....We were outcoached. Recent Bledisloe performances have had the Wallabies leading at oranges. Obviously coach Henry et al wanted to change this trend/habit. They successfully devised a cunning plan.
I saw the all blacks play very fast rugby in the first 30 mins. Lots of quick lineouts to keep our defense on their toes. They also implemented a very physical - Samoan like - defense to put our attack in two minds. The unexpected tactic was to kick short - box kicks - and give away territory and possession. It seemed they preferred to play without the ball. Wallabies were out of the game before half time.
What was the Wallaby gameplan? Focus on set piece and play whats infront of you.
Results were poor; Scrum achieved a slight victory. Lineouts were even. Restarts were garbage. The attack started to look like one out rugby league hitups from flat footed forwards.
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chasmac - yes. Not enough recent credit is given to The Cartel for their typically excellent, thoroughly researched game plans and tactical choices designed precisely and differently opposition-to-opposition.
The Cartel's genuinely world-class game planning and tactical skills etc are one of the key reasons why the ABs under GH have such an outstanding w-l % ratio. Not to detract from individual AB player quality or intensity, but Henry has worked very hard IMO over the S15 season on figuring out how to completely destabilise the Wallabies' attack potential and, psychologically, dismember them. His decisive tactics and the execution skill of his team in Auckland quickly affirmed his long-building judgement.
He would have drawn from, in no order, an examination of, at least: S15 Force game 1 v Reds, Brumbies game 2 v Reds, Walls v Samoa, Cru v Tahs, Cru v Reds Final (when the Cru's smart tactical undermining of Genia's free play nearly got them home, but where Genia snared the final laugh). He would have seen and studied how what might be termed 'malicious, constant, hyper-agressive line defence that immediately turns into a great form of attack as it limits the Wallabies' 9 and 10 freedoms and then wipes their tactical brains' often worked for S15 teams v the best Aus teams, especially vs Reds of course. He would know well and truly in playing the Deans' Wallabies that this team has not developed an all of 80 resilience v his team, and that no 'hard mind' and really solid team culture was/is ever there over 3 years of AB v Wallaby endeavour. The chest-beating and bragging from the Gold Coast pre game (which IMO the ARU was stupid to allow) would have been a clue to someone of his shrewdness that the confidence was superficial and was cockiness more than something truly earned. The ease with which Samoa consistently dissembled many top Wallabies with better battle preparation and passion, would have been another telling clue upon which an ABs plan could be confirmed.
The whole plan for Auckland (which you broadly outline above) worked an absolute treat for The Cartel. And I challenge anyone to coherently describe evidence of a Wallaby game plan for the match. Yes, we had a spare parts bin of tactical cameos of picks and drives (that achieved some momentary success, but was inexplicably terminated in mid flight), work it wide (but at the wrong phase points), X-factor player combos that worked for little bits before the ABs created the pressure to cause X-player error after error, etc. After the first 5 minutes of play the Wallabies looked completely out of the type of gas that was powering the ABs, and it appeared that no substitute of any useful type could be found. Then the on field leadership and team rejuvenation required from the senior Wallabies players seemed to be completely absent, so team capability gave way to individual anxiety. It really did remind one of the first 10 minutes v Samoa - the Wallabies, remarkably, looked wholly unprepared for what confronted them, though v the ABs pre RWC, what were they expecting, some kind of subtle passivity?
