Introducing Saturday’s Wallabies versus Wales Test, Stan Sport front man Nick McArdle heralded the match as a “new era”. While it feels like an indecently short time since the last new era, McArdle was undeniably right; the transition from Eddie Jones to Joe Schmidt couldn’t be starker.
What the failure of the 2023 World Cup campaign, and all of the nonsense that accompanied it has done, is to buy Schmidt time, as well as an investment of goodwill. That’s not all down to Jones, Hamish McLennan and the desire to move on, but also the credibility Schmidt has built over his coaching career, and his personable, unfailingly polite manner.
2023 was all about bravado; throwing punches at rugby league, donning Akubras and brashly leaning into old-fashioned Aussie values, whatever they might be. It all fell in a crashing heap because there was little substance underneath it, too many question marks around the coaching group, and too many experienced players too swiftly cast aside.
Under Schmidt, at least for now, it feels like two objectives are enough: be nice guys again, and, win or lose, show fans that there is a credible pathway forward. That there is a Wallabies team worth rallying behind, and investing emotionally in, without fear of being embarrassed or let down, as fans were in France.
In that context, the Wallabies’ performance against Wales represents a solid start. It feels good to win again, especially turning a dismal 40-6 loss into a 25-16 win.
Filipo Daugunu celebrates a try with teammates (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
As Schmidt said after the match, “Love the result, lots to do around performance,” reinforcing that there is already a sense of much more to come from this team.
Among the swathe of debuting players, none impressed more than Isaac Aedo Kailea and his willingness to impose his physicality in the centre of the field, while Jeremy Williams can feel proud of the energy and competitiveness he sustained throughout.
Willingness to work for each other was a theme, highlighted when Filipo Daugunu swung hard from his left wing to make himself available as a receiver on the right, before sliding the final four metres over the try-line.
There were other promising building blocks. The Wallabies scrum was clearly dominant, and their lineout for the most part efficient on their own ball, and disruptive on opposition ball.
On the negative side, the Wallabies weren’t able to translate a promising first half into a solid lead on the scoreboard. 13-10 at half-time felt like poor value, just as the healthy crowd of 36,000 might have felt that, even allowing for a greasy surface, they hadn’t got a lot of rugby for their money.
Much of that was down to Wales offering little fluidity and cohesion in their attack. What the visitors did do well was keep the kicking contest contestable; that is until a poor punt by Josh Hathaway in the 68th minute opened up play for Tom Wright to scoot 60 metres into an empty backfield, to score the match-sealing try.
From there, it was simply a matter of Wales fruitlessly hammering away at a Wallabies defensive line that had noticeably grown in confidence, happy to bank the win and move on to Melbourne.
Wales have only won one match in Australia in their history. With natural improvement expected to come from the Wallabies, they will have their work cut out for them this week, to find their second. The sight of their best player, Aaron Wainwright, limping off in the final minute is unlikely to help their cause.
Schmidt does have one interesting conundrum to wrestle with, if not immediately then over time. New captain Liam Wright was replaced in the 56th minute. Moments before, he suffered what appeared to be a shoulder stinger, but there was no indication later that the substitution was anything but tactical.
At this early stage of his career, Charlie Cale appeals as an impactful bench option, from No.8. Rob Valetini is the Wallabies’ go-to ball-running option. Fraser McReight, a specialist openside flanker, is the Wallabies’ best defensive breakdown player. It feels like, more often than not, Wright will be the starting loose forward to be replaced.
With modern benches comprising eight players, and coaches willing to use everyone at their disposal, it’s very difficult for all coaches to find a captain that plays long minutes.
Perhaps it doesn’t matter? Good teams have multiple leadership options, and with Allan Alaalatoa also coming off the bench, the Wallabies are well served. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to how Wright’s role evolves over the coming season.
Things got off to a confusing start in Dunedin, with match commentator Grant Nisbett explaining to viewers the reason why England were wearing black armbands; well-intended no doubt, but information that perhaps might have been more useful if they’d actually been wearing armbands.
A pulsating, intense first quarter set up a gripping Test match, the All Blacks doing enough to hold out England 16-15, but with the visitors knowing that if Marcus Smith had not squandered three kickable opportunities, they might have been looking at a famous win instead.
