AWFUL AUSSIES IN WORLD CUP CHAOS
Should the Wallabies crash out in the World Cup quarter-finals, as form would suggest, it will be time to ask whether any more should be expected.
History says Australia are major World Cup threats. Two-time champions, twice runner’s up, including the last edition when they lost the final to the All Blacks at Twickenham, and two further semifinal appearances say they should be feared in this arena.
In this case, though, history may blind reality.
The Wallabies are ranked sixth in the world and seem set to match exactly that.
Since 2014 under Michael Cheika they hold a 50 per cent win record (33 from 66 tests).
In the past two years, they have managed nine wins from 22 tests, with Fiji, Samoa, Georgia, Uruguay and Italy among those victories.
On that basis alone, there is little evidence they were ever going to seriously challenge for this World Cup title.
In Japan the Wallabies could be considered fortunate to overcome Fiji in their opening game after Reece Hodge escaped on-field sanction for what was later deemed a red card offence that earned him a harsh three-week suspension.
In their second pool match, Australia copped some dud calls against Wales but they also blew a mountain of second-half possession in that gripping 29-25 defeat.
They’ve since battled through two unconvincing victories over Uruguay (45-10) and Georgia (27-8).
Heavy rain in Shizuoka for the match against Georgia made handling difficult, and Cheika rested captain Michael Hooper, but the Wallabies backline in particular appears horribly out of sync.
While their scrum again performed strongly and David Pocock was at his influential best at the breakdown, the Wallabies needed a piece of Marika Koroibete brilliance to kick clear against a team ranked 13th in the world, one content to hoof the ball away, back their defence and wait for the many Australian errors to keep them in the contest.
The clunky nature of Australia’s attack is not surprising given Cheika has changed his playmaking partnership six times in as many tests, flip-flopping between Bernard Foley, Christian Lealiifano and Matt Toomua at first five-eighths.
How any team can build cohesion with that merry-go-round of directors is perplexing.
Kurtley Beale, concussed against Georgia, is terribly out of form at fullback while discipline, with Australia conceding three yellow cards in their last two games, forms yet another worry.
Eight days is a long time in sport and World Cups have a history of manufacturing upsets when you least expect it, but the Wallabies now need a dramatic transformation to avoid their seemingly looming fate.
England, who Australia last beat four years ago in the 2015 World Cup pool stages and have since lost six straight tests to, will be their quarterfinal opponents, unless Uruguay stun Wales.
Australia proved in Perth one-off performances are within their capabilities but there was an element of context lost in the heaviest defeat in history they handed the All Blacks that night.
Scott Barrett’s red card, which forced the All Blacks to scramble for the entire second half, sure helped open the floodgates. It must also rank as one of the worst performances of Steve Hansen’s era.
The following week, with the Bledisloe Cup on the line and the pressure ramped up, the Wallabies wilted to be humbled 36-0 at Eden Park.
Such mental fragility doesn’t bode well for knockout matches.
Australia can be dangerous when written-off, as they will be for England, and conditions at Oita’s roofed stadium should aid their chances.
There will be nerves among England fans with their side yet to be tested, largely thanks to Tomas Lavanini’s red card in their pool victory over the Pumas.
But if all goes to form, and Eddie Jones trumps countryman Cheika, the reaction should be nothing more than a shrug of the shoulders.
A quarter-final exit would accurately reflect where Australia’s game sits. It would signal they are living on past deeds, and in need of significant change to correct their regression.