Wallabies must heed Rennie’s call for ruthlessness in France Tests
Dave Rennie may or may not be a student of Australian rugby history, but the Wallabies coach appears to be channeling the spirit of former national team mentor Dave Brockhoff as he prepares the squad for the upcoming Test season.
Brockhoff’s Wallabies were known for their abrasiveness and aggression. In the mid-1970s he introduced the “step forward” tactic to the Australian team. In other words, he never took a backward step.
This led to the infamous “Battle of Brisbane” with England in 1975, but it also demonstrated to the world that Australia would not be pushed around by anyone.
Not that you can expect to see Wallabies’ fists flying in any of this year’s Tests. The days of biff and boot are long gone, but physical aggression remains a cornerstone of the game and Rennie knows it.
Last week he urged the Wallabies to find their “dark side” in the three Test series against France, starting on 7 July in Brisbane. This was not a throwaway line, but seemingly an official command to the Wallabies to show more ruthlessness.
Rennie’s comment was made mainly in relation to defence with Australia’s five Super Rugby teams leaking an average of 39.64 points a game against New Zealand opposition in the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition.
But the “dark side” can be applied to any, and every, aspect of the game, particularly the physically confrontational contests for possession from the set-pieces to rucks and mauls as well as post-contact metres with the ball in hand.
The latest version of the “step forward” approach will undoubtedly influence the selection of the Wallabies team. Physically aggressive players are likely to be high on Rennie’s list of Test candidates, which means someone like strong man Sitaleki Timani, even at 34 years of age, may have a role to play.
Tellingly, Rennie defended NSW Waratahs flanker Lachie Swinton, who was red-carded for a high shot on Chiefs loose forward Lachlan Boshier during a dangerous clean-out in the final round of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
Some commentators believe Swinton is a liability for the Wallabies and needs to reign in his aggression.
But Swinton’s style is precisely what Rennie is seeking. He just wants his team to be more accurate.
Rennie also expressed disappointment that World Rugby decided against implementing the 20-minute red card at Test level, which would have allowed teams to replace a sent off player after 20 minutes as they could do in Super Rugby.
He believed sending off a player could have a big impact on a game even if the infringement may not be regarded as serious on review, which was what happened in Swinton’s case.
While 15 on 15 was ideal, as Rennie pointed out, might it also be true that if the Wallabies played with greater physical aggression, they could be more likely to be carded if they did not exercise sufficient control and accuracy.
This combative attitude towards the game is nothing new for Rennie, whose back-to-back Super Rugby titlewinning Chiefs team was well known for its physicality.
The Chiefs’ toughness won the admiration of former Waratahs and Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, who regarded the men from the Waikato as a benchmark for abrasive forward play.
Cheika used to call this kind of physicality “edge.” Call it what you like, but physical intensity will be a major objective for the Wallabies.
The All Blacks and the Kiwi Super Rugby teams play with a physical intensity unknown in much of Australian rugby.
In the final round of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, the Brumbies lost to the Highlanders 33-12 in Canberra. They s only trailed 14-12 at halftime and coach Dan McKellar actually thought they were the better team in the first half.
What happened in the second was not just a result of what the Highlanders did to the Brumbies in that 40 minutes, but rather the cumulative effect of five consecutive physically intense conflicts with Kiwi opposition which ultimately took its toll.
The Brumbies lost narrowly to the Crusaders and beat the Hurricanes 12-10 in Trans-Tasman, but Australian teams need to learn to play with that level of physical intensity consistently.
Look at Queensland in the State of Origin series against NSW. In the first two games the Maroon started strongly but were unable to maintain it. Whenever there was a lapse, the Blues struck.
Playing with physical intensity and aggression for 80 minutes week in, week out is how to win series and tournaments – not just the first 10 or 20 minutes of a match.
Rennie has clearly recognised a necessary building block to reconstruct the Wallabies. If he can instil an uncompromising attitude, Australian rugby may well take an important “step forward” to reclaiming its place among the leading nations of world rugby.