HATS OFF TO THE ALL BLACKS BUT THERE’S ALWAYS A SILVER LINING

RWC RANT NO.15

I thought it was fitting to end my RWC Rants on No.15 so I will try and keep it relatively short and too the point – if that’s possible?

Not the result any Wallabies fan or player was after and as disappointing as it may be it’s actually never as tough when victory goes to your closest rival and one you actually respect, and to a side that genuinely earned it and deserved it. It was an incredible effort by both teams, but on the day the ABs showed why they are rightly the World Champions.

Nothing can change the outcome, history has been written so let’s not try and make excuses – don’t blame any refereeing decisions, don’t point fingers at particular players and don’t devalue the effort of either side by saying it was good or bad luck. Let’s look at it holistically and learn from it. The reason the ABs won was because of their attitude, their culture, their skill level, their resilience and their honour (mana). All of this culminates into the success we all see on the field but its genesis started 12 years ago and you can rest assured it didn’t come easily to the ABs and they worked just as bloody hard for this win as they did for the 80 previous games and that’s the difference. In fact, it is often harder to keep a successful team winning than turning around the fortunes of a mediocre side.

I’ve mentioned this before and it’s worth mentioning again because as we all know the devil is in the detail. After the 2003 RWC, Graham Henry took over the reigns and recognised the AB team was surviving on natural ability with little substance and what was totally absent was a positive culture. That was the turning point and he took measures to fix it. Is it ringing any bells yet? Henry wanted to build and develop a culture that was virtually impenetrable and could survive the test of time. He and his brains trust, all very smart and accomplished rugby minds, along with the senior playing group recognised one single focus “You’re an All Black 24/7”. The All Black manager at the time, former player, captain and coach Brian Lochore captured the essence perfectly coining the phrase “Better people make better All Blacks”. Henry’s legacy was perpetuated and improved by one of his former Lieutenants, Steve Hansen and hopefully it will continue to evolve – well that’s the challenge.

On the larger side of the ditch someone else had similar thoughts, Michael Cheika understood that overarching concept perfectly. He recognised the importance of establishing high standards and developing a winning culture. He understood that once it connects within the playing group, it transfers on to the field and that’s how you fill the trophy cabinet. He proved his way worked with the Waratahs and he has just proven it again with the leaps and bounds he has made with the current Wallabies. Let’s face it, most of us didn’t think the Wallabies would make the 2015 RWC final this time last year and the rest of you are liars.

It’s not rocket science and it’s not a new concept, Dwyer did it in 91 and Macqueen did it again in 99 albeit with different styles and approaches, and Cheika almost did it in 2015 but just might do it in 2019 – or will he? The Wallabies have come so far in such a short space of time and there in lies the silver lining. If Cheika has achieved this within 12 months surely things can only improve as he develops a stronger more resilient outfit over the next three to four years. As supporters let’s not lose faith, we have what it takes, we just need a little more time.

Once again congratulations to the All Blacks for a splendid display of clinical brilliance and onwards and upwards for the Wallabies.

The march towards 2019 glory has already begun.

RWC RANT NO. 12

Firstly, well done to the Wallabies – another get out of jail free card used up but it was very pleasing to see. What is also nice is the way the Southern Hemisphere is performing on the field and how the Northern Hemisphere is performing well off the field. Other than the annoying time difference watching from Down Under, I think the UK has done a splendid job hosting this year’s Cup, but I guess the best judges of that are all my friends who experienced it first hand – I’m still very envious.

This RWC has proven my long-held theory that authentic innovation in rugby develops in the Southern Hemisphere and those in the north merely try to replicate it. Don’t believe me? The proof is in the pudding; look at the teams in the quarterfinals, NZ, France, SA, Ireland, Argentina, Wales, Scotland and Australia. Every nation in the Rugby Championship made it out of their pool and after last weekend, everyone one of them is still present and account for, but none from the North. Mind you all the teams in the quarters from the north – other than France, who were not only outclassed but humiliated by the All Blacks – did much better than they ever have before and should stand proud and tall. Why did they all do better? A common thread; they all had a Southern Hemisphere coach who transformed they way they approached the game and played the game a la Schmidt, Cotter and Gatland – take a bow gentlemen. Truth be known, it could have gone either way if Ireland weren’t struck as heavily with injuries, if Joubert wasn’t refereeing and if the Boks didn’t lose to Japan – but the would haves, could haves, should haves don’t matter in the end. It is what it is and the Southern Hemisphere is dominating.

