There was much to like about the Wallabies attack against the Pumas in Mendoza, and the coaching staff can take credit for the way they have evolved their strike plays and general attack shape over the course of the Championship.
In this edition we are going to look closely at 3 targeted plays from the last 20 minutes of the test match. It’s always difficult to dive deep into your playbook in the final quarter of the game because accuracy can be an issue. Some of the starting players have been replaced and fatigue becomes a factor for the players asked to play the full 80 minutes. It’s a testament to Australia’s “finishers” and the mindset of the coaches that the Wallabies could throw so much quality attack at the Pumas late in the game, particularly as the Wallabies had so much travel and jet lag to overcome travelling the 9000 km from Bloemfontein to Mendoza.
Play 1 – Attack Creevy (60mins)
The first thing to note about this play is that the score is 20 v 20 and we’ve just entered into the last quarter of the test match.
Going into the game, the Wallabies would have identified an opportunity to attack the Pumas Captain and ageing warrior Agustin Creevy. From 7-man lineouts it’s his job to defend the tail of the Pumas’ lineout, and be the link between the pack and the backline defence.
The Wallabies knew he’d be tiring late in the game so they targeted him with a dummy drive set up; Michael Hooper bouncing out and Tevita Kuridrani running a strong lead line. Reece Hodge started on the open side of the drives just on Bernard Foley’s hip, suggesting to the defence that he was going to trail Foley’s run behind Kuridrani.
However, with Michael Hooper drawing a tiring Creevy, Hodge cuts back under, and a bust was made. Will Genia stuck to the blind side so that he could support the bust – all Hodge had to do was draw the blind side wing and put Genia in for a pivotal try.
Play 2 – Attack Sanchez (64mins)
In this next play the Wallabies do not score due to the forward pass from Genia to Tevita Kuridrani. However, the play is worth looking at because of the clever thinking behind the double barrel strike play.
In the launch part of the play, the Wallabies again run a dummy drive (they also ran variation of this shape in the first half) with Genia bouncing out to feed Kuridrani who is tackled by Creevy. From this ruck Genia drills a long pass in front of 3 Wallaby forwards to Hodge.
Hodge is running a hard line through Nicolas Sanchez’s channel and is unseen by Sanchez (due to the width of his starting position), the Argentine only having eyes for Rob Simmons. Once Hodge made the bust, he had a clear run to the line between the scrambling second line of defence. The play was worthy of a try and had Genia will be kicking himself for not timing his first pass to Kuridrani.
Play 3 – Attack the Blind (76mins)
The Pumas defend the front of short lineouts with their scrum half. Keeping that in mind, the Wallabies unveiled a new 4-man lineout “hit back” play designed to attack the Pumas’ scrum half (late in the game Gonzalo Bertranou had replaced Martin Landajo).
The play saw the Wallabies set up with 3 forward runners in front of the 3 backs, with the backs set to sweep down the blind side after the initial launch. Whilst the lineout was a bit ropey, Hooper eventually got the ball and set up a ruck that created a 20m blind side.
The Wallabies then passed back to the short side hitting the lineout forwards and they in turn delivered the ball to the 3 sweeping backs (Foley, Hodge and Kerevi). Unfortunately for the Pumas, their scrum half had got himself snagged up at the ruck. But even if he had been where he was meant to defend the chance are the Wallabies had too much speed and power flooding the blind.
Summary
The Wallabies can be very happy with their planning and strike power at the back end of this test match. To score 3 tries in the space of 20 minutes when the game was in the balance is a testament to their fitness, mindset and preparation.Coach Larkham can take plenty of credit for the evolution of the Wallabies attack over these past 2 months.
Over the course of the series there have been plenty of selection changes due to injury and form so he’s had to get a large group of players up to speed despite massive travel time and limited training time. Despite the challenges, the Wallabies have continued to ask plenty of questions of their opponent’s defences with their targeted attack. Well done team and good luck for your next outing v the All Blacks.
