Originally Posted by
Jules
Alan Jones today - You have to go back a long way to find a match as critical to the future of Australian rugby as the Test match is this weekend.
And to think that it is in the outreaches of Italy.
As a former coach, I have avoided directing my comments to the consequences of the current coaching performance.
But the statistics can no longer be ignored.
As a metaphor of the mess, it is impossible to believe that a captain, in a Test match, would twice decline to kick for goal from penalties in front of the posts, unless these were coaching instructions.
Not only do you get the points when you kick for goal, but you get the ball back.
This is madness on steroids.
But the statistics bear witness to a frightening malaise.
We had 57 per cent of the ball in Cardiff.
We lost.
We had 54 per cent of the ball against the All Blacks in Japan.
We were flogged.
We had 52 per cent of the ball against Argentina in Argentina.
From 31-7 down, we fought back to win.
We had 53 per cent of the ball against the Springboks in Port Elizabeth.
We lost badly.
This is our worst season of Test rugby since 1958.
We have suffered home-soil losses to Ireland for the first time since 1979 and to Argentina for the first time since 1983.
The attack, under assistant coach Stephen Larkham, has produced the worst results per game since 1983.
The game last weekend was almost unwatchable.
The correspondence bears witness to the deep concern.
One writer says: “It was seriously sad.”
Another: “What hopeless tactics from the coaching team.”
Another: “How many times did we kick the ball away for no gain?”
Another: “The Wallaby backs were completely ineffective.”
And so it goes on.
What is worse, if anything could be worse, is that it is now clear that the administration of the game, if there is one, is ready to pounce.
And even more disturbing news is that the players are asking serious questions about how they are being asked to play.
I will come to that in a moment.
The off-field administrative mess is part of the problem.
Make no mistake.
Cameron Clyne, Raelene Castle and the gang may throw Michael Cheika under the bus to save their own skins.
The CEO cunningly made the call before the European tour, claiming the Wallabies had to win all three Tests to get a “pass mark”, or words to that effect.
What those comments mean, I have no idea, other than to suggest that someone was being moved towards the exit door.
But we come back to the original administrative problem.
Raelene Castle knows little about the game.
And since her appointment, neither she nor the board have done anything positive for the game.
But there is a new entry in this equation and that is Cricket Australia.
You might recall that last week I told you that there had been a similar ethics report into Australian rugby delivered in 2015 which has remained secret.
There is no doubt that the legitimate sackings at Cricket Australia, especially in high perform*ance, have given impetus to a move within Rugby Australia administration to go in the same direction.
And on the statistics above, the coach would have to concede that such a move would not be unexpected.
Except … Australian rugby has a high-performance unit.
Cheika came to this job having won major trophies in two hemispheres.
I may be out of step, but I believe he has the right to see out his contract.
If Rugby Australia wants to demonstrate a willingness to take action, then the high-performance unit should be gone yesterday.
The bloke in charge is Ben Whittaker.
On his watch, it is not just the Wallabies that have hit rock bottom.
We are outside the top five in men’s XVs, women’s XVs and the under-20s.
Who knows where the schoolboys are ranked.
So forget challenging Michael Cheika.
Ben Whittaker and Rod Kafer and the rest of these highly paid staff wasting oxygen in the rugby fortress at Moore Park should be gone.
But I err, they may not be there.
I am told there was a whole entourage of these officials last week at Yokohama and I presume they have moved on to Europe.
So embarrassed are they by the status of Australian rugby that I understand Clyne, as chairman, refuses to attend SANZAAR and World Rugby meetings and delegates that responsibility.
It is said Clyne doesn’t like all the travel, but he doesn’t mind travelling first class to attend Test matches and sit in the official box.
Can you believe that only this week, Rugby Australia has sent mail-outs to all former Wallabies asking them to make a donation of $5000 so emerging talent can be retained in our code.
This is the same Rugby Australia that signs off on five-year multimillion-dollar deals to players who may not even make the side in five years’ time, but are carting around begging bowls asking former Wallabies to pick up the tab.
But to the looming crisis at the weekend.
And from my standpoint, it is a coaching crisis.
I don’t want to seem contradictory when I say that Cheika should stay.
Under the administration of the game and as a consequence of a high-performance unit that has not delivered, there is no succession plan.
And those people contemplating throwing Cheika et al under a bus know nothing about coaching.
So where to from here?
This is the dilemma.
If you pick the same players each week and play the same way each week, you will get the same result.
The only reason the result will vary is if the quality of the opposition varies.
The true question to ask is, if you played the All Blacks next week, would the result be different?
It can’t be, unless something different is done on the field. I can’t see that happening, so we must live with what we have got.
What is the saying? Dance with the girl you brought.
I believe there is an urgency for Australian rugby, at Test level, to reinstate the use of the maul as a way of controlling the mountain of ball that we win.
This is not rocket science.
In this way, you are dragging the opposition forwards back to where they belong, in the forwards, and not jamming the defensive backline to such an extent that gifted players like Beale and Folau and Kerevi and Toomua are running into brick walls.
The reality, as I said above, is we have enough possession to win two Test matches.
We are not short of talent.
Just as refusing to kick for goal when you are parked in front of the posts must be a consequence of what the team is being told to do, so too is our failure to score and failure to use the ball effectively a consequence of the way the players are being coached to use the ball.
And when you groan about Australia kicking the ball back to the opposition, it is simply a consequence of the fact that we have run out of ideas.
And all that has led to the administration looking for scapegoats and the players starting to ask questions.
It may be that the coaching staff can’t change their mindset.
That being the case, we are doomed.
But let me end by destroying a few careers.
If you want sweeping change, there are plenty of Australians ready and able.
I repeat, Michael Cheika is smart enough to know that we can’t go on the way we are yet I believe he should stay there until the World Cup.
But given that the useless and totally discredited high-performance unit hasn’t produced any succession plan on the coaching front, I offer the following (all Australians, unlike the bulk of our Super Rugby coaches, who are both new at that level and non-Australian):
Head coach — Scott Johnson, the director of Scottish Rugby;
Defence coach — Matthew Taylor, currently with Scotland;
Attack coach — John Mulvihill, currently head coach at Cardiff;
Forwards coach — Andrew Blades, currently a very successful schoolboys coach in Sydney;
You don’t need any more.
Fresh blood, fresh approach, fresh ideas.
Remember, we are not short of talent.
We are short of successful ways of using the ball in the hands of that talent.