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Around 40 minutes was how long it took for the Rugby Championship to sort itself into an ‘A’ division and a ‘B’ division. More on the All Blacks’ dominant 41-12 win over Argentina later, but the shit show that was the Wallabies’ 43-12 loss in Pretoria needs some unpacking first.
In Test rugby, it’s essential to ask questions. Tough questions, in order to yes, ‘test’ your opponent. And sometimes, because you get answers you don’t like, and you grow stronger by figuring out ways to deal with that.
Despite starting impressively, via a bright backline try to Marika Koroibete in the ninth minute, the Wallabies seemed unwilling to pose any similar questions of the Springboks. Instead, it was left to fans to do the asking. Questions like, “Why did I sit up into the middle of the night for this?”
More often than not, questions in Test rugby revolve around the gain line; the who, why and how of winning the collision contest. But so passive was their approach, it was almost as if the Wallabies had, pre-match, conceded the gain line to the Springboks, and made a conscious decision not to go there.
Accordingly, the Wallabies weren’t so much outmuscled, it was more that they declined to willingly participate in the physical contest.
Forget about the scoreline, that was merely one in a series of statistics that made grim reading for the Wallabies. The Springboks made 70 gain-line carries to the Wallabies’ 24; reflective of the same 3:1 possession ratio, all brought about by the Wallabies opting to kick the ball back to their opponent rather than engage them in combat.
Playing without the ball is, to an extent, the modern way. And coach Eddie Jones had flagged his intention of avoiding getting bogged down in a multi-phase game and getting pinged at the breakdown.
But handing the ball over is only effective as a tactic when the kicking is accurate and purposeful, and is backed-up by a steely, connected defensive line, rabid first-up tackling, and the application of fierce – and lawful – pressure at the breakdown. The Wallabies brought none of these things.
As a result, hard, uncompromising ball runners like Andre Esterhuizen (17 carries), Marco van Staden (eight), Duane Vermeulen (eight) and Pieter-Steph du Toit (14), were allowed to reign supreme.
By contrast, Reece Hodge/Samu Kerevi (six carries), Rob Valetini (five), Will Skelton (four) and Nick Frost (one), were playing a different game. After all, if you’re kicking it, and sometimes placing your half-back at first receiver to do so, even Mark Ella is going to struggle to get an effective distribution and running game going at flyhalf.
Characteristic of the Wallabies’ failings over the last decade or so has been deficiencies in their kicking game, and in discipline. In this match, both Achilles heels were again conspicuous by their presence.
As is common for matches at altitude, the early exchanges saw both sides trying to come to terms with how far they could – and should – punt the ball; rather like a golfer having a few practice putts to gauge the speed of the greens, before settling into the round proper.
But the Wallabies never got a handle on the Stimpmeter, too often kicking the ball away in attack and, in midfield, seemingly caught in a bind between the stock play of shallow, recoverable box kicks, and the intoxicating rush of hoofing the ball long and watching it fly in the thin, high-veldt air.
Exit kicks were too often made under pressure, and by the wrong player; James Slipper, anyone? Kicks were scrambled into touch, 20m upfield, but where was the composure, the re-set, the clean delivery to someone like Hodge to pump it double or treble that distance?
There was an expectation that the Wallabies’ discipline – often poor under Dave Rennie – would be improved under Jones. Yet here we were, soon back on familiar ground, the penalty count 13-3 against, two penalty tries conceded, with two players sent to the sin-bin.
To be fair, the dismissals of Dave Porecki and Suli Vunivalu were reflective of the enormous stress the Wallabies were under; both desperate acts in the vain hope of preventing tries that were really just the inevitable lid popping off the top of the pressure cooker.
Other failings were more individual in nature; for example, Len Ikitau’s decision in the 16th minute, to fly-hack at a loose ball in his 22 instead of diving down to claim it, which lead to the first of Kurt-Lee Arendse’s three tries, and Alan Ala’alatoa, in the 30th minute, absent-mindedly wandering from a defensive post on the blindside of a maul to the open side, leaving too much for Vunivalu to do to prevent Arendse’s second.