Here’s another view I’ve held since 2003. England won’t win another RWC until they move beyond their current position of arrogance and swallow the bitter pill they’ve been avoiding for 12 years and admit they don’t know everything about rugby and teams simply don’t deserve anything in rugby, they have to genuinely earn it. This is why I believe Lancaster should be given another chance and carte blanche to do it all his way. He is not originally from the establishment and I believe it not only makes a huge difference but it allows him to see things differently. I think he was hamstrung by the ex-internationals he had assisting him, however, as soon as they lost his assistants abandoned him and started pointing the fingers and once again the structure imploded. Let Lancaster take a leaf out of Graham Henry’s book and continue to rebuild and at the same time put the broom through and rid the fold of the non-believers – they have nothing more to lose?

Some may be thinking what about RWC 2003. England won it fair and square! I concede, it wasn’t a fluke but it certainly wasn’t based on Woodward’s originality and innovation. Woodward had three things in his favour, Jonny Wilkinson, an enormous unprecedented budget and Rod Macqueen’s blueprint. Wilkinson is a freak, an absolute master of the boot and without Wilkinson no RWC Championship and let’s not forget it was only by a field goal. Here is where Woodward mastery came into play (mastery not innovation). He had a massive amount of money to spend after 1999 and was astute or cunning enough to closely study the Macqueen machine; the way Macqueen approached managing a professional rugby team. How Macqueen took the psychological development of a professional outfit to a new level and how raising the skill set from 1-15 took the team’s capabilities to new world standards. He saw how Macqueen and Co developed patterns of play that cleverly manipulated the opposition and had the time to watch the end-result from the sideline after England was belted out of the quarters by the Boks, which was a second RWC win by 23 points to the colony. Woodward replicated the plan but with his budget it was almost impossible to fail – mind you had he failed I think he would have been lynched – literally. If you don’t believe me read both Macqueen and Woodward’s books. Hats off, England won but they have been riding that wave ever since and under-performing ever since in spite of their enormous pool of talent. This simply reinforces my original theory that since professionalism, Southern Hemisphere coaches whether they choose to stay in the South or take up postings in the north are naturally more innovative than their Northern Hemisphere counterparts.

I’m not saying England should accept the truth and employ a Southern Hemisphere coach. God forbid, that may give them an above-average chance of winning again and we don’t want that. But guys like Woodward and past members of the 2003 winning team need a reality check; they need to back their own team with some constructive comments and humility, and not make dumb statements about other nations that have no basis other than selling newspapers or getting eyeballs on screens. Sadly, they end up being English Rugby’s own worst enemy and every one of them ended up with egg on their face and lost any remaining plaudits and credibility outside of England.

Just get on with it and stop talking about it.

PS: Scotland should be proud of their performance and their previous greats should mind their manners. I’m certainly no fan of Joubert but his unpredictability applied to both sides and going on about how they were robbed is simply ridiculous – it is what it is. I’ll accept the robbed call if someone can explain how Ford and Gray were cleared on appeal to play in this game after lifting a player’s legs beyond horizontal during a clean out and then driving his head into the ground – now that’s robbery and the key-stone cops performance by those that overturned the already weak suspension makes a mockery of the system on so many levels.

RWC RANT No.7

On Cooper

How many chances does QC get before the coaches accept what many Wallaby fans and pundits are seeing? In my opinion, Cooper’s game against Uruguay has all but cemented Foley as the starting fly half. Don’t get me wrong, Cooper certainly has talent but he just never seems to be able bring all his skills to the same party. Cooper’s trademark long-range rifle passes are probably better left to the touch game at training, because despite the fact they occasionally stick against inferior opponents, against more seasoned adversaries they are likely to result in an intercept or a hospital pass. While I think he was hard done by with his sinbin, the laws allow for that interpretation and the point is his judo-like throw was unnecessary, which is another example of his inherent poor discipline and ill-regard for the way his actions impact the team. His kicking was abominable, both in general play and for goal. Without any pressure, 5 from 11 simply isn’t good enough if your team and coach are relying on your necessary skills. Now is the time to start rotating Toomua, Beale and Giteau into 10 during training in the event of an injury.

