Irrepressible Tangent

Thanks for nothing All Blacks. The Wallabies do you a favour by showing you your deficiencies with your worst loss for… ever? I’m still trying to find an All Blacks supporter who can ever recall their team being so comprehensively beaten in the physical confrontations.

So of course they come out and smash the Wallabies in New Zealand. Just as predictably the Aussie media lambaste the team. The same team good enough to beat South Africa (the World Champions) and the All Blacks in consecutive weeks, and go 5-0 under Robbie Deans now needs to go back to the drawing board. Thank God Deans is the Wallabies coach not someone in the media.

The fact is the Wallabies loss to New Zealand was not as bad as the New Zealand loss to the Aussies. The fact is the All Blacks put up a performance so lacking in commitment, physical intensity and leadership that it was the worst in living memory. The fact is the Kiwis put up this performance the first week into a measly two test cycle (Why do the All Blacks only play two tests in a row?) while the Aussies came in their third in a row. The fact is the Aussies have a world class line-out – the fact is it had its worst performance in many years and won’t be repeated.

The fact is the Wallabies performance only reminds us of things we already know. First, Rocky Elsom is possibly the Wallabies most important player and in my opinion, the logical next captain (thanks Mr. O’Neill for saving some money to force him overseas). Secondly, the Wallabies lack depth at hooker. Stephen Moore has gone from a talented player to a crucial man in a short period of time. As much potential as Polota-Nau has, he is a set piece novice. At this stage he doesn’t start for New South Wales, and Adam Frier can’t lift his game to challenge for Moore’s position. All this only leaves Sean Hardman who is a last resort option.
So, after the Wallabies did the Kiwis a favour by identifying their weaknesses and flaws, they return the favour by doing the same to the Aussies then travelling to South Africa and trouncing the Springboks to love. The fact is the Boks will be after blood and here we go to the slaughter – next up Wallabies!
What to expect this week besides men in green looking for blood? This test could be decided by the loose forwards. The work at tackle and break down and in ball carrying will set the tone for the team performance. Hugh McMenimen please come on down; we are waiting….

Gutsy call from Deans to dump Nathan Sharpe; although a valuable team man (who still has a future with D. Vickerman heading overseas), he has surely been dumped due to his featuring in so many losses away from home. It was only a matter of time before a senior player made way for youth (J. Horwill). Deans always believes age isn’t an impediment to doing the job, hence this will not be the last senior player left out. Of course, given the Aussies lack of depth, no player can be discarded.

The loss of L. Burgess is disappointing, although some of his service has been ordinary, his effort has been excellent and we were starting to see this in improved performances. That being said, the Wallabies backs have looked good with S. Cordingley serving the ball up. In Brett Sheehan the Aussies have a very combative and competitive half. Expect to see the Aussie line-out return to its usual high standards but fingers crossed whenever (if) Stephen Moore gets replaced, expect the Boks to ramp up the line-out pressure.

As badly as the Aussies went in Auckland, one positive was the performance of the scrum. The Blacks certainly didn’t dominate this area of the game as they did the others. No doubt the Boks expect to smash the Aussie pack, but provided they get fair treatment from the referee expect Australia to at least break even.

If there is one facet of the game crucial for both teams it is the kicking game. Aussies kicked poorly in New Zealand. They were unable to get their kicks to land outside the 22, thus allowing D. Carter to dominate with the boot and supply his forwards with outstanding field position. For the Aussies to win they will need to play the full 80 minutes, plus extras. They must compete and execute at the highest levels of their ability. The question is how much belief did the Boks lose in their defeat to the All Blacks? If the Aussies start well, the belief may disappear, their blood rise, and the Wallabies can fill their heads with doubt.

Share this article:

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Ask backflip blinklist BlogBookmark Bloglines BlogMarks Blogsvine BuddyMarks BUMPzee! CiteULike co.mments Connotea del.icio.us

Digg diigo DotNetKicks DropJack dzone Facebook Fark Faves Feed Me Links Friendsite folkd.com Furl Google

Hugg Jamespot Jeqq Kaboodle kirtsy Kwoff linkaGoGo LinkedIn LinksMarker Ma.gnolia Mister Wong Mixx MySpace

MyWeb Netvouz Newsvine oneview OnlyWire PlugIM Propeller Reddit Rojo Segnalo Shoutwire Simpy Slashdot

Sphere Sphinn Spurl Squidoo StumbleUpon Technorati ThisNext Twitter Webride Windows Live Worlds Movies Yahoo!

Email This to a Friend

Copy HTML: 

 If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed or Email Feed.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

More »

Tags: All Blacks, Australia, Bledisloe Cup, Rugby Union, Springboks, Tri-Nations, Wallabies

This entry was posted on Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 10:25 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.