Alan Jones: Crucial change that can turn Wallabies into World Cup contenders
Australia’s opening win against Georgia showed the Wallabies aren’t likely to trouble the Rugby World Cup heavyweights. A key selection call could change that, writes ALAN JONES.
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A great start to the Rugby World Cup with the opening game at Stade de France early last Saturday morning, our time.
It was certainly worth setting the alarm for, except for the referee, and I will come to that later.
France have served notice.
They were clinical in their demolition of the All Blacks who, for some reason, chose to kick rather than run with the ball.
France are the team to beat.
They have it all, a massive well-drilled pack, excellent strike power and a world class goal-kicker in Thomas Ramos.
The other teams expecting to be serious contenders include South Africa and Ireland, who piled on the points against Romania.
The South African forwards are massive and they are cleverly using seven forwards off the bench.
Their coaching team are even using flash lights in the coaching box to instruct their on-field captain about penalty decisions.
Don’t expect too much ball in hand from the South Africans.
They won a World Cup putting the ball endlessly into the air and then waiting for mistakes and kicking for goal.
Why wouldn’t they try it again, except they don’t have that match winning goal-kicker, Handre Pollard.
They comfortably dealt with Scotland’s challenge in their opening pool game, but left a lot of points on the park due to substandard goalkicking from their new fly-half, Manie Libbok, and that won’t cut the mustard at the back end of this World Cup.
Ireland are brilliant.
They move the ball more often and better than any other team in the world; but their talisman, Johnny Sexton, is 38 and they have never been to a World Cup semi-final.
As I said last week, our Wallabies are certainly capable of making it to the semi-finals.
They have the best of all pool draws.
But on the weekend performance against Georgia, it is hard to see them taking down any of the heavyweights in this World Cup.
We were solid against Georgia without being brilliant.
The Georgian team really only had two key threats in their number 10, Luka Matkava, and their fullback, Davit Niniashvili.
Looking at the Wallaby performance, we can be happy with the fact that we scored four tries and got the bonus point.
Two of these tries came from good counter-attack.
The other two came from structured play close to the try line.
There were some impressive things about the Wallabies’ performance and it started up front.
I have long argued that Taniela Tupou is a massive asset.
Winning his 50th cap, he was destructive and powerful and spearheaded the charge as we demolished the Georgian scrum.
It was also pleasing to see that our decision makers at halfback tried to play the game at a high tempo.
The quick taps and the quick lineout throw-ins meant we could stretch the Georgian defence and get our outside backs some space in broken play.
It was also very pleasing to see Ben Donaldson step up at fullback and play well.
He has ability.
His kicking game needed to be on point and he delivered.
As this tournament evolves, I can see Donaldson playing at number 10 and Andrew Kellaway at fullback.
It doesn’t make sense for the Wallabies to pick Carter Gordon if he can’t handle Test match pressure as a goal-kicker.
Against Georgia, young Gordon kicked far too much ball away inside the Georgian 22-metre area.
Ben Donaldson is definitely a better all-round fit for the team; Kellaway is a world class fullback.
In the pressure games ahead, we will be a stronger team with Donaldson at 10 and Kellaway at 15.
Let’s face it, coach Jones has had this squad together for months.
There have been endless and expensive camps.
I was surprised to see that some of the things that should be drilled in at training sessions, still leave a lot to be desired.
Our lineout mauls are way off the pace and we were outgunned in this area by Georgia.
We also need to tidy up our lineout at the back end of the game when our replacement forwards are on the field.
We lost three lineouts in the last quarter of the game and that will have to be sorted out immediately.
Last thing the Wallabies need to work on is our try line defence.
Georgia clearly targeted our halfbacks when they had set piece possession close to the Wallaby try line.
In this situation, you have to be almost robotic in your defence, each position knowing what they must do.
Georgia scored their first try down the blindside, where the Wallaby halfback, Nic White was meant to be defending.
Their second try was scored through Carter Gordon’s channel.
Coaches watch videos.
We can expect teams to keep coming down those channels as the tournament progresses.
