What a game!
An advertisement for rugby, for sure.
The confidence and composure the AB showed after being totally bamboozled by the Wallabies and the referee in the first quarter was astonishing.
They looked done and out and then with persistent targeting of the Wallaby scrum and some help from the referee -in terms of blowing penalties at each scrum for infringements that I had a hard time to see (agreed I am not a Prop)- they were back in the game in the blink of an eye.
Just few turn arounds at scrums time and suddenly the AB were back and ahead with two quick tries.
Awesome rugby!
Why the hell can’t the boks play like that?
Here are a couple of observations I had watching the game and afterwards while listening to Robbie Deans during the post match conference.
Coaching philosophy
Deans calm relaxed exterior impressed me. When asked how big is this win for you his answer: “It’s got no more meaning other than the fact we got up. This is just a game along the way.” He is saying in effect it is no bigger than any other win. This is just part of a process.
I often see people shouting for change (and have been one myself) when their team lose but this remark by Deans made me think. Success in sport is a process it doesn’t come overnight no matter how talented you are.
Clearly Deans have a long term development strategy with his coaching. He knows where he wants to get with the team and he and the players have certain markers or criteria on which they evaluate each performance irrespective of whether they win or lose. It is hard to get the media and supporters to understand that Deans admitted: “I don’t live in a bubble and do feel the pressure but in the end it is a process and I am happy with the progress we’ve shown tonight.”
I think everyone outside Australia (and some in the country) can see that this Aussie team is improving game by game. This is still young team with an average age of just 25 (with the average bumped-up by some outliers which are in their early thirties) which Deans is developing with meticulous precision and patience.
How I wish I could have said the same of the Springbok side and coach where there is no evidence of a process; no evidence of a long term plan or proactive planning and development. The coaching and team selections all seem reactive.
Influence of the referee on the match
I got a distinct feeling that the referee went into the match with some preconceived plans to stamp out certain things in both teams. In the first quarter he targeted the All Blacks at the breakdown blowing them up repeatedly for just about everything they did at the breakdowns. This put the Wallabies right into the match producing two tries for the Wallabies because it allowed them to get flow and contingency on attack.
He then targeted the Wallaby scrum and for the next 10 to 15 minutes blew-up the Wallabies for everything they did in the scrum. This broke the Wallaby momentum and created turnover ball for the All Blacks putting them right back into the match. This for me was an extremely irritating part of the game and I am not sure whether there really was anything wrong in the scrum or whether the referee was just trying to establish his authority and set the operating procedures at the scrum.
The result of this was that the scrums became a very carefully orchestrated “non-contest” with the Wallabies too scared to do anything in the scrum other than just taking meticilous care to do nothing wrong. All credit to the ref that when the AB’s tried to push their luck at the scrums he pounded on them as well and that sorted out all the hassle and bustle at the scrum.
The result of all this was that the game only really started to become a “non-referee-trying-to-establish-his-authority-contest” -as it should be- in the last 30 minutes of the first half.
Aussie playing style
The Aussie style of playing was quite interesting. They have a significantly different approach than the AB. Deans is clearly not following the AB 2010 tri-nations style of hitting the gain line and blowing-over.
The Aussies played the ball wide on almost every occasion with the Cooper lying flat; receiving flat ball but then passed the ball behind a dummy runner -lying flat- to a runner coming from behind angling sideways and running with speed onto the ball. This created space on the outside for the Aussie back line. Cooper scored the Aussies first try by being the deeper runner with somebody else acting at the first flat lying receiver. The second try came when they suddenly altered this practice (going flat and then deep behind a dummy runner) with Cooper sending a second flat pass to Gitau who left it for the Aussie No13, who run a clever line slightly against the traffic but straight into space between the two NZ centers. Like a hot knife through soft butter, he went before stepping past Corey Jane for a brilliant try.
The most important thing for me is that the Aussies showed that you don’t need to play like the AB’s to be successful in the modern game. The Aussies can of course do this because they have precision at the breakdowns; few teams in world rugby can recycle a ball and maintain phases like they do.