Kurt-Lee Arendse of South Africa scores a try during the Rugby Championship match between South Africa and Australia at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on July 08, 2023 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
Looking at the Wallabies’ path ahead, just as disappointing – and concerning – was their capitulation at set-piece. Lineout inaccuracy is one thing, but, as frustrating as that may be, an impotent scrum is a curse.
Whatever jibes flew around afterwards between Jones and a local journo about South Africa’s supposed ‘B’ team, make no mistake, the four-man propping squad of Frans Malherbe, Steven Kitshoff, Thomas du Toit and Vincent Koch is nobody’s second-grade outfit. It’s possible the Wallabies front row won’t face a sterner test again this year.
In any event, huge improvement is required.
It’s almost obligatory for writers to end any account of a hiding – and there can be no sugar-coating that this was anything else but – by pointing to at least one or two positives; to give fans at least some small morsel to carry forward into next week.
But really, what is there to say, without making stuff up? Pretend that this was just an unfortunate blip, or another bunch of those lessons that will no doubt be learned? That is, until it becomes apparent that they haven’t been?
The Wallabies made just three entries into the Springbok 22 in 80 minutes of rugby. From that came two tries, so at least red zone conversion is looking promising.
There were flashes of inspiration from Carter Gordon in his brief cameo, including a delightful maiden Test try, but that’s no signal to go seeking miracles in the wrong place. With their pack so comprehensively outplayed, and Nic White commanding such an integral playmaker role, does anyone really think that the Wallabies, or Gordon himself, at such an early stage of his career, would be better served by him starting, and enduring more of that?
One match is far too soon to start making judgments about Jones, other than to say, like Edmund Hillary at Everest Base Camp, strapping on his backpack and gazing upwards, he has a mountain of work ahead of him.
What is almost certain, however, is that the ghosts of last week’s column, the chronic and long-lasting deficiencies in Australian rugby’s coaching and coaching pathways systems, will continue to feed into outcomes like this, for as long as the problem isn’t addressed.
There are hard-working, talented coaches and players throughout the Australian system. But this result, 20 years without a Bledisloe Cup, the continued failure of Australia’s Super Rugby sides, and now, the same outcomes evident in women’s rugby, all speak to a deep malaise; the inability to excise what is structurally and organisationally hurtful for Australian rugby, and bind all of the good aspects together.
By contrast, most of the angst across the Tasman came this weekend from fans of coach-in-waiting, Scott Robertson, wondering how they could acknowledge the All Blacks’ snappy start to 2023 without having to begrudgingly praise Ian Foster.
Group that lot with those who spent the better part of a week whingeing about the sacrilegious design of the new All Blacks jumper, which – surprise, surprise, once the action started and the subtle patterning turned out to be just that – looked pretty much like any other All Blacks jumper.
Traditionally slow starters in the first Test of a year, the All Blacks surprised everyone by jumping out of the blocks, playing with verve and energy, and seemingly striking a tasty balance between their willingness to shift the ball and playing into straight, rather than lateral channels.
Much of this was down to a rock-solid set piece, with lineout and scrum both impressing. A second key factor was the willingness of Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane to straighten the attack in midfield, with Barrett in particular, enjoying his finest outing at 12, setting a tough benchmark for himself to now live up to.
The third piece of the puzzle was the loose forward trio of Sam Cane, Ardie Savea and Shannon Frizzell finding the sweet spot between racking up individual showreel highlights, and operating as an effective unit.
At 31-0 by half-time, the contest had been put to bed early, and while it was two tries apiece in the second stanza, and the All Blacks had loosened up slightly, there was no sense of the late game capitulation that crept into their play last season.
It was also reasonable to expect the Pumas to improve throughout the match, having played the first half like a side only recently cobbled together from players from various club leagues around the world.
There were signs of cohesion and continuity appearing in the final quarter, and there are simply too many high-quality players in this Pumas squad for them not to improve markedly, with more miles under their belt.
For now, however, coach Michael Cheika is also at Everest Base Camp, aka CommBank Stadium, Parramatta, standing shoulder to shoulder alongside Jones, gazing skywards.
Whoever lifts themselves off the floor first, whoever – genuinely – learns the lessons of their first-round defeat and adjusts their game-plan and personnel accordingly, and makes the first confident steps towards the summit, will be feeling much better about themselves this time next week.