The Wallabies need to bring back the drop goal if they want to regain the Bledisloe Cup
Love them or loathe them, drop goals play a big role in international rugby and the Wallabies won’t ever be a force until they master the simple tactic of potting the three-pointers.
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Australia’s botched attempt to set up for a shot at field goal in last weekend’s Bledisloe Cup thriller perfectly encapsulated why the Wallabies haven’t won any silverware in so long.
Unlike the All Blacks – who consider drop goals as a sign of weakness – the Wallabies have got no beef about winning the game through a drop goal, if that’s what it takes.
But they just couldn’t execute the play under pressure, even though they had practised for that exact scenario and were in the process of setting up an attempt when they lost possession before getting boot to ball.
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It was the sports blooper of the week but with the stakes and tension so high, it also summed up why the Wallabies won’t win anything until they learn how to close out tight games.
There’s never been any question about the will of the players. Nor the skill.
But it’s the simple things and the decisions they make when the game is on the line that are the most pivotal.
Love them or loathe them, field goals are a massive part of rugby and teams that can’t – or won’t – kick them, are on a hiding to nothing.
Astonishingly, the Wallabies have not kicked a field goal in a test match for over six years – which helps explain why they made such a hash of it in the 16-16 draw in Wellington.
The last time the Wallabies kicked a field goal was in November 2014, against Wales – and it was a match winning play.
Trailing 28-27 with eight minutes to go, the Wallabies regained the lead and were never headed again when Bernard Foley calmly potted a drop goal.
It was Michael Cheika’s first match as coach of the Wallabies and the last drop goal Australia kicked on his watch.
If the Wallabies ever want to be world champions again – or even win back the Bledisloe Cup – they need to be able to kick drop goals in tight situations.
If last weekend’s cliffhanger is any guide, this is going to a close series against New Zealand and field goals could be the deciding factor so Dave Rennie needs his players to be able to execute them.
It won’t be lost on anyone that no two countries in world rugby should understand the importance of drop goals more than Australia and New Zealand – who have both lost World Cup finals in extra time.
For the All Blacks – it was in 1995 – at Ellis Park in Johannesburg when Joel Stransky won the Webb Ellis Cup for the Springboks with his three-pointer.
For the Wallabies, the pain of losing a World Cup final in extra time happened right in our backyard when Jonny Wilkinson broke our hearts in the 2003 final and won the World Cup for England.
That wasn’t the first or the time the Wallabies got knocked out of a World Cup by the Poms through a drop goal.
It also happened in 1995, in the quarterfinals at Cape Town when Rob Andrew booted the match winner in the last play of the game, ending Australia’s World Cup defence after they had won the 1991 World Cup.
If that’s not enough of a reason – perhaps the Wallabies should take a look back at the last time they won the World Cup – which came courtesy of an outrageous drop goal that Australia kicked.
It was in the 1999 semi-final against South Africa, which was forced into extra time after the sides could not be split but with the Springboks seemingly holding all the aces.
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Their five-eighth Jannie de Beer had kicked five field goals in the quarterfinal against England and one already in the semi against Australia while not a single player on the Wallaby team had ever kicked one in a test.
That was the cue for Wallabies playmaker Stephen Larkham to unexpectedly launch a drop goal shot from just inside the halfway line.
His kick sailed straight between the posts and sent the Wallabies into the final against France and if they ever want the Bledisloe Cup back then the Australians could no worse than try to replicate that.