As a Wallaby fan, events like Sunday morning’s 28-27 loss to Italy are sobering, infuriating and altogether unsurprising.
But such events can – and for Dave Rennie, must – be the catalyst for change.
Here’s what happens if Ben Donaldson knocks over his conversion: Australia wins by a point, calls it the great escape in Florence, Rennie is branded a mastermind for blooding an ice-veined debutant in the final minutes of a Test, and Wallaby fans breathe a sigh of relief.
12/11/22 is packed up, washed way and forgotten in the annals of rugby history, and Rennie’s name is preserved.
Not anymore.
For the first time in his tenure, Rennie is under real pressure.
And it’s almost entirely his doing.
With the Wallabies’ well-documented 11 changes from their 30-29 loss to France, most will agree that the Australian (A) side slapped together by Rennie probably wasn’t going to fire in Florence, no matter the standard of player, the quality of training sessions, or the ceiling of rookies like Langi Gleeson, Ben Donaldson, Mark Nawaqanitawase et al.
Noah Lolesio of Australia consoles his teammate Ben Donaldson (Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images)
You simply cannot throw together that many new players and expect results – especially against a Six Nations outfit.
By picking such an inexperienced side, Rennie set his players up for failure – and that’s exactly what happened.
Sure, many players let themselves down against Italy.
I’m certain all involved will feel considerable guilt and shame about their collective effort which can only be described as error-riddled and ill-disciplined.
But they were also let down dreadfully by Rennie’s foolish selections. Common sense did not prevail. Selection continuity was not valued.
And an embarrassing loss now blots Rennie’s record.
The Wallabies are often their own worst enemy under Rennie – finding ways to lose rather than finishing sides off – but this result is clearly down to selection.
Now, are the Wallabies capable of bouncing back with wins over Ireland and Wales?
Of course they are – it’s entirely possible, even probable, given our track record.
But regardless of the results in both Dublin and Cardiff, one thing must change: Dave Rennie must demonstrate he can pick and stick with a core unit of players. And then he must do so for the next 12 months for the Wallabies to have any shot of progressing past the quarter-final stage in France.
I know there are injuries and unavailable players – we all do.
The Koroibetes and Kerevis will slot back in.
But the coach must play the cards he’s been dealt.
We must see continuity in selection, wherever possible. And that means our most senior players and cohesive club units selected week in week out, so we don’t have a repeat of Florence.
So we give ourselves the best possible chance of building a genuinely competitive and cohesive 23 to win finals in France.
But most importantly, so Rennie can demonstrate his capacity to not only coach, but select. Because his future depends on it.
Last week’s loss has forced his hand.
Now, we’re about to see whether Rennie is the real deal.
rusty
Roar Rookie
Nah
Mirt
Roar Rookie
Im not saying he’s not much chop. Im saying he has a tendency to try these stupid blocking ploys
Bodger
Roar Rookie
You don't give away caps and you coach to win especially when it's the international side so yes is the answer.
Geoff
Roar Rookie
Bodger by name and nature, so the coach, Rennie, backs his players selected, and somehow in your brain that means he "has no pride in the jersey"
Noodles
Roar Rookie
Lachie: better to write when you have a point to make or observation/insight. Almost every sentence here is a cliche.
SDRedsFan
Roar Rookie
What happens next year if Quade pops his leg again pre World Cup and meanwhile Tane Edmed has outplayed Donaldson and Noah through Super Rugby? Will they go with the inexperienced form player, or the slightly more experienced (as in Test minutes) yet to be proven players, or will it be Foley? I think there's 5 tests next year before the World Cup.
Dusty10
Roar Rookie
Mate, that's incredibly harsh. I am not a Watatahs fan, in fact I mostly despise them, but Gordon is inspirational at Super Rugby level and has the potential to be just as influential at test level. The odds have been stacked against him; he rarely gets back-to-back starts, he's always got a different 10 standing outside him, against Italy his team was going backwards from the outset, and Noah (as much as I like him) went completely missing. Again. If you watch a few Waratahs games with and without Gordon (he was out with injury for a while this year), you'll see the impact he makes. And we're talking against quality kiwi opposition, including the Crusaders, not the hapless Rebels or Force. So, ease up, Gordon is quality, he has just been seriously let down by the Wallabies.
