‘Kick and clap won’t win you a World Cup’ – Australia coach
November 21, 2020, Newcastle, NSW, USA: NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 21: Nic White of the Wallabies kicks the ball during the Tri-Nations round 4 rugby match between the Argentina Pumas and the Australian Wallabies at McDonald Jones Stadium on November 21, 2020 in Newcastle, Australia. (Photo by Speed Media/Icon Sportswire) (Credit Image: © Speed Media/Icon SMI via ZUMA Press)
Australia coach Scott Wisemantel insists that they won’t revert to a kick-orientated game, despite the current trend in world rugby.
The 2019 World Cup finalists, South Africa and England, were built on solid defence and an effective set-piece, with the latter continuing in that fashion in 2020.
Eddie Jones’ men recently claimed the Six Nations title for the first time since 2017 and dominated Ireland last weekend in the Autumn Nations Cup with a physical and controlled display.
The Red Rose have arguably kicked even more since the global tournament and it is also something which has been more prevalent in the Wallabies’ game under Dave Rennie.
Change in style
With previous boss Michael Cheika, Australia ultimately failed with their ball-in-hand approach, but Rennie and Wisemantel have sought to find a balance between those ways of playing.
“We’ve used some box-kicking,” Wisemantel told reporters. “Look, kicks are a good weapon as long as they’re used in context. So to either apply pressure to the opposition, alleviate pressure, and they’re either contestable or they’re finding grass – they’re the basic principles of your kicking, so how you put it into your game plan that’s where it’s varied.
“It’s just the detail, the skill, the execution, taking your chances. That’s what really, really good teams do.
“We want to be the best team in the world. It’s a bold statement, a really bold statement, but you have to aim high, set the standards high, set the bar high.
“We could go back and play kick and clap, sit in a corner, pump corners, all the rest of it and, look, you could make progress, maybe go up the world rankings a little bit, but it’s not going to win you a World Cup.”
Tri Nations 2020 | Argentina v Australia – Rd 4 Highlights
A tryless clash in Newcastle has seen the @lospumas and @wallabies draw for the just the second time in 34 matches between the two countries.#TriNations2020 #ARGvAUS pic.twitter.com/ZJaHcqCrt9
— Super Rugby Pacific (@SuperRugby) November 21, 2020
Australia haven’t yet found consistency under the new coaching team, achieving an impressive victory over the All Blacks but also succumbing to a record 43-5 loss to the same side.
The Wallabies threw away a 15-6 advantage against Argentina on Saturday as the teams were forced to settle for a draw and Wisemantel said that they have lacked a clinical edge to their game.
He added: “We’ve created lots. We’ve created lots and lots and lots of opportunities in the five games that we’ve played. If I’m going to be critical, and let’s call it as it is, we haven’t finished.
“We’ve had opportunities and we’ve got to be better at finishing, so that’s around our skill level. We’ve got to get better at our skill level and our decision-making. They’re the two big ones. So, if I’m a realist, the realistic thing is we’ve been really poor at those two (areas), but we’ve created lots of chances.”