If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. That seems to be the Wallabies’ motto as they use the June Test window to develop a new attacking style of play to put an end to the All Blacks’ 14-year dominance in Trans-Tasman rugby.
If the Wallabies’ 37-14 win against Fiji in Melbourne last Saturday is any indication, Michael Cheika’s side are borrowing ideas from their great rivals across the ditch to create a kind of All Blacks-lite style.
But will the Wallabies be able to beat the All Blacks at their own game?
The New Zealandisation of the Wallabies began with the appointment of the former All Blacks skills coach, Australia-born Mick Byrne, as their own skills coach last year. Byrne’s task was to bridge the enormous gap in that department between the two nations.
The up-skilling of the Wallabies is still a work in progress, but head coach Cheika has decided it is time to make a key strategic change, adopting attack from turnover ball, a hallmark tactic of the All Blacks.
During the Wallabies’ golden age from 1998 to 2001, under Rod Macqueen, the referees’ interpretation at the breakdown favoured the attacking team, which suited Australia’s patterned, multi-phase style of game.
But the IRB (now World Rugby) became concerned the Wallabies were turning the game into unlimited tackle rugby league and instructed referees to emphasise the contest for possession at every phase in the game, especially the breakdown.
The New Zealanders were quick to pick up on this seismic shift in the game by attacking from turnovers. Now the Wallabies appear to have cottoned onto the idea too.
While none of the Wallabies’ five tries against Fiji originated from turnovers, they attacked with every possession they received when the ball changed hands no matter where they were on the field.
A good example of this occurred midway through the second half when Fiji lost the ball close to the Wallabies’ line. Halfback Will Genia scooped it up and threw a long pass across the goal-line to winger Dane Haylett-Petty, who raced down the right-hand side of the field to the 40-metre line.
Unfortunately, old habits die hard and Haylett-Petty kicked the ball into touch instead of turning it inside to five-eighth Bernard Foley and keep the movement alive.
The problem for the Wallabies was they did not win that many turnovers at the breakdown, something Cheika would have been bitterly disappointed with.
Across the park the Wallabies did not play hard enough on the ball at the breakdown, leaving it to designated fetchers such as openside flanker Michael Hooper to go scavenging for turnovers.
The New Zealanders have a completely different approach with every player from No1 to 15 trained to compete at the breakdown like a backrower. Macqueen describes Kiwi players as “foracks”, a combination of forwards and backs, and that is what Australia need to develop if the Wallabies want to play a turnover game.
To play a turnover game you need to make your tackles. Struggling to contain off-loads, the Wallabies missed 34 tackles against Fiji, who were unable to finish their attacking moves. If Australia missed that many tackles against the All Blacks, they would concede 50 points.
The Wallabies will receive a much better indication of their progress when they play the vastly improved Scotland in Sydney on Saturday afternoon. The Scots are still smarting from their controversial loss to the Wallabies in the quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup. They were highly impressive in their 34-13 win against Italy in Singapore last Saturday, playing an expansive, up-tempo style.
Motivated by their snubbing by the British and Irish Lions selectors, the Scots are the tough sort of opposition the Wallabies need to gauge whether their new attacking game is on track to take on the All Blacks.
