Wallabies need a statement performance on a statement night

Sep 1, 2022

After months of anticipation, a test run last weekend, and a few final licks of paint, Sydney’s Allianz Stadium is finally open for business.

A Friday night rugby league double-header will officially cut the ribbon at the rebuilt Moore Park venue, but it is the Wallabies’ Test against the Springboks 24 hours later that rugby fans have had marked on their calendar for some time.

And to make things even better, Rugby Australia on Thursday morning officially declared the Test a sellout, meaning the atmosphere will be at its peak for what will be the first international event staged at Allianz Stadium.

Read on as we discuss some of the big talking points ahead of Saturday night’s showdown.

STABLE WALLABIES NEED A STATEMENT PERFORMANCE ON A STATEMENT NIGHT

Australian rugby has been the butt of jokes for a while now, with the nation’s Bledisloe drought an ongoing source of ridicule and the Wallabies’ general inability to consistently mix it with the game’s elite one of the chief reasons supporters have been loathed to get behind their team.

One week the Wallabies are on, the next they are not.

But at last, coach Dave Rennie has been able to name the same starting side two weeks running, a luxury Australia last enjoyed during the Irish series of 2018.

Wallabies players celebrate a try during the 25-17 Rugby Championship win over the Springboks in Adelaide, August 27, 2022 Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

It is a timely boost for a team that has been riddled with injury this season and comes at the perfect juncture after their best outing of the season in Adelaide – save for a wobbly finish and poor lineout – on a night when they will play in front of a second full house for 2022.

Wallabies fans could be forgiven for thinking things might just be turning around – but supporters have been burned before, as recently as the second Test against England.

Put simply, the Wallabies need to make a statement on Saturday night, not only to the rugby world, but also to their fans and the wider Australian sporting community. With the Springboks now bitten by the injury bug, Rennie’s team have an opportunity to really “put the foot on the throat” and prove to everyone that they are a team to be taken seriously.

“Yeah it helps and it’s good to reward the guys who played last week,” Rennie said of the stability he was able to achieve with his selections this week.

“We’ve got the same enemy and we can build on those combinations which is nice, so it’s good to be able to pick the same XV.”

Asked what the best way was to halt the period of inconsistency, which has been an ongoing problem for the past few years, Rennie’s message was simple.

“Accuracy, and when we put ourselves under pressure it’s not being clinical enough and not finishing opportunities or making errors and giving soft possession or penalties away so, so accuracy in all areas,” the Wallabies coach said.

“And we know discipline is going to be massive so that’s why we’ve got a really improve from a set-piece point of view to give us an opportunity to apply pressure to them. I thought we were very good with the ball in hand last week. Clinical when we got our opportunities, we need to create more of those opportunities.”

2dSam Bruce

2dSam Bruce

1 Related

CAN YOU FIX A LINEOUT IN ONE WEEK?

The Wallabies will be banking on the answer to that question being “yes,” but against what many believe is the best defensive lineout in the world it is easier said than done.

Australia were only able to win 53 percent of ball on their own throw at the key set-piece in Adelaide, as the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager and Pieter-Steph du Toit all got up to disrupt the Wallabies’ ball.

In the end, hooker Folau Fainga’a was left with little choice but to throw the ball to the front and work a 1-2 play with Jed Holloway, which had little success itself as the Springboks cottoned on to the plan.

Rennie said the Wallabies had been working hard to win more of their own ball, as 53 percent is a dire figure that on another day would have proved fatal for the Australians.

“As you know with lineouts, it’s not just the hooker, it’s the quality of the lift, the timing, the option that we call, and you’re up against the best defensive lineout probably in the world,’ he said.

“So we’ve come up with a plan of how we can do that better, so hopefully you see that on Saturday.”

Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

While the Boks have lost du Toit to injury, they will lose little in jumping threat with Franco Mostert coming into the No. 7 jersey. Malcolm Marx also bolsters the pack, although his strength comes around the paddock rather than with the accuracy of his lineout throwing.

No matter the changes, Fainga’a and the Wallabies’ lineout will again be put under the microscope in Sydney.

BOKS INJURIES SET UP ROOKIE SHOWDOWN WITH SUPERSTAR KOROIBETE

The Springboks have been blessed with some wonderful wingers over the years, with the injured Cheslin Kolbe among the best in the game right now when he is fit and healthy.

Unfortunately, Kolbe is yet to be sighted in the green jersey during this year’s Rugby Championship, while Warwick Gelant has been dropped to the bench after a tough outing against Marika Koroibete in Adelaide last weekend.

