Wallabies respond to Michael Lynagh over ‘non-existent skills’ criticism after Bledisloe caning
WALLABIES skills coach Mick Byrne has responded to Michael Lynagh’s scathing criticism by claiming Australia will turn a corner — and do it quickly.
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​WALLABIES skills coach Mick Byrne has ​responded to Michael Lynagh’s scathing criticism by claiming his decade with the All Blacks proved to him that Australia will turn a corner — and do it quickly.
Byrne said the performance in the 54-34 loss to New Zealand on Saturday in Sydney wasn’t “up to scratch” after captain Lynagh savaged the team in TV commentary in England.
“I can’t overestimate how angry I am at seeing an Australian team who have skills that are non-existent,” Lynagh said.
“Passing and catching and making tackles and trusting the bloke beside you are pretty basic, even at schoolboy level.”
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika didn’t want to bite back at the 1991 World Cup winner.
“Where’s he? Over in England, isn’t he?” Cheika said.
“If that’s how he feels, can’t change it except for what we do on the field.”
Byrne, a former Hawthorn ruckman, joined the Wallabies as skills coach last year following 10 years and two World Cup wins with New Zealand.
“When you’re talking about a dropped pass or a missed tackle they’re skill sets and, yeah, they weren’t up to scratch,” Byrne said.
“When you’re out there as a group working on changing habits, there is a period of time when sometimes it’s not acceptable. And I understand that.”
Just as it was with the Kiwis in 2006, Byrne’s role has been to rebuild the skill levels and habits of the Wallabies. And he said that layer-upon-layer work takes time.
While it may not be apparent in a shocker like Saturday night, Byrne is insistent that hard work is paying off and the Wallabies are now much more skilful than a year ago.
“The improvements have been fantastic,” Byrne said. “What we know, and it’s been no different in any environment I’ve been in, we see the improvement on the training field before it transfers to the game.
“If we not seeing on it the training field, that’s when I get frustrated or start questioning what we are doing.
“But we are seeing huge improvements there and it’s going to be persistence that will start to transfer it out into the game.
“I understand people’s frustrations that they’re not seeing it straight away. Maybe that’s a thing of society. There’s an instant gratification that’s everybody is after. But this is just hard work that takes time.”
Asked if it took time before his work with New Zealand paid dividends, Byrne said: “Yeah, it did. If you go back, 2007 wasn’t a flash year for us trying to get things right.
“But certainly when it clicks into gear it happens and when you turn the corner you turn it pretty quickly. The key is perseverance and these boys’ energy to do that has been tremendous.”
The Wallabies hit the training paddock for a double session on Tuesday. There was particular intensity in their full-contact afternoon session. Shoring up defensive lines was a clear focus.
Cheika said the players had to transfer their defensive accuracy and intensity onto the field on Saturday.
“We’re pretty clear on why the ones we did miss there (in Sydney), why that happened, and we’ve worked on that at the start of the week, doing some today at training, and that’s the way,” he said.
“The application of training to the game is the key issue. Let’s take that and bring it to the game because it’s no good doing it just at training.”