I see a Reds Brumbies power bloc forming the base of the Wallabies for the next World Cup cycle. I’m not so confident about the long term future of the Rebels though.

Fionn et al,

I was under the impression that Cheika selected his team from a mixture of loyalty (someone who has done the job before, no matter how long ago or how good their current form is) and performance at training. So I agree with you. No Ned or Phipps. Cheika is a good example of when persistence becomes pointless. If I were SJ, I too would have given him enough rope to end his reign as well. All but the most ardent fan knew what the end result was going to be.

I whole heartedly agree an independent review needs to occur before pen is put to paper and a new coach is announced. The simmering tensions which are ling beneath the surface need to be exposed. The scab needs to be ripped off and healing take place. There has been voices for a long time wanting change, not just the coach, that much was obvious, but structural change to take the Wallabies into the next decade and exit in a position much higher than 7th or 8th in the world. The potential for civil war looms large. The casualties will be the game and the supporters. Australian rugby can not survive unless there is consensus going forward. Who really wants to see how bad things can really get? Not me, for one. New coach, yes! About time. New plan and new administration, most definitely. This needs to happen or chaos will follow.

Good article Keith.

Looking back, I think the rot had set in from 2017. We had achieved some good results, but they may now be seen as a Springbok side about to bottom out and a Pumas side on the rise. The All Blacks were suffering from ‘post origin blues’ after a torrid Lions tour. From memory the spring tour was not all that good.

A for Cheika, I think he had settled on a style of play that as a team, were not capable of playing. There were always too many mistakes and handling errors. Perhaps in Cheika’s mind, the style, if played correctly, would beat any other style regardless of the opposition. It was probably a style of play which required that no specific combinations were required. This may answer the question as to why was there so much chopping and changing.

Cheika had his faults, and achieved some good results as well. The time came two years ago to change the coach and Rugby Australia missed the boat.

I think Australia will only get better and will be a real force at the next world cup.

but losing in this way to England for the seventh time in four years is just too much to take
True, but what about the last 4 years? 2018 was the low point, we just haven’t gotten off the bottom yet.

Where there is life there is hope. 2020 never look back.

Three thoughts.
1. Give Petaia a chance to show his abilities. May as well be now instead of next year. I for one don’t want to die wondering. As some have said, he can always be pulled or moved if it isn’t working.

2. Cheika has been consistently inconsistent. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. (Like, do we have a choice)

3. What if, Cheika has been playing mind games on Eddie. When you tell the world you don’t watch your opposition, you are indirectly putting pressure on them. England must be outrageous favourites and now have to handle all the pressure that comes with that. England are approaching a nearly lose lose situation. If they beat the Wallabies, so what, the win means nothing as they should win. But if it’s close and times running down…..I wouldn’t want to be England.

The Wallabies to win the unwinable!!!!

Good idea. We could have our own 6 Nations: New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Japan and Oceania

Here’s what I have learned about the Wallabies over the last 4 years for my list of ‘5 things’

1. You can’t keep selecting the same players based on their 2015 performances when their performances over the last 4 years have been average to poor, but we do.
2. Michael Cheika does not have a real, definitive game plan to win specific games against specific teams, only a general ideal of how rugby should be played and hopefully won.
3. Team selection needs to be based on more than club loyalties and going hard in training. The right players should be in the right positions for the game at hand.
4. Australia has correctly blooded a number of good players since 2015, however the fact that we still don’t know who is our best halves combination is criminally wrong.
5. No matter how bad things and results get, they are OUR Wallabies and we will support them to the bitter end if necessary.
6. (Sorry, one more) X-Factor is relative. An Australian Rugby player who has an X-Factor is someone who can consistently execute their basic skills every match. X-Factor for other nations is totally different.

Sinckler has a better hair style then 7A’s. Plus they seem to have a settled 9, 10, 12 and 13

But Tah-Man, that is what Cheika has said that we want. Apparently we all want running rugby, not that boring kick to the corner, lineout, rolling maul try scoring rugby. Or that tedious know your enemy and analyse and exploit their weakness rugby. Don’t even get me started on wet weather rugby…. Nothing is apparently more Australian and exciting rugby then the Wallabies running the ball from side to side with atrocious skills to boot.

If Cheika had bothered to ask me what I wanted, I would have said that I want to watch the Wallabies win. If that is by kicking to the corners, so be it. We had one good win over the All Blacks in a decade, followed up by a shellacking, but this somehow justifies a playing style which has a high loss %, any wins are seen as lucky/against the grain/the other team lost it more than we won it scenarios. Any mug would have seen it was fool hardy to go wide against the Fijians. It was carnage. Who is on the coaching short list again?

