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A tour beckons. A full accounting of Australian Test rugby awaits.
The Wallabies have lost every revenge match in 2022. After the joy of Perth, Eddie Jones’ England grimly settled scores in Brisbane and Sydney.
Smarting from the Wallabies’ spirited comeback in Mendoza, Michael Cheika’s Pumas ran rampant in San Juan.
A week out from Adelaide’s fine sun and joy, an angry pack of Springboks bludgeoned a meek home side in the Sydney rain.
Ten days after the near Melbourne miracle, in which time ruled over space, ruthless New Zealand laid waste to the slim hopes of Dave Rennie’s side.
In each revenge Test, the second rows of the opposition beat the Wallaby locks up, first physically and then mentally.
Of course, if you examine the list of locks the Wallabies faced, there is no shame: Maro Itoje, Jonny Hill, Tomas Lavanini, Matias Alemanno, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock. They would make a brilliant “most wanted” poster in the old Wild West.
In contrast, the Wallaby lacked true sheriffs; all they had was a desperado named Darcy.
The lock firm of Frost, Neville, Philip & Holloway never took control of any narrative in the deciding matches.
But also, in each decisive loss, Wallaby playmakers were dominated, culminating in a second Bernard Foley cameo against World Player of the Year candidate Richie Mo’unga.
If aging Wallaby playmakers were being parachuted back in using the Giteau Law, would California surfer Matt Giteau, he of the law, have been a better choice?
It did not help Dave Rennie’s cause to avoid the single worst season in Wallaby history that he simply cannot field his best side.
Unprecedented injury tallies is one thing, but the other barrier is the shifting, shifty Giteau Law.
At Allianz, half the Bok side were based outside South Africa. What would the result have been without Malcolm Marx, the starting two locks, Franco Mostert, Damian de Allende, and Jasper Wiese?
Just two Wallabies that dark night (a quiet Arnold and a hobbled Marika Koroibete) are based overseas.
Samu Kerevi and Quade Cooper, the other two ‘Giteaus,’ had already succumbed to the curse of 2022.
As the Spring Tour sets up, none of them are available, even if they should be, legally.
“What we found out was we could Reg 9 guys but, ultimately, their primary employer is the clubs and if the clubs really don’t want them to go, they’re probably not going to go,” Dave Rennie explained. “So we found that out pretty late last year and this year we have had conversations with clubs and spoken about wanting to use them against England and use them in The Rugby Championship, but we don’t touch them for the end of year, and that’s satisfying for everyone.”
Peace in the valley. But this opens up the Giteau discussion, which has three buckets.
First, what do Australia need the most? Which spots were most lacking in the five ‘revenge losses?’ We can also look at that a different way: are there overseas players who simply demand selection even if their position was manned well so far in 2022?
Second, how many are needed? The Giteau Law was invented to get around a rule, and in seven years it has evolved from 60 caps or seven Super Rugby seasons to 60/7 plus two exceptions, to 30/5 (with a cap of three). Why can it not just be 15 caps, unlimited and call it the Jack Dempsey Law.
Finally, what will be needed in France a year from now? Which positions lack depth, and almost certainly will pose an issue over six or seven brutal Tests? Whatever that analysis reveals surely it should be done now?
A tour is the perfect scenario to welcome and integrate a new ‘old’ player into the Rennie regime.
What Is the Biggest Need?
The second row is where Australia is the most substantially weaker than the other top teams. There is a case for including two overseas locks on this tour. It has been a long time since the Wallabies beat a Six Nation team in Europe, and it all starts in the tight five.
Fortunately, the front row is not why the Wallabies lost their Tests. Also, with Michael Hooper returning, the back row can be reconfigured in several different and interesting ways to play in a Northern Hemisphere manner.
But at lock, absent Arnold and pending Isaac Rodda’s foot health, the state of Wallaby lineouts and drives, maul stopping, defensive scrums, restarts, multiphase rucks, goal line defence, and close quarter carry on cold sodden pitches looks decidedly weak.
If one Arnold cannot come, could Richie Arnold suffice? I think not.
What of man mountain Will Skelton? Also no, and not because Skelton is not a dynamic carrier for La Rochelle. He can clean rucks just with a glare.
But ragged lineouts, dropped restarts, and weak maul formation are robbing the Wallabies of good starter plays, and Skelton is a bit of a mallet instead of a screwdriver there. Hence, I would argue for the inclusion of 33-year old Wallaby centurion Rob Simmons.
Rob Simmons at a Wallabies training session in 2020. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Simmons plays his rugby at London Irish nowadays. He still finishes games. He is not carded; never banned. He is not pushed around, and is a fine set piece operator, even if he does not generate line break highlights.
He recently claimed ten lineouts in one match. He knows how to run a lineout, present a target, and has always had soft hands. He’s captained teams and does not annoy refs. Would that help the Wallabies on tour? Yes. And he’s conditioned to the exact weather and refereeing at issue. Also, he qualifies under Giteau 1.0, 2.0 or any Giteau level.
