Lack of creativity proves costly for Wales
This was not so much a clash as a full-frontal collision of rugby cultures. Wales, with their aggressive defence, against Australia and their devastating attack; this is where rugby cultures really matter, where it is more than just management jargon – on the field.
Both teams had qualified for the knockout stages but with the threat of South Africa awaiting the losers and the opportunity of playing Scotland for the winners, the stakes were high. So too the quality of the operators preparing these teams; Sean Edwards masterminds the most famous rush defence in this hemisphere while Stephen Larkham is proving as cerebral an attacking coach as he was a playmaking genius for the Wallabies.
Edwards has always known that an offence capable of playing flat and late on the gain line could turn the speed of the rush against his blitzing midfield. Offensive operations that delay the pass can blitz defenders intent on the big hit, leaving a brief hole through which runners pour.
Would George North, playing in unfamiliar terrain at outsidecentre, negate the Wallabies? Would Michael Foley find a way through a Welsh defence that had failed to nullify Australia on the previous 10 occasions? Well, Foley did not. Wales made the man who taunted England just one week earlier look average with as good an 80 minutes of defending as is imaginable.
And yet they lost for that 11th consecutive time, 15-6, and by fulltime it was Australia who were well in control. There are two reasons for this dismal continuation of losses. The obvious one is the Australian scrum, which atomised Wales. The other is the astonishing defence of the team with the devastating attack.
Australia showed in this brutal battle that they have the attributes to go far in this tournament. Stop- ping them scoring is only half the battle. Finding a way to penetrate their defence is perhaps even more difficult on the basis of this pool, where England have scored the one solitary try in four pool games against them.
There are similarities to the 1999 World Cup-winning Wallabies, who had a similar rear- guard quality but an inferior strike force that overly relied on the subtle shifts of Tim Horan.
The period where the Wallabies were down to 14 and then 13 was astonishing. Or maybe that is a little too strong. Too strong because Wales were so fundamentally flawed in their back play that Australia were able to maintain their shape far too easily when Wales should have moved them across the width of the field.
Wales’ obsession with power came to haunt them. On the one hand the magnificence of their rush defence cannot be praised highly enough, but on the other, the team are clearly far more comfortable without than with the ball. We witnessed why they have been able to win two Grand Slams under Warren Gatland, but also why they have such a poor record against the best teams in the world. Adept as any team at closing down space for an opposing attack, they have so little awareness of creating any with the ball in hand.
There are hugely talented individuals, but not a cohesive structure for attacking. When the Wallabies were down to 13 men after the sin-binning of Will Genia, an important cog in the Australian defence, they conjured elaborate parallelograms of attacking shapes behind the scrum, all an elaborate hoax to send either Jamie Roberts or North back on the angle.
The All Blacks (far from perfect at the moment) would have done a quick head count and passed and drawn until the winger sauntered over on the overlap. Wales attacked as if they were scared to utilise the space.
Had the Wallabies been 15 against 13 at any stage yesterday (Saturday) they would have put the game to bed. They are a better balanced, more rounded team than Wales. Considering they have beaten Wales on 10 consecutive occasions when they were a struggling outfit, it is hard to see where the next victory is coming from against this well-organised and fiercely committed side.
Larkham’s attack will kick back into gear against Scotland as they move towards the final. Meanwhile, Wales will have to find something extraordinary to force a rematch should Australia make that third straight final in the United Kingdom (they have won them both).
If Roberts, who limped groggily off the field, is unfit for the South African match the odds of them progressing greatly diminish. His timing of the tackle and leading of the defensive line was ever accurate, ever telling.
Edwards’ lieutenant did indeed squeeze the Wallabies first-five, he did prevent Australia running amok as happened against England a week ago, but without the attack to match the defence, Wales lack the game to be anything but gallant losers against the very best.