Loose Pass: Good and bad weeks Down Under and Wales’ woes

David Skippers
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This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with Australia’s good week, Wales looking ruffled off the pitch and New Zealand looking ruffled on it.

Upswing Down Under

In the four weeks since Australia squelched their way to a draw in Wellington, Australia fans would have been forgiven for letting off a few huge sighs and getting stuck into the cricket.

40 missed tackles at Eden Park was backed up by a 43-5 shellacking at home to the eternal rival, with the gulf in class in the first 40 minutes in Sydney similar to that of a new Porsche taking on an old-school Ford Fiesta.

And doubtless the nit-picking critics will point fingers at New Zealand’s somewhat experimental selection this week as a reason for Australia’s victory. But Australian rugby has had an excellent week, with the team displaying skill, physicality and toughness in equal measure on Saturday, while the new television deal will provide significant relief to the Rugby Australia execs who have been sweating on the union’s financial future since coronavirus arrived.

Not necessarily in the cash required – there are both cash and contra parts to this deal and there’s not much word on how much of the bragged-about headline value is contra – but in terms of getting rugby back into the viewing sphere the deal is a winner.

Free-to-air games on a Saturday night are but one aspect, but the additions of regional competitions such as the Shute Shield could give sub-Super Rugby a boost and improve what is already a good-quality competition. And the addition of women’s rugby will be good for the game’s profile outside of its own niche.

But, aside from the cash v contra argument alluded to before, the bottom line is that the deal could really pay off if the Wallabies pick up their act. The evidence on Saturday night pointed towards that pick-up, with a number of players starting to improve together and a number of inexperienced players raising a meaningful hand.

It’s been a good week in Australia – hopefully they can build on it.

Unrest in the valleys

There’s an uncomfortable sense of irony in Monday’s events in Wales. 13 years to the day since Warren Gatland took on the Welsh coaching mantle with the words: “Wales is the sleeping giant of World Rugby, I want to achieve potential,” that giant is still evidently coming to terms not only with Gatland’s departure but also that of his perennial defence coach. Gatland’s appointment was not universally welcomed at the time, but he tended to be able to bring calm to a rugby country where internal unrest is a part of cultural heritage. His successor Wayne Pivac now faces the same challenge.

Rumours abound everywhere about the abrupt departure of defence coach Byron Hayward. Pivac insists he took the decision, saying that the defence was not going in the right direction. Rumours abound of players being dissatisfied with Hayward though.

And what has been less-addressed are the departures of Sam Warburton from a technical advisor role and Ryan Jones as Performance Director since the new era began. Both gave legitimate reasons for their departures, family-related and covid-downturn-related respectively, but the abrupt natures of them both, followed by more reshuffling with Hayward’s departure do not paint a portrait of directed, unified development.

Pivac is now under considerably more pressure than he was following the defeat to Scotland because of this move, and with Ireland looming on Friday night an unpleasantly pivotal test is looming. Should Wales stutter as they have done far too much recently, that hot head coaching seat will become a great deal hotter.

All Blacks found wanting mentally

Ask the All Blacks from the past dozen glittering years who the most important cog in the AB machine has been and often you will get the answer: ‘Gilbert Enoka.’ Enoka has been the AB mental skills coach for two decades now (among other things) and has been credited by pretty much the entire coaching staff and squad at some time or another with giving the squad the mental resilience to deal with all manner of setbacks, provocation, on-field events and misfortunes such as can befall an international player.

Thinking back to so many games where the All Blacks just somehow ‘found a way,’ and so many games in which the opposition discipline crumbled first, it made it all the more surprising to see the team lose itself a little mentally on Saturday.

Not so much the red card – things like that will happen in a high-speed game under the new rules occasionally – but Scott Barrett’s asinine yellow card which handed momentum to the Wallabies, for example, was not a fine moment for a player aspiring to senior stewardship in his position, nor were the numerous scuffles. At one point, Sam Cane – the captain – was a mildly lucky chap not to cop a penalty himself for a slap to the face of James Slipper shortly after his team had been reduced to 14 men by the red card. That was not a particularly isolated moment. Provoked, for sure, but the reaction was unexpectedly raw across the board.

That the team’s rhythm looked a little off at times can easily be attributed to the number of changes and the new faces, but it’s a while since the AB team in general looked mentally rattled like that. Mr. Enoka’s work is never done…

Loose Pass compiled by Lawrence Nolan.

 

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