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'See them not making the quarters': Early RWC exit predicted for Wallabies

By Finn Morton
Tate McDermott disappointed following the Wallabies' loss to Italy. Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images

The Wallabies have proved to the rugby world that they’re capable of challenging the best, but winning is ultimately all that matters – and success has alluded them in recent international thrillers.

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After beginning their five match spring tour with a valiant one-point win over Scotland at Murrayfield, the men in gold have failed to win their last three Tests.

Indiscipline a lack of consistency, in terms of player performance across the entire 80 minutes and with selections week-to-week, have cost the Wallabies.

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The Wallabies pushed World No. 2 France for about 75 minutes before a late try sent the Stade de France crowd into a frenzy, and saw Les Bleus keep their impressive unbeaten run alive.

While there were plenty of positives to take out of that tough loss against one of the World Cup favourites, the Wallabies showed just how long a week can be in international rugby.

Australia made mass changes to their starting XV and ultimately paid the price, with inexperienced combinations failing to fire against Italy – who beat the Wallabies for the first time ever.

While they fell just short of an upset win over the world’s best team Ireland in Dublin last weekend, the Wallabies are now just 80 minutes away from a four match losing streak to end their season.

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Speaking on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, former All Blacks hooker James Parsons said Australia may not qualify for the quarterfinals at next year’s World Cup.

“I think I can (make the quarters) with the performance I saw against the French,” Parsons said.

“I think on their day you can but I can also see them not making the quarters in pool play because they have a couple of slip ups.

“They’ve got a bit of fine tuning to do in their preparation. As we know Bryn, it’s what happens before gameday that sets you up for success and I just think something’s not right in that period of time to bring the best out of them.

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“There is no lack of ticker. They are trying almost too hard at times and that puts them under pressure.”

Australia are just a matter of days away from their final Test match of the year, which is against familiar foes Wales in Cardiff.

While the Wallabies have traditionally found a way to win Tests against Wales, this match has major ramifications for next year – it might just be their most important game of the year.

Rugby fans will be forgiven for experiencing some déjà vu at next year’s World Cup with Australia, Wales and Fiji set to go head-to-head in pool play, just as they did three years ago.

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The Wallabies may have shown plenty of potential and promise throughout the Autumn Internationals, but the most important stat in sport is the scoreboard after all.

Still, six-time Super Rugby winner Bryn Hall believes Australia have shown that they’re capable of potentially challenging for the Webb Ellis Cup.

“I think the biggest thing is trying to adapt, trying to adapt to the discipline areas and I think that sits well for Australia and probably the whole of World Rugby,” Hall said earlier in the podcast.

“I know the results haven’t gone their way but they have been competitive, and to be honest they should have won maybe three of those Test matches due to one-point losses. You can take confidence in that.

“I think they’ve shown enough that I think they can still be in a place to be able to win the Rugby World Cup because of the style that they do play.

“When they do get it right, they can beat any team on their day.”

The Wallabies’ Achilles heel as of late has been injuries, with a number of star players having been ruled out of test matches including Taniela Tupou and Michael Hooper.

While Australia have been able to hand a number of up-and-coming players their first Test caps, it’s clearly impacted the teams competitiveness on the field.

“Obviously something has to change because they can’t be without this many key personnel. We’ve spoken about the consistency of selection, it’s probably failed for them in the sense that they haven’t had the relationship with each other,” Parsons added.

“There’s elements of their game that they need to be a little bit more ruthless (in). At some stages they hold the ball for too long and don’t kick, and then other times they don’t score off the first phase and then kick.

“I think their balance of attack has always been an issue, especially if they’re not winning those collisions.

“There needs to be, clearly a review but there does need to be some changes and I’d say they’d weakly structured.”

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Trevor 1 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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