Spring tour: What comes next tactically for the Wallabies?

It may be that the Wallabies reached their zenith in terms of playing Cheika-ball in Dublin yesterday.

It may be that the Wallabies reached their zenith in terms of playing Cheika-ball in Dublin yesterday and yet they still lost both the Test and their chance at a historic Grand Slam. Now the question is: what comes next?

In a strictly literal sense, what comes next is England, next Sunday (1.30am, AEDT) at Twickenham. How Australia coach Michael Cheika would dearly love to impose his game on Eddie Jones after what happened in Australia in June.

But although the Wallabies played the Cheika brand of rugby almost to perfection against Ireland yesterday, there was no evidence that tactically they had moved on significantly from how they played the three midyear Tests against England.

Of course, it may be that Cheika — who surely has taken those three losses to Jones more personally than he has any other defeat — has spent the past five months plotting his revenge. Perhaps he even figured that Ireland, who have had no exposure to Cheika-ball since 2014 , would be tricked up by it yesterday, leaving him free to spring his tactical masterstroke next weekend.

Sadly, that plan fell just four points short and it will be a true test of Cheika’s coaching ability whether he can get himself and his players regrouped and focused in time to meet England. One thing is certain — Jones will have again prepared his team for Cheika-ball and he will have prepared them as well for some variations of it. What remains to be seen is whether the Wallabies can bring to Twickenham all the wonderful fundamentals of their game on display in Dublin but also some X-factor magic they can slip in at appropriate moments.

It’s one of the most basic tenets of rugby that you cannot go wide unless you have earned the right by going forward. That’s why Jones effectively conceded a mountain of possession to the Wallabies in June, because he knew that Cheika’s Australians would try to have their dessert before they had finished off the main course. “Keep tackling them,” he would have told his players, “and eventually they will run out of ideas and start making mistakes.” Which is, of course, precisely what happened.

Certainly Australia profited yesterday from going wide every chance they got, though perhaps they should have profited more. But Ireland had no Johnny Sexton, no Sean O’Brien, no Rob Kearney from the sixth minute of play and no Andrew Trimble from the 30th. As it is, they probably were outweighed by as much as 15kg per player by the biggest, fastest Australian backline ever put on the paddock.

For short, sharp of play, the Wallabies produced arguably the best structured attack they have since the days of Rod Macqueen. It was pure, clean, incisive rugby — though why Cheika persists in selecting Henry Speight ahead of Sefa Naivalu on the wing is totally bewildering.

But clearly I owe an apology to Steve Larkham. I had been critical of him for not imposing himself on the backline, for not bringing a Larkham-like clarity to their play. I see now that he was biding his time, assembling all the pieces and preparing them well.

Now that he has the three-quarter line functioning so well — minus some remedial work on their passing and catching under pressure — it is time for him to have a word in Will Genia’s ear. Or should that be in Michael Cheika’s ear?

Poor Genia. He was reduced yesterday to a rich man’s Nick Phipps, and that is no condemnation of Phipps. Genia did everything that Phipps can do, only better, getting to each breakdown and feeding this insatiable beast that is Australia’s side-to-side rugby. But in doing that, he left the best of himself behind.

Where were the sniping runs? Where were his astute, clever kicks in behind the line — and, believe me, I’m exempting his box kicks from this. Rarely do they achieve anything but to hand the ball to the opposition.

It would be excellent if he ran to burst the defence wide open, but the truth is this is not strictly necessary. Simply by running, he pulls in defenders. They are forced to stay close to the ruck to guard against him, which naturally gives those outside more room to breathe. It’s not rocket science and Genia is well aware of it, which means he is playing under instructions.

Genia, of course, may still miss the showdown with England as it falls outside the official Test window. His French club Stade Francais failed to release him for the opening Test of the tour agains the Welsh, leaving Phipps to pick up the cudgels.

Withstanding which half plays against England, the Wallabies will need some big, powerful forward charges. Yes, they do execute them, execute them quite well, in fact. But when it’s backs ball, their job is to get out of the way.

Which brings us to selections. Not having a specialist No 8 such as Lopeti Timani was wrong, especially if the scrum is expected to be in trouble, and if Dean Mumm is to be in the 23 to bolster the lineout, it needs to be as a reserve only. Whatever Scott Fardy has done wrong, it is time for forgive him and reinstate him in the No 6 jersey.

The real dilemma is whether Cheika will finally bite the bullet and choose between Pocock and Michael Hooper at openside flanker or take the easy option and allow it to run its course — it’s working to a degree — and then let the problem resolve itself next year when Pocock heads off on his sabbatical. The backrow mix isn’t working and the only way to fix it is to relegate one of the best players in the side to the bench, as painful as that might be.

No wrap-up of this heartbreaking defeat would be complete without mention of the man who played such a significant part in it, French referee Jerome Garces. The Irish played brilliantly but Garces’ rulings effectively negated Pocock’s outstanding work at the tackle contest.

The Wallabies, however, show no signs of accommodating referees who rile them, which is to say basically all of them. Away teams rarely get the rub of the green. Accept it and move on. England is next weekend and there are bigger issues to resolve.