Irrepressible Tangent

How long has it been for the Wallabies? Not since the outstanding run from the late 90’s where the team won everything does Australia enter a “grand final” with such a strong chance of winning. Not to discount the 2003 World Cup, but England deserved to win. For Australia to defeat them in that final would have been an injustice to an England squad which was so adept it was able to defeat the All Blacks on New Zealand soil prior to winning the tournament. This is the first time in a long time the Wallabies enter a decider with such a good chance of winning.

What a strange Tri-nations series we have had. All nations have struggled with consistency. The might of the All Blacks was challenged in their previous loss to Australia, the World Champion South Africans lost two in a row at home, while the Wallabies – well, they have shown they are not at the same level as their two opponents by having such a large margin between their best and worst performances. The last game in South Africa was crucial for the development of the team. By making the changes to the starting line-up, players who we know are not up to international level at this stage (Totafu Polota-Nau, Timana Tahu, Hugh McMenimen, etc.) were given invaluable experience. Unfortunately when you take so many ‘uncertain’ players into matches at this level, there is no room for error. In many ways it was good that the Wallabies fell apart so comprehensively – by doing so you are not glossing over any inadequacies. The Wallaby defence was not up to standard. It was akin to watching the Queensland Reds play for the last few years, where players are so focused on the ball and the break-down they gravitate to this area, forget the opposing attacking player and it is overlap city. Fortunately by the end of this Super 14 campaign the Reds had realized you can’t do these things, but under pressure the Wallabies reverted to bad habits – but not unfixable ones.

To Bledisloe III and there is one man standing between the Wallabies and Tri-nations victory – Richie McCaw. Although Dan Carter is undoubtedly the best 5/8th in the world (universe if you wish), we have seen that a brilliant performance form Carter (Wallabies victory in Sydney) is not always enough to get the All Blacks home. For whatever reason, it is the spiritual lift that only McCaw’s presence brings which turns the All Blacks into a team which is 50% better than without him. So how do you combat Mr McCaw? If it were simple everyone would be doing it, there is no real answer. The only option is to work to your strengths and put pressure on your opponents at these areas and make sure that your basics/fundamentals are spot on.

Therefore, if the Wallabies defend as they did in South Africa they will lose. If their kick and chase game was as it was, they will lose. If they take the ball into contact and go to ground too soon, or carry the ball loosely, they will lose. If they can’t gain ascendency at line-out time, they will lose. If the scrum disintegrates – they will lose. They can win, of course, if they are united. Hence we see the selections reverting back to more tried-and-tested combinations. It is these combinations which should allow Australia to perform its fundamentals at its highest level.

There is no question the Australians are short on play-makers. That being the case it is their midfield which will be the point of difference. Stirling Mortlock and Ryan Cross must get the better of Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith. Not only must the Wallabies get over the advantage line they must be able to recycle good clean ball for the Australians to have any chance. Expect to see a lot of traffic directed at Smith. Australia may elect to work these channels over and move the ball. This would force McCaw to have to work to get to the number of breakdowns he wants (and he wants all of them), but will fail if the Wallabies can’t get to the breakdown quickly enough. If Australia can do this and force the All Blacks to reduce their commitment to the break-down, that is a small victory which may open up opportunities to play for field position, and force line-out pressure.

So there it is. Stop McCaw stop the All Blacks, it couldn’t be simpler. It so simple that everyone has been able to do it……Go Wallabies!

Tags: All Blacks, Bledisloe Cup, Tri-Nations, Wallabies

This entry was posted on Friday, September 12th, 2008 at 10:20 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.