By Wayne Smith
Two wins out of 15 Bledisloe Cup starts, 33 wins out of 71 Tests overall … hardly statistics to excite Wallabies fans over the resurrection of Bernard Foley at five-eighth. But perhaps criticism should be directed more at the game plan he was forced to implement than the player himself.
Foley played the bulk of his career under Michael Cheika, 57 Tests in all, but he did at the outset play 14 under Ewen McKenzie, starting in eight of them.
Bernard Foley scores a second try in the Wallabies’ win over England in their pool match at the 2015 World Cup.Credit:Getty
Of those eight, he won five. He started only one Bledisloe Cup Test during the McKenzie era, the fateful final match of the coach’s much-undervalued career, at Suncorp Stadium in October, 2014. Australia led 28-22 until the final seconds of play when All Blacks centre Malakai Fekitoa, gifted the ball by Nic White’s curious decision to kick for touch in the 78th minute, crossed for the winning try.
It was heart-breaking, on so many levels. But that still left Foley with a winning record of 62.5 per cent as a starter under McKenzie, a coach renowned for serving up a game plan the opposition just didn’t want to face.
Under Cheika, opposing sides soon learned what limited lessons the Wallabies had to teach them and adjusted accordingly. True, Cheika’s game plan with the Pumas recently has shown considerably more sophistication than he displayed with Australia but the inescapable realities of Foley’s years under him are spelt out in the stats – 25 wins and a win-rate of just 43.85 per cent.
Now Foley has the chance to show his wares under Dave Rennie, who has teased and excited Australian fans with some of his innovations but generally has left them underwhelmed. And with Quade Cooper and James O’Connor injured and Noah Lolesio still on the concussion pathway, what choice did he have but to select Foley.
Well, actually, he had plenty … he just didn’t have the courage to act decisively when he needed to. Cooper aside, Rennie must have realised that none of the other five-eighths he has used during his time with the Wallabies – Lolesio, Reece Hodge or O’Connor – are the solution to Australia’s long-term problems there yet he has repeatedly avoided making the brave decision to look to the future.
Instead, he has continually reverted to the past, first Cooper, then Foley and now Kurtley Beale.
NSW playmakers Ben Donaldson and Tane Edmed have the best credentials of the current rising crop, based on their Australia A selections this year.
It could perhaps be argued Rennie didn’t want to “blood” them against the ruthless All Blacks but given the growing strength of Ireland, France and England and the continued power of the Springboks, it is getting harder and harder for eighth-ranked Australia to ease players into Test rugby.
Even if Rennie does get Foley to moderate his game as he did Cooper, the odds are stacked heavily against Australia when they face the All Blacks in Melbourne on Thursday. Would a player who, at his playing peak, only enjoyed a 16.66 percentage winning record against them provide more value than a promising youngster? Possibly, but with Rennie we’ll never know.
He is now three years into his term as Wallabies coach. If it is not his fault that Australia doesn’t have young playmakers breaking the door down to get into the Test side, whose is it? And what is the use of the constant 6-2 benches Rennie employs when there is no room for a developing five-eighth to learn his job.
One of the few young players Rennie had shown faith in, openside flanker Fraser McReight, he has now tossed back on the bench. It was no surprise that when Australia had forward dominance against the Boks in Adelaide, McReight was close to being man of the match. But when Australia was on the back foot against South Africa in Sydney, he was far less effective – even though in his 57 minutes on the park he was the Wallabies’ leading tackler.
Rennie clearly has doubts Australia will have the upper hand in Melbourne, hence the selections of two more “physical” flankers in Pete Samu and Rob Leota. Jed Holloway has made room for Leota at No.6 by shifting to lock for the first time in his Test career, where he’ll come up against two players who know just a little about second-row play, Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock.
Nor could Rennie bring himself to use rugby league convert and high-ball specialist Suliasi Vunivalu on the wing, despite what appears to be rising pressure from Rugby Australia to put the expensive player to work. But, out of left field, he installed Andrew Kellaway at fullback and brought Jordan Petaia back onto the bench, presumably as a sop to Queensland which otherwise would have found itself without a Test representative for the first time in, what… forever?
And what, one wonders, to make of Nic White’s replacement at halfback, with Jake Gordon getting the nod? If nothing else, it suggests Australia will keep the ball in hand much more.
Not sure how that worked out for Cheika.