On England

Have no fear I’m always ready to put the boot into England given the chance, just as they love giving anyone from the colony a good shoeing, and while a wry smile adorned my face as Wales put the Old Dart to the sword over the weekend, I will stand up for their captain Chris Robshaw for choosing to go for the try instead the usual boring English way of kicking themselves out of trouble. Robshaw is being unfairly criticised and is wearing the blame alone as Lancaster distanced himself from any blame saying it’s the players that make the decisions on the field. So Mr Lancaster, you didn’t select the players you had faith in to make those tough decisions on the field? Well, he’s certainly a coach I’d put my body on the line for – Not! If England move forward it wont be because of their coach. Robshaw may have made some ordinary decisions during the game but when the pressure is on and the game hangs in the balance and you have two choices – a draw or a win, you go for goal if you have no faith in your team mates however, if you do have faith in the blokes you’re in the trenches with you go for the try to win the game – just look at Japan. Securing the draw wouldn’t have relieved any pressure on England and they still must win next Sunday to keep their chances alive. It will definitely test the mettle of both sides but if the Wallabies arise victorious, the English are unlikely to come out of the pool of death intact.

On some of the others in the B Team

McMahon certainly showed why he should be part of the squad with a bucket load of line bending carries but I would have expected a lot more pilfering and he is still clearly miles behind Pocock and Hooper. McCalman played a lot better than I expected and should be on the bench in place of Palu and/or Skelton, both of who had very little impact against B-Grade opposition. Mumm certainly didn’t take control of the lineout and it only started to hum when Simmons re-entered the frame, which is a worry should he get injured. Toby Smith did enough to justify his place on tour but Holmes should have been given time to stretch his legs and neck. Despite Beale being out of favour with me after the Di Patston fiasco, he is actually looking way more agile than he has in a long time with some reasonable vision and justifies a place on the bench in the next game. This game also confirmed the failed experiment of Speight at 13. Tomane was unimpressive and nothwithstanding breaking a record by scoring a few tries, I wasn’t overly impressed with Mitchell. Granted, he showed glimpses of his old brilliance but he did make a host of schoolboy errors beforehand, which the Wallabies can ill-afford in a big game. The Wallabies achieved what was required on the scoreboard and it gave many of our top tier players a well-deserved rest in preparation for the next game, which is bound to be a cracker! Let’s line that chariot up with our bulbar and get ready to throw it into reserve afterwards!

RWC RANT No.6

I decided to wait a couple of days before reporting on the Wallabies first game as I wanted to wait for the outcome of the NZ v Namibia game to see if the score lines between the powerhouse nations and the minnows are changing. The answer is yes, but the questions is whether it is a result of the minnows improving or whether the powerhouse teams have plateaued or recessed? I prefer to think the former as more national players are honing their craft in better competitions during the 4 years between cups. While there have still been some big scores so far and using Namibia as an example, the 58-14 loss to NZ this year is much more respectable than their 87-0 and 81-7 loss to SA and Wales respectively in 2011 or their 87-10 loss to France in 2007. This appears to a very positive thing for World Rugby, it’s still nowhere close to being a level playing field but the gap is starting to close and not continuing to widen – case in point, Japan.

So back to the Wallabies and as the saying goes an opinion is like a bum crack – everyone’s got one and I’m just about to show you mine. But again, I wanted to wait to see what all regular pundits were saying about the game and see whether my thoughts aligned or not.

The analysis has gone in a couple directions. The interesting thing is everyone with an opinion (me included) is not necessarily basing it on what the Wallabies have been set as goals and objectives with their coaches, but instead on our playing and or coaching experience and what we expect the players/team should be doing in comparison to other nations we watch. The truth is, the only person that would know if the Wallabies achieved what they were supposed to is Michael Cheika. Some may say the players and other coaches would be privy to what Cheika is expecting; may be, may be not. Cheika may being saying one thing in the hope of getting something else – he loves his mind games. The only thing consistent about Cheika is his inconsistency especially when it comes to selections, playing shape and media conference spin.

So what issues did many of the other pundits raise?

