wallabies and England at the Sydney Cricket Ground on July 16, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
He said Quade Cooper, Scott Sio, Jordan Petaia and Darcy Swain should be ready to play Argentina in three weeks with fresh doubts tonight over Angus Bell.
On the plan around replacements
“We’ve got guys who are up in the box with us watching individuals to see how they go and if they’ve got plenty in them, we make those decisions based on how we think they’re travelling.
“Hunter was going pretty well and so we left him out a little bit longer. Tom has been excellent. Marika, when you’re trying to steal a game in the last five minutes. you’re relying on guys who have done it for you in the past. There’s no doubt every game you query whether you got a guy on early enough or left someone out too long. Who knows?”
On the evolution of his team
“We’re disappointed because I reckon we’re better than the result tonight and better than the result last week,” said Rennie.
“With last week it was a slow start, we fought our way back into the contest and probably should have finished over the top. We started better this week. We got behind again and then had enough ball and territory position to win that.
“That’s where we’re at. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got a lot of footy. We’re three weeks into our season and so we’ve got a few things that we need to sort out and tidy up heading into Argentina.”
On England claiming the Aussies ‘talked smack’
Just as in Brisbane, Rennie down played the war of words over niggle in the series as a factor.
“Geez, if we were churned out every little comment that’s made and say that’s a motivating factor… I wouldn’t say that’s smack, if you read the comments made. It’s just a bit of byplay post the result I reckon.”
On if the team lacks a killer instinct
“I think the killer instinct is really about being clinical and accurate,” said Rennie.
“There was quite a lot of space around the edge of the rucks back inside. That’s probably where we missed opportunities late in the game because we’re constantly going the same way and trying to get outside.
“We did talk about that. So that’s a place where we think we could have hurt them. We’ve talked a lot about growth in our game awareness and our belief to put the foot on the throat so yeah, we’ve got to be better.”
What Michael Hooper said
The Wallabies captain said “It’s a silent change room at the moment. We’re gutted. A match at a stadium that probably won’t see rugby again for a while, we had every intention to win so yeah gutted.”
On England’s defensive durability
“I thought there was some space that if we could get one or two more phases going we could probably cut them up,” Hooper said.
“They had some good defence. They were able to get some pretty pivotal turnovers. But I think, we were able to find space on the edge a couple of times, but we just needed to get one or two more phases. Yeah, it wasn’t quite as flowy as we’d like.”
On the positives from the series
“The first game obviously the resilience, second game we showed again more resilience and then we started talking about starting better we did that tonight,” said Hooper.
“Dave’s talked about just being clinical in those in those situations you want to beat a team that can grind out a win.
“They get down your end, they take points, pick up some scraps there, get more points, and then you need to start looking to the line, try get a maul try we can’t just go 3-6-9 on them.
“Their ability to stack points on was a credit to them across the series, and they just keep applying that pressure with their kick game.
“England did really well there. They had injuries too. So they grinded out a series win. In terms of our learnings there’s a heap for us. We’ve blooded some new players that’s a great thing. With injury comes opportunity. We were hurting last week now we’re gonna be hurting even more. So it’s going to be a long three weeks until we play again.”
Looked good against the Crusaders but then against the Chiefs wasn’t able to make an impact as the forward pack was absolutely dominated. I suppose the Wallabies have never been particularly dominant but I’d be keen to see him have a go with some new combinations with Holloway at 6 and Valetini at 8.
Malotru
Roar Rookie
Gamble is another Gamble, looked great against the Aussie SR sides, but for mine looked a little out of depth against the Kiwi teams. Reckon he would struggle at test level.
Tony Hodges
Roar Rookie
If he’s gassed, they change. That’s why they track the metres. If they want to switch from kick focus to run focus, they change. Neither of those is a decision about who is the ‘best’ player. It’s a decision about the state of the game.
Objective Observer
Roar Rookie
Interesting perspective. Not sure if many international coaches understand that yet. So he is one of our best players, playing one of his best games, the game is in the balance, the series is in the balance and you replace him with an inferior player. This coaching stuff is much more complicated than I realised. Do they still pick the best players - or that not done in the modern game either?
TJ-Go Force!
Roar Rookie
Yeah I agree
Guess
Roar Rookie
They struggle to win against Wales. They lost 2 games against supposedly weak Australia last year. Australia wasn't looking better with SA in SR. Oh and NZ started to lose its edge when SA still was in SR
WINSTON
Roar Rookie
Harry Jones often hits the nail on the head, an astute analyst
FrancisF
Roar Pro
MegaFatWombat But we had a much weaker team than the other lot. We got slaughtered by the AllBlacks for the best of the last decade and our SR teams were not up to scratch in the TransTasman game. Our Aus SR Champion was torn to bits in the TransTasman games. Eddie Jones’s team stood on our heads for 6 years. Its like asking a master craftsman to chisel a piece of rottening wood into a masterpiece. Basically we had no depth in the Wallabies. The ingredients were too limited to come out with a Masterchef winning dish. Perhaps a bit unfair to compare Rennie + Wallabies with other coaches working on other international teams.
