Wallabies facing axe after Bledisloe

WALLABIES coach Dave Rennie has threatened to wield the axe after Australia’s selfinflicted 27-7 loss to the All Blacks in Sunday’s second Bledisloe Cup test.

From the moment he took on the job, Rennie made a pledge to bring a new ruthless edge to the Wallabies by picking players on form and not reputation.

And if that means dropping players whenever they don’t live up to expectations, he’s already shown he won’t hesitate to make those cutthroat calls.

True to his word, Rennie made four changes after the Wallabies drew with New Zealand in last weekend’s opening test in Wellington so you can expect more when he sits down to select the side for the must-win third test in Sydney on October 31.

Asked what he would do to solve the glaring Australian defensive problems that saw the Wallabies miss a whopping 40 tackles, Rennie’s curt response cut to the point.

“Selection can sometimes fix that, can’t it?” he said.

Just who will pay the price remains to be seen because so many Australian players were guilty of missing tackles during the match – killing any hope the Wallabies had of ending their 34-year hoodoo at Eden Park.

All the improvement the Wallabies made in Wellington counted for zilch as the All Blacks easily punched holes in the Australian defence, with Caleb Clarke and Ardie Savea having a field day.

Clarke is a superstar in the making – a giant winger already drawing comparisons with the legendary Jonah Lomu – but the Wallabies made life easy for the Kiwis by coughing up possession 20 times then blowing two try scoring opportunities.

All is not lost for the Wallabies just yet. They can still regain the Bledisloe Cup if they win the two remaining matches in Australia but it will take a massive turnaround because this was a crushing defeat.

The 20-point loss was a giant leap forward from last year’s 36-0 humiliation in Auckland but no less depressing because the Wallabies were their own worst enemies.