Cardiff in recent years has not always been kind to the Wallabies. They have a success rate of only 50%, and for the #2 team versus the #9 team, in IRB world rankings, that’s not good enough. So it was the win that they wanted on Saturday and it was the win that they got. In the words of their impressive captain, Rocky Elsom, they were “pleased to get the win”. Damned by faint praise!
Certainly, they were disrupted immediately before the game, when Stephen Moore suffered a back spasm in the warm-up and was forced to withdraw. After their scrum problems last weekend in Hong Kong, they would have been determined to get this vital part of the game right, especially given the stern examination that they will face in each and every game for the next month. There could hardly have been a bigger catastrophe. They would have known it and the following 90 minutes or so only served to underline the fact. The Wallaby scrum was dusted – and given England’s outstanding scrum performance against the New Zealand All Blacks, the Wallaby medical team are the most important Aussies in the UK this week.
So, we got the win, but we just didn’t look good for much of the game and in most positions. I’ve said it frequently and it remains true that quality performance must always be based on a foundation of quality technique in the fundamentals of the game. The instinctive talent of the individuals – and this team have some absolute stars – can then build on this foundation. Without it, performance can easily deteriorate.
Our performance this week actually did not produce any level from which to ‘deteriorate’. We began badly and were saved mainly by some outstanding individual efforts. After 20 minutes, the Wallabies had conceded two turn-overs, given away three penalties, including two from scrums, plus a knock-on, a forward pass, a crooked throw and kicked with a 3 on 1 overlap! That’s a fair bit to pack into the first 20 minutes of a match!
Already I had the uneasy feeling that “we just didn’t look to have the enthusiasm or the zip”. I wondered how hard the preparation had been – maybe Robbie Deans had chosen to ‘train through this week’. Then commentator, Greg Martin, told us that that had endured a horror training session as late as Thursday, which, if true, could have contributed to our lack-lustre display. Help was at hand however from the ‘wunderkids’ – man-of-the-match, Kurtley Beale, James O’Connor and Quade Cooper. They showed a continued willingness to chance their arm, with great vision and incredible footwork. They also showed more pace than I have previously given them credit for and the Wales defence could not contain them.
After last weekend’s great winning performance against New Zealand, I wrote of the huge contribution to the performance which came from the accuracy of the Wallaby passing. Here was another glimmer of light at the end of the long, two-year old, tunnel. Alas, we could not sustain that fundamental – Will Genia’s passing, for example, was poor and hampered many promising moments. We frequently looked for the ‘flukey’ play to bring us easy points – the cross-field ‘kick-pass’ when it was just not on; the wild, flick-pass back inside in heavy traffic; the ambitious grubber into a crowded defensive line. All this smacked of lethargy – maybe Greg Martin was right!
In between, we had some periods where patience and eagerness to contribute were well in evidence. The first such (extended) period brought the try to David Pocock in the sixth minute. The Wallabies were almost irresistible and the try almost inevitable. Perhaps it was almost too easy and they thought that it was going to be a ‘cake-walk’. A flash of genius from James O’Connor and Kurtley Beale – and some dreadful defence from Shane Williams – gave Beale the second try and some quality ‘ensemble play’ exploited the full width of the field, first to the left wing and then back again all the way to the right wing, for Ben Alexander to get the third.
Beale also got the ball across the line twice more, but was denied by a penalty and a lost ball over the line. The second was a freakish solo effort involving both a high ball and regather, then a grubber and regather. Alas! His efforts deserved the try and it would have brought the house down – even away from home.
At the end, it was three good tries to one, with Beale across the line twice more, for a score-line of 16-25, and the Wallabies always looked the more likely to prevail.
So, like I’ve said, we’ll take the win, but we’ve played better and lost!
Footnote. At Twickenham, we at last found a referee who agreed with the entire non-New Zealand world and found consistent illegalities in Tony Woodcock’s scrummaging. We’ve been only waiting two years. Buy that man a beer!
