The reminder to send, the rethink to consider, and the reaction Les Kiss needs

Belief is one of Wallaby coach Les Kiss’s buzzwords, and it is regularly mentioned that he believes in the players, and the players believe in themselves.

Fundamentally, this is a great thing for a side that has been in dumps for so long and so far away from the top of the Rugby World Rankings for almost a decade, but it’s not enough on its own.

Performance is paramount: performance of players, performance of the team, performance in their systems.

Professional sport is a business, and it requires results, but it also requires tough decisions to be made to achieve them

Against England, much of the team looked lethargic; too many marquee players had pedestrian performances and too many rookies failed to add impact.

In a game where the rub of the green, the bounce of the ball, and certain refereeing decisions went against them, issues with effort, accuracy, and selection were far too much for this Wallabies side.

These are the three takeaways: first, tough selection calls must be made, for Kiss has always said that competition is important for the group.

Secondly, losing the territory battle once again proved fatal for the Wallabies, and it is an aspect of the game that the broader team is evidently frustrated with.

Finally, at Twickenham, the Wallabies played their worst footy since the game against France in Brisbane in July; if they don’t react, then there are bigger things afoot.

Selection calls

Kiss has regularly mentioned the importance of competition in the group; it’s now time to put his money where his mouth is.

In the last three games, the Wallabies have shipped 40-plus points, and while the score can’t be laid at any one player’s feet, too many stars are having middling performances in back-to-back matches.

Fraser McReight, who won the John Eales Medal only a fortnight ago, has been in very average form indeed.

Zero pilfers in three matches from a guy All Blacks coach Dave Rennie called the best turnover merchant in the game.

He’s tackling at 93% but with zero dominant hits, has carried an average of nine times per game for 3m per carry, and optically, has failed to impose himself on contests.

Another underperforming star is Lukhan Salakaia-Loto.

The giant 201cm, 136kg tighthead lock is not doing his bit for the team.

Just under seven runs per game across the last three matches; in one of them, he played 80 minutes, and he’s carrying for an average of 1.6m per carry, is just not good enough from the hulking Queensland Red.

Joe Schmidt now looks like a selection genius for omitting LSL, but the truth is, LSL has always played with an admitted chip on his shoulder, and now that he seems to be ‘the’ tighthead in Will Skelton’s absence, it appears he is cruising in second gear.

Former England winger Chris Ashton has publicly called into question Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s value as a Wallaby.

“And they keep signing rugby league players. This Suaalii gamble, [I] dread to think how much he gets paid; he doesn’t look like a … international rugby union player to me.” Ashton said, speaking on the BBC Rugby Union Weekly podcast after the England and Australia match.

While his take is overreaching, he is nonetheless correct in the fact that Suaalii has not been performing.

Suaaili has 29 runs for 123 metres from the last three matches, which averages out to be just 4.2m per carry with only eight defenders beaten for those 29 runs, and one linebreak.

He also has zero tries and zero try assists.

Those are not the numbers of a world-class winger; just compare those to Jorgensen.

Jorgo has one try, one try assist, and is carrying for an average of 11.5m per carry, for six defenders beaten and 10 linebreaks.

Suaalii is not the only one to blame for these numbers; not being given the ball in space or given the ball at all is not his fault alone.

However, the best wingers go looking for work, and it’s time Kiss reminded the entire team that only form gets you in or puts you out of the team.

Losing the territory battle

In the belly of Twickenham, a dejected Allan Alaalatoa and a forlorn McReight were put up to chat to the travelling media pack.

The one thing that stood out was that they both said, in one way or another, that the team is playing too much rugby in their half.

This is not a new problem; the Wallabies did so consistently under Schmidt, and have now failed to deploy a good kick-and-pressure game under Kiss.

“We gotta learn from the choices that we are making ourselves, to put us in better areas of the field so we can exit and get our game going from there,” Alaalatoa said.

“We were getting up the guts, but we were in our own half.”

McReight puts it slightly differently, but he too appears frustrated with the side’s inability to kick the big boys into the right parts of the field.

“Exiting, we weren’t great; we spent a lot of time defending, we didn’t have much time attacking in their half, which, if you’re not doing that, then you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself,” McReight said.

If the bloke who has just had two tonnes go through him in the scrum can stand up from the melee and have enough sense to say his backs are playing too much rugby in their own half, then the backs are playing too much rugby in their own half.

This is one of the strangest peculiarities about the Wallabies game, and it likely stems from Super Rugby Pacific’s amateur-level kicking tactics.

Too much running rugby in SRP means the playmakers can’t adjust at Test level.

Wallabies flyhalf Declan Meredith kicked the ball two times at Twickenham and threw 11 passes in 60 minutes; those numbers mean it is impossible for you to game drive.

Against the All Blacks, the Wallaby no.10s averaged six kicks and 23 passes per game, a stark contrast.

This is all while the possession game was more even, at an average of 46%, unlike the England game where it was 47%.

The Wallabies have scored a majority of their tries under Kiss’s attack structure in six phases or less; that should be the blueprint.

Make it a hard and fast rule: running from the 22m you get one phase to break the line, from 22m-40m you get two phases; from 40m-40m you get three phases, and from the opposition’s 40m you get six phases.

Even when the Wallabies are in the opposition’s half, a kick must be their go-to option to recalibrate the defence. England did it to the Wallabies on several occasions when they were hot on attack.

Nothing generates instantaneous pressure with little effort quite like a well-placed kick.

Against Scotland, the side that before the All Blacks Test had conceded the fewest linebreaks on average of any Nations Championship side, linebreaks are not going to come easily.

Therefore, whether it is a chip, a grubber, a crossfield kick, or a high-hoist, the Wallabies must use the kick as a legitimate tactic that is baked into their attack system.

They have the wingers, they have the pace, they have the capabilities to put that kick on a dime; now it’s time to use it.

It is an utter disgrace that not one cross-field kick has been sent Suaalii’s way.

A reaction is demanded

Now, whether it is via a calm and ruthless application of process and a plan or whether it is by fire and brimstone, the Wallabies must have a reaction at Murrayfield against Scotland.

The massive defeats week after week won’t do for a Wallabies fan base that has sold-out stadiums across Australia, and who are getting up at 1 am to support the men in gold.

The Wallabies need to show some dog; they need to show some genuine hurt on the field and unleash that on the Scots.

Australian-born Scottish captain, Sione Tuipulotu, is an emotional conduit for the Scots when they take on the Aussies, and he will be all firepower come Sunday.

The Wallabies can’t let Sione get Murrayfield behind him early, or his combination with flyhalf Finn Russell inside him, and centre partner Huw Jones outside him, could prove fatal for the Wallabies.

It’s time to see some hurt channelled into a performance; the Aussie public can only take so much heartache at 1 am on a Monday before the work week even begins.