When will we love the Wallabies again?

The most enduring moments of the Tri-Nations involve Pumas captain Pablo Matera

In 2013, the English singer John Newman released the song Love Me Again. The chorus line is catchy: “I need to know now, know now, if you will love me again.”

Rugby Australia has adopted the song for its promotion of Dave Rennie’s Wallabies.

I have to say, as a rusted-on Wallabies supporter, it’s hard to love this team when they continue to fail on the big stage.

In contrast, the “worst” Queensland team in history stepped up and defeated NSW in a “David and Goliath” State of Origin rugby league contest.

All the Wallabies had to do last week was beat Argentina and they would have one hand on the 2020 Tri-Nations Cup.

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After the match, Rennie said in the press conference: “We should have kicked more at the back end of the game.”

The man is deluded. The time to kick was when the Wallabies won penalties in the Argentine half. The kicks should have been for goal.

Instead, the Wallabies turned down four penalty shots at goal for a zero net return. Every good coach understands you take the points when they are on offer.

Queensland was disciplined enough to do it in the State of Origin battle.

If Rennie has not had the discussion with his captain Michael Hooper before the Test match, he has not done his job.

When Rennie and Hooper were in their press conference talking gibberish, the Argentinian captain, Pablo Matera, was giving his playing jersey to a young Argentine fan.

It was a beautiful moment.

The most enduring memories of this Tri-Nations competition, to date, involve Matera.

Against the All Blacks, he demanded respect from the referee and the All Blacks, as a scuffle broke out early in that contest.

Watching this proud Puma team play, and behave, reminds me of the wonderful biography of Vince Lombardi, written by David Maraniss, When Pride Still Mattered.

How can a team that didn’t play a Test match for 402 days defeat the mighty All Blacks; then, seven days later, back it up to chase down a nine-point deficit when they were playing well below their best.

The reason the Pumas are winners is due to the pride they have in the national jersey.

Last Saturday, the Wallabies had 65 per cent of possession and 75 per cent of territory. Yet the Pumas found a way to grind out a performance that was far from perfect but full of heart and pride.

It’s what Wayne Bennett’s Queensland team did in the Origin decider and it’s what the rugby public are desperate to see.

So when the Rugby Australia television promo asks the question, “Will you love me again”, the answer is, “if you play with pride”.

About 500,000 people watched the Wallabies on TV on Saturday night; 3 million watched the Origin decider.

The question is, why have we lost our audience?

Firstly, kicking is fine, but kicking away possession in the opposition half is simply not on. We cannot grow the game in this country if the Wallabies become a kick-chase team.

Secondly, we have lost our identity. A quarter of our players were not born in Australia. Then we see the Wallabies employ a coaching team that resembles the United Nations, with a token Aussie.

We have a Kiwi head coach who has never coached international rugby. We have an English line-out coach with no dividend to date. We have a South African scrum coach who has coached for one season.

Then we have three wingers born in Fiji, in Filipo Daugunu, Marika Koroibete and Suliasi Vunivalu.

Once these boys get bigger salary offers to play in France or Japan, they will be off in a flash.

I don’t blame them, but is it really in our interests to invest in these people when we could be investing in homegrown players?

We have produced great wingers in the past — Joe Roff, Ben Tune, Paul Carozza, Brendan Moon, Peter Grigg, Ian Williams and the great David Campese.

We can do it again. Tom Wright is a player we should continue to invest in and he’s not the only talented homegrown winger in the country.

Andrew Kellaway and Jack Maddocks are but two of many gifted homegrown players that we should foster.

The Pumas are all from Argentina; everyone shares the same values. It’s clear from the way they play, that pride matters.

It’s easy to tell when a Puma is making his debut — the team shaves the debutant’s head as a ritual to welcome the player into the Pumas.

So the next time you see a young Puma with a shaved head, you will know he’s a new brother in the Puma family.

To create some loyalty and integrity in the Wallaby family, Rugby Australia should make the residency rule five years.

World Rugby is too weak to extend the current three-year residency rule.

Where are we going in the world game when Argentina plays with 100 per cent homegrown players and the richer countries play with virtual Barbarian line-ups?

Also, Australian supporters are sick of seeing Wallaby caps given away at the end of matches. Last weekend, the Wallabies had to close out the game. That means having the best team on the paddock. Too many replacement players upset the team’s rhythm.

The result is the most important thing. As the Wallabies fell apart at the end of the match last weekend, most of the errors came from the late replacements.

Will we learn from this debacle? I understand some of these ideas will upset people; but frankly, we must face the facts.

Great 19th century Scottish poet Charles Mackay sums up my position in relation to rugby with his brief and telling poem No Enemies.

“You have no enemies, you say?

Alas! my friend, the boast is poor;

He who has mingled in the fray

of duty, that the brave endure,

must have made foes! If you have none,

small is the work that you have done.

You’ve hit no traitor on the hip,

you’ve dashed no cup from perjured lip,

you’ve never turned the wrong to right,

you’ve been a coward in the fight.”

Bennett won the Origin series with about 15 players making their debut over the three games, because he kept things simple and asked his team to play with pride. All the players grew up dreaming of playing for Queensland.

Mario Ledesma’s Pumas are on the verge of making history based on the same principles; but the task ahead of Argentina is huge.

The All Blacks have had two weeks to prepare for Saturday’s game; they are well rested.

Argentina’s schedule is a complete stitch-up. Why should the Wallabies and All Blacks keep getting 14-day preparations while Argentina is forced to play four Tests on the bounce?

Most rugby fans who understand the enormity of the task will be backing the Pumas on Saturday.

Like me, they will be hoping that “pride still matters”.