Scott Barrett of the All Blacks on the attack (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
England’s game plan also featured accurate, contestable kicking which – despite Damian McKenzie defusing things superbly – constrained any counter-attacking opportunities for the All Blacks’ back three.
Most impressive, however, was their speed of their rush defence, and the way in which it never dropped off, despite the All Blacks’ efforts to unlock it.
Only twice did the tactic falter – McKenzie finding Sevu Reece with a pin-point cross-kick, and Stephen Perofeta skipping past Ben Earl – but that’s a manageable return when you’re able to score twice yourself at the other end; Smith’s pass to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso for his try, perfectly executed.
In the end, what got the All Blacks home was them grinding hard and winning the territory battle in the final quarter. Perhaps things didn’t go as planned – referee Nika Amushekeli’s commendable desire not to over-involve himself tipped into halfbacks from both sides constantly being hindered by bodies strewn at the base of the ruck, hindering the speed of the recycle – but sometimes these kinds of ‘against type’ wins can be the most satisfying. Particularly for a brand new coach.
Beforehand, the question many people wanted answered was, ‘under Scott Robertson, how would the All Blacks look different?’ On the evidence of the end of the first half, running multiple phases behind the advantage line, giving away three needless points in the process, you’d have to say, not at all.
That says less about Razor and Ian Foster than it does about the DNA of New Zealand rugby, and just like Joe Schmidt with the Wallabies, there’ll be plenty of time given for the new coach to provide his particular imprint.
Scott Robertson. (Photo by Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images for Barbarians)
What was new was McKenzie having a late penalty attempt denied because of what is commonly being referred to as a ‘shot clock’ violation.
I’m sorry, but what shot clock? Yes, nobody wants rugby matches manipulated by players taking too long over kicks at goal. But the process as it exists at the moment is haphazard and unprofessional.
Referee Amushekeli awarded the penalty and stood the mark at 77:08 on the match clock. McKenzie indicated he would kick for goal and the referee signalled that a shot would be taken at 77:22. At 77:59 the referee can be heard to say “20 seconds”. At 78:11 he says “ten seconds”. Finally at 78:19, eight seconds after he called ten seconds, with McKenzie about to start his run-up, Amushekeli blew his whistle and called a scrum.
If rugby wants a shot clock, then by all means, put it up on the scoreboard for all to see, and monitor it and operate it professionally. Like basketball, to the nth degree, same way, every time.
If not, then stop referring to it as a shot clock, and leave timing judgments to the referee’s discretion, accepting that rugby is a game where referees make numerous subjective calls. The quid pro quo to that however, is that when a referee tells a kicker he has ten seconds, he allows him all of that time.
Something else that felt new was Ardie Savea who, in a post-match interview, talked about “lessons” instead of the ubiquitous “learnings”. It seems that Savea’s time in Japan has been well spent; enough to qualify him as The Wrap’s ‘man of the week’.
That was until Ireland’s James Lowe wrested the honour from him later, in Pretoria.
It was quite the match for Lowe, setting up four tries, two for each team, and having his own try – a thrilling 60-metre run down the touchline – ruled out by the TMO.
Going down by 27-20, Ireland will feel like they came out on the wrong side of a number of contentious calls. The TV match commentators weren’t really needed; referee Luke Pearce and TMO Ben Whitehouse, managing/talking their way through the match, dominating the airwaves.
South Africa started brilliantly and will feel that they always had an edge. But new backs coach Tony Brown has an interesting challenge on his hands with flyhalf Handre Pollard. There’s an explosive backline in there waiting to be untethered, but Pollard, for all his undeniable strengths, still feels like an impediment to incisive back play.
Finally, in a match awash with intervention from the match officials, it was disappointing to see no action taken after RG Snyman followed through on a tackle, slamming halfback Craig Casey’s head into the turf, heavily concussing him.
“Just a collision,” said referee Pearce. Not so. This was an avoidable brain injury. When attackers have already passed the ball, defenders surely have a duty of care not to follow through and slam their heads into the ground.
After years of grappling with this very situation, the AFL has this law right. Players are not permitted to sling or drive their opponent’s head into the ground, and must avoid doing so at all costs.
With all of the focus and attention on concussion, it seems unthinkable that rugby can continue to class instances like this one as acceptable and lawful.