How should the Wallabies' overall performance in 2021 be measured?
Fortunes in international rugby can change pretty quickly, and the Wallabies have felt this more than most.
With the final stanza of their 2021 season coming to a close in Cardiff against Wales on Saturday (Sunday morning AEDT), an encounter that has traditionally produced some thrilling matches, the Wallabies have a chance to restore some pride and end the season on high.
After all the training, analysis and press conference jabber, when the smokescreens finally clear, nothing less than a win against Wales will be enough to chalk up the Wallabies season as a successful endeavour as they look to avoid a winless Spring Tour.
It raises the question: what is a pass mark for the Wallabies?
Their record currently stands at 7 wins out of 13 games. Looking back, the Wallabies 2021 season has provided fans with plenty to feel good about: a nail-biting series win over a rising French team, back-to-back victories against the world champion Springboks, wins against Argentina and a historic test in Japan, culminating in a five-game winning streak.
Unfortunately, it seems Wallabies success is measured more on who they didn’t beat. It’s All Blacks or bust.
It is a by-product of the Australian psyche and their relationship with winning, harkening back to a fabled “golden era” of the Wallabies that is still the yardstick for the casual observer.
In a crowded sports market, the cut-through of Wallabies success is short-lived and highly scrutinised, and anything less than winning back the Bledisloe is seen as a failure. Even winning ugly is not palatable for most fans and seen as a rejection of playing the Australian way.
But for all that, the Wallabies consistently remain one of the world’s top-ranked sides and are capable of beating any team on their day.
Embarking on this Northern Hemisphere tour ranked third in the world, there was reason for optimism, buoyed by an influx of European recruits with the good oil on how the home nations played. Enthusiasm was quickly deflated.
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And yet it should be noted that the Wallabies were leading their match with 10 minutes to go against Scotland. Admittedly they were outplayed by England, but given Australia’s recent track record against them, it was hardly surprising.
What has been disappointing is the Wallabies skills and game management.
At the moment, the Wallabies game plan seems to be at odds with the player’s ability to execute. Their most resounding wins this year came through clinical, patient and high-percentage play, based on a platform of set-piece and gaining the upper hand in the physicality to control the game.
When trying to play fast up-tempo rugby without doing the hard grind through the middle, the backline quickly runs out of options, pushes passes and makes unforced errors. Patience and composure are what is needed.
So the attention now turns to the final game against Wales. It’s all well and good to talk about learnings and the game not going to plan, but it’s up to the players to show they have understood and are able to change it up.
While Wales have a depleted squad, the current Six Nations champions still pose a considerable challenge for a Wallabies team at the end of a long season. It is true that the Wallabies have been their own worst enemies, with ill-discipline, a lack of composure and poor game management in crucial moments becoming the obvious signs commentators point towards, but fans are hoping they can lift themselves out of the doldrums and bring the A-game that captured the attention of a nation during the Rugby Championships.
There is plenty to build on for the Wallabies if they can put it all together. For the first time in many years, the front is genuinely world-class, the lineout has been a bright spot and the halves pairing of Nic White and James O’Connor have the experience to unlock the potential of a raw but talented backline.
It all has to start with the senior players stepping up. O’Connor, White, Beale, Slipper and Arnold are all in their thirties and should have the game knowledge and steady hands to drive the team around.
For four-and-a-half months, Lalakai Foketi had been in Dave Rennie's black book. Then, on Monday, he received the news he had been waiting for. #Wallabies #WALvAUS #AutumnNationsSeries https://t.co/ihcTxZwizY
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 19, 2021
In particular, O’Connor’s own admission this week in the press was telling, when addressing what he needed to do to bring the backline into the game.
“I felt I eased into that game and probably took too long to flatten the attack up,” he said reflecting on his performance against Scotland.
“In the England game I felt I built on that … but we piggybacked them into the game and every time we did build, we’d lose it.”
This test against Wales will be their last chance to iron out the kinks and decide whether to continue with their selection policy. Time will tell whether the overseas players experiment will be deemed a success, but in this final game of the year, the Wallabies need to draw a line in the sand if they are to continue their upward trajectory.
From hearing the talk out of the Wallabies camp in the lead up to the Wales test, the playing group is acutely aware of the task at hand.
“There’s a heap of good things to take out of this year,” O’Connor said.
“It’s two losses and two that we will learn big lessons from. This week is all about just putting it together – finding that balance of how we play and also playing the conditions and then just finishing the tour on a high.
“We feel we’ve had a good year and we’ve really built this year so we want to show the public you know what we can do.”
There’s no doubt that Rennie has bought the culture that is needed after some disruptive years. The foundations have now been laid and coupled with backroom administration getting its ducks in line, the Wallabies are now in a position to push on.
With the 2023 World Cup, the 2025 Lions tour, and the 2027 World Cup bid, it puts Australian rugby at the epicentre of a lot of action in the coming years.
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
45 Go to comments