Eight Observations from the French series

What a game, what a series.

The last few weeks have been a celebration of rugby and man it’s nice to come out on top. It feels like forever since we’ve won a big game like we did on the weekend. There’s plenty to digest, so let’s get to it:

Hail to the Chief

This series was the high point of Michael Hooper’s career. It was leadership in its purest form. When the whistle blew, he was simply everywhere and in a tight series he made countless plays which turned the needle in our direction. He put a young team on his back and carried them over the line.

His greatest strength is an uncanny ability to read the game and be where the action is. When the French charged down Noah Lolesio’s kick in the 22, who was there to collect it? Michael Hooper. When Tom Banks burst through in Melbourne and offloaded to Andrew Kellaway, who was the only player there in support? Michael Hooper. When trysaving tackles needed to be made, who made them? Michael Hooper. When tries needed to be scored, who stepped up? Michael Hooper.

He was Man of the Series and it wasn’t close. He’s never going to be David Pocock at the ruck, and people who want to force him into that role are going to be disappointed every time. But Pocock at his best could never do half the things that Hooper did in this series.

And that’s before we get to his leadership, which was as good as it’s been. Too often in the past he hasn’t got the balance right in the way we used our penalties – kicking to the corner more than he should. But I think we were much closer to the mark this time, and his management of referees was commendable. Let’s hope it continues into the Rugby Championship.

Did the red card… help?

Putting aside the red card discussion, I can’t help but wonder if the red card ended up working in our favour in some ways. Sure being reduced to 14 for 75 minutes is a hammer blow, but it served to do three things.

Firstly, it gave us a dose of angry pills which we badly needed. But more than that, it forced us into a tighter game plan which probably suited us better anyway. We picked a heavier pack than usual and it gave Lachie Swinton, Isi Naisirani and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto more chances to prosper where they do their best work – the narrow channels.

The other factor that has been overlooked by many is the impact of the red card on France. All series they played a small target game – kicking from their own half, keeping their attack narrow and relying on Australian mistakes to keep them in the game. But facing an undermanned Wallaby team, they decided to shift away from this and start spreading the ball to exploit this advantage.

All of a sudden they were running it from their own 22, putting the ball into the hands of their outside backs who to this point have been largely ornamental. This worked spectacularly on one occasion, but it backfired on many more as they dropped balls, passed into touch or were isolated and turned over.

It tipped the script completely and despite being a man down we were better able to exploit it than France.

Moving the magnets

It was nice to win a game through set piece dominance. It’s a rare beast as a Wallaby fan. Too often we play all the rugby but lose on the back of scrum penalties, or sloppy lineout turnovers. Saturday’s win was the opposite. We controlled the ball at lineout time as well as I’ve seen it, and we won a string of penalties at the scrum thanks to our superior work.

Add to that Noah Lolesio’s near flawless work from the kicking tee and I ask this: are we starting to see a team who may be… pause for dramatic impact… well coached?

We seem to be executing clear strategies across the field: at kick-off, at set piece, in general play. When weaknesses are exposed, we clearly try and fix them in the next game (see our defence of the French pick-and-drive tactic). Across the series we saw improvement on both an individual front and a team front.

You are never going to prevent mistakes, but when it comes to Dave Rennie and his team I don’t think you can come to any other judgement than approval.

Room for improvement

The one part of the game with clear room for improvement is the way we exit our half after receiving a kick-off. I see what they were trying to do – utilise relatively safe hit-ups in the narrow channels to set a platform, and then exit through a contestable box kick that lands around the halfway line. But I don’t think it worked enough to be a viable long-term strategy.

Too often we’d stuff up one part of the strategy. We’d miss a cleanout and turnover the ball. We’d go backwards and put our kicker under pressure. We’d bugger up the box kick and wind up on the back foot. It became predictable.

By no means do I want to go back to the Michael Cheika ‘run it off our line’ strategy that could well be the dumbest ever utilised in the international game. But I think there’s a better approach that we could use and hopefully over the next month the coaching team can find it.

Pack mentality

The most pleasing aspect of the series for me was the growth of our forward pack, and the emergence and development of our young players. Brendan Paenga-Amosa was among the best and it’s a real blow that he’s leaving at the end of the year. He’s grown into a very solid test player and his lineout work was particularly impressive.

But I could also find nice things to say about every other bloke who pulled on a shirt with a number less than nine on the back. I was pleasantly surprised by Darcy Swain and Lachie Swinton. James Slipper continues to be so solid in every facet. Harry Wilson is showing no signs of second year syndrome. There’s the bones of a very good test pack there, capable of adapting to either a wider game or a tighter game.

Thor Dilemma

The only matter that is no clearer at the end of the series is what we do about Taniela Tupou. There’s no question that he’s one of our best players, and one of the best props in the world. But where is he best utilised?

There’s an argument that for the above reasons you are committing a crime against rugby if you don’t play him for as long as possible. He’s our best prop, so he starts and plays as long as he wants. Why play him for 35 minutes when you could play him for 65? As he showed in Melbourne he can still make game-changing plays in the early minutes.

But then you look at both Brisbane games and it doesn’t seem so simple. He made a seismic impact in both games, shifting the momentum in our favour at the set piece and in general play. Against tired legs he’s virtually unstoppable from close range.

I favour the latter option. He’s an amazing player and his best role is off the bench, at least for now. When he starts his impact is more limited, but what’s more I think he tries to do a bit too much and often gives away penalties or makes mistakes (as he did in Wellington last year).

When he came on in the third test you could feel the ripple through the crowd. It was a moment in the game. It’s a powerful card to have up our sleeve, especially considering how solid Allan A is around the field.

Backline options

The selection dilemmas for Dave Rennie come in the backline. Tate McDermott was impressive but if Nic White is fit and firing then I’m picking him in the first Bledisloe test. At his best he brings a control that Tate is still yet to find, and a boot that can change a game. Don’t get me wrong, Tate is a star of the future but for now I’d still prefer White feeding the ball to Lolesio if possible.

I was impressed with the Paisami-Ikitau combination and would like to see them get more time together. Matt Toomua was quiet in his two starts and he may be better suited to a bench role at the moment. Tom Banks had his moments in this series, but you could make an argument that he didn’t do quite enough to ward off a potential challenge from Reece Hodge. Though he was dealt a tough hand in the final test losing both his wingers in the first five minutes.

Noah Lolesio was great in the final game, and I’d like to see him hold his spot. JOC will get his chance, but Noah made such noticeable strides in this series that you’d be mad to walk away from him. The intercept was a key moment in both the game and his career: you could feel him grow two feet as he dived over the line.

Can we beat the All Blacks?

Probably not over there, but I’d like to think we’d give it a red hot crack in Perth. I said after the Melbourne game that this team are a good mob of honest toilers, but don’t have that game breaking ability like the really good sides. That’s still the case. We’ve got heart and that’s great, and our skills are building nicely, we just miss one or two pieces to really take it up to the Kiwis.