The continual failure of the Wallabies three-first approach
When Michael Hooper explained to the ref that the All Blacks infringing had ‘cost them two tries now’ when deep inside their 22, he was not entirely correct. His inference was that he had no other option than to take the points on offer, which is completely false. The ref simply awards the penalty and the captain decides what to do.
The option is all his, and no one else is responsible. He decided to take shots at goal, instead of using the penalty as an opportunity to score a try. Don’t blame the All Blacks for your decisions.
You cost your side opportunities to score tries, Hooper, because you wanted three points instead.
The Wallabies three-first approach is a conservative strategy they continue to run, and it continues to fail them. Despite being down 6-0 in the first half, the All Blacks repeatedly turned down kickable goals in favour of playing for tries.
That is not an insignificant difference. It explains, in part, why the All Blacks are leap years ahead of their Wallaby counterparts. Their relentless attacking mindset eventually tells and points come by the bucket load. The commitment to exploring with the ball has honed the skills required to score more tries.
And at the moment it is working. They averaged 35.8 points a game last year, this year over 42.
This has shifted All Blacks test rugby into a different age that requires the same approach to match them – you can’t take a knife to a gunfight. The French came up against the same problem in June.
The Wallabies do not possess the ability to defend small leads and play an accumulation game by taking incremental threes, very few teams do.
One of the signs that you are actually one of those teams is when the All Blacks respect you enough to take three themselves. The Wallabies should take note, Barrett kicks to the corner at every opportunity.
Heading into the half, the forty or so minutes the Wallabies spent building a 6-0 lead almost disappeared in less than thirty seconds when Ben Smith made a break and Aaron Smith crossed over with smart inter-linking play. Had Barrett kicked the conversion, their lead would have been erased with apparent ease.
The Wallabies had, for the most part, controlled the first half well but had next to nothing to show for it. Had they used the territorial opportunities they had to play for tries and managed to build a significant 21-0 lead, the match could’ve been vastly different. Just watch game two in Dunedin last year, where they raced out to an early 17-0 lead. The game was decided in the final few minutes.
There are times to kick for three, but perhaps this is better suited in the closing stages to stretch a one-score game to a two-score one or vice versa. The Wallabies will be better off using any and all other opportunities to attack the All Blacks on their own line. If they prove to be in the game in the final ten minutes, then make the call to kick goals.
If you can’t score tries against them, you won’t win the game. And you will need a lot of tries.
Heading into ‘mission impossible’ at Eden Park, the Wallabies have nothing to lose. It’s time for Cheika to innovate, open up the playbook, throw some punches and abandon the three – until they really need it.
Comments on RugbyPass
Just came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
4 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
4 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
4 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
4 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
228 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
87 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
228 Go to comments