Hansen’s tactical genius
The demise of the Wallabies began around the All Blacks’ selection table. Much will be made of the All Blacks’ lift in intensity at Eden Park on Saturday night – which is true – but the trump cards were played in advance by All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.
Selection has always been his strength. The Wallabies were virtually unchanged and the All Blacks coach swung the axe. There is no doubt who won the selection battle.
In truth, it was more of a surgeon’s knife than an axe.
Hansen weeded out those who were not performing and injected wings George Bridge and Sevu Reece to provide the energy, prop Nepo Laulala to provide the grunt and Sonny Bill Williams to provide the Sonny Bill Williams. They were huge successes.
But even more bravely Hansen stuck to his guns and backed Richie Mo’unga. The Wallabies had no answer to him. His departure in the 58th minute with a shoulder injury could be a huge Rugby World Cup moment. The All Blacks will not win the tournament without him.
Indeed, a magnificent piece of skill by Mo’unga changed the game, which for the first 25 minutes had been a mess of nerves and a slippery ball. It came from a Wallabies error, with Reece Hodge over-running a Kurtley Beale pass by a touch and knocking on in the slippery conditions.
Yet that error only accentuated Mo’unga’s brilliance in picking the ball up and running 60 metres to score. Good Australian judges such as former Wallaby Morgan Turinui have been wondering why it took the All Blacks so long to pick the Crusaders No 10.
They were vindicated in painful fashion on Saturday night.
Of course, we should not reduce rugby to a personal duel between coaches, Michael Cheika and Hansen. But how can we resist that temptation when the chess moves they make have such an obvious influence?
Last week Cheika and the Australian selectors so obviously got it right. The churlish will say it is the work of co-selectors Scott Johnson and Michael O’Connor that has made all the difference. That view ignores Cheika’s willingness to listen to fresh ideas.
Tactically the Wallabies were also worked out by Hansen and co. Last week Nic White’s willingness to take a step or two from the ruck before passing caused the All Blacks all sorts of issues.
At Eden Park, White tried to repeat the trick but the All Blacks used his delayed pass against him. By the time his ball carriers got the pill an All Black was waiting to smash him.
The Wallabies were lauded for their sense of continuity but sometimes a failure to change a winning team – or strategy – is fatal. The Wallabies scrum also creaked, even against seven men when hooker Dane Coles, who seems to exist in a shroud of red mist, was yellowcarded for a judo throw on White.
Hansen may never coach against the Wallabies again. It may be that he has had the last word in his duel with Cheika.
Then again, stranger things have happened than a trans-Tasman World Cup final. Anyone for a best-ofthree series in 2019?