Analysis: The Wallabies don't seem to learn from their mistakes
A 37-18 loss to England put the final nail into coffin of the Wallabies 2018 season, sealing it as one of their worst ever with just four wins from 13 test matches. The records keep tumbling, but they are all of the unwanted variety.
There is no avoiding the fact that the Wallabies are just bad – tactically and technically. There are improvement areas everywhere and there is no quick fix solution. Whether they are achieving incremental improvements is still debatable, the Wallabies showed again at Twickenham that they are not learning from past mistakes.
Their opening possession against England was eerily similar to the one in Port Elizabeth, where Kurtley Beale threw an interception on his own goal line inside the first minute to gift the Springboks a try.
At Twickenham, Dane Haylett-Petty is charged down and the Wallabies concede a 5-metre scrum. Jonny May scores in the corner thirty seconds later down the blind side, conceding another try within the first couple of minutes.
In both cases, the Wallabies play to the middle of the field before looking to clear their lines, in the process achieving a poorer angle, reducing what distance can be achieved kicking to touch. The designated kickers fail to line up with protection, the forwards crowd around rucks and there is a lack of cohesion that results in a failure to exit efficiently.
Revisiting the start at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
Michael Hooper (7) fields the kickoff and veers off in field, away from his support and is tackled around 27m infield. A pod-group of Adam Coleman (5) cleans and Scott Sio (1) and Taniela Tupou (3) join late.
They play another carry to the left with the second pod forming above, across the front of the posts and make a gain-line loss.
The forwards from the previous ruck, Sio (1), Tupou (3) and Coleman (5), head to the next ruck and seem lost as to what the play is.
Instead of setting a ‘wall’ on one side to block for a clearing kick they spread disjointedly on both sides. It seems as though half were expecting another carry around the corner but they have run out of room to do so.
The Wallabies have two kicking options either side of the ruck, but Matt Toomua is a bit late into position on the left side.
On the right side, instead of aligning in the pocket behind the ruck and kicking for the left-hand touch, Beale is wider, exposed to potential chargers with only Coleman in place to disrupt oncoming rushers.
Faced with pressure from Faf de Klerk, he bails from the kick and attempts a wild cutout pass and is picked off on the goal line by Aphiwe Dyantyi. The decision to throw a high-risk pass by Beale is only the cherry on top of bad all round rugby.
The Wallabies start the Twickenham test with the same exit play.
This time Hooper’s original carry is much more direct, setting up the ruck 15-metres infield, just inside the 22.
The same Wallabies forwards, the two props and lock Adam Coleman secure the first ruck. They will try to fold around the corner after the first carry.
Jack Dempsey (6) takes the first carry but is dominated in a two-man tackle and forced backward.
Izack Rodda (4) whiffs as the latcher, trying to remove Sam Underhill from the tackle, resulting in a gain line loss and a negative play for the Wallabies, pushing them back deeper.
The forwards from the last ruck bend around for another carry. The two kicking options, Matt Toomua (10) and Dane Haylett-Petty (14), start to position in the backfield, but not as receiving options for a pass from the pod.
Sio takes the next carry and sets a platform just inside the goal posts. This time, the previous pod re-loads and set protection on the right side of the ruck, ideal for a Toomua clearing kick.
Toomua’s hands are slightly raised, while Haylett-Petty is indicating he is not anticipating having to make a clearance with hands down.
Genia plays to Haylett-Petty, who has no protection, with four potential English kick chargers. Ben Youngs gets a hand to the kick and puts the Wallabies in a precarious situation, forcing them to ground the ball in the in-goal.
Again it costs the Wallabies seven points in the first 120 seconds, in what could have been completely avoidable.
This multi-phase exit strategy is inherently flawed in providing the Wallabies a decent platform to clear from. Each phase played infield sacrifices distance downfield, with the extra width of the field chewing up potential metres of a kick with the same power from the original position.
Inside the safety of the 22, each carry only needs to be used to re-position the side horizontally for a better angle. If you are already 15-metres in and on the edge of the 22-metres line, what point is there playing further one-out phases? Possibly one more might be desired, but not two or three past, or in front of, the posts.
In both these cases, the Wallabies are going both backwards and further infield, worsening the position in two ways.
Secondly, the Wallabies are in no pattern to utilise the passing option to exit. The rest of the backs are set deep to be onside for the kick, and the forwards do not have any immediate backdoor options, making the carrier easy targets for the rush defence.
Since this is the first play of the game, most sides will be fresh enough to generate good line speed, which both the Springboks and England did to hammer the ball carrier for net losses. Lukhan Tui also coughed up possession in the same situation by a targeted tackle by Sam Cane in the first Bledisloe test.
There is a difference between playing out of your 22 through organised passing in one phase and running carries aimlessly to waste time before an inevitable kick, which gets less likely to be effective with each further carry.
This is the perfect example of inefficiency and questionable game strategy in the Wallabies game, which has proven to be costly not once but twice in the same season. If they are going to improve as a group, these are the things they need to review, starting from something as basic as exit plays and questioning everything they do and who should be doing it.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to comments