1. The effectiveness of the backrow combination of Fardy, Hooper and Pocock – more Pooper.
2. The lineout is rudderless without Simmons
3. A much improved Wallaby scrum
4. No bonus point secured
5. The Genia/Foley combination
6. Lack of impact from the bench

All of the above points are valid and questions should be asked, here is my take:

1A. The Wallabies new Holy Trinity certainly gets the job done and are highly effective on and off the ball however, the Wallabies will be horribly exposed if more than one injury occurs to fracture this combination. This is why I wasn’t all for taking Skelton and Palu in place of players like Gill and Hodgson. If Pocock was injured will Palu or McCalman have the same impact? Unlikely, and the same applies to Hooper; sure Poey could move into 7 if Hooper got hurt but we lose that extra punch a channel or two out as well as a critically effective defender. With respect to Fardy – the quiet achiever, I think McMahon or McCalman whilst different in the way they play could fill 70% of the void if Fardy went down, whether that would be enough is yet to be seen. Let’s hope our backrow remain injury free.

2A. Yes, the Wallabies lost 3 lineouts in a row after Simmons left the field and that should be seen as an issue because possession must remain king. There always seems to be a lot of reliance on one player when it comes to the calls, I’m not sure if it is because others just don’t get it as well as him or others haven’t been adequately trained by the coaches to take over effectively? It must be said that trying to read the opposition and the mental computation required to figure where to throw and where to compete when you’re lungs are burning, you’re in pain or behind on the scoreboard isn’t as easy as it may seem; you need a tactical mind because lineout skills and defensive prowess have improved dramatically over the past 4 years. Moreover, when you select a range of secondary jumpers (shorter guys) or ones that are too big to lift easily or aren’t dominant in the air you have to get the other stuff right and have a contingency for everything- I’m not sure the Wallabies do? They need to sort this out and they need to have another lineout General who is likely to be on the field for at least 70mins like Hooper, Fardy, Moore or Pocock to takeover if and when Simmons leaves the field, even if it’s just for a couple of lineouts until the official replacement gets into his groove.

3A. An improved scrum, well the bar was pretty low and Aussie fans were happy if the boys won their own feed against the scrum machine, so the swift rise in ability since Ledesma has come into the fold has mesmerised us all. The truth is, we’re now in line with the way nations ranked in the top 5 nations should scrummage. Well overdue, but grateful it has arrived but let’s not get too excited until we pass the test of a Northern Hemisphere side. I have faith purely based on their upgraded angles, foot positioning and body shape.

4A. I’m with Cheika on this one. A bonus point is important but a win should always be the priority. I’ve always maintained a one game at a time approach. That’s not to say you’re not thinking about how the team is building and developing to take on other opponents, but you can never get too far ahead or you start to worry about things that are irrelevant at the time – It needs to be about here and now. The bottom line is the top 2 teams go into the quarter finals and the winner of Pool A plays the runner up in Pool B and vice versa, so if Australia just wins every game they will come 1st or 2nd and will play SA, Samoa, Scotland, Japan or USA in the quarters.

Interestingly a lot of people were saying Australia by 30, which in the past was a fairly reliable prediction. I held my tongue because of the way Fiji performed against the old foe, I wasn’t sure but my gut feeling was predicting a tight game for the first 40-50mins and then the Wallabies would finish off with 2-3 quick tries in the final 10mins. The score may have indicated this but the game didn’t replicate my prediction, it was the complete opposite. Many underestimated the ability of our Pacific Island cousins and to be truthful it has all been a little disrespectful because most of their players nowadays are professional and contracted in either Australia, NZ or Europe and have full access to better coaching, better training methods, better recovery protocols and better medical attention. McKee like Cheika should be congratulated on his ability to ready a team well for combat in a very short period of time.

5A. It’s always hard to know what constitutes the right decision of a 9/10 combination, that is when should they kick, run, pass, snipe or take the ball into contact? Cheika and Larkham spoke about the combination working fine during training and I believe them because they are professionals and they swap and change more during training than they change their undies so we have no choice but to trust their judgement. Cheika openly said he thought Genia’s experience would be highly effective during the RWC; I’m not so sure. May be it’s because I just don’t like Genia’s style of play and never really have, that rise of the back and those steps always creep back in. I think Australia has a real issue with producing commanding No.9s. I’ve said it before, Stirzaker was the form No.9 out of all the Australian franchises and I hope he is given a chance in 2016. I’ve never been a Foley fan either because he is too conservative for a 10 in the modern game. He makes Michael Lynagh look like a master risk-taker (if you’re old enough to remember); other than his goal kick I’m not sure he brings enough to the team. He doesn’t threaten the line often enough, his tactical kicking is hot and cold, his defence is OK but sometimes he misses badly and his support lines are often too deep – but it does pay off occasionally. Of course I’m making these comments based on the kind of 10 that I believe would complement the current group of skills the Wallabies have. It’s unlikely to change and I still think they have a more than fair chance of getting into the semis.

