Wallabies: The Last 10 Minutes

[Inside Shoulder]

Capetown was lost in the first 10-15 when we, deliberately I assume, kicked long from our line rather than going to touch thereby giving leroyx some "running it back at us" training. We used so much petrol defending our line that there was nothing left in the championship minutes.
Sources tell me that under link the pigs are averaging 12 Kms per game where they average 8 in s15. The game is played at higher speed than s15 so the effect is predictable.
This is the result of the invariable tactics of going the same way and not using pods.
It's no wonder we have been wilting in the last 10.
I thought there was a marked change in tactics on Saturday night and it involved consciously attacking the short side. As soon as there was enough space to avoid touch we would turn it back down the short side. Without watching a replay, I suspect that this had 2 impacts: the AB10 could no longer hide defensively and the AB 4, 5, 6 and 8 had to protect the short side leaving backs on backs on the open, which gave kuridrani the opportunities he took.
It would even better if IF would run straight.
This tactic was extremely effective until we stopped hanging onto the ball and started kicking. It should use less gas because we are not constantly "going around the corner" with the ball.
It also meant that fitness was not an issue at the end. I think tomane's episode was due to inexperience and to the facts that he cannot kick and feared leaving his 22 in case the best option was foley for touch.

 

[Ulrich]

It is in the minds that the game was lost - and won.

For the Wallabies, they feared defeat and the All Blacks can sense fear to the same degree hounds do. For them, their mindset won the game.

No change of players would have made it different I believe. Experience will teach this group. Close losses strengthen the resolve to improve the next time.

The Springboks lost by 1 point to the Wallabies because of the pressure the Wallabies applied which resulted in a blunder by Morne. This gave the Wallabies the advantage and killer instinct because they knew the psychological impact and from there on they kept attacking, knowing that's the last thing the Springboks wanted and what the Springboks feared.

How do NZ do it?

Well, go look over the last 3-4 years at the close games they have come out of. Look at the many times they were behind at halftime or even somewhat beyond halftime to go out and win it. During this year alone they had a wake-up call drawing to AUS. They also previously defeated England on the back of slow starts. Last year they denied the Irish their first victory over the All Blacks in the dying minutes. They strengthened their resolve by defending like demons against the Boks in Wellington and they felt the opposite in disappointment at Ellis Park.

They know that in pure rugby pedigree, there really isn't that much of a difference between the top sides so they work on outlasting teams and keeping extremely calm when behind and sticking to their structures. Experience have taught them this and now it's ingrained in them. It's their mentality.

When the All Blacks talk about their fear of losing it's not an innate fear. Rather, it's their aura they want to maintain and improve upon all the time that has them playing beyond 80 minutes every single game.

Their fear of losing can be likened to God-fearing people. People don't literally fear God. They love Him too much to disappoint Him. Yes, in NZ the sport is said to be like a religion.

In New Zealand the Springboks improved a bit, but the All Blacks never had that fear and they stuck to their guns even beyond the last minute to win even after the Boks demolished their scrum in the dying minutes. In some sense the Boks probably didn't believe they could win it.

They learned, and in SA we used those disappointments to prepare for those scenarios mentally. We were a bit fortunate against NZ at home, but it was a combination of belief and mental strength that brought us to that lucky moment in the first place.

The Wallabies will grow from these experiences.

 

[Scrubber2050]

So why pick him in the first place? Very rare for us to win big against the ABs so we were either going to be right in a close one or miles behind.

I think if we were behind in the last 10 - 20 minutes I would have injected the bloke to try and pull a win

 

[fatprop]

White had exactly the right idea, but it shouldn't have come to him. Foley should have called for that at any point in the 5 mins or so we spent dicking around in our 22. After Tomane took that hit up to set us up just inside the 22, with a great angle to clear from, it needed to be secured at the ruck and then given to Foley, Cooper, Lealiifano, fucken ANYONE, to kick it as deep into the AB half and close to the corner as possible.

A solid line of 10 blokes chasing hard, with 5 back to receive the kick/second line of defence.

Chase it, tackle them back on halfway or futher, and then treat the halfway line like the try line.

The right idea only if it was the plan, it clearly wasn't and no one knew it was happening, it was like what Berrick Barnes used to be criticized for, a mindless kick.

I thought if he was to kick it needed to be sent into the stands, so the defence could re-set

 

[Jagman]

None of the bench players were impact players. Contrast this with NZ. Going from memory it was the NZ bench forwards that were smashing us at the ruck and in tackles in the final minutes. Makes me wonder who could fix this problem. Sio and TPN would be a good start. Maybe Skelton. Douglas would also be very good.


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[chasmac]

So composure, fitness, gameplan and personnel all need to be looked at.
I'd agree with that.

 

[Brumby Runner]

getting up on my soapbox again, but we do not need two 7s on the pitch together, especially trying to close out a game at the death. Didn't work with Smith/Waugh who were better players than Hooper/Hodgson, and certainly didn't work at Suncorp on the weekend.

 

[Highlander35]

6 and a half! 6 and a half! 6 and a half!

 

[Tomikin]

I'm not going to read it all but mostly better tactical kicking. Don't be douchbags and think we have to run the ball from our try line.

Better kicking reduces the amount of tackling and increases breaks. Not running from everywhere stops us running out of steam. More fucking balance

 

[Braveheart81]

getting up on my soapbox again, but we do not need two 7s on the pitch together, especially trying to close out a game at the death. Didn't work with Smith/Waugh who were better players than Hooper/Hodgson, and certainly didn't work at Suncorp on the weekend.

Hodgson seems like a great bench player for trench warfare style games. If it was a hard fought breakdown encounter you'd totally pick him as the guy to win a crucial penalty or two in the closing minutes to save or win the game.

The third Bledisloe wasn't that sort of game though.

Unless you're carrying a 6:2 bench, you're only going to have one backrower on the bench. I think we need someone with more dynamism such as a Scott Higginbotham (who was obviously starting this game).

I should say that some of these thoughts come from barbarian in the podcast last night. I certainly agree with them.