MegaFatWombat
Roar Rookie
Sure, we had a horror injury run and the return of Quade for the RC should bring out the best of the backline as well as the likes of Tupou and Valetini. That said, I’ve seen coaches turn average teams around quicker than Dave Rennie has so far, be it EJ with England in 2016 or Johan Ackermann at the Lions and then Gloucester. He’s into his third year now and for all the talk of progress, his win record does not back this up. If Aus don’t make it past the Quarter Finals next year I don’t think Rennie will stay on. Then we’ll have McKellar while the ABs likely get Razor. Not a good outlook.
Short Arm
Roar Rookie
He was presented with some pretty average ball that he had to tidy up, that was his 5 runs I would've thought.
FrancisF
Roar Pro
Quote Harry Jones on the instant reaction podcast. “When you camp out in someone else’s 22 for that long but just can’t get over the line, there was a lack of inventiveness, a lack of bloody-mindedness, a lack of spatial awareness, and sometimes a lack of context. What are we doing here?” -Harry Jones The never-ending story of the Wallabies. and had been an on-going angst of Wallabies supporters.
FrancisF
Roar Pro
MegaFatWombat I wouldn’t go that far as yet to put the blame on Rennie as coach. Since he came on board, the first priority task he put in place for himself was to create depth in the Wallabies team while trying to keep the Wallabies above water during competitions using experienced overseas players as band-aids. This effort is still work in progress. We saw that after a sleuth of unexpected injuries ( plus Darcy Swain brain-dead head butting) , when the coaching brain trusts went scrambling to find replacements. Unlike the AllBlacks, which had so many backup players as fixed deposits to call upon. As most commentators in the past had bemoaned, lack of depth had been Wallabies major weakness, especially during the Cheika period. Its far too early to make a call on Rennie as coach. The team he is building now looks so much better Having said that, I am not sure whether Rennie has enough time to mold a Wallaby the way he wants for the 2023 World Cup. That’s because of the way the ARU planned its schedule of Australian rugby. However, I could catch glimpses of Dave Rennie’s vision of where he wants to take the Wallabies to. At this rate in Rennie’s team development, my thinking is that the Wallabies can only be a very formidable team only after the 2023 World Cup ( the team to beat). The performance of the Wallabies in the 2023 World Cup will be the real trial run whether Australia has the ticker to be the best, not just being one of the best. My strong support for Dave Rennie as coach remains undisturbed.
Gamble looked really good at 7 all season for the Waratahs, but when Hooper came back and Gamble got moved to 6 it kind of stuffed up the back row. Hopefully Gamble is keen to wear the green and gold.
FrancisF
Roar Pro
Coach Dave Rennie said after the 3rd Test: “We created a lot of opportunities. I think we went in with the right plan, we just weren’t enough clinical enough” Didn’t we hear that before about the Wallabies games in the past. Once too often, truth be told. The opposite meaning of “not clinical enough” in sports is “ SLOPPY”, “CARELESS”, “RECKLESS” or “FAILURE IN PAYING ATTENTION TO BASIC SKILL DETAILS DURING EXECUTION” Why is that ? 1. Is it due to Inadequate training on basic details of execution ?OR 2. over-emphasis on strategy and tactics at expense of basic skills? OR 3. The questionable assumption that Wallabies players can be relied upon to call up their personal skills to execute the planned strategy, knowing full well the opponents will surely attempt to deteriorate those basic skills eg ball handling at collision, and making targeted kickings.
Android-angler Cartman-brah
Roar Rookie
Hooper I remember when he started his test career as a sub was very strong over the ball and a genuine poacher. Now he's just about razzle dazzle and not performing core duties as a flanker. To me he's an impact player and costing his team. One only has to look at the results since he became a regular pick. Northern teams plus SA play forward oriented power games, putting in the hard yards first. Am I wrong or is Aus and in particular NZ not up to arm wrestle games? Its clear the rest of the world moved forward leaving giants Aus and NZ behind. I'll reserve judgment until the RC matches.
PeterK
Roar Guru
I would retain McDermott on the bench
Mark
Guest
I could have sworn an English forward knocked the ball on in the lineout before Aus knocked on and Smith scored his try
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
He has great impact at 12. We just didn't find a way to deliver him enough quality ball. Ikitau is the long term answer at 13
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
JP seems destined for the bench given his lack of durability. Hard to ignore his talent but the coach is hamstrung with a 5:3 split any time he starts him
Rhys
Roar Rookie
I thought he was good bar the yellow card on Porter – but that’s an issue created by WR that the refs have to cop the brunt of. Around everything else I felt he was pretty much spot on.