Farmer
Roar Rookie
This is the strongest 23 available. That is why the squad against Italy was what it was. Gordon did a huge disservice to the team by taking himself off for 10 minutes and gave the Italians 14 gift points. It was dumbarse football and raises big questions about him in WC squad. The Wallabies are without their 3 best players, and that is just in the backs. Add in 1st pick forwards not on tour, there is a lot of class to come back into the team before the RWC. Rennie has been busy finding out who is up for it and who is not. He has always stated next year is pick and stick time. Have faith, I think Rennie has done as good as anyone would have, given the number of top 23 players out for long term injuries.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Nice one Lachie - he absolutely does need to identify who his top side is and play them more regularly. He's said he'll be doing that for the pre-RWC tests next season. He's then got to drip feed in the guys he wants to develop around that core. With regard to the changes vs Italy, I called for it pre-game and think he had to do it. I wish he'd had a bit more experience on the bench. I wish he'd blooded the likes of Donaldson two weeks earlier vs Scotland. The concept of getting everyone out there to see where they are at was correct. He created the issue by not playing a lot of these guys earlier but having gotten to this point he had to pull the trigger. Unfortunately he now owns an unenviable record of the first loss to Italy. He'll have to wear that.
Tinnster
Roar Rookie
Spot on Kafer. Many just don't seem to be happy unless their exact preferred team is selected... every game. 7/8 bench players against france shifted to starting (reasonable cohesion) and guys playing 3 in a row get a rest. Faigaa, aaa, samu, gordon, ikitau have enough footy under their belt to provide the leadership. It was a horrible game to watch, but we lost by a point playing our worst game in Rennie era. If young blokes dont get a run off the bench v italy, when do they?
Hugh_96
Roar Pro
Although it pains me, agree if Donaldson had won the game it would have briefly wallpapered over the cracks again. Also it would have been unfair on Italy, even though pro sport isn't about fairness.
Mirt
Roar Rookie
As I said before, Gordon is well known for his not so subtle shepherding when high balls are put up, so this is definitely not out of character. Rennie obviously didn’t want to wear out TMac a week before his start against Wales, only reason Gordon wasn’t put on an early plane home.
JC
Roar Rookie
It was a massive brain explosion by Gordon but very out of character — the product of the pressure that comes with not having played with your teammates in enough intense situations. In fact, lack of cohesion was probably the cause of most of the Wallabies’ ill discipline.
Passit2me
Roar Rookie
Bang on Mirt, Hooper and Foley at the very least should have been there, particularly given both have not had intensive campaigns this year. Having started paying more attention to the defensive efforts of Samu and even Mcreight, I must confess, I have a new appreciation for the value of Hooper.
Mirt
Roar Rookie
I consider my self to be in your 20% minority. Maybe it’s true that you can’t run your best 15 out five weeks in a row, but Rennie should have had the sense to keep some fire power on the bench for when the sht hit the fan (ie Slipper Hooper Foley)
Bodger
Roar Rookie
Rennie stands by his decision/selections and says the team selected were good enough to win. When I read that to me it means he doesn’t value the Wallabies jersey, has no pride in the jersey and he couldn’t prepare the team effectively. The loss, what he has said post loss and his selection of Gordon after his yellow reflects very poorly on Rennie.
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
@Lachie Yes agree mate but .....Rennie has picked another poor 23 for Ireland imo. They will get hammered tonight with Foley, Paisami, Wright, Robertson, Fainga'a, Petaia selected again. And no Hodge in the 23 either. Rennie appears to have totally lost the plot on Flyhalf, Centre and Hooker positions with either non Test standard players preferred, and/or no attempt to develop good backup. After another heavy loss to Ireland likely tonight another loss to Wales is likely next week imo. That'll be 1 from 5 on this tour, nobody developed except Mark N, and the RWC looks bleak.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
“ most will agree that the Australian (A) side slapped together by Rennie probably wasn’t going to fire in Florence, no matter the standard of player” Well, before the game, Kafe, most did not agree with your rear vision mirror view. 20/20 hindsight now allows us to see that we did not have enough leadership on the field in Florence. Like players, selectors must learn from their mistakes. Only they must learn quicker. The Florentine fails have a great lesson, on video, to learn from. And the biggest folly was a failure to lead amongst those players capable of it.
Rodkafer
Roar Rookie
“Most will agree that the Australian (A) side slapped together by Rennie probably wasn’t going to fire in Florence“ If we’re honest with ourselves, the vast majority of us didn’t expect the team to lose after we saw the team picked. If you read all Roar commentary on Rennie’s selection pre-game, it largely positive. I would say plus 80% of comments were neutral or happy with him giving experience to players who haven’t had a run yet. The fact of the matter is, the Wallabies are playing 5 tests in 5 weeks - there is no way he can trot out his best 15 each week and hope to be competitive by the time Ireland/Wales rolls around. It was undoubtedly a poor performance against Italy but the team he picked was good enough to win.