He could lock down with 33-year old Kane Douglas, who has been in most Top 14 teams of the week this season. He’s added muscle on top of his muscles. His ruck presence has been the best in a very physical league. He bolsters scrum and maul. He won’t be bullied; nor will he lose his rag.
A Simmons-Douglas duo would school a Neville-Swain or Frost-Philip combination. No, I mean actually school them: teach them academy style. If Philip was coming off the bench for whichever veteran was tiring, he would be in a role that makes sense. Meanwhile, Frost needs to see what a proper 2 metre lock does around the park.
But before we blithely name Philip as player 19, what of Sam Carter, playing to an excellent standard in the URC for Ulster?
He is often going the full 80, his carrying game is on the up, and he has captained the side, which is full of leaders.
Simmons, Douglas, Carter: there’s your Giteau second row to play Ireland. All of them had issues of personality a la Fardy and Kimlin (both of whom should be Wallaby centurions); but none of them has ever given anything less than their best for club and country, and have been chosen by the pickiest owners in rugby to lead and be well compensated.
One or two of them could even be in a World Cup squad, but even if they aren’t, they are already bigger, better, and smarter at Test rugby than old rookies Neville, youngster Frost, and undersized Holloway.
If you are wondering why all three Giteau picks should be spent on locks, then you have a different analysis than this writer about why the Revenge Tests were lost. I saw no lack of skill or desire in the first and back rows. But Arnold needed help.
Some mixture of Rob Leota, Harry Wilson, Hooper, Pete Samu, Lachie Swinton, and Rob Valetini can do the job up North.
Rob Valetini of the Wallabies. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Adding the excellent carrier Dempsey of Glasgow or Sean McMahon of Suntory (who would not be available anyway), or the likes of Liam Gill, Fergus Lee-Warner, Angus Scott-Young won’t make much of a difference to the harder parts of the game. So, it’s three proven locks for me.
And then, expand the Giteau Law.
He comes in looking for work and understands defensive space.
With Koroibete out, Wright often wrong, and Jordan Petaia needing to figure things out, I’d drop Morahan into the mix. On a cold and rainy night, when Jonny Sexton or Dan Biggar or Finn Russell launches a wobbly stinger or whirling spiral, Morahan for me over the current candidates. He’s also the ideal World Cup ‘tweener’ as he can cover the Jordie Barrett range of positions.
Hegarty can be included without using a Giteau card. He’s headed West, to the Force. At the moment, the Wallabies have no luck at ten (having missed a trick by elevating the wrong youngster; Tane Edmed for me, all day long) and just need a technician. A ten who can hold the fort, kick it out when the ref mumbles about the sky, pass flat and true, and make a couple of tackles when needed.
Playing for Leicester is good Test footy preparation. They play a brand of rugby which is club-plus. Hegarty would be my deGiteaued pick; soon to be in Super Rugby.
Should Giteau Grow?
Yes. At least to four, but probably to unlimited in World Cup years.
Australian rugby is not on the rise. In fact, there is a distinct possibility it can fall further. Winning is the only solution. Not processes, believing in processes, trusting in systems, being happy for the boys, being proud of the efforts of the boys and long term views. Win. Now. If not now, when?
If the Wallabies go 1-4 or 2-3 on the tour, both of which are quite foreseeable with France and Ireland looking imperious, the year will effectively be a washout. It is only five years before a World Cup is hosted on Aussie soil.
That’s not long. A few more seasons like 2022 (and remember, it’s been since 2019 that the Wallabies played the Boks in South Africa) with even more good Aussie pros abroad, and this won’t necessarily be a good tale.
Top players paid top dollar by overseas clubs are not just usually the best players; they teach others. Simmons has forgotten more about lineouts and mauls than Swain has yet learnt.
Knowing how to spot a high ball in the rain has a lot of skill to it, but it also has repetitive knowledge. Morahan can tell Petaia something a coach cannot, or it just sticks when a player like Duane Vermuelen (fading as he is) tells a lad like Wiese how best to control a ball at the base on a sticky pitch as the ref calls “use it.”
World Cup Thinking?
It is too late to work guys like Joe Powell, Cam Clark, and Luke Burgess into the setup. Kimlin is too old. But the golden age of 29-33 works just fine.
A more powerful set of locks (four or five, depending on who the 5-6 swinger is) will go a long way towards Wallaby hopes.
Even if only one of Simmons, Douglas, or Carter make it, it will have been worth the experiment.
Any of them are less experimental than tossing Neville in at the tail end of his career, or betting on Frost to add brutality, or getting Swain to calibrate his.
We have also learnt World Cup tens can be third string in finals. If Quade Cooper, aged 35 by the time the squad is picked, has not healed his legs, who is the flyhalf to play the ‘easier’ pool matches or close out a quarterfinal with a kick from the corner?
Giteau or Git Back Here; the questions are intriguing for this tough tour and the year beyond.
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.