I don’t know Fiona. Maybe television makes people look bigger, but I do believe that the Fijian backline was bigger than ours. Especially the wingers. Their no 7 who got head binned was a unit as well.

I thought the Wallabies went well. It was always going to be a tough match and some of the combinations were a bit rusty. The Wallabies will be much better for that game.
I thought the Fijians were awesome. All but a handful of their team play top line rugby in the northern hemisphere. They would have pushed any team around in the first half. The Wallabies played okay but didn’t lose their composure and backed themselves to finish the stronger of the two teams in the second half. That said, it was frustrating to watch as the way forward against the Fijians seemed to be straight through the middle. Tolo Latu made good metres by throwing a dummy and running himself. I predict that we will have the goods for Wales and will beat them next week. I would not want to be Wales having to play Fiji for a spot in the quarter finals.

I agree. By the way, is Ned on the bench for the opener? What about Phipps? Surely he’s there too?

Good article Simon. I wonder if this approach would help the situation where our up and coming rugby talent is already being heavily pursued by NRL clubs with equally big cheque books while they are still 13/14/15 yrs old?

Maybe it should be more about what they can do on game day and not the training paddock

Totally agree Loxie. This current crop of All Blacks peaked for the Lions in 2017. The rise and rise of the Northern Hemisphere teams, as well as the Boks and the Pumas, is ushering in a new world order where maybe the All Blacks are good, but not the out and out dominant force in world rugby.
Forget history. The Wallabies can and will win tonight. The All Blacks are good, but not great. A Wallabies win, close but still a win.

But what if they do lose 2 in a row. It is on the books.

I’m expecting a Wallabies win on Saturday. I won’t be happy with a near loss. This Wallaby side is more than capable of winning. It will most likely be wet but no matter, our forwards will dominate theirs. Dare to dream Roarers. We are going into this match with a loss and two wins under our belts. They have a win, a draw and a loss. Dare to dream! Wallabies by 10 and yellow cards galore.

Don’t forget the manditory forward pass thrown by A Smith which will lead to an AB try.

I’m liking this Wallabies team for Saturday. Coleman in for Arnold and Simmons on the bench. Simmons does have his good points, but yes, will have to put his angry pants on. AAC, well, like others have said, when we are leading going into the last 20 minutes, it will be good to get some experience on the field. Also, as Coleman or Rodda gets gassed, LSL will revert to 2nd row and Wright will come on. I’m confident that he will live up to the hype. He has had 2 years in super rugby and didn’t suffer from 2nd year syndrome. He will have no issues with getting his hands dirty and he will be good at it as well. Wallabies by 10

No doubt the All Blacks will come out fired up. But this Wallabies team is unlike any Wallabies team over the last 3 years. They are building and have the momentum going into Saturday’s match. The All Blacks are in, if not unfamiliar, then certainly the unwanted territory of having to win. Its a place where they have found themselves more often over the last couple of seasons since the Lions tour, then maybe other All Blacks teams that have gone before them. Wallabies by 10 in a tight but well won game.

is this a case of the pot calling the kettle “All Black”?

Motivated, yes. Most certainly. But they will have all the pressure in the world on them. The weight of expectation will be huge. I believe that the All Blacks are between a rock and a hard place. Clearly their preference would be for a world cup over a bledisloe. But they may be realising that having both could be out of the question and they may have to make a choice. By this I mean that they would have targeted what matches were important and when they wanted/needed to have their players peaking. They might have been working their players a little harder with the view of being in peak fitness in the quarters of the world cup. Some have suggested this as well. By us winning and by the way we did and the score line, this will have forced an appraisal of how things are really going. Having their team tapered to perform next week may not have been in the big picture but now has assumed a place of greater importance. It will be a cracker of a match between two teams desperate to win. The stakes will be huge.

I’m feeling a lot of hope for the Wallabies for tonight’s game. Yes, I believe that the Wallabies will give a good account of themselves. Maybe because Cheika isn’t solely in charge, maybe the musical chairs defensive patterns have gone, maybe because its a new season and the Wallabies have come off a win. It is still a very good All Blacks team, but, I feel confident and excited about the forward pack that will run on tonight. LSL may not be in the right position, but I would rather have him on the field than on the bench. If Lotu can keep his mouth shut and think before he acts, anything is possible. If Rodda plays like he did in the first game of SR this season, a win is not out of the question. The backs look good and JOC at 13 may prove to be a masterstroke. The bench looks better than it ever has. My prediction: the Wallabies by 3 WALLABIES!!!!!!!!