One of my favourite quotes goes something like, “There’s a fine line between a rich tapestry of experience and a moth eaten blanket of nostalgia…” When it comes to Test Rugby though, experience is currency that you can take to the bank. In this article I’ll be looking at what each side brings do the table in regards to experience and also the key combinations.
The inbound June Tests provide valuable game time to the Wallabies prior to the biggest event/s on the ARU’s calendar 3 out of every 4 years; The Rugby Championship and the Bledisloe Cup. The year before a World Cup they are probably even more important. The time for blooding rookies is almost over and tinkering around the edges is generally kept to a minimum. Admittedly, Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie has only recently taken the reigns of the national side so will be still trying to make his mark on the playing roster looking forward to the RWC15. In my view he should be looking at building two things; experience and combinations.
It’s no big secret that experience wins World Cups. In 1999 Australia had a total of 622 Caps, in 2003 Eng had 638, in 2007 Sth Africa had 688 and in 2011 NZ had 709. This is not some happy coincidence. With roughly 21 Tests due to be played between now and the RWC, and looking at the line ups between the two teams for Saturday night it appears that even with a relatively young side we’re heading in the right direction. More relevant to this weekend’s Test match though is the clear impact of the missing French stars and the wealth of experience that rips from the team.
|
Wallabies |
Les Bleus |
|||
|
Player |
Caps |
Position |
Player |
Caps |
|
Slipper |
49 |
1 |
Domingo |
33 |
|
Moore (c) |
91 |
2 |
Guirado |
20 |
|
Kepu |
38 |
3 |
Mas (c) |
71 |
|
Simmons |
37 |
4 |
Vahaamahina |
13 |
|
Carter |
0 |
5 |
Maestri |
25 |
|
Fardy |
10 |
6 |
Ouedraogo |
34 |
|
Hooper |
28 |
7 |
le Roux |
5 |
|
Palu |
49 |
8 |
Chouly |
18 |
|
White |
10 |
9 |
Machenaud |
16 |
|
Foley |
4 |
10 |
Michelak |
68 |
|
Cummins |
12 |
11 |
le Bourhis |
0 |
|
Toomua |
10 |
12 |
Fofana |
24 |
|
Kuridrani |
8 |
13 |
Fickou |
8 |
|
Ashley-Cooper |
91 |
14 |
Huget |
27 |
|
Folau |
15 |
15 |
Bonneval |
2 |
|
Polota-Nau |
46 |
16 |
Tolofua |
2 |
|
Cowan |
5 |
17 |
Debaty |
23 |
|
Ryan |
2 |
18 |
Slimani |
7 |
|
Horwill |
48 |
19 |
Flanquart |
5 |
|
McCalman |
29 |
20 |
Burban |
1 |
|
Phipps |
14 |
21 |
Parra |
54 |
|
Beale |
39 |
22 |
Lamerat |
0 |
|
McCabe |
20 |
23 |
Dulin |
15 |
The Wallabies starting side boasts 452 Test caps (30/player) to France’s 364 (24/player) and the respective benches carry 203 (avg. 25) and 107 (avg. 13). When you start to take a look at the players that weren’t selected but could be in the mix heading into the RWC our total caps starts looking a lot healthier. Players like Alexander (61), Will Genia (55), Quade Cooper (50) and James O’Connor (44) being added brings the total up to 498.
Of course having the most caps isn’t the golden ticket. Experience needs to be mixed carefully with youthful exuberance to get that balance right. In those 4 World Cup winning sides I mentioned above, the average age of the players in the starting XV was 27.5. The current Wallaby team for this weekend’s game against France has an average age of 26, so come 2015 we’ll be just about ripe.
The last thing we need to establish through this test series and beyond is some solid combinations across the park. This is the area that we are probably the weakest. Looking at the key positions in the starting side vs France the lack of combinations is pretty glaring but more so for France. Fortunately though with roughly 21 Tests to go we have time to develop them. So here they are:
Front Row:
Slipper (Reds), Moore (Brumbies) & Kepu (Tahs).
Domingo (Clermont), Guirado (Perpignan) & Mas (Montpellier).
Locks:
Simmons (Reds) & Carter (Brumbies)
Vahaamahina (Perpignan) & Maestri (Toulouse)
Loosies:
Fardy (Brumbies), Hooper & Palu (Waratahs)
Ouedraogo (Montpellier), le Roux (Racing Metro) & Chouly (Clermont).
Halves:
White (Brumbies) & Foley (Waratahs)
Machenaud (Racong Metro) & Michelak (Toulon)
Midfield:
Toomua & Kuridrani (Brumbies)
Fofana (Clermont) & Fickou(Toulouse)
Back Three:
Cummins (Force), Ashley-Cooper & Folau (Waratahs)
le Bourhis (Bordeaux), Huget (Toulouse) & Bonneval (Stade Francais).
Out of those six key areas on the field there is only really the midfield, two thirds of the back row and the same proportion of the back three (although AAC doesn’t play wing for the Tahs) that have established combinations at Super Rugby Level. Its fair to say that the front row will have all played together at Test Level at one time or another and Fardy has Test experience with the other two members of the back row but moving forward through these inbound Tests and the Rugby Championship, Link will need to be looking at establishing some strong combinations now.
The match this weekend is a great starting point for the Wallabies. We can use our experience to our advantage with the big names like Dusautoir and Picamoles out, to roll this relatively green France team and gain some all important confidence in our key combinations. We will need to get it right from the moment the whistle blows, but if we do that we may be able to expose some of their lack of combinations.
