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It's time for Rugby Australia to look at themselves
Saturday October 19, 2019. England 40-16 Australia. A day when reality and delusion met for the highest echelons of Australian rugby.
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The delusion – four years of rhetoric from failed Wallabies coach Michael Cheika further espoused by Rugby Australia essentially stating that that the Wallabies were heading in the right direction.
The reality – they simply were not good enough and have not been in the four-year World Cup cycle since 2015.
While it is easy to become vultures of opinion, picking over what little scraps are left of the dead Wallaby carcass after the weekend’s mauling at the hands of England, it is vitally important to understand the signposts of failure have been present for some time, that the Wallabies were living in an alternate rugby dimension void of reality prior to their exit from the World Cup.
In 2016, a humiliating 3-0 home series defeat to England; in 2017 a 2-1 home series defeat to Ireland, two losses to Scotland coupled with defeats to Wales and Argentina, sides that the Wallabies had previously enjoyed superiority over were cogent evidence that the Wallabies were failing not forging ahead as the rhetoric may have suggested.
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Some may point to the Wallabies defeat of the All Blacks 47-26 in Perth during this year’s Rugby Championship to refute such a slide, yet the reality is it was a one-off victory where Australia faced a New Zealand side that were not mentally attuned for that game, and when they faced off at Eden Park a week later in the Bledisloe decider, water found its level and the Wallabies were humiliated 36-0 by an All Blacks team who this time came to play.
Although Cheika has several great attributes as a coach, including passion, loyalty and desire, a legacy of his tenure as Wallabies coach will be his abject failure to take Australia from unlikely World Cup runners-up in 2015 and progress them into a serious global powerhouse.
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Complicit in such an outcome has been Rugby Australia, who have also adjectively failed to curb the rot and allowed Michael Cheika and his Wallabies to master mediocrity in this World Cup cycle.
It would appear prior to leaving for Japan, RA, Cheika and the Wallabies would have you believe that there was a united front heading towards Rugby World Cup 2019.
The reality is, as it has now been made public, that RA chief executive Raelene Castle and Cheika don’t really have a working relationship, and Cheika’s relationship with Cameron Clyne, chairman of the union, does not appear much better.
Outgoing Wallabies head coach Michael Cheika has been blasted for the game plan he deployed against England. #RWC2019 https://t.co/IspMnWHwcT
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 21, 2019
The first question is why?
The second question is how long have these relationships been allowed to deteriorate?
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The third being what affect has this souring of relationships between the parties had on the Wallabies and Australian rugby?
In any event, any business worth its salt should not be appearing united to its shareholders selling the ‘all is well message’, when the truth is that all is far from well at the higher echelons of RA.
There appears to be a lack of both moral courage and an ability to act upon it in a timely manner woven into the administration of the game of rugby in Australia.
They appear to be an organisation that champions diversity but no transparency. The mediocre performance of the Wallabies at this World Cup is the fruit such duplicity bears.
Raelene Castle has her say following Michael Cheika's parting shot aimed towards her ? #RWC2019 https://t.co/17UY4RXZoJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 21, 2019
RA can point to the recent performances of the Australian U18 side’s defeat of New Zealand 18-14 in Hamilton last month, but that is only the fourth time the Australians have won since 2008, while the U20’s painful 24-23 loss to France in the final of this year’s World Rugby Championship was the first time they have made the final since 2010.
Both sides deserve praise, but can anyone argue that there is evidence of sustained generational improvement in junior Australian rugby?
Some elder statesmen of Australian rugby have been quietly arguing for now decades that since the abandonment of the National Coaching Committee in 1996, the nation has declined in its skill base, and such a loss is ultimately affecting the Wallabies’ performances.
Former Wallabies skipper and twice World Cup-winner Phil Kearns is in unison with such thinking when he stated on Fox Sports: “Our coaching for the last 15-20 years has been terrible, not just at Wallaby level, I’m talking about juniors and the skills that we teach them, the way we ask them to play the game.
“We teach this shape and pattern and structure and process which is all rubbish, because if you can’t catch and pass and kick and tackle, you can’t play the game.”