Kicking by the flyhalf’s
Kicking has become an art in the modern game. Kicking to re-arrange the back field and how the wingers defend is crucial to keeping the ball and attacking with purpose. The Kiwis initially in the Tri-nations basically ran everything. Then, tactically, they introduced the short kick – grubber and chip kick behind to push the wingers back and make the 9 defend out of the line. This reduced the front line to 11 defenders, creating space.
Then, they (the AB’s) started kicking long – forcing the wingers further back – and therefore taking 2 defenders right out of the line which meant the next time they receive the ball they can explore this space by running and passing. They kept the defence guessing allowing them to have various attacking options – run, pass or kick plays.
A kick or run philosophy in attack is now vital. Look at how the defence position, then use kicks or running, passing plays to manipulate the defence.
Both the Aussies and the All Blacks used the kick quite a lot this weekend; grubbers and long kicks to push the defenders back. It was not all just smash-up and blow-over. The latest tendency seems to be to play what is in front of you; read the defence and apply counter tactics to manipulate changed defensive patterns which then create space.
Fetchers
The role that Pocock played in this game was also for me quite fascinating showing that the fetcher can still be influential towards the outcome of a game. Pocock made at least three crucial turnovers mostly arriving as the second man at the tackle. This allowed him to immediately go for the ball.
It seems to me that teams need to practice this namely hunting in pairs with the first player going for the tackle and withdrawing immediately allowing the next player to almost instantly graph the ball; the first player can then re-enter the contest by helping to stabilise the second player. If the tackler withdrew by charging over the player (tackle and then drive forward when he gets up) on the ground he prevents the opposition to get to the ball.
Lineouts
There were very few lineouts (so it seemed to me – I didn’t really count it) in the match. Furthermore, the lineouts were not used as an attacking platform; no driving mauls. In general the lineouts were avoided and those that did took place was a bit sloppy at times.
With the emphasis on keeping the ball alive the sideline is no longer the safety sanctuary of yesteryear but something that is avoided especially by teams –like Australia- who are not particularly strong in the set piece part of the game.
It will be interesting to see whether Australia will start using the lineout more often once their top locks like Vickerman returns.
McLook is copied this post by you from your Blog.
On your point 2 i want to repeat what i said on the thread “The Bok blueprint” , the moment Carter left the field the Aussie eyes lit up. NZ without their stars is not that menacing. Just like SA without FduP, Bakkies or Brussow
The NZ success in the tri-nations this year was the result of three things in my opinion.
1. Dominance at the breakdown mostly with some dubious tactics. They got blown-up on the weekend and were consequently not very effective in maintaining possession and dominating the breakdowns.
2. Carter and McCaw. Carter is not firing on all silinders just coming back from injury (though still better than 95% of all No10 out there) and McCaw was blown out of the match.
3.Real classy impact bench players like Isreal Dagg. Dagg is injured and not on the EOYT and essentially NZ lost this match with the way they used their bench. The AB’s were found wanting this weekend because they were struggling in all three these departments.
How quick can the Press run with a story- watch this headlines.
Wallabies play on World Cup fears
OPINION: Less than a year out from the World Cup, the Wallabies could not have picked a better moment to have the world’s best team suddenly doubt themselves.
Perfect time for wonder kids
Ruck and Maul: World Cup success. It all revolves around timing.
Blame game begins as All Blacks lose mental edge
Henry backs embattled Donald
All Blacks coach Graham Henry is not surprised Stephen Donald’s knockers are back.
Carter regrets sticking to plan
Dan Carter castigated himself as “selfish” for following a pre-match plan and walking out of Saturday night’s All Blacks test loss.
O and then the Brits
English press laud All Blacks
England’s rugby scribes are either in awe of the All Blacks or party to one of the great media ambushes of our era.
Greg Growden you are so reliable, this had to come out of your mouth.
