FOLLOW TAHS’ LEAD
Attack plan crucial to beating NZ
THE Wallabies need to take a leaf out of the Waratahs’ attacking playbook if they are to stand any chance of beating the All Blacks in tonight’s Bledisloe Cup series opener in Sydney.
Australian teams are still short of where they need to be, but there were some really strong signs in the latter stages of the Super Rugby competition.
We’ve beaten a few New Zealand teams now.
And semi-finalists the Waratahs led the way in breaking the dominance of the Kiwis.
The Tahs have very good width in their game. They play to their strengths.
The attacking structure set up by assistant coach Chris Malone suited Kurtley Beale, Israel Folau and Bernard Foley, allowing some of our best players to get one-on-one opportunities in space out wide.
I don’t think we’ve seen that for a while.
I’m hopeful Stephen Larkham, the Wallabies’ attack coach, has a similar mindset.
Beale was in pretty hot form for the Waratahs all year.
His ability to work with Foley has really impressed me, in the way they’re able to interchange between first receiver and second receiver and choose when to get width in the game or when to hit their forwards to get across the advantage line.
That combination will again be important to the Wallabies.
But they have to get the ball on the front foot.
And that’s the challenge against the All Blacks, who have such a good defensive line.
We’ve got a team now, especially in the forward pack, that believe in each other, that have some size, have some physicality.
And then you’ve got David Pocock and Michael Hooper.
The game has started to open up a little bit more in the past 18 months.
We’re smarter in how we play the game.
Three or four years ago some forwards had the blinkers on and were going to a lot of breakdowns.
Now we’re starting to understand when to go to the breakdown, and when not to.
To play the All Blacks, you need a different mindset and different game plan.
You can’t overcommit to the breakdown.
If you do that, when the All Blacks have the ball they are going to make a break and potentially score a try.
They need only a couple of opportunities in a game.
It’s about being physical, but it’s also playing smart. Have respect, but don’t have any fear.
We’re definitely still the underdogs, and rightfully so.
They are world champions. Still the best in the world by a long way.
But while I don’t think they’ve come back to the pack, other sides are slowly bridging the gap.
This is as good a depth as we’ve had in a Wallabies team for a long time.
With Tevita Kuridrani and
Samu Kerevi injured, we’re down to third in the pecking order when it comes to the
No.13 jersey.
But Reece Hodge adds something.
If you’re 55m out early in the match and you want to put some scoreboard pressure on, he can knock one over.
Knock two over from 55m and you’re 6-0 up in the first 10 minutes.
Larkham will have a few tricks of his own.
But you’ve got to use them in the first Test. You can’t keep them in your back pocket.
The way the series is structured now we have to win the first Test. There’s no point losing the first two (with the second in Auckland) and maybe winning the third in Tokyo and going “great, we got close”.
Now’s the time to strike – and get one hand on the Bledisloe Cup.