Forget a 3-0 Lions whitewash, the Wallabies have serious firepower

There’s a long way to go before the British and Irish Lions tour but the early signs augur well for Australia. Good luck to anyone tipping a 3-0 Lions whitewash, writes STUART BARNES.

In the absence of the Six Nations at the weekend there was an opportunity to hunker down in front of the television and concentrate on Super Rugby Pacific.

More specifically, it was a chance to analyse the form of Australia’s teams and the individuals who will face the British & Irish Lions. What better way to spend your Saturday than with a bacon sandwich watching the Chiefs (from Waikato, New Zealand’s North Island) take on the ACT Brumbies?

It turned out to be a terrific match, with the powerful New Zealand franchise being flattered with a few late tries. The Australian visitors traded blow for blow until the final few minutes. There was to be plenty of encouragement for Australian fans both in Hamilton and back across the Tasman, where their other three teams were playing.

Joe Schmidt will leave his role as Australia head coach this year, after the Lions series and the Rugby Championship, but he has the personnel to depart with Australian rugby back on a high, two years before they host the World Cup. Good luck to anyone who thinks this will be a 3-0 Lions whitewash.

Joe Schmidt has the personnel to depart with Australian rugby back on a high. Picture: Getty Images

There’s a long way to go before the tour but as early as week three of Super Rugby Pacific, it augurs well for Australia. The spine of their team is in good nick. The Reds’ victory against a much improving Force side was lit up by the combination at Nos 8 and 9. Harry Wilson, Schmidt’s skipper, is a tremendous player. He isn’t the quickest, but he possesses both power and a super skillset. He can fix a defender with his bulk before a lovely late layoff to a teammate.

When that man is his Reds scrum half, Tate McDermott, defences will be forced to stay tight around the fringes, creating space for others. The Reds would have lost without his ability to break, link and kick in the right instance.

Tate McDermott is a danger man for the Reds and Australian rugby. Picture: Getty Images

Right now there’s a three-way battle between Jake Gordon, Nic White and McDermott for the Wallaby No.9 shirt. White reminded viewers how big a loss he has been to the Exeter Chiefs. He is a masterful scrum half but more in the European style of structured nines. Australia will be more dangerous with the Reds scrum half threatening the Lions from kick-off. Either one of the others can close out a game in the latter stages.

The scrap between Fraser McReight and Carlo Tizzano on the open side was another feature from Perth. At Test level McReight has the credit on the board but Tizzano is getting better week by week. Throw the injured Rob Valentini into the equation and Australia have quite some back row.

Fraser McReight has the credit on the board at Test level. Picture: Getty Images

Carlo Tizzano is getting better week by week. Picture: Getty Images

The front row is none too bad either. The Waratahs scrum was pummelled by Drua Fiji in the last 20 minutes, having been battered itself for an hour. This is testament to the power of the Aussie Test props Angus Bell and the “Tongan Thor”, Taliena Tupou. The Wallabies are not set to wobble in the scrum. Times have changed.

In Tom Wright, Schmidt has an extremely underestimated fullback. Noah Lolesio, the Wallabies fly half, is beginning to flower into something potentially special and then there is Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, the extravagantly gifted convert from league. He is nowhere near the complete union package yet, but come full-time in the third Test he could be one of the sport’s global superstars. He has that much potential.

Australia lack the depth of South African and Kiwi talent but after three weeks of Super Rugby Pacific it is clear Schmidt has enough artillery at his disposal to make the series anything but a formality for the Lions.

Something that also jumped out at me as I watched the games on Saturday was the speed of play and style of rugby. We have become used to high-scoring matches in the Premiership, but somehow there was an extra layer of entertainment in the Chiefs game, and it wasn’t just the superlative running angles of the Australian wingers or the devastating counterattacking of the mesmerising Damian McKenzie. I couldn’t put my finger on what made the match such a pleasure until the dying minutes of another game, this one between Western Force and Queensland Reds, later that day.

Referee James Doleman was brilliant during the Chiefs and ACT Brumbies clash. Picture: Getty Images

With less than two minutes left on the clock I noted the Australian referee, Nic Berry, talking to his television match official. There may have been the briefest of chats earlier in this game, but nothing that I remember. In Hamilton James Doleman refereed as if he were on his own. And he was brilliant. Decisive when the ball crossed the tryline, he backed himself to be closer to the touched down/held-up ball than any TV camera.

In open play he didn’t bother with the voice in his head that we hear continually interjecting during the course of play. Rugby is a game blurred by bodies and breakdowns and I am not suggesting the New Zealand referee got everything right, but there was nothing obviously erroneous in his one-man display.

There was a time when TMOs were heard only when they saw something “clear and obvious” that the referee missed. Fine, nobody wants to see games turn on blatant mistakes. But even fewer people want to see it destroyed as a spectacle by the voice in the head questioning the referee non stop; persistently offering opinions on every marginal decision.

Hence the constant rewinding of the television angle, the super-slow motion, the frustrating wrong offerings from nameless assistant producers running replays. The never-ending afternoon of castrated officiating. It is the blight of the game. It’s more annoying than one-track minds obsessed with nothing but the box-kick. And here was a game that flowed faster than any game in our hemisphere because New Zealand and Australian officials allowed the referee to arbitrate 99.9 per cent of the time.

To achieve this state of nirvana, the referee requires assistance from others. Television broadcasters need to stop sounding like TMOs and hunting for possible errors. Call out the big mistakes and missed forward passes; I am not suggesting free passes for poor officiating, but stop looking for the error.

The culture of coaching could help the referee as well. The 79th-minute TMO intervention was related to a high challenge. Heck, I had watched three games of rugby with tacklers’ arms wrapped, tackles made, broadly speaking, between knee and hip. It wasn’t as brutal or dangerous as a professional game of rugby in Europe. Last season I recall writing something similar on the accuracy of tackling on the part of the Stormers and Bulls from South Africa. Both on and off the field we, in the northern hemisphere, can make a referee’s life easier and games more rhythmic.

This story originally appeared in the UK Times and has been republished with permission.

Originally published as Forget a 3-0 Lions whitewash, the Wallabies have serious firepower