Another cliff-hanger finish, with a victory to the New Zealand All Blacks, marked the conclusion of this year’s Tri-Nations Championship and an historic clean sweep to the victors. The victory was marred somewhat however, as the referee, Mark Lawrence, incredibly missed an illegal play by New Zealand captain, Richie McCaw, in the immediate lead up to his try. This try put the All Blacks to within striking distance of the desperately unlucky Wallabies, who had led for virtually the entire match.
In an apparently rehearsed play – what team actually practises illegal plays – McCaw detached early, while the ball was still in the scrum, to put himself in a position to take the pass from No.8, Kieran Read, and run in the try. That this obvious transgression was missed, not only by the referee, but also by his assistant on the touchline, defies belief and gives extra weight to a growing number of knowledgeable rugby people who are concerned that incompetent refereeing will mar next year’s Rugby World Cup. On this occasion, refereeing incompetence virtually denied the Wallabies a well-earned victory.
The All Blacks’ fight back in the last 14 minutes from a 13 point deficit was full of merit, and was a tribute to their fitness, self-belief and sheer rugby know-how . No-one could deny this, but the laws of the game are there and all players have the right to the referee’s protection under these laws. The Wallabies were let down and must have felt gutted; I certainly felt gutted with them.
The Wallabies were the better team on the night. They scored two brilliant tries, with vision and running and handling skills that enthralled the huge crowd. Only poor goal-kicking by Matt Giteau kept the Wallabies’ score within reach of the All Blacks. Once again, however, they paid the penalty for less than secure set plays. Both scrum and lineout were reasonable – indeed, for a period in the middle of the match, the Wallabies had the All Black lineout rattled – but the All Blacks regrouped, sorted out their problems and finished on top in these vital areas of the game. This is the sign of a very good team.
Only one team in world rugby shows good attention to the detail of the fundamentals of the game – New Zealand. I have said often, that good technique is at the core of all quality play and the All Black coaching staff clearly understand this. In the vital areas of support play and realignment, they are exemplary, and their results follow. Conversely, a lack of attention to this detail has been my major complaint with the Wallaby management.
There was, yesterday however, an extreme urgency in the Wallaby focus on realignment in defence. If they can now understand that this is also fundamental to quality attack, we can move forward still further. Certainly, our attack was excellent in the early part of the game, but as players tired, the fundamentals disappeared. Compare this with the All Black performance; as they tired, their fundamentals strengthened.
For two seasons now, I have been critical of Wallaby performances. I have seated most of the blame for this on to their coaching team. “Fundamentals are absent”, I have claimed, “and it is the responsibility of the coaching team to insist on these.” In the last two matches, there has been significant improvement and, if we keep on improving, we will get there. Yesterday, in particular, we finally got consistent numbers at the tackle contest. Execution was far from perfect, but intent and commitment were there in abundance.
I said last week that this team does not lack at all for spirit, courage and commitment, so maybe there is some glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. The Wallabies played the No.1 team in world rugby yesterday, and were dreadfully unlucky not to win. This must speak for the future, when a significant number of top quality players will return to the squad. Ioane, Hynes, Shepherd, Mortlock, Horwill, Vickerman, Palu, Higginbotham, Polota-Nau, Alexander and Kepu will add enormously to the larger squad; and, who knows, maybe Waugh, Smith (George) and Baxter still have plenty to offer.
Finally;
- I have already mentioned the referee, but certainly not all of his, and his assistants, blunders. I await Paddy’s comment.
- Kurtley Beale continues to improve and will become a World XV choice – and very soon!
- Matt Giteau is not a consistently good goal-kicker; he has poor days far too frequently. He cannot be the first-choice kicker for a World Cup winning team. Perhaps, with this burden taken away, he can show the full extent of his talents.
- What is it with Robbie Deans and his bench? Berrick Barnes was a significant performer, off the bench, in last week’s victory in South Africa. Why, in Heaven’s name, did he not get more game time yesterday? His direction, straight-running and footwork could have won the day again. Maybe we can add a “Bench Coach” to the entourage.
- Why does a hugely talented team like New Zealand need to consistently belittle their performances with deliberate, illegal tactics? Maybe it’s been going on for so long that it’s become their security blanket.
