In Potential Celebration of the Calibre of Australian Rugby Players
One thing that can be said with confidence if our Wallabies win their QF this Sunday: the victory will be overwhelmingly due to the personal calibre and fortitude of the individual players, and nothing else.
Just looking analytically at the Wallabies RWC 2011 games so far, and most Wallabies' games of recent vintage, there is absolutely no objective evidence of coaching-led quality in any aspect of modern Wallaby play.
Forwards: rarely if ever play as a genuine, sustained for 80, powerhouse pack with team integration, complete technical skill, and high intensity at the breakdown, or in most other states of forwards-driven play. Pocock has to function as saviour at virtually every turn, every other forward displays either personal inconsistency or too-high levels of individual, not linked, activity. As a group, our forwards typically provide appalling levels of consistent concentration and intensity lapse that, simply, loses games, or places reckless levels of destructive pressure on our backs in general play.
Scrum: been a fragile and unpredictable entity since Foley 'left' in late 2008. After 4 years of Deans' scrum expertise and guidance, this RWC has categorically proven that our scrum is at best ranked as of 6-7/10 quality, and very far from world-class. And, via penalties, it can actually or potentially, lose games.
Backs: the used-to-be-famous Wallaby backs attribute of intelligent, well-drilled ensemble moves coupled with high skill in moves off the set-piece has largely vaporised in the current Wallabies. What we typically see now is slick backs integration only vs weak teams with non-threatening defence. Outside that, we see erratic draw and pass, or no pass and fail, or poor ensemble work that betrays a complete lack of disciplined, technically adept backs coaching. Our 'Xs' are left to fend for themselves with pressured hero plays that often fail, unsurprisingly. We have no current backs coach, Deans has, with characteristic hubris, assumed this role himself and it shows, utterly.
Kicking: hardly needs mentioning. Unlike all other major teams, we have retained no full-time kicking coach and the stats of all Wallaby kickers are way beneath the levels that are proven as essential to win a RWC. JO'C is excellent in just some random games, then we have the next dramatic lapse in success %s. The importance of kicking consistency and high success %s at RWCs has been known for 10 years or more.
Mental skill and culture: a team with well developed mental skills and 'hard mind' can sustain full concentration, productive aggression and intensity of application game after game and can turn adversity into victory, coming from behind. The modern Wallabies do this so rarely that we fans react like thrilled parents upon discovering that little Jimmy has at least got one A mark this year, knowing full well that we won't see that again for a long time to come. And every time, we're proved right.
Defence: it can be argued that Blake has done a sound job to get Wallaby defence standards back from the bad lapses of 2009-10 and to the standard of defence the Wallabies were renown for in the 1990s and early 2000s.
In summary, if we win this QF (or indeed RWC), it will not be through any form of demonstrable coached-in excellence or capability that clearly arises via the sustained application of elite coaching skill. It will be solely due to the fact that we possess some wonderfully talented rugby players in this country that may just be inspired and brilliant enough to draw from their deepest reserves of pride and raw talent and, to their great credit, find their own way to win, and it will be rightly possessed and done just by them, and by no one else above them.