Overall, Australian supporters will be happy that the Wallabies gained their first win of the season.
Now their eyes will be focused on the next pool game against Fiji.
This will be tough.
The flying Fijians were extremely unlucky in their first match against Wales which will make them even more determined in the contest against us.
The English referee, Matt Carley, was very quick to issue yellow cards against the Fijians, but incredibly slow to issue the same sanctions against Wales.
This Fijian team is not to be underestimated and could prove to be a tricky opposition.
If the Fijians have a weakness, it would be their set piece game.
I made this point last week.
We have to dominate there and then try to avoid giving Fiji any ball.
Nic White, stop the kicking.
Tupou will ensure that we will be strong at scrum time.
The Fiji outside backs are a good match for us.
Their centre pairing is formidable.
Semi Radradra and Waisea Nayacalevu are arguably the best centre pairing in this World Cup.
In broken play, the Fijians are very difficult to handle.
I can’t stress enough, we have to be very clever with our kicking game when we look to get out of our own half.
We don’t want to be giving ball back to Fiji.
Against Georgia we kicked long and kept the ball in play but against Fiji we will be better served kicking the ball out and then defending the line out.
Don’t let them counter-attack.
Make no mistake, the Fijians will be very dangerous because they now have nothing to lose.
Their disappointment at losing to Wales, in a nailbiter, highlights their belief and expectations.
The Fijians no longer fear teams like Wales and the Wallabies.
Their involvement in Super Rugby has created more strength and depth and they have always had world class players in the big European clubs.
Consider this.
Wales had to make 250 tackles against the Fijians.
I thought Wales were absolutely brilliant in defence, yet they still conceded four tries.
The Wallabies’ defence has not always stood up since Eddie Jones took over the team.
They have conceded almost 200 points in six matches, which is well over 30 points a game.
Remember, Georgia dropped the ball over the line which would have been their third try.
Fiji have a lot more strike power than Georgia.
They will ask far bigger questions of our defence.
If we concede 30 points to Fiji, it means we will need to score at least four tries to win.
That is a big ask of a team like the Wallabies, still looking to build combinations after all these months together.
Even in what is the “easy” pool there are potential banana peel games that can bring the more fancied teams unstuck.
Let’s hope the Wallabies are ready.
Spare a thought for the seven boys of Fijian heritage in the Wallaby camp.
It can’t be easy facing your nation of birth in these World Cup matches.
The young halfback, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa will probably be in our match day team as Tate McDermott recovers from his concussion.
Young Issak is an outstanding attacking threat and should do well off the bench.
The match-ups in the backline promise to be epic encounters.
As we fight for survival in our Pool C, we still need to keep an eye on Pool D, because our quarter-final opponent will come from there – England or Argentina.
In the Argentina v England match, George Ford put on a show that has rarely been seen on the international stage.
He kicked all 27 points for England, including three drop goals.
Ford appeared to be channelling the great Jonny Wilkinson as he put on a masterclass against Michael Cheika’s Pumas.
I don’t recall anyone dropping three field goals in a Test since Jannie de Beer booted five for the Springboks against England at Twickenham in the 1999 World Cup.
The English team have been much aligned but they appear set to be the top team in Pool D.
I’d rather be facing Argentina in a quarter-final because in the last World Cup in France, in 2007, England sent us home in a quarter-final boilover in Marseille.
The Wallabies will need to beat both Fiji and Wales in the next two pool games to finish on top.
There is much to play for.
One final observation around the referees.
Can someone tell them that they are not the main attraction?
The referee in the France v All Blacks game was painful and obnoxious.
Having never been in a scrum in his life, he was pedantically telling players where to pack the scrum and then telling them, by shouting, when to use the football.
Englishman, Luke Pearce, refereed the Wallabies match, spending half his time on his hands and knees as the scrums packed down.
He is the size of a jockey and would have no clue about playing in the front row.
It’d be better for all of us if referees got out of the way and let the teams scrummage.
Let’s hope this World Cup is won by the best team in the world, free from controversies dished up by the show pony referees looking to make a name for themselves.
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