Forty-three cards in 47 Tests: Why the Wallabies are always their own worst enemy

There were lots of contrasting stats columns that told the tale of how the Springboks thumped the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday, like post-contact metres, missed tackles and points-per-visit to respective 22s.

But a tackle by Boks centre Jesse Kriel on Wallabies flanker Carlo Tizzano did a pretty good job on its own. There have been milder car crashes.

In the 17th minute of his debut Test, Tizzano carried the ball and Kriel got low and sent him aerially backwards, with arms and legs flying like he’d come off a car bonnet.

Not for the first time, the Wallabies made no headway against the South African defence and a few minutes later the visitors broke upfield through Willie Le Roux. The Boks scored a second try soon after and then a third, and at 21-0, it was game over in every way bar the game clock.

But in truth, the plainest tale of the Wallabies’ defeat in Brisbane for the Wallabies can be traced to the same place it is now always found: the column labelled “Discipline”.

Be it via penalty counts or yellow and red cards, the Wallabies’ discipline has been intractably bad for around three years now and the Suncorp Stadium defeat was more of the same.

Andrew Kellaway on his way to the sin bin in Brisbane.Credit: Getty Images

The penalty count ended up 15-12 against Australia – after being 8-2 in the first half – and yet again the Wallabies played with a man down in the first half when the game was still a contest.

Those figures would go down as a bad day for most Test teams, but the Wallabies’ discipline is now among the poorest in the world. The Wallabies saw their average penalties conceded rise from 8.2 per game in 2019 to 13.6 per game in 2022. It was 12 per game last year and remains there this year.

Teams like Ireland built success with single-figure penalty counts, but the Wallabies have only kept their penalty count below 10 in six of the 47 Tests they’ve played since 2020.

Some experts argue penalties don’t necessarily correlate with wins and losses. But what’s also true is it’s the disciplined teams who win silverware, and there’s also no doubt teams earn bad reputations among the whistleblowing fraternity. In those 47 Tests, the Wallabies ‘won’ the penalty count just 14 times.

It arguably gets worse when you look at cards and the fact the Wallabies now rarely field a full team for 80 minutes.

As if winning Test matches aren’t hard enough, the Wallabies have conceded a total of 43 cards (yellow and red) in those 47 Tests, leaving them with 14 or fewer on the field.

World Rugby’s crackdown on head contact goes some way to explain the increase in cards, but Australia’s intransigence is still clear when compared to rivals. In the same Test matches, opposition teams copped a combined 29 cards.

Since the middle of 2021, the Wallabies have lost players in 25 of the last 35 Tests.

Discipline is a consequence of pressure; the ability to apply it and the ability to withstand it. So it’s no surprise strong teams have cleaner records and to rub salt in, their dark arts work usually gets overlooked too.

So weaker teams have to work harder – and smarter – to claw their way back. The Kriel tackle was spectacular, but it was ‘unforced error’ penalties at the breakdown from Australia in the same part of the game that really hurt the Wallabies.

Fight and early aggression from the Wallabies was undone with penalties – via Allan Alaalatoa, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Harry Wilson. Collectively it gave the Boks sustained access to the Wallabies’ quarter and an inevitable try.

“Discipline comes about when we are inaccurate, so it is basically focussing on can we be more accurate,” lineout coach Geoff Parling said. “You don’t want to give a team like South Africa entry into your 22, and you don’t want to give them ball.”

Poor kicking did damage, too. But after Australia had hung in and even exposed space on the right wing, Tom Wright ignored an unmarked Andrew Kellaway and the ball was turned over in the breakdown.

The referee might have picked up a Springboks offside penalty at the breakdown, or Le Roux not releasing after being tackled. But rub-of-the-green privileges go with the stronger team and instead of a possible home try and game on at 7-all, the Boks subsequently scored through Pieter-Steph Du Toit.

Kellaway saw an avoidable yellow card soon after and Kurt-Lee Arendse grabbed a third try in his absence.

The Wallabies showed in glimpses they can mount a fight against the physical Springboks and will be aiming to do so again in Perth.

But first they have to figure out a solution for the team that hurts them most: themselves.

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