RA and Cheika can’t hide from this issue. On May 25, 2017, Rugby Australia largely confirmed that the reimplementation of such a National Coaching Committee should occur.
In fact, Cheika said: “We’re committed to setting up a national coaching panel.
“We have set some sort of time frames around establishment of the panel,” he said on the timings of the establishment of such a panel.
“I’ve been dying to say 100 days because that’s what every American president says.
“Whatever that time is, three and a bit months, we could actually have something set up.
“No matter how you want to play the game, whether you want to play 10-man rugby, running rugby or do whatever, there’s some key fundamentals in how we’ve done things over the years and how we’d like to continue to do them.
“We’ll decide what’s in that structure of fundamentals because we certainly don’t want to play one style of footy all around.
“We want the diversity of game going on and just to support the whole coaching structure, so we’re getting better coaches and coaches from the very junior level, like commencing the under-6’s level.”
It is now 2019 and there is still not any semblance of a National Coaching Panel, as per its successful predecessor, the National Coaching Committee.
Again, the question has to be asked as to why that is?
Is this not yet another example of RA saying they will do one thing and simply failing to deliver, doing so in an alarmingly fundamental aspect of the progress of this game in this country?
“That is the way we play footy. I am not going to a kick-and-defend game,” Cheika said of his ball-in-hand style the Wallabies have employed under his reign following Saturday’s defeat to England.
“Call me naive, but that’s not what I am doing. I would rather win playing our way, that’s the way Aussies want us to play.”
Yet, two years ago, he quipped: “We’ll decide what’s in that structure of fundamentals because we certainly don’t want to play one style of footy all around.”
If these comments are not in conflict with each other, they certainly invite incoherence to the audience.
He wants to win the way Australians desire, whatever that is, yet won’t entertain a kick-defend game, but does not want to play one style of rugby all-around. It is as confusing as his selection policy.
In light of Cheika not seeking a further term as Wallabies coach, attention is now drawn to who will be his successor, but isn’t that a little bit premature?
Shouldn’t RA first be reviewed on its performance within this World Cup cycle before being allowed to make such a crucial decision of who will take the Wallabies to the 2023 World Cup in France?
But who should do it?
Well, clearly anyone who isn’t currently employed or hasn’t been employed by RA between 2015 and now should be a non-negotiable.
Perhaps the now exposed RA should allow its entire governance, systems and processes to be reviewed by a genuinely independent body or group, because whatever they are doing hasn’t worked for the Wallabies.
It’s easy to say ‘set up a body’, but there is expertise in Australia to do so, as we have seen such reviews in the governance of Cricket Australia, which has led to a clean-out in poor culture and has fostered an ethical winning environment in that sport.
"Think about peoples’ feelings for a minute. Just chill.”#rwc2019 #RWC19 https://t.co/vZVrlRnJ5K
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 19, 2019
As for selecting the next Wallabies coach, why leave that to this current administration? They do not deserve the confidence of such a seminal appointment.
The name David Rennie has been doing the rounds for some time as the next coach, but why?
Does Rennie have any international coaching experience in the men’s game? It does not appear so.
Apart from coaching New Zealand at an U20 level over a decade ago, the current coach of Glasgow has no experience in the contemporary international scene, yet somehow is being reported as the favoured candidate to rebuild a failing program, win a Rugby Championship, reclaim the Bledisloe and Cook Cups, and guide the Wallabies to a third World Cup crown.
Rennie may have won a Super Rugby title, but Cheika also won provincial tournaments in both hemispheres prior to his appointment with RA, and those outstanding achievements did not necessarily transfer into international success with the Wallabies.
If RA can’t implement a National Coaching Panel, surely it can implement a panel of former successful coaches to select the next Wallabies coach?
However, I’m fairly sure this well never happen, as it appears RA can’t see itself as part of the issue that ails the game in this country, and until that is addressed, I don’t expect sustained success in Australian rugby to come anytime soon.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets 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?
10 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.
9 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.
10 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.
22 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.
9 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…??? 🤑🤑🤑
34 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
34 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 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 commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to comments