After working all weekend and going down with whatever super bug going around this week, I finally had a chance to sit down and watch what I already knew was another Wallabies loss. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with what the Wallabies served up. Here are some points I took out of the game, in no particular order.
1. A New Wallaby Captain.
Tate McDermott just put his hand up to be the Wallabies long term captain. (hello to all the Brumbies fans out there.) A big part of the Wallabies great start to the game was the speed of delivery from the ruck. McDermott busted his gut getting there and moving the ball as fast as possible. Everyone in the Wallaby camp was on board, and he had plenty of runners to choose from. This speed of play never gave the All Black defence to settle and allowed the Wallabies to constantly make the advantage line. Tate ran this while running the Wallabies at the same time with no problems.
2. Not Just a Bash It Up Centre.
Samu Kerevi has developed a killer pass. Especially from right to left. It’s a bullet man! Some players come into test rugby and never seem to develop any further, but some players never stop trying to add skills to their game. Luckily for us, it seems like Samu falls into the second group. On a side note, did anyone catch his 50 metre punt as well?
3. A New Hooker.
Matt Faessler’s rise to Wallaby hooker has been meteoric. Faessler landed a gig at the Reds through an injury crisis, and his debut for the Wallabies followed a similar plot. A late injury getting him into the match day squad and an early injury gave him a chance to play about 50 minutes in the top team. At every step of his journey, he has looked like he’s always belonged there. On Saturday, he once again didn’t look out of place. There was that one throw in a lineout that was a little short, but we were always going to get a few shitty lineout throws, weren’t we?
4. The Backrow.
The Wallabies backrow looks better without Michael Hooper. And no, this isn’t a spiel about the awesomeness of Fraser McReight. It’s about a decade of shoehorning players around a lightweight fetcher style openside flanker. Now, if we want to play a massive 120 kg blindside out of position, we can just do it. If one player is, you know, not in the greatest, you know, form, you can play someone else there. I have never been a fan of naming just one guy captain and am more of a leadership group and naming a captain for each game. Did I just contradict myself? But I guess with media commitments these days, there’s a need for a “Wallaby Captain” to entertain the public. Tom Hooper looks Legit, doesn’t he? He is not a complete player yet, but there is a lot to like so far.
5. We’re Getting Better.
The Wallabies are clearly getting better every game, and that’s exciting. The attack is improving, the defence is improving, the players seem to be buying in to what Eddie’s selling. Even the penalty count has dropped a little. I couldn’t take a guess if we can improve enough to make it deep into the Rugby World Cup, but I’m keen to find out! This week’s Wallabies would have beaten Argentina three weeks ago. The Springboks would still have our number, and the All Blacks clearly do, but any team can win on the right day. We only need three right days to win a world cup.
