Monday’s Rugby News has McKenzie calling for maturity, De Villiers sinking the boot in, Cooper trying to keep the faith and Welsh Rugby in disarray.
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Immature Wallabies crushed
Ewen McKenzie has cited a lack of maturity as the major factor behind the Wallabies devastating 28-8 loss against the Springboks on Saturday. The Wallabies stuck to their ‘kick first’ gameplan even when the Boks started to dominate field position and pour on points. ‘We had opportunities to attack and we were probably still a bit too conservative … We were a bit slow off the mark in making that adjustment,’ McKenzie said.
Saturday’s match was the fourth loss in five matches with McKenzie as coach. After the game, Link hinted at some selection changes, with Will Genia, Matt Toomua, Benn Robinson and Ben McCalman all performing well off the bench. ‘I track repetitions of errors and if we’re not getting the outcome we want we’ll have to see if there’s someone else that can give it,’ he said. [/one_half]
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SA adds insult to injury
The Wallabies faced further humiliation after the match, when Springboks captain Jean De Villiers bemoaned the play of his team, which won comfortably. ‘I don’t think I have ever been so disappointed after beating Australia by 20 points,’ he said, also adding, ‘We got the victory but there was much to improve on.’ South Africa will be moving on to challenge the All Blacks for the Rugby Championship title while the Wallabies head back to the drawing board and try to eke out another win against Argentina.
The Boks could be without lock Flip van der Merwe, who will face a SANZAR judicial hearing after striking Joe Tomane with an elbow. Van der Merwe was issued with a yellow card by referee Jerome Garces but the citing commissioner deemed the incident worthy of a red card. [/one_half]
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Cooper urges patience
Despite Saturday’s poor performance, Quade Cooper has urged fans that results will come if the Wallabies remain committed to Ewen McKenzie’s system. Cooper has related the Wallabies’ current misfortunes to the turnaround at the Reds, asserting, ‘We’ll get there. It’s all in due time but I urge everyone, it’s not going to happen overnight.’
Jean De Villiers added that Australian rugby fans need to put their team’s recent losing streak in perspective, given the rebuilding phase that generally comes with a new coach. In the early days of his tenure, Heyneke Meyer was also criticised for the team’s directionless attack and lethargy at the breakdown. ‘Sometimes you’ve got to take a couple of steps back to go forward again and I’m sure they’ll be back at their best sooner rather than later,’ De Villiers said. [/one_half]
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Welsh Rugby face mass exodus
A number of Welsh stars have reportedly set a two week deadline before they will commit to overseas contracts as next year’s European competition remains a mystery. Sam Warburton, Leigh Halfpenny, Adam Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, Ian Evans and Jonathan Davies are all off contract at the end of the season. The uncertainty over next year’s Heineken Cup, as well as the financial assistance of the WRU, has made it very difficult for the Welsh clubs to offer their internationals firm offers, prompting many to look towards French rugby.
With the likely removal of the Heineken Cup structure, the Welsh regions will lose $7.62m between them, 25 per cent of their income from tournaments.’The position is critical,’ said one Welsh regional director. ‘We cannot sign new contracts with players until we know what our income will be next season.’
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