‘We’re looking for the answer at the moment’: Wallabies clueless over sluggish starts
The Wallabies concede they have no idea why they are struggling to reverse the sluggish starts plaguing their World Cup campaign. Well, we’re going to give you the answer for free!
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The Wallabies are still searching for an answer to the question every frustrated Australian rugby fan is asking.
Why, after such a long and thorough preparation for the World Cup, are the Wallabies starting each match so badly?
It should be simple enough but the worrying news out of the camp is that halfway through the pool phase, no-one in the squad can put their finger on what’s going wrong.
“I don’t know,” halfback Nic White confessed. “Good question.
“We’re looking for the answer at the moment and should we find it, hopefully we do, not going to tell you (journalists) or the opposition.”
Here’s a tip, though.
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If the Wallabies don’t want to tell anyone when they do work it out, that’s fine, but here’s what everyone in Australia wants to tell them.
Calm down, boys!
The simplest and most effective strategy in the game is that before you swing the ball wide, you have to go forward, so do that first.
That’s where the Wallabies have been getting their biggest gains at this World Cup and as 1999 World Cup winner Matthew Burke told The Daily Telegraph: “When teams want to fluff around and play that fancy stuff out the back there, it all looks good but it doesn’t sort of achieve anything because teams are so good defensively.
“When we did do well is when we’re direct and physical.”
Even White admitted as much, though he insisted the Wallabies believed in their attacking philosophy, even if the execution is off.
“Maybe we have got to be a little bit more patient early on,” he said.
“Certainly I don’t think it’s a case of us not being ready or wanting it. Maybe we’re too excited and just got to build into the game a bit more and maybe show a bit more restraint.”
Whether it’s because the team’s hotel is situated right next door to Tokyo Disneyland, or they genuinely are much better than their results since the last World Cup suggest, last weekend’s loss to Wales hasn’t dented Australia’s confidence one bit. If anything, they’re even more upbeat.
“We know how we good we are, we’ve shown in the back half of games that if we can get that start right and not let teams get away on us, the potential is there if we can sort that out,” White said.
“I know that sounds silly coming after a loss there but there was a lot of confidence coming out of that (loss).
“We feel like we’re well and truly still in this.”
History begs to differ.
In the eight previous World Cups, dating back to 1987, no team has ever won the title after losing in the pool stages, though three have made the final and the Wallabies finished third in 2011 after they were beaten by Ireland in the quarters.
“Over history, everyone loves an underdog story,” prop Scott Sio said. “You know Aussies have always been a part of that and we feel like this group is something that can achieve something special.”
Originally published as ‘We’re looking for the answer at the moment’: Wallabies clueless over sluggish starts
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