6A. Yes, the bench lacked impact but they also lacked enough time to make any kind of a real difference. This is one of the inconsistencies of Cheika’s strategy. One minute he uses the bench as a second half tsunami and in others they’re used as backwash, almost an after thought to give them some game time. His team; his prerogative. The bench has become an important part of the game and needs its own strategy. I preferred the old replacement rule – a player needed to have a genuine/permanent injury to be able to replace them. It’s all becoming a bit League-esque. Cheika appears to be a fan nonetheless, as he refers to his bench as his ‘finishers’.

Final comment. I was thinking about the classic excuse from the pundits ‘they’re a bit rusty”, “first game nerves” etc. I reckon it’s a bit of a crock. These guys are professional athletes that train and play enough games a year to never be rusty or have first game nerves progress further than the first 5 minutes of a game. I can imagine my tradie mates taking a deep breath and feeling a bit anxious just before they install a switchboard or knock together a roofing truss, or some of my white collared friends feeling a bit rusty as they enter a mitigation meeting or assess the financial status of a client. I’ll concede nerves can exist pre-game but after the first 5 mins they should be gone, but being rusty doesn’t cut it anymore as, if anything autopilot should kick in from the change room.

Bring on England!

RWC RANT No. 5

Do European clubs and therefore the Northern Hemisphere nations have a greater advantage over Australian franchises and our national team? They seem to be attracting a lot of Southern Hemisphere players and if they stay long enough may be eligible for other nations or at a minimum improve the abilities of players in the north by exposing them to our southern style of play.

Geddes article identifies the elephant in the room; how easy it is for young talent to walk away from Australian Rugby. In his article he cites a young Shute Shield and NRC outside back who couldn’t get a gig with any of the Super Rugby Franchises. His options were to stay and keep plugging away or accept an offer to play professionally in Europe?  Are we being silly letting players like this walk away or is out glass overflowing?

Look at someone like Greg Peterson, a 24 year old with oodles of potential who couldn’t get a regular go at the Waratahs while on contract and not wanted by any other franchise decides to head over and play in for the USA in this year’s RWC. Ben Volavola is another that comes to mind leaving Australia to ply his trade for Fiji. I’ve seen Peterson play at Shute Shield and  NRC level and thought he deserved a little more Super Rugby game time and surely there was space for a man of his size in one of the other franchises? Apparently not, but I guess I’m not a Super Rugby coach. 

RWC RANT No.4

The Wallabies starting XV to play Fiji in their opening game looks pretty strong and I am rather grateful for some of the omissions.

Cheika is certainly big on his starters and finishers philosophy, my only concern is a lack of backrow reserves on the bench, I probably would have sacrificed Skelton for McCalman or McMahon. I realise there are the cross positional cover options but hopefully it doesn’t back fire.

I’m confident they’ll perform stronger than England but I’m also confident Fiji will up the anti and be a far greater threat. I just hope the boys don’t sustain any major injuries.

1. Scott Sio (10 Tests)
2. Stephen Moore – c (96 Tests)
3. Sekope Kepu (56 Tests)
4. Kane Douglas (16 Tests)
5. Rob Simmons (53 Tests)
6. Scott Fardy (24 Tests)
7. Michael Hooper – vc (46 Tests)
8. David Pocock (50 Tests)
9. Will Genia (60 Tests)
10. Bernard Foley (21 Tests)
11. Rob Horne (27 Tests)
12. Matt Giteau (96 Tests)
13. Tevita Kuridrani (24 Tests)
14. Adam Ashley-Cooper – vc (108 Tests)
15. Israel Folua (33 Tests)

Reserves

16. Tatafu Polata-Nau (54 Tests)
17. James Slipper (68 Tests)
18. Greg Holmes (18 Tests)
19. Will Skelton (12 Tests)
20. Dean Mumm (37 Tests)
21. Nick Phipps (32 Tests)
22. Matt Toomua (25 Tests)
23. Kurtley Beale (53 Tests)