Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson has chance to change Australian rugby

NSW Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson is the most important figure in Australian rugby right now.

Who is the most important person in Australian rugby? Michael Cheika? Bill Pulver? Israel Folau?

None of the above.

NSW Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson is the most important figure in Australian rugby right now.

Looking at the Waratahs’ position on the Super Rugby table I am sure you are thinking Ella has finally gone around the bend, but hear me out.

It has been well documented that New Zealand teams are dominating Australian opposition this season. After 10 rounds Australian teams have won just two games against Kiwi opponents.

The New Zealand teams are leading just about every significant statistical category.

The top of the table Chiefs are the leading points scorers, averaging 36.6 points and five tries per game.

The defending champions, the Highlanders, lead scrum rate success (96 per cent), kicks out of hand (27.3) and tackles (132.2) per game.

The Hurricanes lead lineout success (93 per cent), ball-carries (121) and metres gained (529) per game. The Crusaders lead in offloads (15.1) and clean breaks (16), and not to be forgotten, the Blues are leading the number of passes (166) and rucks won (89).

Conversely, none of the Australian teams are leading in any categories other than the Western Force, who lead in the number of rucks lost, and the Queensland Reds, who are leading the number of yellow cards.

Overall, Australian teams have received 26 yellow cards, while the New Zealanders have had only nine, which means Australian teams are playing a lot of time with only 14 men on the park.

Of course, statistics can be misleading, as was seen when the Brumbies had all the possession and territory against the Highlanders in Invercargill last Saturday and still lost 23-10.

While the New Zealand teams all have various strengths, their use of the ball is a common feature of their play.

But what unites the Kiwi teams the most does not appear on the stats sheet, and that is their ability to attack off turnover ball.

Whenever the ball changes hands the New Zealand teams immediately transition from defence to attack and shift the ball into space, while Australian teams look like they do not know what to do when they get a turnover.

This is the fundamental difference between New Zealand and Australian rugby, which still thinks scoring tries off turnovers is parasitic.

Australian rugby is lost in the fog of the late 1990s and early 2000s and the patterned style of play coached by Rod Macqueen at the Wallabies and Eddie Jones at the Brumbies.

At the time this style of play was brilliant and innovative, but it is now passe. Unfortunately, it is ingrained in Australian rugby from the Wallabies down to the juniors, who follow the imaginary grid on the field like a map.

Gibson, a former Crusader and All Black, understands “the play what is in front of you” principles of New Zealand rugby and is in a position to influence the Australian game by coaching the biggest state in the country.

You can already see Gibson moving away from Michael Cheika’s exclusive ball-in-hand style of game to include contestable kicking, which was a hallmark of the Crusaders and All Blacks.

If Gibson can introduce more New Zealand concepts to the Waratahs, particularly the importance of reaction time, he will change the mindset of NSW and then possibly Australia by getting key players to become more mindful of that most critical point in the game — when the ball changes hands.

It is second nature to the New Zealand teams, but not to the Australian sides. Gibson has a big job on his hands to change the way Australian players, starting with the Waratahs, think about the game.

I would not expect miracles in Gibson’s first year as Waratahs coach, but if he hangs around long enough, he could make a real difference to the game in Australia, which has lagged behind New Zealand for too long.

After a poor start to the season the Waratahs are starting to hit some form with a decisive 49-13 win against the Force and an even better performance against the Stormers in Cape Town last Sunday, fighting all the way to secure a 32-30 victory.

The Cheetahs on the other hand are finding it hard on the road here in Australia, going down to the Rebels 36-14 and the Reds 30-17.