Hearts and minds up for grabs against Argentina

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie should keep James O'Connor on the field for the full 80 minutes

This being the last column of the year, I suppose the decision makers at Rugby Australia will breathe a sigh of relief; but one of my themes this year has been a simple one – listen to the rugby family.

Nowhere is that more relevant than in your comments to this column last week. There were stacks of them.

Chris said: “When will we love the Wallabies again? I can name the players in the 1984 Grand Slam and the 1999 RWC winning Wallabies sides in my sleep … This team I can’t even remember the Christian name of the skipper.”

John: “When will we love the Wallabies again? When they bring back Izzy and stop being ‘woke’ and not a second before. For the stat takers, I have not watched a game since Izzy was sacked and I refuse to do so. It is called consumer sovereignty.”

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Ray: “Once again you are the voice of common sense. Our approach to finding talented players is currently based around scouting the Pacific Islands. It must be in developing homegrown players who will take pride in playing for their country.”

Leslie: “I can cope with less than perfect on field performances but not woke attitudes. What would it take to love the Wallabies again? A miracle; I no longer care.”

Forne: “When players take it upon themselves to become involved in the current political trend, they find not everyone agrees with their stance and just turns off.”

Well, the jersey tribute to the late Diego Maradona by the All Blacks last weekend was no turn-off. It was all class.

Whilst Maradona will never be forgotten for his “Mano de Dios” (Hand of God) in the 1986 soccer World Cup, very few would know that he was an enthusiastic singer.

In fact, Diego Armando Maradona particularly loved to perform “El Sueno Del Pibe”, a lilting tango ballad about a young Argentinian boy who dreams of making it as a professional footballer.

Regardless of the issues surrounding their captain, Pablo Matera, the Pumas will be ready to dance on Saturday. When they selected their team to play the All Blacks last week, they did so with one eye on Australia.

Make no mistake, the Argentines fancy their chances; it’s a priority for them.

I’m not sure Australian Rugby can afford for the Wallabies to play a kick-chase game this weekend. Fans are losing interest in the box-kicking battles that have become a blight on our game.

I tuned in to watch England play Wales last Sunday and, I have to say, the game in Europe is appalling. Eddie Jones is hailed as a coaching genius; yet his team play completely and utterly uninspiring rugby.

Dave Rennie has been flown in from Glasgow to “fix” Australian rugby and he’s brought with him his coaching staff from the northern hemisphere. If we try to emulate European rugby, we will kill the game in our country.

At least the All Blacks are trying to play attacking rugby and the statistics back that up. They have scored 16 tries in this competition, compared to our three.

On top of that, New Zealand have doubled us in some other key attacking statistics. They have made twice as many clean breaks, beaten twice as many defenders and made twice as many offloads.

Even though the Kiwis are stuttering, by their high standards, they are clearly trying to play attacking rugby, unlike the rubbish the Northern Hemisphere teams are dishing up.

The Wallabies must go into this Test tomorrow against the Pumas with an all-out attacking game plan. To do otherwise would be cowardly and costly.

If you look at the statistics, they will tell you that the Pumas don’t pose much of an attacking threat. They have only scored one try in this competition to date; so let’s focus on our attack and trust that our defence will measure up.

If I was coaching the Wallabies team, my all-out attack game plan would embrace some of the following: For starters, kick short to win the ball back and avoid lineouts.

If we kick long, the Pumas will put the ball into touch and slow the game down. Can you believe we have a lineout coach, whose job is 24/7 to produce a good lineout? But we are having to avoid lineouts because ours is the worst in the competition.

Bravo, Scott Johnson, Geoff Parling was not a great hire!

At scrum time, Taniela Tupou should play for 80 minutes at tighthead and we must be looking for a quick feed to get the ball away from the scrum base quickly.

Quick scrum ball provides a wonderful opportunity to make good use of skill and space.

Talking about space, from our half, we must have the courage to run the ball and go wide quickly. Indeed, in general play, we should be moving the ball and shifting the point of attack.

The Pumas have been the best in the competition at defending their own try line, so it’s pointless trying to maul or pick and drive in these situations, apart from sending the spectators nuts. We need to challenge ourselves and surprise the Pumas once we get inside their 22m area. Let the players come up with their own special plays.

But this is not basketball. It is not movement of the ball at all costs. The ball carrier must show responsibility and exhibit skill.

We should try to finish this competition off on a high note and let the public see the skills our talented players have.

If it were my team, James O’Connor would play the 80 minutes at No 10, because he has an attacking attitude.

We can’t win the title, but we have to try to win the hearts of Australian rugby supporters.

And just on the tango. In the film, “Scent of a Woman”, the brilliant Al Pacino plays the role of Lieutenant Frank Slade, an ageing, depressed military man with a death wish. As part of his final bucket list, Slade dances the tango with a beautiful young woman. Soon after, he has some advice for his young companion, Charlie Simms, who is facing his own dilemma.

Charlie has been asked by his school to sell out his mates and in return, be granted a place at Harvard University.

Slade says to Charlie, “There are two kinds of people in this world: those who stand up and face the music and those who run for cover”.

Running for cover is the easy way out. Tomorrow we will find out what kind of team the Dave Rennie Wallabies really are.

Will they stand up, or will they run for cover?

The Pumas are exhausted and are now disrupted by the furore surrounding their captain. We have to take advantage of this and run them off their legs. The rugby public want our Wallabies to be brave and bold. Let’s hope they are ready to tango.