In 2011, friends and I were discussing who were favourites for the upcoming Rugby World Cup. The slightly biased view was that the All Blacks would take it out, but we should be wary of the Springboks and of course all New Zealanders still had a collective trauma when thinking about what a French side could do in a knockout game.
Then came the Wallabies. They’d beaten us in Hong Kong the year before, and the Reds spectacular Super Rugby victory was still fresh in our minds. The prevailing view was that Australia was full of promise but not yet ready to win a World Cup.
As the tournament played out, this assessment turned out to be accurate, but I believed the Wallabies had a side that could be nigh on unstoppable come 2015.
The 2015 Rugby World Cup came around, and this was not the case. Part of the reason is that the All Blacks themselves went to absurd new heights. Players like Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Ma’a Nonu never faded in quality and new talent like Brodie Retallick, Aaron Smith and Julian Savea was unearthed. This gave the All Blacks a four year period of enormous success, topped off with a second World Cup.
But why couldn’t the Wallabies keep up? Even with the addition of players like Matt Giteau, Michael Hooper and Israel Folau. It felt as though every brilliant young player from the 2011 side had already peaked or plateaued. Quade Cooper hadn’t been able to put the difficult experience behind him to grow into an elite game manager who could still rip a defence to shreds. Will Genia was in and out of the starting team, often behind less talented alternatives and lost his ability to split teams apart. Kurtley Beale, one of the game’s most electrifying fullbacks was reduced to a utility. The only key player from 2011 to significantly raise their game was David Pocock, who by 2015 was the sport’s premier fetcher. Others like James O’Connor, Digby Ioane and James Horwill found themselves out of the team or far down the pecking order.
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So what went wrong during that period? Perhaps having three different coaches didn’t help. Some players had injury problems and others behavioural issues. But even though it seemed like the Wallabies finished that tournament a distant second, there was still a lot of reason for hope. The side was still young, they had blooded a new crop of talent and had a settled coach to take them through to the next World Cup in 2019. Would Japan be the location where this side finally delivered on its promise?
No. They were comfortably beaten in the quarter-finals by England.
It’s hard to truly evaluate the state of international rugby in the following years due to COVID disruptions. And for the sake of everyone reading, I won’t re-mitigate the disastrous 2023 World Cup performance.
But could there be some medium-term benefit from the short-term failing? So far, it’s hard to see. Across the last two years, the Wallabies have won three games in The Rugby Championship. Yes, they won in South Africa, which was followed by losing to Argentina at home. Yes, they won against England at Twickenham, but ended their tour with back-to-back losses.
And yes, they beat the Lions in the third Test and almost won the second. But ask yourself, if the third Test was a decider, do you really think the Wallabies could get the job done?
And therein lies the problem. For all the potential and promise the Wallabies show, they haven’t won anything. Since the 2011 World Cup they have a solitary Rugby Championship title, and have never come close to lifting the Bledisloe Cup. Once in a while they will pull off a win or a gallant loss, only to get thumped a week later. The result last weekend means they have now lost 11 straight to an All Blacks side that is far from the world’s best.
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Since 2011 the Wallabies have won World Cup knockout matches against Scotland (via a controversial last minute penalty) and Argentina.
So, and I can’t believe I’m saying this as a Kiwi, please, for the love of god Australia, please let this be the promising side that actually wins something. If that means we lose the Bledisloe Cup, it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.
This rivalry has become dull and one-sided. Realistically, there hasn’t been a good Bledisloe series since 2008. It doesn’t help either side, and there’s only so much more the fans can take. My first memories of watching rugby were the late 90s and early 2000s. I can still remember the fear the Wallabies would strike in us. They were never beaten, they always found a way, they were winners. I remember the relief and joy when we won the Bledisloe Cup back in 2003, only to be crushed at the World Cup a few months later.
I want that rivalry back. I want trophies to be passed back and forth. Won, and earned back. I want a rivalry with a side that is bitterly disappointed with a last minute loss, not one that pats themselves on the back when they valiantly lose by 12.
This is the most important two years in Australian rugby history. Rugby Australia needs to take the money from the Lions tour and invest it in the grassroots, not Cam Munster or some other NRL star with little union experience. The Wallabies need to settle on a 9-10 combination that will still be available at the World Cup.
And when games are on the line in two years time, they need to tap into the ruthless, competitive Australian spirit and find a way to turn a generation of promise into something real.
Chrishttps://https://ift.tt/YO6PDUe ‘rivalry’ has become so dull and one-sided that a Wallabies win is a sacrifice Kiwi fans should be happy to make
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