A state of emergency should be declared following the Wallabies’ capitulation to the All Blacks in Sydney on Saturday night, a result which looks like leading to the Bledisloe Cup remaining in New Zealand for the 16th consecutive year.
If anyone doubted Australian rugby was in crisis, they only had to watch the Wallabies’ disastrous 38-13 loss to the All Blacks to appreciate the magnitude of the catastrophe.
It will take a Herculean clean-up effort to restore Australian rugby, starting at the grass-roots, moving up from club rugby to Super Rugby and ultimately the Wallabies, who are just the tip of the melting ice-berg.
This may seem like an over-reaction to one loss, but it is not just one loss, but rather a pattern of debilitating defeat dating back to 2003.
If the Wallabies are to improbably level the series Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday, they will need to dramatically re-think their tactics and selections.
The most alarming aspect of the Wallabies’ performance against the All Blacks was not the disintegration of their set-pieces, which was poor enough, but the absence of vision and ambition in their game-plan.
The Wallabies placed a huge emphasis on defence, but it was defence for defence’s sake. At the start of the game the aggression of the Wallabies’ defence rattled the All Blacks, who made a lot of uncharacteristic handling errors, but the Australians failed to capitalise.
The purpose of defence is not just to prevent the opposition from scoring, but to generate attack.
In the second minute of the game Wallabies number eight David Pocock made a steal at the breakdown, but instead of counter-attacking from the turnover, inside-centre Kurtley Beale kicked the ball away.
Conversely, four of the All Blacks’ six tries originated from turnovers, the best attacking opportunity in a game. There is a difference between defending and being defensive.
The Wallabies were determined to make a good start to avoid the early setbacks of the last two years, but for all their dominance in the first 20 minutes, they only led 6-0 after taking the conservative option of kicking for penalty goal rather than trying for seven points.
It was like watching a replay of the Lions’ loss to the Crusaders in the Super Rugby final. You will never beat the Kiwis in increments of three points in the modern game. Taking the three is regarded as a sign of respect to the opposition, but the Wallabies were deferential towards the All Blacks.
When the Wallabies led by six points, some onlookers began to speculate that the All Blacks had become predictable. They were as predictable as it gets. You could predict the Kiwis would score in the last five minutes of the first half and in the first five minutes of the second half, and they did.
The game was as good as over when All Blacks centre Jack Goodhue scored a length of the field try in the 42nd minute to start a record 33-point haul in the second-half.
Sure, there were some questionable refereeing decisions that went against the Wallabies, but when you lose by 25 points, it’s probably best not to blame the referee too much.
Whatever chance the Wallabies had of staging a comeback was undermined by the collapse of their set-pieces and a massive 40 missed tackles.
The Wallabies scrum was severely weakened by pre-game injuries to starting loose-head prop Scott Sio and back-up tight-head prop Taniela “The Tongan Thor” Tupou, exposing Australia’s lack of depth in the front-row, which the All Blacks ruthlessly exploited.
Knowing the Wallabies like to attack off the lineout, the All Blacks targeted it and picked it to pieces. The Wallabies lost seven line-outs on their own throw. Appalling.
Hookers Tatafu Polota-Nau and Tolu Latu are strong scrummagers and perform well in general play, but they are both poor throwers. There is no rule which says the hooker must throw the ball into the line-out. The Wallabies need to find the most accurate thrower in the team. It does not matter if it is the loose-head prop or the blind winger.
And if you continue to lose the ball on your own throw, stop throwing it long. Throw it to the front of the lineout and secure possession rather than gift the ball to the opposition.
It was also a mistake for Wallabies captain and openside flanker Michael Hooper to play for 73 minutes after returning from eight weeks off with a hamstring injury. He has never been so far off the pace in a game and should have come off at halftime.
If Hooper is not physically ready to play 80 minutes at full capacity in Auckland, he should be rested or used sparingly and Pocock given the captaincy.
The Wallabies will have to become the first team to beat the All Blacks at Eden Park since 1986 to level the series, and they will have to do it without star fullback Israel Folau, ruled out with an ankle injury.
Last year, the Wallabies rebounded from a heavy defeat in the opening Bledisloe in Sydney to all but beat the All Blacks in Dunedin the following week – something the Kiwis will not have forgotten.
They will need to produce something similar, because Australian rugby desperately needs action, before this crisis deepens any further.
