{"id":102500,"date":"2021-07-20T02:26:21","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T02:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=102500"},"modified":"2021-07-20T03:57:56","modified_gmt":"2021-07-20T03:57:56","slug":"hard-truths-for-wallabies-as-abs-await","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=102500","title":{"rendered":"'Hard truths' for Wallabies as ABs await"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wallabies won the third and deciding Test against France, retaining the Trophee des Bicentenaires<\/a>, in what seems to be the common theme for Australian rugby in 2021: a nailbiting, grandstand finish.<\/p>\n

The merit and manner of the third Test victory shouldn't be underestimated.<\/p>\n

Teams don't win with 14 men for 75 minutes very often, let alone in a series deciding Test.<\/p>\n

The Wallabies will take belief and confidence from this series and almost every player's stocks have risen.<\/p>\n

There will of course be some crucial areas of their game that need to be worked on between now and the August 7 Bledisloe Cup opener in Auckland.<\/p>\n

The new home of rugby, Stan Sport, is the only place to watch the Bledisloe Cup, Rugby Championship and Lions tour with ad-free, live & on demand coverage<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

– THE BREAKDOWN –<\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout the series the Wallabies had issues at their attacking breakdown.<\/p>\n

Those issues weren't as prevalent in the third Test as France focused on fanning out and getting their tackler out of the breakdown and back into the line.<\/p>\n

They still won some big turnovers at the back end of the game, including Demba Bamba's, and in the final play as the Wallabies tried to run down the clock.<\/p>\n

I dare say some 'full noise' reaction to, arrival at and contact through, the breakdown space training is on the daily menu at the Wallabies' Sanctuary Cove base.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Koroibete free to play after controversial red card<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> France captain called out for ultimate rugby sin<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Wallabies player ratings from epic France win<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Nerveless<\/p>\n

– KICKING GAME –<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Wallabies' kicking strategy is always controversial.<\/p>\n

The hard truths are that teams that kick in general play the most and the best win games.<\/p>\n

This isn't an easy concept to comprehend in Australian rugby.<\/p>\n

In Australia, more than anywhere in the world, teams are expected to not only win but play with ball in hand.<\/p>\n

Australians were raised on running rugby and innovative attacking play, players of genius and complete skill sets.<\/p>\n

\"'An<\/p>\n

The Wallabies will box kick against New Zealand, a lot.<\/p>\n

If they do it well they'll get a decent challenge in the air or be able to get a good tackle and counter ruck (think Reece Hodge's tackle and counter ruck on Saturday night).<\/p>\n

And worst case, they can make the All Blacks attack off the sideline where the Wallabies will have an advancing, high numbered defensive line.<\/p>\n

Kick poorly and, well, we've all seen what New Zealand can do to fractured kick chase lines with time.<\/p>\n

Through all this Australia will still kick less than all of the teams they play in the Rugby Championship.<\/p>\n

\"Highlights:<\/p>\n

That is also why their attacking breakdown is so important.<\/p>\n

Teams have been, and will be, happy to attempt to dominate territory and look for turnovers and penalties and accumulate points where they can.<\/p>\n

The Wallabies' herculean effort and France's inability to adapt their tactics with a 15 on 14 numerical advantage is why they failed to win the third test, and only just.<\/p>\n

\"'Try<\/p>\n

– FIRST PHASE ATTACK –<\/strong><\/p>\n

First phase attack has room for improvement, more innovation and flexibility of mindset.<\/p>\n

The Wallabies are always going to be a big, if hopefully more balanced, possession focused team.<\/p>\n

Lineout is still the source of around two thirds of all tries scored in rugby and most tries are scored in the first few phases.<\/p>\n

The Wallabies have largely used first phase to get on the front foot and into their phases.<\/p>\n

\"Lolesio\u00a0fires\u00a0Wallabies\u00a0in\u00a0front\"<\/p>\n

In the weeks to come they may feel that unleashing the creative juices of attack\/backs coach Scott Wisemantel and his backline stars can make the Wallabies more troublesome for opposition teams.<\/p>\n

Deception, precision and creativity of first phase play can create more kick space, more opportunity to maul and more speed of ball as teams concentrate on stopping what Australia's backline throw at them.<\/p>\n

This Test series the Wallabies dominated possession, carry and run metre stats, and by a margin.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

None of these are key indicators of success.<\/p>\n

The Wallabies' refusal to give in, ability to work for each other and their dominance at set piece in the moments that counted (take a bow, Mr Tupou) were key to winning this series.<\/p>\n

If the Wallabies can add efficiency to that effort in the ensuing weeks then the Rugby Championship can't come quick enough.<\/p>\n

Chapeau to the men in gold.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Wallabies won the third and deciding Test against France, retaining the Trophee des Bicentenaires, in what seems to be the common theme for Australian […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102500"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=102500"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102502,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102500\/revisions\/102502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=102500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=102500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=102500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}