But that has created an opportunity for a player dubbed to be the next big star of South African rugby, with 19-year-old Canan Moodie handed a Test debut in Sydney and the unenviable task of marking Koroibete.

Vision of Moodie’s exploits in the United Rugby Championship [URC] hit social media ahead of his inclusion in the Springboks squad for Australia, and the Bulls product will now get the chance to show his skills to a new audience when he runs out at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.

“We are excited to get him in the mix,” Nienaber said of Moodie.

“He had an awesome series in the URC and we followed him closely and we are excited to see him put his skill set into a Test match. He has been with us I think a month and we are really happy to see his progress within the team and how comfortable he became in the team.

“He is a very coachable guy. He has obviously got the skills and I’m very excited to see him. When you work with him you won’t say he is a 19-year-old. He is very mature for his age and he has got a good rugby maturity and a good rugby brain on him.”

While Moodie’s exploits in the URC were overshadowed by Kurt-Lee Arendse, who is serving the third game of a four-week ban following a terrible collision with Beauden Barrett in the first Test against the All Blacks, Moodie has huge raps on him and the Springboks are confident he will not be overawed by the gravity of the occasion.

Certainly Nienaber will be hoping he handles both the attacking threat and defensive brutality of Koroibete, with the Springboks coach under increasing pressure for some of his selection decisions.

ERASMUS’S ABSENCE A SHADOW OVER THE BOKS

While the rugby world has been preoccupied watching All Blacks coach Ian Foster take a beating from the media and their fanbase, Jacques Nienaber has seemingly been able to slide under the radar as his team struggles with their own losing run — until now.

Last week’s defeat at Adelaide Oval marked the Springboks’ third loss in six Tests — including an historic loss to the All Blacks at Ellis Park — while their 28-26 loss to the Wallabies on the Gold Coast last year kicked off a string of seven losses in 13 Tests. It’s hardly a winning rate the World Champions will be happy with.

As Foster and his All Blacks arrived in South Africa under mounting pressure following their historic Ireland series defeat, Nienaber gave his thoughts on the situation.

“As coaches and players, we know that when you represent your country there is always going to be pressure,” Nienaber said. “Especially countries that have a rich rugby tradition like South Africa and New Zealand. There is always going to be pressure.

“If you are a coach or a player you are two poor games from being dropped and you are two poor games away from being fired. That is the reality, and one lives with that.”

Currently sitting on a two-game losing stretch and with a poor record for success in Australia, the Boks are staring down the barrel of a three-match slump, with Nienaber no doubt understanding his dire reality. Meanwhile, their world ranking could take a massive hit, sliding all the way from third to fifth if they fail to bounce back in Sydney.

Interestingly, it’s been throughout Rassie Erasmus’s absence that the slide has taken hold. A team that has Erasmus’s fingerprints all over them, they’ve won just four of 11 Tests with a 36 percent win rate when he’s absent on game day.

Erasmus missed the whole Rugby Championship in 2021 when he chose not to follow the team to Australia, while he was later barred from attending all matches following his infamous British & Irish Lions video rant in November last year. With the suspension set to end on 30 September, the World Cup winning coach will miss the whole of the Rugby Championship – a tournament that currently sees the Springboks sit in last place.

With supporters and critics starting to question the future of the Springboks coaching team, Nienaber is no doubt getting a little hot under the collar.

NO MORE MR NICE GUY

Playing one week, dumped the next, Noah Lolesio’s journey in the No.10 jersey has been bumpy. Steady under pressure in Adelaide, the 22-year-old has been given another chance to make the role his own and it’s time he took it with two hands and gritted teeth.

Putting on a respectable performance last week, Lolesio had a hand in each of the Wallabies tries, while he’s starting to find his voice, commanding his teammates around the park. But with questions around the future of the Wallabies playmaker role with Quade Cooper injured, attack coach Scott Wisemantel wants to see some fight from his young fly-half.

“One thing we really want from Noah is to be a bit more aggressive, because he’s such a nice bloke,” Wisemantel said.

Mark Brake/Getty Images

“As a coach … I want him to be filthy if he’s not selected. I want him to come to me and go, ‘why? how are we going to do this and what are you going to do for me?’ because that’s my job.

“It’s not being rude, but in that role as a player who touches the ball more than most players in the team, he has to have that authority and that command and to do that you actually have to practice it daily.

“‘I need you here. I want you here. If you don’t show up, there’s going to be consequences’ … it’s aggressive language, and off the field Noah’s nothing like that.”

With the Wallabies failing to win a Test in Sydney since 2015, against Samoa, a win on Saturday is a must as they look to break the endless cycle of inconsistency. To do that, Lolesio needs to take charge, shed his nice guy image and lead his team with authority.