Moore: Lack of experience was a major factor in 2013 Lions series loss under Robbie Deans

A Robbie Deans-led youth policy and the international retirements of several Wallabies were behind Australia’s shattering series loss to the Lions in 2013. A decade of reflection later, Stephen Moore believes one thing could have changed everything.

UPON more than a decade of reflection on the heartbreaking 2013 Lions series, former Wallabies hooker Stephen Moore now laments the loss of experienced veterans who made way for younger players before the tour began.

Australia’s then coach Robbie Deans, smarting from the 2011 World Cup semi-final elimination, chose to overhaul his squad for the British & Irish visitors, not only dropping playmaker Quade Cooper for the untried James O’Connor at five-eighth, but signalling to several stalwarts that he was headed in a new direction.

By the end of 2012, the Wallabies had lost a combined 327 Test matches of experience when veterans Nathan Sharpe (116 Tests), Phil Waugh (79), Dan Vickerman (63) and Al Baxter (69) retired.

It was clear that Deans and the Wallabies were looking for new solutions to claim silverware, and Moore believes the move backfired.

“On reflection, Robbie as a coach during that time, he did probably prioritise bringing young players through and into the team,” Moore said.

By the end of 2012, the Wallabies had lost a combined 327 Test matches of experience when Dan Vickerman (63), Phil Waugh (79), Nathan Sharpe (116 Tests) and Al Baxter (69) retired.

“If I were to look back on that time, maybe some guys finished up probably earlier than they might have with another coach. But that was the direction he took. We did have a lot of youth in the team. Particularly at a leadership level. A lot of young players in key positions on the field.”

This influx of youth had its challenges. Young players were thrust into high-pressure roles while still learning the demands of Test rugby.

“You think about the halves and backrow and things like that, there were some really young players in very, very key roles and playing in very big Test matches, guys like Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor - they’d been to the World Cup in 2011 but they were still young,” Moore said.

“They were still early in their careers. I remember that being something we had to keep working on.

“That was a big part of that series, just making sure that we supported those guys. They were asked to step up and deliver on a very big stage at a pretty young age.”

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans turned to untried James O'Connor as five-eighth. While he tried, the lack of experience cost a series win. Picture: Getty Images

O’Connor had a mixed series in the No.10 role after being thrown into the hot seat, having played primarily at fullback, on the wing and centres for the Wallabies up until that series.

Moore laments the longstanding issue at fly-half.

“The five-eighth role, let’s be honest, since Bernie (Stephen Larkham) retired in 2007, even up till now, we’ve had a lot of different people playing in that position and some guys have done really well, but we haven’t had someone dominate that over a generation like he did prior to that,” Moore said.

“And apart from that period where Bernard Foley played, and Quade had a period there as well, we haven’t really had a nailed on five-eighth for the Wallabies. A household name where people say, ‘He’s the Wallaby five-eighth.

“When you talk about the Queensland State of Origin team or the Kangaroos, you talk about Johnathan Thurston over a generation. We’ve still been trying to find who that person is for that position. And during the Lions, we were still in that phase.”

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Christian Lealiifano was knocked out in the opening minutes of the first Test in a crucial blow, given the Wallabies relied on the Brumbies star for their game plan. Picture: AAP

Christian Leali’ifano, another playmaking option, suffered an injury in the opening minutes of the first Test, a significant blow given the game plan was to have most of the play run off him at inside centre.

“That first Test was Christian’s first Test and he got knocked out in the first couple of minutes,” Moore said.

“And he’d had a great year with the Brumbies. He was dominant in Super Rugby and really steered us around at the Brums. So he was coming into the Test team in great form.

“So to lose him in that first Test, I think Robbie was looking for him to be a bit of a ballplayer as well to support the other guys. And he was a bit of an older head, so that threw all that out.”

Wallabies forwards Nathan Sharpe (left) and Stephen Moore were the relied-upon, experienced heads in the engine room. Picture: AAP

These setbacks exposed the Wallabies’ lack of depth.

After losing the first Test, then fighting back to win the second, Deans decided to recall veteran backrower George Smith from overseas to start in the No.7 jersey.

But Smith was concussed in the opening 10 minutes and ruled out of the rest of the decider in Sydney.

“Your plan goes out the window in the first couple of minutes and you’ve got the third Test, George got head-knocked very early in the game, so this stuff and all the thing with James (Horwill) during the week (facing the World Rugby judiciary for a second time), these things happen and they inevitably happen in these very big occasions.

“And it’s who deals with it the best. And I think those things always come up. You’ve got to be able to roll with that. If I think about it, at the time we probably had a good side, but did we have the depth to be able to cater for those kind of things? Or the strategy or all that kind of stuff? Maybe we could have done that better, but hindsight is very easy to reflect on.”

Stephen Moore waves to the crowd after the second Test against the Lions, having declared he would retire from international rugby at the end of 2013. Picture: AFP

Beyond tactical woes, another factor loomed large. The sheer scale of the Lions support. It was unprecedented for many Wallabies. The “Red Army” was everywhere.

“The build-up, all the lead-up games. I think they played in Hong Kong on the way over, so we were all watching all that,” Moore said.

“They played the Barbarians, so when they arrive in town, the first Test in Brisbane, I remember waking up the day of the game, or even the day before. We were staying at the Sofitel, and you walk up to Queen Street Mall and there’s just red jerseys everywhere.

“They really arrived in numbers a couple of days before the Test. And then the day of the game as well, they’re just everywhere. Out in the bars at 10 o’clock in the morning. We went for our team walk that morning, and I think it hit a lot of the players.

“They did know it was big, but that really gave them a sense of what British Lions was like. For a lot of the young players, that would have been the first time they’d seen that kind of scale of supporters.

“It’s like English soccer. When you go and follow a European Cup team around Europe, that kind of support that follows the team, it’s pretty amazing. That was certainly a memory for me.”

Originally published as Moore: Lack of experience was a major factor in 2013 Lions series loss under Robbie Deans