‘No wonder South Africa’s the best team’ – Ex-Wallaby slams ‘woeful’ All Blacks and Australia
One of several errors from Wallabies v All Blacks in Bledisloe I as ball goes loose.
Former Wallabies full-back Greg Martin cannot see Joe Schmidt’s side causing an upset in Bledisloe II despite describing both teams as “woeful”.
Australia succumbed to their fourth defeat of this year’s Rugby Championship after they went down 31-28 to New Zealand in Sydney.
Schmidt’s men started poorly as the All Blacks opened up a 21-0 lead, but the Wallabies almost snatched an unlikely victory following a second-half comeback.
Martin was not impressed with either team, but does see Scott Robertson’s outfit improving and securing a dominant triumph in Wellington.
‘Dragged them down to our level’
“We were woeful and the All Blacks became woeful, we dragged them down to our level. The All Blacks made so many errors, had so many tries disallowed,” he told The Platform.
“I’ve seen this script before. Yes we got close but, if you look at the last 10 times where we’ve gone close or even beaten them in the first Bledisloe, they come back and give us a paddywhacking the next week.
“He (Robertson) will go: ‘Is everyone happy with themselves? No we’re not’, whereas the Wallabies, that’s as good as we get. The All Blacks have got a lot more upside.
“Saying that, we could have bloody beaten them somehow.”
Martin was particularly surprised at how open the game was in the first Bledisloe Cup tie, with both sides creating numerous chances and line breaks.
“It didn’t look like Test rugby at times, everyone thought you’ve got to score 80 points in a Test match. There wasn’t a lot of grinding was there? It wasn’t old school Test rugby,” he said.
“The defence from both teams was woeful. No wonder South Africa’s the best team because they don’t crack under easy pressure like our two teams do at the moment.
“I’m not looking forward to Wellington, I can just feel a hit back coming from the All Blacks.
“It is about creating so much pressure that the opposition burst.
“That (Sydney clash) wasn’t Test rugby. Have a look at the Springboks; before they score those tries, they squeeze you like hell.
“Everyone should have learned a lot from last weekend but I don’t think our upside is as large as the All Blacks’ upside.”
Australia’s lack of quality
Schmidt was hired following the departure of Eddie Jones and has been tasked with taking the Wallabies back to the top.
It has been a mixed 2024 so far, and more record-breaking defeats, such as the one suffered at the hands of Argentina, will bring about criticism.
However, Martin would not blame Schmidt should it go awry and nor does he have any issues with previous New Zealanders who have coached Australia.
“We can’t keep changing coaches. Taking the Wallabies job, the next thing that happens is you get sacked – it’s not a lot of fun,” he added.
“These guys are great coaches, whether it’s Robbie Deans, Dave Rennie – they’re good coaches – but the Australian team is such a conundrum. How do you sort it out?
“I don’t think we have the players. If you look at it player to player, how many would they have taken? Two if we’re lucky would make the All Blacks.
“In the old days, it might have been six or seven and that’s when we used to win games against them, but right now we haven’t got the cattle.”