.....For the naysayers - here's the thing; yep there were deficiencies but even with them we deservedly beat the #1 team - which many Kiwis are describing as one of the best ever and the ranking points would agree - in the world. Don't give me any "they weren't on form" bullshit. They were nigh on a world record winning streak - how the fuck is that not on form?!? This young Wallaby team can put together patches of attacking play that NO TEAM can live with. It's not based of pre-formed set pieces, or religiously drilled in formulas, it's based on natural footballing ability brought to the fore in players like Pocock, Beale, O'Connor and the Coopers. What's missing is what I want to call "the glue". The bits that string those together - the set piece, re-starts, crunch kicks, key tackles. But bit by infuriatingly slow bit, that glue is coming together, although not as fast as the brilliant attacking chunks have evolved.Should they knit it all together and apply the glue - and there's no guarantee they will - this will be the most electric and successful Wallabies team, and remain so for a long time. First win on the veldt for 40 odd years, breaking the ABs winning streak (in what should have been the last 2 matches), the young freak talents coming to the fore to win games. It's all bubbling along nicely
Gagger, in the live blog, just at the end, you asked me if things were now demonstrably coming along well/coming together well, for these Wallabies (or something similar). I had to leave then, but it's very fair question, as I am certainly a 'Deans naysayer' post 2009's performances. So, my thoughts:
- the breakthrough for me was not in any aspect of precise play (see below), it was unquestionably the ability to convert a 1H deficit vs the ABs into a victory executed in the final 10 or so minutes, a victory based upon a form of mental composure, organised aggression and consistent physical stamina that we have not seen from this team in such conditions for a very long time - 'the top 2 inches came alive'. That for me was the despair-relieving transformation, and I give the team great credit for finally showing this essential act of mental strength converted to points under severe pressure as a loss loomed otherwise. It is precisely the absence of this mental composure and discipline that has lost us game after game, and in a sense it was a case of 'out ABing the ABs', and btw they knew it, and, even more importantly, they (ABs) now know we are capable of it (but see below).
- the above was
the key 'improvement', but, it has be said, IMO no other obvious deficiency in the Wallabies play has greatly improved as of 10pm AEDT October 30. And further acid tests lie ahead: can this 'achieve the final kill' mental capability hold, and can it be repeated in non-dead rubbers when silverware is at stake in non-neutral grounds? Let's be cautious until the required test of repeatability is solidly passed in the weeks ahead (and in 2011).
- let us now take, as core skills examples, kicking and defence (selection, set-pieces, ruck skill etc for another day perhaps). Crucial attributes of staying successfully with life at the top, and, indeed, being the top. Two central issues here, of which I am highly critical: first, the inexplicable, reckless, unforgivable, perseverance with Giteau in the run-on side and as No 1 kicker (who has been no better than a 75% average kicker since 2008). It's all been said before, today it all must said again: had it not been for the great skills imbued in that last try, and, critically, its conversion by a non-Giteau, we would all be, rightly, today blaming hapless and club-level kicking deficiencies for yet another debilitating loss, and it would have been the 5th Test lost in this way on the last 12 months. Our kicking strategy and consistency is a complete, appalling mess and, after 2.7 full Deans' seasons, this is grossly negligent coaching and selection, there are no other appropriate words. To have a blow-in, part-time kicking coach communicating solely by videos from SA to HKG/Europe, is simply laughable given the background. Second, defence: just about everyone has said it: last night the second-rate defence stats that Austin has highlighted through almost all of 2010's Test were again in evidence, and quite easily could have cost us the game, and will surely cost us future losses to the Boks, ABs and others if not corrected with more urgency than is currently the case.
- subject to reasonable levels of athletic and footballing talent, defence and kicking are coachable and improve-able capabilities (and btw as is most of 'the glue' you refer to above) where adequacy can be converted into sustained excellence. The key ingredient is specialist coaching. Is it not obvious that the Wallabies assistant coaches in these crucial areas have been inadequate, or dangerously non-existent? Blake is an emergency catch-up of unpredictable capability at this level.
- In summary, I see this as an encouraging but still flawed victory that will not be sustainable or adequately repeatable unless and until superior specialist coaching in critical areas is brought into the Wallaby fold, and very quickly. Further, the extraordinary indulgence of one player at the manifest expense of the team's capability and the fans' deserved enjoyment, must be excised with immediate effect.
- Deans is a talented rugby conductor, but the crucial flaw was/is his self-constructed identity as 'the Master Coach'. Namely, the conductor yes, but also the person seemingly capable of simultaneously directing the lead violinist, the french horns and the lone flautist down the very back. This construction led him to appoint weak and ill-qualified support personnel, and/or to overrule the strong ones (Foley), and to under-recruit the broader range of specialists essential to success at the very top of the modern game (eg, defence, mental skills, kicking). The flaws of coaching infrastructure are IMO all over the poor 2008-10 w-l ratio, it is NOT just a matter of 'cattle problems' leaving the coaches blamelessly wringing their hands. If Nucifora, Blake and a proper, dedicated kicking coach (not an absent part-timer) can with RD achieve a team of deep and consistent competence, and we build a base of say 40 elite players that can commence the long-overdue revival of the code in Australia, I for one will be a thrilled and re-dedicated fan.
