Why Dave Rennie has cause to be optimistic despite Australia's uninspiring start to Super Rugby
Dave Rennie has cause to be optimistic about how his future Wallabies side may take shape later in the season based on how the Australian Super Rugby sides performed in the opening round of the 2020 season.
Despite only one of the four franchises being victorious, collectively the Australian performances indicate the Wallabies could field a side that is strong at the set-piece, competitive at the breakdown, has pace on the flank and an ability to work through the middle of the park.
Worryingly, however, the Australian sides are overall lacking in defensive skill, counter-attack, mental application and overall game management.
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On the bright side, the Brumbies vs Reds encounter was a high-quality match considering it was only round one and was played in 35 degree-plus conditions.
Pleasingly, this encounter was not a ‘snore-fest’ that could aptly describe Australian local derbies of recent times. Instead, both sides bought attacking intent and starch into the contact area.
As expected, Wallabies scrumhalf Joe Powell orchestrated much of the Brumbies attack, yet they have a talented Super Rugby debutant Noah Lolesio, who performed admirably in the flyhalf role and did not look out of his depth at this level.
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While the Brumbies were pressured by the Reds, they were able to maintain their attacking shape at crucial moments during the match.
Lolesio featured in Tom Wright’s try by chiming into a second receiver role and throwing a well-timed cut out pass to Tevita Kuridrani, putting the Brumbies into space that eventuated with the five-pointer.
Lolesio was not the only debutant who excelled. Reds No. 8 Harry Wilson was a handful for the Brumbies all match, carrying the ball 14 times, offloading, beating defenders and scoring a late try.
Wilson is the most exciting back row talent this country has seen since the great flanker George Smith debuted 20-odd years ago.
If the Gunnedah-born Wilson continues on this trajectory and realises his full potential, he can join Mark Loane, Tim Gavin and Toutai Kefu as a great Australian No. 8s.
How the Reds would replace the power of Samu Kerevi to create attacking opportunities has been answered by their ability use other powerful ball runners such as Wilson and tighthead prop Taniela Tupou, coupled with a willingness to offload pre and post-contact and also move the ball into space.
The try by former Brumbies wing Henry Speight is evidence of such. Winning a lineout deep into Brumbies territory, the Reds of yesteryear would often use that to set up a driving maul and look to power over the line.
However, replacement hooker Alex Mafi swept around and connected with fly-half Isaac Lucas, who opened up a gap for Speight to charge into scoring a wonderfully executed move.
The Reds have already illustrated they will bring a greater variance to their attack in 2020.
Both sides looked to play directly and were not lured by the width early. It’s a shame the Waratahs did not adopt the same attacking principle more often as their decision-making while in possession was, at times, appalling.
They were often too spaced in the attack, isolating themselves to become easy targets for the Crusaders’ defence. Sadly, the remedy was often to look to pass to another isolated attacker.
This was not lost on veteran New Zealand broadcaster Grant Nisbett, who on more than one occasion commented on how the Waratahs were guilty of passing to a player in a worse position than the passer himself.
Debutant flyhalf Will Harrison had a courageous debut, but his job was not made easy by such tactics, and as his six tackles from 11 attempts indicates, he does have defensive frailties.
When the Waratahs did look to play closer and flatter through the midfield, they did trouble the Crusaders, with tries to winger Alex Newsome and 19-year-old sensation Mark Nawaqanitawase originating from such efforts.
If Rob Penney’s side are to realise the full potential of Nawaqanitawase, they should look to allow him to attack both sides of his opposing winger, not just the outside with a sideline to contend with.
With that much space, they should attack the middle channel with greater intent drawing defenders away from him.
The former @AllBlacks star has made a losing return to rugby league in his @SuperLeague debut with the @TOwolfpack.https://t.co/3zfuliv5QZ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 3, 2020
The Waratahs’ game management, however, was dreadful.
They kicked from the midfield when they should have passed, and insisted on doing so late in the game when they had a bench that was providing energy in the collision, yet they surprisingly appeared determined to give the Crusaders possession.
Not a wise decision as the Crusaders are the most adept side in counter-attack and one would have thought Penney would have been more tactically attuned.
It is no easy task to travel to New Zealand and take on the Crusaders in round one but the scoreline of 43-25 flattered the Waratahs who were disjointed and woeful in defence at times.
Consider that in the Brumbies vs Reds encounter, collectively both sides missed 43 tackles. The Waratahs missed 36 all by themselves and that is telling if the defence is an attitude barometer.
There were some very good individual performances, though. Michael Hooper, in particular, was tireless as ever and eased the pressure of his side, securing no less than four turnovers at the breakdown.
However, individual efforts were not enough and the Waratahs should look be more cohesive next round and play with a greater focus and directness with efforts around the fringes as opposed to all-out width too often.
The Rebels were deservedly defeated by a determined Sunwolves in Fukuoka. Although a late surge by Dave Wessels’ men put them within striking distance of an unlikely victory, the greatest concern is that the Rebels lacked mental application from the start, conceding two early tires.
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The last Australian side to play in Japan were the Wallabies themselves in last year’s World Cup where a concerning facet of their play was their lethargic starts, and this is an area that must be addressed by the Rebels if they are to have any chance of defeating better sides than the Sunwolves.
If they don’t, they can expect a similar fate to the 2019 Wallabies.
If the early form is an indicator, and given Rennie’s indication Super Rugby form will determine national selection, it would appear the Brumbies and Reds will make up the majority of the 2020 Wallabies.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments