Waratahs’ success can have a flow-on to the Wallabies, writes Brendan Cannon
STANDING in front of all those supporters at ANZ Stadium, proudly cheering on the Tahs, I couldn’t help but feel as though rugby has got its mojo back.
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STANDING in front of all those roaring supporters at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, proudly cheering on the Waratahs, I couldn’t help but feel as though rugby has got its mojo back.
Rugby has come from a long way back, and there is still a long way to go, but it is in vogue again. And the attitude of the Waratahs can have a flow-on to the Wallabies as they attempt to end 11 years of Bledisloe Cup pain.
The Australian squad gathers in camp on Monday in Dubbo to prepare for the All Blacks. You never want to say this is the year, but there is greater hope about what could happen.
The way the Waratahs performed throughout the season was inspiring. They won back the love of long-suffering fans through the sheer determination to play exciting, attacking rugby.
When you factor in the confidence the 12 Tahs in the Wallabies squad have in running the ball, and add the nous of the Brumbies and the starch of the Western Force players, we’re starting to build something formidable.
Our first two games of The Rugby Championship have been Tests against New Zealand in recent years, so there is no easing into the tournament.
The model of the Tahs can only be enhanced within the Wallabies.
The Brumbies players showed exceptional form as well throughout this season, and adding their strengths to the Waratahs’ flair gives you a potent mix that can really threaten the All Blacks’ resolve.
When you consider the Force had their best season ever and a handful of their players are also in the Wallabies squad, it is a very comforting scenario to previous campaigns when one Australian team flew the flag in Super Rugby. I also feel the All Blacks are vulnerable. Watching them play against England this year, they were not the dominant side of the past.
Their experience got them home in the three Tests, but they have frailties which were not evident last year.
When you take a guy like Will Skelton and put him in the middle of a host of skilful attacking players and workhorse forwards like the Wallabies now have, it can create havoc for New Zealand.
Australian rugby has never seen a player the size of Skelton, and there has never been a man so large with such silky skills. Skelton is just a baby in rugby terms and he would not comprehend the effect he can have on the game. But his X-factor will be one of the major new weapons Australia take into this Bledisloe series.
I was lucky enough to be invited to form a guard of honour for the team as they ran out on Saturday night at ANZ Stadium, part of the Living Legends of Waratahs rugby alongside the best who have ever worn the NSW jersey.
And it was special, not only for me, but my children.
My eldest boy was born two days before the 2005 final against the Crusaders, and here he was nine years later cheering on the Tahs.
He will treasure the memory of the game. I hope my son and other nine-year-olds who watched the game look back in decades to come and are able to say that this was the night when the game changed for the better in Australia.