Their spectacular after-the-bell triumph at Hong Kong Stadium is bound to have the desired effect of getting into the minds of the All Blacks players and supporters that, for the sixth straight time in the lead-up to a World Cup, they may have peaked early. There is no longer an aura of invincibility about the All Blacks, and so the Wallabies’ campaign to win their third title now has substance.
Adding to the edge is that they know what is infuriating the All Blacks the most is that they don’t have the chance to regain that psychological advantage for nine months, which is the next time they will play the Wallabies for the Bledisloe Cup.
superBul wrote:
I would hate uncontested scrums too. My feeling is it could still be severly contested even they bind first -row by row- and then starts scrummaging after ready/set/go by the referee. This will cut the repeated re-setting and time wasting at the scrums.
Problem with the hitting is you need to try and jump the gun to get the advantage and if one prop dips his shoulder at impact the whole scrum goes down.
The KICK
While Robbie Deans would not go as far as saying O’Connor had risen above Matt Giteau, who again struggled with his kicks on Saturday night, the Wallabies coach conceded: ”[O’Connor] has shown he is capable. James has proven he loves the challenge, which is a really important trait for a goalkicker.”
As for the kicker himself, it all revolved around not being affected by the moment.
”I scored, looked at the scoreboard and said to myself: ‘Oh great.’ It didn’t really click when I first scored that it was now level,” O’Connor said yesterday.
”My heart started to pump faster and my legs got a little heavier. But these are the moments I’ve always dreamed of. Ever since I’ve been a kid, I’ve dreamed of taking these kinds of pressure kicks. I knew I had to get it to win it.
”But when I walked to the spot, I pushed all that out of my mind and focused on the kick. I told myself that if I struck it properly, the outcome would be good. So a few deep breaths and when I looked up I was happy enough to see it go through.”
For Deans, that moment was the ultimate in relief. His belief in his youngsters had paid off, and with their bravado and willingness for adventure so crucial in first giving the team a 12-0 lead, and then seeing them fight back after being 24-12 down, showed that he now has the basic ingredients of a World Cup-winning side.
@ McLook:
We have to keep the contest at scrum time.
If we don’t then we kill the spirit of rugby union and take away a unique part of the game.
Early engagement and a collapsing scrum are 2 seperate issues.
Early engagement penalties at the moment are simply a result of the way we are structuring the scrum with the “crouch, touch, pause, engage”
We need to go to “crouch, touch, hit” which gets the front rows close enough together to try and get a good bind and then allows the contest on the hit.
The pause is a totally impractical call, as it differs from ref to ref and you have to understand that the front rows are primed for the hit at that stage and the delay is counter productive.
Collapsing at international level has nothing to do with props loosing their footing or slipping their bind, as those issues are a result of pressure from the opposition most of the time.
It is in the nature of a tight head to want to take the loose head down and refs need to be schooled in deciding whether the tight head has done this or whether the loose head is “milking the penalty” by pretending that the tight head has taken him down.
Instead of trying to understand the front row scrum battle, the officials have over policed it because they do not want to be seen to “not understand”
They have taken an automatic weapon to a duck shoot!!
Tight head@36. Thanks mate that was educational for me having been a backline player all my life. I would agree that the scrum is over policed. I like your last sentence; the referees definetely seems trigger happy come scrum time.
Congratulations McLook, as always, your article gives a concise post-match analysis. I am always impressed by your fair-minded approach to matches – well done.
As a dedicated and committed Wallaby fan, I am sitting in a happy place in respect to where out team sits. We have one huge asset: ROBBIE DEANS. I am impreesed at Robbie’s meticulous planning – planning for a win in the 80 minute final in next year’s RWC. That is what the ARU contracted him to do, and his planning is on schedule. The upside is that the Wallabies will be still benefitting from Robbie’s involvement for decades to come, as he has set the bar to a level that all others are going to have to aspire to.
Indeed, we have a young and exciting side, albeit with a few niggly problems, such as the set-piece, scrums in particular, but we must trust in the coaching panel finding a way forward.
One good result does not a world cup success make.
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