Wallabies fire out a warning to Wales
IWROTE last week how Wales must look at this year’s Rugby Championship and take some lessons with the November Tests in mind. It didn’t take long to learn much, did it? The first two Bledisloe Cup games have been truly remarkable! It’s undoubtedly some of the best rugby I’ve seen in the last few years. New Zealand’s 50-point demolition of Australia made plenty of headlines and I have to admit I was hugely impressed by their performance.
They’ve made a serious statement of intent to their rivals in the opening couple of rounds, even if they did look vulnerable at times in the second match in Dunedin.
The first thing to point out is that the opening game in Sydney, and to a lesser extent the second, proved to me how well the British & Irish Lions did this summer.
I think the scale of their achievement in drawing with the All Blacks will only become more impressive as time passes between this summer and the next World Cup in 2019.
We already know plenty about Steve Hansen’s men from the last couple of months, but what I’d like to point out and analyse a little more are Australia’s performances so far.
Michael Cheika got it from all sides this week and rightly so on the back of such a heavy first defeat. There’s no doubt that Australian rugby isn’t quite what it was in terms of strength in depth or talent.
But it’s vital – and here I am speaking from a Wales perspective – that Warren Gatland doesn’t get caught up in the idea that they’re a load of old cobblers or way past their best.
That’s not the case and as we all know, whatever shape Australia are in, they’re usually our bogey side and one we struggle to get the better of. I’m sure Warren won’t be getting lulled into a false sense of security, because the Wallabies will be as difficult as ever when they rock up in November. Yes their defence was leaky against the All Blacks in that opening match and they were blown away at times, but you have to remember this was against the world’s best team who have been battle hardened very early on in their season by playing the Lions. That only happens to one Southern Hemisphere team every four years, so you have to place New Zealand’s results in a little bit of context.
From a wider view point and that of the Northern Hemisphere sides, I was still impressed by the way Australia scored some nice tries with ball in hand and then in Dunedin they came so close to what would have been one of the most famous results in their history. If Bernard Foley had kicked his goals, then it would have been an entirely different result.
Australia remain a hugely talented side in attack, even if their pack occasionally struggle, as we saw with their scrum on the back foot in the first half on Saturday. Guys like Foley and Israel Folau can always produce the odd rabbit out of a hat. That’s what makes them the players they are.
On a wider note, all of the Rugby Championship games so far have emphasised to me once again how important pace is in the modern-day game. We all know the Southern Hemisphere teams play at an absolutely relentless tempo. It’s something we’ve struggled to match in the past, certainly in Wales. How many games have we lost to these
“It will be as difficult as ever when the Wallabies rock up in November”
sides in the final 20 minutes? It’s too many to count!
The pace of the game certainly won’t be changing anytime soon, but the Lions showed we can keep up with the All Blacks, Springboks and Wallabies. That must continue this autumn or Wales have no chance.
Warren and Rob Howley have talked about the importance of playing for 80 minutes for so long now that it’s almost become a bit of a joke. I can assure you, though, that no one will be laughing behind the scenes. In fact, I know some of the Wales boys are already hard at work.
The players who went on the Lions tour have had a very good break and rightly so, but they are professionals at the end of the day and I was pleased to learn from speaking to Rhys Webb this week that he’s been back at the grindstone so he makes sure he hits the ground running when selected.
Rhys isn’t the only one, and that should leave Wales in a good place. I’ve read a couple of players saying they’re not sure when their return to play date is. That’s a little bit of a concern for me, but whenever they’re back, Wales’ best players must all be available for November.
Eddie Jones has talked of resting some of England’s Lions, but Wales simply don’t have that luxury. We have to have our best side fit and on the paddock to take on the best teams and Australia most certainly remain one of them.