Test of Wallabies progression lies in culture club

It is true of sport that much of what happened yesterday is independent of what happens tomorrow. An exception to the rule lies in the development of a robust set of team practices and culture, for they are iterative processes firming from week to week, more than they are independent.

The most thought-provoking outcome from the Barbarians game last week was the insight gained into the Wallabies’ systems and practices and how transferable they are, independent of personnel and opposition. While Michael Cheika’s team manufactured a win in a composed manner, instilling his method through the depth and breadth of this squad ­remains, understandably, a work under construction. With a first Test against Japan on Japanese soil, the Wallabies’ system will again be put to the test with the ­unavailability of regulars, Israel Folau, Will Genia and Bernard Foley.

In mature teams, the value of the system is greater than the value of any individual or collection of players within it. A strong system, within a strong culture, will allow for the interchange of players with minimal impact on performance. A lesser system will rely more on individual brilliance. Admittedly though, changing 13 of your starting XV from the previous week, as Cheika did against the Barbarians, will stretch the most robust of any system.

Of course, the loss of some players will be more consequential than the loss of others. While Duncan Paia’aua played strongly with his two-try and solid defensive ­effort last week, he cannot be ­expected to conjure the same sure-handedness of Bernard Foley at this early stage of his career. And replacing unique specimens like Folau is a non-trivial task, as he is the single player the Wallabies have most relied on over the past few years. In his absence from this tour, Cheika is about to get a good read on whether his system can minimise the impact of his star’s semi-sabbatical.

Systems are strong when robust practices draw boundaries which frame the character and consistency of a team. Not boundaries that suffocate individual ­talent but boundaries that lay a solid platform, and then amplify the varying skillsets of their players. Strong systems will solve for and accommodate individual ­differences, but not at the expense of the whole.

In any system, there will be non-negotiables or core philosophies that set a base standard — for example, in their practices at the breakdown, in defence or in ­offence. Other standards will focus off-field defining the acceptable behaviours of the team. These ­fundamentals are the ticket to ­simply be a part of the team. To compromise them is to take an ­unacceptable shortcut. They are not patterns put in place to blunt or stifle the individual but rather they are present to build a base from which individuals and the team may shine.

Such a system won’t materialise by default. Not a useful one anyway.

First, you identify the team’s requirements. Secondly, you gather expertise in executing the fundamentals of the system with consistency. Consistency then leads to unyielding standards, which are the prerequisite for repeatable and transferable excellence.

A good system will recognise that no individual is bigger than the game and celebrate the best player for the team rather than the best player in the team. In fact, the best player in the team will ideally emerge as a different person from week to week.

And this is exactly what the Wallabies will require against Japan, particularly as they have two enforced changes in the heart beat of the team, where Nick Phipps replaces Genia, and unaccustomed fly-half, Reece Hodge, dons Foley’s No 10 jersey.

The most interesting of these changes is Hodge. Since his debut last year Hodge has stepped into various positions and generally performed with aplomb. But wing, fullback and centre are more reactive positions, feeding off the proactive play of the halves. Now he must elevate his role to that of the maestro, calling the tune and ­compelling his cohort to follow.

It’s tough to learn your trade at international level but it’s been done before. His coach Stephen Larkham knows all about that.

As Hodge breaks down his task he will view it from the lens of both defence and attack, the latter being an area the Wallabies have improved on markedly this year. In fact, outside a World Cup year, they are averaging over four tries a match after 10 Tests for the first time since 1998. And they have been particularly potent in their opponent’s quarter. In the 42 times they have started play with ­possession inside the opposition 22m, they have scored 18 tries and kicked one penalty goal, which is a pretty good strike rate.

Tonight in Yokohama we may be wiser as to whether that strike-rate is more a product of a strengthening system or of the ­individuals operating within it.